Fines, jail time? Trump team resists oversight, Dems dig in

They're talking about jailing people at the Capitol.

Imposing steep fines. All sorts of extraordinary, if long-shot measures to force the White House to comply with Democratic lawmakers' request for information about President Donald Trump stemming from the special counsel's Russia investigation.

This is the remarkable state of affairs between the executive and legislative branches, unseen in recent times, as Democrats try to break through Trump's blockade of investigations and exert congressional oversight of the administration.

"One of the things that everybody in this country needs to think about is when the president denies the Congress documents and access to key witnesses, basically what they're doing is saying, Congress you don't count," said Rep.

Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. "We cannot we simply cannot have a presidency that is run as if it were a king or a dictator in charge," said Cummings, D-Md. Trump's blanket refusal to engage in oversight and Democrats' unrelenting demand that he do so is testing the system of checks and balances with a deepening standoff in the aftermath of Robert Mueller's investigation.

Trump derides the oversight of his business dealings and his administration as "presidential harassment" and has the backing of most Republicans in Congress. With Mueller's work completed, Trump wants closure to what he has long complained was a "witch hunt."
Agencies across the government seem more insular than before. Princeton professor Julian E Zelizer said what's unfolding between the White House and Congress "fits in a long history of bad moments when the branches clash over vital information."
While other presidents, including Barack Obama, have resisted congressional oversight in certain situations, including during Attorney General Eric Holder's blockade of the "Fast and Furious" gun-running investigation, Zelizer said "Trump is going further by saying no to everything."
To Zelizer, "certainly there are echoes of Watergate when the administration did everything possible to stonewall Congress as they undertook legitimate investigations and hearings into presidential corruption."
"I don't agree with that."