In a move that could kill two birds with one stone, the White House has ordered the FBI and DOJ to turn over all documents on Obama’s spy Stefan Halper. This could be monumental as everyone knows that President Trump would love to fire both Christopher Wray and Rod Rosenstein but politics just won’t allow it. You may or may not realize that the ultimate decider of what is classified and what is not is the president of the United States.
There is no one who can overrule him including the Supreme Court. If either or both refuse to turn over the information, President Trump would be free to fire them and appoint temporary replacements of his choice without Senate consent. He could pick the most radical replacements he wants and they would serve until the Senate confirms a replacement.
California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence panel, has been locked in a heated battle with the DOJ over the records. The Republican has accused the DOJ and FBI of obstruction for refusing to release the documents. Nunes has led an investigation into potential surveillance abuses at the FBI and DOJ during its collusion investigation.
Halper’s activities have been dubbed “Spygate” by President Donald Trump and many of his supporters. They argue that the FBI took improper steps to keep tabs on members of the Trump campaign. Democrats and other Trump critics have defended the use of an informant, saying they are common law enforcement tools.
But Republicans have also pointed to the timing of Halper’s activities and questioned whether the FBI was investigating the Trump campaign earlier than the bureau has previously acknowledged.
The problem for Democrats is that once this information has been made public it could raise more questions necessitating even more releases. It could snowball all out of control.