Rou

Maybe I'm slow. El Presidente stood up and said that he would allow his minions to talk to Congress, but not under oath and not with a transcript.

Ok. So, what does Congress get out of this? Oh... nothing. It's like a reporter with an anonymous source. Nothing useful can be done without corroborating evidence. I mean, it's great in theory, but not in practice. Congress doesn't learn anything that it can use to pursue the investigation. Just some fluff to try to explain things and make this entire debacle fade away?

More importantly, what does it say? It implies that they may lie or mislead the panel. And they would prefer not to commit a crime when they do that. Alternatively, they would like the things they said not to be held against them in the future. Or maybe they just don't want the populace at large to get to see what they say. damn those foundations of democracy. Damn them to HELL!!

Further, El Presidente's reasoning is that it would erode the executive branch. Which is total bullshit, because dozens of other presidential aides and lawyers have testified to congress in the past. What he wants is apprently to INCREASE the authority of the executive branch.

I don't care if the administration did it or not. Well, maybe a little, but not really. But I find this weaseling conniving attitude far more annoying then the fate of 8 lawyers.