Trump, Barr & Mueller: How Serious Is Our Constitutional Crisis?

FEATURING COREY BRETTSCHNEIDER – House Democrats are on the verge of holding Attorney General William Barr in contempt for failing to appear at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called him out for lying about the Special Counsel report at an earlier hearing and said he committed a crime. And Senator Mazie Hirono a day earlier at the Senate Judiciary committee hearing which Barr did attend, told the Attorney General to his face that he should resign.

At the same time President Donald Trump has refused to comply with subpoenas for information and barred his advisers from complying with Congressional orders to appear at hearings. His violations of the Emoluments Clause are being exposed as evermore egregious, and he has stepped in to ensure the lawmakers have no access to his tax returns.

Has Trump broken the US system of checks and balances that are supposed to protect against such blatant abuses of power?

Corey Brettschneider, professor of political science at Brown University. He is the author of When the State Speaks, What Should It Say: How Democracies Can Protect Expression and Promote Equality. His latest book is called The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents.

**This interview was originally broadcast on May 2, 2019.