“Then, as is well known, I found the grim and awful Guardian of the Deep…”

~ Beowulf (lines 2135-6)

At a press conference in 1973, President Richard Nixon said something with which most Americans would agree.  At that time, in answer to a reporter’s question, he famously said “The American people have a right to know if their President is a crook.”

Of course Nixon’s next line, “I’m not a crook” was a blatant lie, which was soon proven through exhaustive research by dogged journalists. 

Here’s the thing about crooks. They seldom admit to being one until they’re caught and brought to justice. And even then, not so much. Yet about 1/3 of  American voters are more than willing to take the word Of Donald Trump when he says “No Collusion, No deals with Russia, Witch hunt, Fake news”. This despite his long history of lies, obfuscation, and fraud.

Now, Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s hand-picked henchman in charge of the IRS flatly refuses a legal request from the House Democrats to hand over Trump’s tax returns. With no legal justification for their obstruction, Trump and Mnuchin must know that they’ll ultimately lose a court battle, but as with all of the other subpoena violations, the administration are hoping to run out the clock before the next elections.

They may be right in that regard, but banking on a strategy that voters will shrug off their right to know whether their President is a crook may be Trump’s best and only hope for 2020.