Select Page

HORIST: Biden flip-flop on subpoena helps Trump

HORIST: Biden flip-flop on subpoena helps Trump

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s maladroit statements along the campaign trail have generally hurt him without helping President Trump very much.  In recent days, Biden has gone to the next step – materially helping Trump.

Initially, Biden said he would not … repeat NOT … obey a subpoena to testify at the impeachment trial – and presumably at any hearing of the United States Senate.  His stated rationale was that Trump is violating the Constitution.  That dog-ate-my-homework response is an excuse looking for a reason.

In that one statement, Biden established that some people are above the law; politics is a game of bald-faced hypocrisy; and President Trump is correct in blocking witnesses.

The only conceivable reason for Biden to fail to respond to a subpoena is that anything he was asked would require an exclamation of presidential Executive Privilege.  Of course, that is not easy to credibly claim when one does not even know what questions will be asked – and any such Privilege could be claimed on a question by question basis during such testimony.

In addition, Biden is NOT the President of the United States – even though he has erroneously claimed that title in a couple of slips-of-the-tongue.  Only a real President can exert that Privilege – over himself, others and official documents.

Weeeell … Biden must have been taken to the woodshed by his advisors because–  quicker than Maxine Waters can say “impeachment” — the former Vice President said he WOULD obey a congressional subpoena, even though he does not expect to be getting one.

Still, the fact that Biden knee-jerked his promised refusal of a subpoena makes Trump’s case more credible.  Biden inadvertently endorsed the concept of Executive Privilege even if he does not have it or thinks he would even be called as a witness.  He demonstrated his own willingness to invoke Executive Privilege if he was the President.

Yes, it is true.  In this case, a President is above the laws that govern the rest of us.  The extent of presidential Executive Privilege has historically been determined by the Supreme Court – as the third co-equal branch of our federal government.

That is how Democrats should have settled the current disagreement between Trump and House Democrats as to the extent of Trump’s authority.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose to make it a pre-mature and inappropriate impeachment issue rather than face a possible loss in the high court.

In making his initial claim of Executive Privilege, Biden more than justified Trump’s position.  If a former Vice President – now private citizen – believed he could ignore a congressional subpoena, then the President – with a built-in right – can most certainly, and legally, ignore it.

It is not Biden’s first, biggest or likely last gaffe on the hustings, but it does keep alive the question of his fitness to be President of the United States.

So, there ‘tis.

About The Author

Larry Horist

So, there ‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of businessman, conservative writer and political strategist Larry Horist. Larry has an extensive background in economics and public policy. For more than 40 years, he ran his own Chicago based consulting firm. His clients included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. Larry professional emphasis has been on civil rights and education. He was consultant to both the Chicago and the Detroit boards of education, the Educational Choice Foundation, the Chicago Teachers Academy and the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. Larry has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress, and has lectured at colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul. He served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. Larry has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries have appeared on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by audiences for his style, substance and sense of humor. Larry retired from his consulting business to devote his time to writing. His books include a humorous look at collecting, “The Acrapulators’ Guide”, and a more serious history of the Democratic Party’s role in de facto institutional racism, “Who Put Blacks in That PLACE? -- The Long Sad History of the Democratic Party’s Oppression of Black Americans ... to This Day”. Larry currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

1 Comment

  1. David Barron

    Biden fit for leadership, not hardly. He has proven over and over again his thought process is inferior, his judgement is very clouded, and he has tendencies to dabble in criminal behavior, cover ups. Perhaps it is because its his age catching up with him with bouts of delusions of grandeur, senility, and Alzheimer. In any case, he is well past the time when a reasonable person should even consider such a position. He should just fade away.

  1. Frank did your wife really want $10.000 for a boob job? She should rub toilet paper between her breast to…

  2. The author is very timely on this right in line with many others. It is the mindless trend-talk of the…