The defiant letter sent from the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the heads of three House committees adds another large brick to the wall of obstruction against efforts by the House to investigate President Trump.
It is largely cloaked in procedural language and includes wide-ranging criticisms of the House’s approach — many of them with substantive shortcomings. It is also troubling for what it signals about the White House’s view of congressional authority.
White House’s allegations that congressional Democrats plainly seek to “reverse the election of 2016 and to influence the election of 2020” reflect this, as does their heavy focus on the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Adam Schiff of California, who has emerged as the public face of the Democrats’ investigative efforts.
