"Do as we say, not as we do," appears the modus operandi of the current administration's increasingly totalitarian regime. Today's edition of 'wait, what?' comes from The WSJ who report that The U.S. House of Representatives told a federal court Friday it should dismiss a lawsuit filed by the SEC (regarding the long-running insider-trading investigation) because Congress is lawfully allowed to ignore requests to turn over records and testimony to the executive branch agency. Arguing "sovereign immunity" and responding in a rather snarky (almost "do you know who we are?" manner), House attorneys blasted the SEC's "fool's errand."
As WSJ reports, [5]
The U.S. House of Representatives told a federal court Friday it should dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission because Congress is lawfully allowed to ignore requests to turn over records and testimony to the executive branch agency.
"Rather than acknowledge the fool's errand on which it has embarked, the SEC instead invites this court to join it by disregarding fundamental limitations on judicial authority," wrote House attorneys in a new court filing.
The SEC filed a lawsuit last month in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to force House lawyers to turn over documents sought by the agency in a long running insider-trading investigation.
...
House lawyers largely repeated arguments they made in an earlier motion asking the court to dismiss the SEC case.
They say neither Mr. Sutter nor the committee have done anything improper and argued they are not required to comply with the subpoenas under provisions in the Constitution that shield legislative activity from outside scrutiny.
They also argue "sovereign immunity," which protects the government from legal liability without an explicit waiver, also shields it from a suit filed by a government agency.
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And summing it all up
[6]
