Wall St.Journal Weekend 29Feb2020

A4| Saturday/Sunday, February 29 - March 1, 2020 PWLC101112HTGKRFAM123456789OIXX **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

WASHINGTON

WIRE

Dispatches from the

Nation’s Capital

BYGABRIELT.RUBIN

POLITICS

this or any future administra-

tion accountable.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

(D., Calif.) said the House

would seek an en banc deci-

sion from the court, asking the

full panel to review the case.

The three-judge panel that

ruled was made up mostly of

conservative judges, while the

full court leans liberal. Even-

tually the case could land be-

fore the Supreme Court.

The Democratic-led Judi-

ciary Committee issued the

subpoena last year as it was

examining possible miscon-

duct by Mr. Trump, including

whether he obstructed special

counsel Robert Mueller’s in-

vestigation into Russian inter-

ference in the 2016 U.S. presi-

dential election. The White

House instructed Mr. McGahn

not to appear.

The subpoena came months

before the House impeached

Mr. Trump on other allegations

of misconduct, related to his

dealings with Ukraine. The Sen-

ate acquitted him on Feb. 5.

House lawyers had previ-

ously suggested to judges that

the House could potentially

consider an additional article

of impeachment if Mr. Mc-

Gahn provided new evidence

regarding Mr. Trump and the

Mueller probe.

Friday’s decision reverses a

trial judge who ruled last No-

vember that Mr. McGahn had

to comply.

Judge Griffith, a George W.

Bush appointee, was joined in

the decision by Judge Karen

Henderson, a George H.W.

Bush appointee. He said Con-

gress had other tools to use

against the White House, such

as holding officials in con-

tempt, withholding appropria-

tions and disrupting the presi-

dent’s legislative agenda.

In dissent, Judge Judith

Rogers, a Clinton appointee,

said the ruling “removes any

incentive for the executive

branch to engage in the negoti-

ation process seeking accom-

modation, all but assures future

presidential stonewalling of

Congress, and further impairs

the House’s ability to perform

its constitutional duties.”

The White House

had instructed Mr.

McGahn not to

appear.

DEMOCRATS’ WARINESS OF
WALL STREET MONEYhas
complicated the political giving
of one of the Street’s most
prominent M&A lawyers.
H. Rodgin Cohen, chairman of
law firmSullivan & Cromwell,is
a prolific Democratic donor, giving
to state parties and House, Sen-
ate and presidential campaigns.
He has donated between $2,
and $5,600 to six Democratic
Senate challengers and four in-

cumbents running for re-election

this cycle—Michigan’s Gary Pe-

ters, Alabama’s Doug Jones, Min-

nesota’s Tina Smith and Virginia’s

Mark Warner. He has donated to

multiple Democratic presidential

campaigns, including Joe Biden’s

and Pete Buttigieg’s.

But Buttigieg returned Co-

hen’s donations following a

flurry of press about Cohen’s

Wall Street dealings, which in-

cluded advising firms at the cen-

ter of the 2008 financial crisis

such as Lehman Brothers and

American International Group

Inc. (Some candidates, such as

Sens. Bernie Sanders and Eliza-

beth Warren, have been explicit

about not accepting any finan-

cial-industry donations.)

The campaigns were con-

tacted by the Journal and in-

formed of Cohen’s Wall Street

history, as well as his 2015 re-

view of Hollywood producer Har-

vey Weinstein’s personnel file for

his company’s board, in which Co-

hen found “no unresolved claims

that could result in liability.” After

being asked for comment, the

Peters and Jones campaigns said

they were each donating $5,

to nonprofits focused on sexual

assault, equivalent to the amount

of Cohen’s donations.

Weinstein Co.’s board hired Co-

hen to look at the file after Wein-

stein’s expenses and women’s al-

legations of misconduct came to

their attention. Cohen’s review of

Weinstein preceded the board’s

decision to renew Weinstein’s

contract later that year. Wein-

stein was convicted on sex-

crimes charges this week in New

York. Cohen declined to comment.

