Mike Pence’s ‘Constitutional Elitism’ is a Disgrace*
“It is sadly Shakespearean when a man who courageously helped preserve and defend the Constitution allows personal ambition and fake legalism to lure him into a legacy-destroying fall.”
Laurence H. Tribe & Dennis Aftergut, Mike Pence wags the dog: His attempt to avoid testifying is constitutional nonsense
Many elected officials suppose their status elevates them above responding to subpoenas and complying with the law or being investigated after it appears they haven’t. The constitutional elitism they invoke to evade subpoenas, quash search warrants, or hide their suspected criminal activities from legitimate investigation has become tedious. Displaying extraordinary hubris as ‘super-citizens,’ they attempt to expand the narrow protections the Constitution grants in limited circumstances into a shield of absolute immunity from testifying or being held to account for their misconduct.
Lindsey Graham
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is one example. The courts easily rejected Graham’s efforts to hide behind the Constitution’s ‘speech or debate’ clause. He invoked the clause, “all the way to the Supreme Court,” in his unsuccessful effort to circumvent a Fulton County, Georgia grand jury from compelling him to testify about his involvement in and personal knowledge of efforts to…