The Trump administration is exercising a privilege routinely enjoyed by previous administrations – and exercised with impunity by President Obama. Before Trump, I'd never seen a president give so much access to people when he didn't have to. Forcing presidential advisers to testify about their work in the White House would have chilling effect moving forward. Salon Magazine referred to Conway's absence at the hearing as "a pattern of defiance" – as if there was something unprecedented about White House advisers refusing to testify. In reality, the Trump administration has been the very model of transparency compared to what I dealt with during eight years of the Obama administration.

Source: Fox News July 17, 2019 09:02 UTC