Clearly, President Trump has met his match in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as House Democrats prepare for all out war with investigations that, combined with the conclusion of the Russia investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, could one day mean the end for our exalted leader.
Pelosi's sarcastic clap-back to Trump during his State of the Union address Tuesday night spoke volumes as she looked him in the eye, extended her arms and rapidly clapped following his call for an end to "revenge politics" and "artificial political investigations."
"If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation,” Trump warned before pausing dramatically. “It just doesn’t work that way.”
Pelosi's response went viral, with hysterically funny memes and gifs flooding social media.
But that response was more than funny. It was clearly deadly showing that Trump's cries about "presidential harassment" mean nothing to Pelosi and today the investigations the president denigrates so vociferously rolled into high gear.
Hearings opened on presidential tax returns and family separations at the Mexican border, and on Friday there will be a session to question acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker. And that's just the beginning. As The Washington Post reported, "lights are about to shine brightly on a president who had faced little examination from a Republican Congress."
Of course, Democrats and Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign called for Trump to release his tax returns, which he refused to do claiming he was undergoing an audit and therefore could not make them public. Well, the audit surely must have been completed by now, so Democrats say its time for Trump to come clean.
On Wednesday Trump dismissed a new probe launched by the House Intelligence Committee into his foreign business entanglements as he labeled chairman, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), a “political hack.”
“No other politician has to go through that,” he said. “It’s called presidential harassment. And it’s unfortunate. And it really does hurt our country.”
Schiff had earlier said he would launch a probe that extends beyond alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia and examine whether Trump's decisions as president have been motivated by financial gain.
“The president’s actions and posture towards Russia during the campaign, transition, and administration have only heightened fears of foreign financial or other leverage over President Trump and underscore the need to determine whether he or those in his administration have acted in service of foreign interests since taking office,” the Intelligence Committee chairman said.
Pelosi said it is Congress' responsibility to follow through.
“It’s not investigation; it’s oversight," she said. "It’s our congressional responsibility, and if we didn’t do it, we would be delinquent in our duties.”
Recalling Watergate
Trump's urging for an end to "ridiculous partisan investigations" by Congress recalled for many President Richard M. Nixon's call in his final State of the Union speech for an end to the Watergate investigation that ultimately led him to resign more than six months later.
“I would like to add a personal word with regard to an issue that has been of great concern to all Americans over the past year. I refer, of course, to the investigations of the so-called Watergate affair,” Nixon said. “As you know, I have provided to the special prosecutor voluntarily a great deal of material. I believe that I have provided all the material that he needs to conclude his investigations and to proceed to prosecute the guilty and to clear the innocent.”
“I believe the time has come to bring that investigation and the other investigations of this matter to an end,” Nixon said. “One year of Watergate is enough.”
A week later, the House authorized the Judiciary Committee to investigate his possible impeachment. Six months later, Nixon resigned realizing that his impeachment was inevitable, and his conviction by the Senate more than likely.
Will history repeat itself? Will we one day see a disgraced Donald Trump standing on the steps to his fancy airplane raising his arms Nixon-like in a sad v-for-victory salute?