Reprinted with permission from Alternet
In concluding editorial comments on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper used the words of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to point out their hypocrisy as they provide cover for Donald Trump.
As the CNN host noted, “The White House sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week suggesting that President Trump is not going to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry thumbing his nose at the notion that the U.S. government was designed with three co-equal branches specifically to offer checks and balances on each other.”
“When President Obama was in the White House, there was lots of oversight on the Fast and Furious scandal and the Benghazi tragedy — we covered it,” he continued. “There were whistleblowers — we covered them. Journalists who covered and citizens who followed Benghazi may find it stunning to find Republican members of Congress trash-talking whistle-blowers and the oversight responsibilities of the House.”
With that, Tapper introduced clips of Pompeo and Graham ranting about oversight when it involved a Democratic administration before making his point.
Now, that [Rudy] Giuliani is in the Ukraine scandal, Giuliani hasn’t made it clear whether he’s going to honor the congressional subpoena aimed at him,” Tapper observed. “The arguments that Democratic presidents needed to comply with congressional oversight is correct — that’s how the system was set up. If you only apply constitutional standards to the other political party and not to your own, then those aren’t principles — they’re tactics.”
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