5/13/20: With the coronavirus sweeping the country, even the federal government finds itself in a world of hurt. The budget deficit in April, alone, reached $737.9 billion. That was higher than any annual deficit under President Obama during his second term. The deficit for FY 2021, which began in October, has now reached $1.48 trillion. That’s already a record for any Fiscal Year, and we’re only seven months along.
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The
federal deficit in April was $737.9 billion.
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Still: There’s one bright spot! The Trump administration continues to keep the legal profession operating at full throttle. Currently, the president’s minions are appealing a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington D.C. to the U.S. Supreme Court. The lower court has ruled that secret grand jury testimony used in the Mueller investigation should be turned over to Congress. In a 2-to-1 decision, the lower court ruled that grand jury records are court records, not Justice Department records. That means Attorney General Bill Barr can’t just plant his fanny on the documents and refuse to move, passing copious amounts of gas any time a reporter gets close.
According to the Washington Post, the same kind of records “have historically been released to Congress in the course of impeachment investigations involving three federal judges and two presidents.” We should also note that there was at least some belief, back before the coronavirus killed the whole country, that Donald Trump Jr. might have plead the Fifth before the grand jury.
That would be fun to find out.
In two other cases, also on the Supreme Court docket, Trump is fighting to keep his tax returns hidden. Having heard initial arguments in both cases, and listened as the jurists asked questions (all done via video conference), court watchers say they think the president may lose at least one critical case.
Let’s hope he goes 0 for 3.
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