President Donald Trump on Sunday took to Twitter to ratchet up his rhetoric against Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), the next chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
Trump misspelled Schiff's name, presumably intentionally, which to many is a sign of the president's festering angst over Schiff's forthcoming subpoena power once Democrats take over the House in January.
"So funny to see little Adam Schitt (D-CA)," Trump wrote, "talking about the fact that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller (who is highly conflicted) was not approved by the Senate!"
Schiff quickly fired back with a jab of his own.
"Wow, Mr. President, that’s a good one," Schiff said. "Was that like your answers to Mr. Mueller’s questions, or did you write this one yourself?"
Today is the 155th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. When it comes to discourse, Trump is no Abraham Lincoln.
Trump's elementary attempt at wit was met with the full fury of Twitter.
And for good measure, Trump is simply wrong in his tweet about Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Under the Constitution, Mueller is not a "principal officer," in that he doesn't answer directly to the president. Therefore, Senate approval was not required for his appointment.
Mueller was twice-confirmed by the Senate as FBI Director - first in 2001 and again in 2011 - by 98-0 and 100-0.
On the other hand, Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, whom Trump tapped to replace Jeff Sessions, would report to the president and therefore needs to be confirmed by the Senate.
This was the case made by George Conway and Neal Katyal in a New York Times editorial earlier this month.
Trump is clearly not looking forward to being held accountable, now that Democrats will control the House. They've already pledged to challenge the president on a number of fronts.
The internet's mockery of Trump continued on Schiff's Twitter feed.
Schoolchildren have better manners.
On Friday, Trump announced he had “very easily" completed answering Mueller's questions in writing, though he has not submitted them to Mueller's office.
Trump insisted that he and he alone answered what was asked of him.
“My lawyers aren’t working on it. I’m working on it,” Trump said. “My lawyers don’t write the answers.”
Twitter had its theories about what Trump's responses look like.
Schiff's mature reply was appreciated.
There's a storm brewing.
The drama is surely far from over.
Clearly.
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