Warner’s campaign declined to

comment. The Smith and Biden

campaigns didn’t respond to re-

quests for comment.

TRUST IN AMERICAN INSTITU-

TIONSfaces yet another test

with the coronavirus epidemic.

Some public-health experts are

alarmed at the rhetoric of

elected and Trump administra-

tion officials relating to the out-

break. Some have presented a

rosy outlook for the virus, with

White House adviser Larry Kud-

low on Tuesday saying the virus

is contained, contradicting Cen-

ters for Disease Control officials.

“The impulse to mitigate eco-

nomic harm is not a bad one,”

said Margaret Bourdeaux, re-

search director for Harvard Belfer

Center’s Security and Global

Health Project. “But you can’t PR

your way out of a crisis.”

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton

and Homeland Security’s Ken

Cuccinelli have suggested that

the virus could have been devel-

oped as a biological weapon in a

laboratory in Wuhan, China, the

epidemic’s epicenter. Scientists

pushed back in the medical jour-

nal Lancet. “We stand together

to strongly condemn conspiracy

theories suggesting that

COVID-19 does not have a natural

origin,” they wrote of the virus.

MASSACHUSETTSsees a dog-

fight ahead of its Super Tuesday

primary. Warren’s advisers be-

lieve they can win her home

state, though some have said

they expect a competitive race.

A recent poll shows Warren and

Sanders almost tied in the state,

with Buttigieg, Biden and Mi-

chael Bloomberg not far behind.

Warren received a boost from

the Boston Globe on Wednes-

day, which endorsed her after

saying in December 2018 that

she shouldn’t run.

Sanders makes an overt play

for the state with rallies there

Friday and Saturday. Buttigieg

put staffers on the ground in

Massachusetts last week, and

Bloomberg opened a Boston

suburban field office in Medford,

his hometown, with actor Mi-

chael Douglas. Sen. Amy Klobu-

char has made digital ad invest-

ments and aims to pick off

delegates in specific congressio-

nal districts. Biden still has

hopes of winning the state or at

least amassing delegates. He has

won the support of numerous

state party and union leaders.

ANTI-PIPELINE ACTIVISTSaim

to push fight against Atlantic

Coast Pipeline into public con-

sciousness, like previous battles

against Keystone and Dakota

Access pipelines. The Supreme

Court heard oral arguments

Monday on whether to reinstate

a construction permit for the

pipeline, which would be built

through two national forests

and the Appalachian Trail.

Twelve activists were arrested

outside the court as a majority

of the justices signaled they are

likely to allow the permission

process to go forward.

AMERICAN CATHOLICSdisap-

prove of Trump at similar rates

as the general population, and

most would favor a Democratic

challenger over the president in

the election, according to a new

poll from RealClear Opinion Re-

search and EWTN News, a Cath-

olic broadcast network. Among

devout Catholics, who accept all

or most of the Church’s teach-

ings, Trump’s approval ratings

are the highest: 63%, with 59%

planning to vote for him. The de-

vout Catholics surveyed were

41% Hispanic, which suggests

higher support for Trump than

the Hispanic population at large,

which gave Trump around 28%

of their votes in 2016, according

to exit polls.

MINOR MEMOS:Department of

Homeland Security makes gram-

mar error in rule about legal im-

migrants’ English proficiency....Sen.

Chuck Schumer confirms he

spent $8,600 of campaign funds

on New York restaurant Junior’s

cheesecake in past de-

cade....Singer Garth Brooks’ fans

mistake his Detroit Lions Barry

Sanders jersey for signal of sup-

port for Bernie Sanders.

about the independence of the

Justice Department.

In the Stone case and other

matters, Mr. Barr has denied

he is acting in a way that fa-

vors Mr. Trump. His allies

have said he believes he is

making the right calls without

concern for politics.

The committee wants to

hear from the prosecutors who

withdrew from the Stone case,

as well as those overseeing or

involved in several other in-

vestigations and reviews or-

dered by Mr. Barr.

