Quote of the week
Trump’s electoral fiction floats free of verifiable reality. It is defended not so much by facts as by claims that someone else has made some claims. The sensibility is that something must be wrong because I feel it to be wrong, and I know others feel the same way. When political leaders such as Ted Cruz or Jim Jordan spoke like this, what they meant was: You believe my lies, which compels me to repeat them. Social media provides an infinity of apparent evidence for any conviction, especially one seemingly held by a president.
The New York Times
The Commissions Act provides that once a commission has been appointed, the President may confer upon that commission the power to summon and examine witnesses, to administer oaths and affirmations and to call for the production of books, documents and objects.Failure to comply with a subpoena issued by a commission is a punishable offence. If these powers are not conferred, the commission will have no powers beyond those enjoyed by any individual or state agency conducting an investigation. The Commissions Act may only be made applicable to a commission of inquiry if it is investigating a matter of public concern…. Making the Commissions Act applicable to a commission of inquiry therefore ensures that a commission can call witnesses and obtain the production of documents and objects on pain of punishment. Nevertheless, a commission remains an investigative body whose primary responsibility is to report to the President upon its findings. A commission is generally not entitled or empowered to take any action as a result of its findings. – The Constitutional Court in the judgment of President of the Republic of South Africa v SARFU
