Barbara Boland

As Congressional Democrats become increasingly strident in their demands for Donald Trump’s tax returns, at least one prominent Democratic presidential candidate has yet to release his: former VP Joe Biden, or self-styled ‘Middle Class Joe.’ Since he left office, Biden has become a millionaire and bestselling author. He inked an $8 million book deal with Flatiron Books. He commands $100,000 in speaking fees per event. He owns multiple million-dollar homes. Yet Biden still refers to himself as ‘Middle Class Joe,’ a moniker that was always questionable at best. As vice president, Biden earned $230,000 a year, and his federal pension may be worth as much as $248,000 annually.

Did House Democrats actually want Attorney General William Barr to show for Thursday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing? No chance. The Committee knew at latest Sunday that Barr did not plan to appear under the additional strictures Democrats had decided to impose on a typical House hearing. They could have sent a subpoena. Instead, they waited for Thursday to advance the #ChickenBarr narrative and assert that the Attorney General is somehow evading the withering interrogation Democrats had planned. Democrats hoped a Barr questioning would provide their dozens of presidential contenders with viral YouTube moments.

Nearly 18 months after US Attorney John W. Huber was appointed to investigate whether the Obama-era FBI and Department of Justice abused their power when they obtained spy warrants on Trump campaign operatives and their handling of alleged pay-for-play Clinton Foundation schemes, there’s no sign of any activity. Members of Congress remain in the dark about what if any progress has been made, and likely witnesses say they haven’t been contacted. The Utah prosecutor, appointed by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions hasn’t convened any grand juries, or issued any subpoenas or indictments. His office hasn’t even responded to Congressional demands for reports on its work.

We hear lots of chatter about the possible appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate how the Obama administration may have abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Yet little has been said about the secret court system itself and how easy it is for corrupt government officials to spy on Americans. A court system which works on closed proceedings, classified decisions and only a government attorney present, is ripe for just the sort of misuse that’s alleged to have occurred in the Russia investigation.

The Senate will pass a resolution to disapprove President Donald Trump’s declaration of an emergency on the border, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday. Fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul became the fourth Republican to join 47 Senate Democrats in support of a House-passed disapproval resolution, virtually ensuring that the measure will reach Trump’s desk. It is expected that when the measure reaches him, President Trump will exercise his veto for the first time. To override a presidential veto, the measure would need to secure two-thirds support in both bodies of Congress – an extremely high bar to reach. The House fell 40 votes short of two-thirds passage on the measure last week.

The New Jersey State Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill Thursday to require presidential candidates to release five years’ worth of tax returns in exchange for a place on the state’s ballot. The measure passed along party lines 23-11. Sitting President Donald Trump famously bucked modern tradition when refusing to release his tax returns, so the NJ measure could effectively keep Donald Trump off the ballot. The Democrat-dominated New Jersey legislature passed the same requirement in 2017, but Republican Gov. Chris Christie refused to sign it.

Congressional leaders reached ‘an agreement in principle’ Monday night on a budget deal to prevent another government shutdown, Sen. Richard Shelby told reporters, according to Reuters. The tentative deal is far short of the $5.7 billion for border security that President Trump had demanded to keep the government open in December. Instead, this plan sets aside $1.4 billion and allows the building for an additional 55 miles of barriers to be added to the approximately 700 miles of barriers that already exist, Congressional aides say. President Trump has repeatedly said that a wall is not required along all of the nearly 2,000 miles of border that Mexico shares with the United States.