Among them are Connecti-

cut’s U.S. attorney John Dur-

ham, who is reviewing the ori-

gins of the FBI’s Russia probe

at Mr. Barr’s behest; Timothy

Shea, a close adviser to Mr.

Barr whom he installed as the

top federal prosecutor in the

District of Columbia just be-

fore the Stone sentencing;

Pittsburgh’s U.S. attorney

Scott Brady, who has been

given responsibility for receiv-

ing and reviewing information

about Ukraine from Mr.

Trump’s personal attorney,

Rudy Giuliani; and Geoffrey

Berman, U.S. attorney in Man-

hattan, whose office is investi-

gating Mr. Giuliani’s business

dealings in Ukraine.

A Justice Department

spokeswoman declined to com-

ment. It isn’t clear whether the

department will make any of

them available to answer the

committee’s questions. The de-

partment historically has de-

clined to let prosecutors an-

swer questions about active

and continuing investigations.

The House Judiciary Com-

mittee said Friday it wants to

talk to more than a dozen fed-

eral prosecutors, including those

involved in the sentencing of in-

formal Trump adviser Roger

Stone, as part of a broader ex-

amination into whether the

White House is interfering in

the Justice Department’s tradi-

tionally independent affairs.

Chairman Jerrold Nadler,

(D., N.Y.) said in a letter to At-

torney General William Barr

that he wants testimony from

or interviews with the officials.

Mr. Barr has himself agreed to

testify on March 31 about his

decision to overrule prosecu-

tors’ sentencing recommenda-

tion in Mr. Stone’s case.

Prosecutors had recom-

mended a seven-to-nine year

sentence for Mr. Stone, based

on the sentencing guidelines

the Justice Department applies

in all criminal cases, but were

overruled within hours by Mr.

Barr, who ordered a new filing

calling for a lesser penalty un-

der a more lenient interpreta-

tion of the guidelines. That

prompted the withdrawal of

four prosecutors involved in

the case and raised questions

about whether the attorney

general was tilting the scales

to benefit a Trump associate.

A judge sentenced Mr.

Stone to three years and four

months in prison. The episode

touched off weeks of political

furor in Washington and

fueled intensifying debate

BYSADIEGURMAN

ANDSIOBHANHUGHES

Lawmakers Seek to

Question Prosecutors

would beat Mr. Trump.

“We are putting together the

strongest grass roots movement

we’ve seen in a long time,” he

said, to cheers. “We are beating

Trump because our agenda is

the agenda of the working fami-

lies of this country.”

State Rep. Justin Bamberg, a

longtime Sanders backer who

represents a rural district in

the central part of South Caro-

lina, said Mr. Sanders would

bring voters to the polls, which

he said will help other Demo-

crats on the ballot. To say oth-

erwise is a scare tactic, he said.

“If you can’t beat him

straight up, you play Jenga

with him, and try to undermine

him,” he said. “It’s not gonna

work.”

Across the border in North

Carolina, Mr. Sanders’s ascen-

dancy sent some leading Dem-

ocrats from supporting former

Vice President Joe Biden to ral-

lying behind Mr. Bloomberg.

At a recent Bloomberg rally

in Raleigh, Senate Minority

Leader Dan Blue said a far-left

candidate like Mr. Sanders

would lose big in a state nearly

evenly split between Republi-

cans and Democrats, where

President Obama won in 2008

and lost in 2012.

A loss at the top of the

ticket could jeopardize Demo-

cratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s re-

election chances as well as

Democrats’ prospects of gain-

ing seats in the GOP-led legis-

lature, said Mr. Blue, who in

his previous role was the first

African-American speaker of

the state House. Mr. Cooper

won the governor’s chair in

2016 by roughly 10,000 votes—

out of more than five million

cast.

