Um....

Small man, big stage

McCarthy on creating an "impeachment inquiry" without a House vote:

"She changed [the rules]," said McCarthy in conversation with reporters on Tuesday. "This is how you do it. So, I warned her not to do it that way in the process, and that's what she did, so that's what we do." 

Wait a minute. Nancy Pelosi didn't actually change the rules:

Six weeks after opening the inquiry, Pelosi did ask the House to take an official vote to set the terms of the impeachment inquiry. Notably, Engel wrote in the OLC opinion that the vote did little to legitimize the inquiry because it made no effort to ratify any of the subpoenas or investigative steps that occurred prior to the vote.

Wait?  What's that about an "OLC opinion"?

In January 2020, the Donald Trump-led Justice Department formally declared that impeachment inquiries by the House are invalid unless the chamber takes formal votes to authorize them.

That opinion — issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel — came in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into Trump without initially holding a vote for it. Not only is it still on the books, it is binding on the current administration as it responds to Tuesday’s announcement by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to authorize an impeachment inquiry into Biden, again without a vote.

“[W]e conclude that the House must expressly authorize a committee to conduct an impeachment investigation and to use compulsory process in that investigation before the committee may compel the production of documents or testimony,” wrote Steven Engel, then the head of DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, backing the Trump administration’s rejection of subpoenas from the Democratic congressional investigators.

“The House had not authorized such an investigation in connection with the impeachment-related subpoenas issued before October 31, 2019, and the subpoenas therefore had no compulsory effect,” Engel, a Senate-confirmed Trump appointee, concluded in his 54-page opinion.

Engel’s opinion was aimed at defusing an article of impeachment Democrats had filed against Trump accusing him of obstructing the House’s inquiry by encouraging his administration officials to defy congressional subpoenas. The charge was one of two approved by the House in December 2019, setting the stage for Trump’s January 2020 impeachment trial. Trump was ultimately acquitted in a nearly party-line vote. 

Wait for it....

Trump’s impeachment attorneys revealed the secret DOJ opinion in papers submitted as part of their trial defense in the Senate. Now, that opinion could carry significant ramifications as Republicans embark on an impeachment inquiry into Biden.

That investigation was escalated by McCarthy’s announcement on Tuesday that an inquiry would be launched without a formal vote. It is expected to feature significant scrutiny of actions taken by the Justice Department, FBI and IRS in relation to its investigation of Biden’s son Hunter and his foreign business dealings. All three agencies would be bound by the OLC opinion.

Now let the howling begin.

I'll start the popcorn....