Democrats won enough

seats in 2018 to break a GOP

supermajority in the North

Carolina House, and they

picked up seats in the Senate,

making it easier to advocate

for increased teacher pay and

other Democratic priorities,

Mr. Blue said. Maintaining or

adding to their ranks is critical

in 2020 because of the coming

round of redistricting and the

possibility of approving Medic-

aid expansion, he said.

“Who we nominate matters

for our country, but it also

matters for our state races,”

Mr. Blue said. “Beating Trump

is one thing, but after that, we

have a lot of problems to

solve.”

Earlier this week, Florida

Democrats fretted over Mr.

Sanders’s potential alienation

of constituencies like Cuban-

Americans and Jewish voters,

with his characterization of the

late Fidel Castro’s education

policies in Cuba and his stated

refusal to attend the annual

conference of the American-Is-

rael Public Affairs Committee.

The Florida Democratic Party

issued a statement noting that

party members “need to un-

derstand our immigrant com-

munities’ shared stories.”

In South Carolina, Demo-

cratic leader Mr. Rutherford

said a Sanders nomination

would wipe out the hope of

picking up seats in fast-grow-

ing places, including suburbs of

Charlotte that are just south of

the state line.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—Some
Democrats in Southern states
are anxious about Bernie Sand-
ers winning the Democratic
presidential nomination, saying
it could jeopardize a closely
won governor’s seat, reverse
recent gains in state legisla-
tures and turn what might be
competitive congressional
races into GOP landslides.
South Carolina House Mi-
nority Leader Todd Rutherford
said Mr. Sanders, who has
surged to the top of the na-
tional polls in the Democratic
presidential primary, would
bomb with South Carolina
Democrats, including the so-
cially and fiscally moderate
constituents in his predomi-
nantly African-American dis-
trict that includes Columbia.
Mr. Rutherford endorsed
candidate Michael Bloomberg,
even though the former New
York mayor isn’t on the ballot
in Saturday’s primary. He said
he wanted to send up a flare
that Democrats need resources
and momentum to derail a
Sanders nomination and beat
President Trump.
“How do we explain to our
people what democratic social-
ism is when we don’t even
know?” Mr. Rutherford said,
referring to Mr. Sanders’s self-
described ideology. “It would
be a bloodbath.”
At a Wednesday rally of
2,800 people in this fast-grow-
ing retiree mecca, Mr. Sanders
said his critics were ignoring
nearly 50 national polls that
show he is the candidate who

BYVALERIEBAUERLEIN

Sanders Sparks Down-Ballot Fears in South

Sen. Bernie Sanders says his critics are ignoring polls that show he is the candidate who can beat President Trump.

VICTOR J. BLUE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

WASHINGTON—A divided
federal appeals court took a
hands-off approach to a sub-
poena battle between Con-
gress and the White House,
ruling it wasn’t the judiciary’s
place to decide whether for-
mer White House counsel Don
McGahn must testify in a con-
gressional investigation of
President Trump.
“Letting political fights play
out in the political branches
might seem messy or imprac-
tical, but democracy can be a
messy business, and federal
courts are ill-equipped to mi-
cromanage sprawling and
evolving interbranch informa-
tion disputes,” Judge Thomas
Griffith wrote for the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Dis-
trict of Columbia Circuit.
The decision came on a 2-
to-1 vote. The ruling comes
amid an array of ongoing
clashes between the White
House and House Democrats
leading investigations into the
Trump administration. It
could set a new marker sug-
gesting the courts won’t be
willing to resolve those show-
downs, at least in some cir-
cumstances.
The precedent, if it stands,
could also allow this adminis-
tration and future ones more
room to give Congress the
cold shoulder when lawmakers
make requests for information
and testimony.
House Judiciary Committee
Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D.,
N.Y.) said in a statement that
the ruling, if upheld, “would
destroy the power of Congress
to gather information and hold

BYBRENTKENDALL

Court Won’t Force McGahn to Testify

Former White House counsel Don McGahn was subpoenaed last year by a House committee.

OCTAVIO JONES/TAMPA BAY TIMES/ASSOCIATED PRESS