Presidential Pique

   Much as he wants to, the president cannot control the press. Nevertheless, he tries.
   Banning reporters from rallies doesn't work. Several times he has refused press credentials that give reporters access to designated press facilities at public rallies. But journalists are first and foremost members of the public, so any reporters "banned" from the press gallery simply enter the main auditorium with everyone else.
   The latest target of the presidential pique is Bloomberg News, on the pretext of biased coverage because the owner, Michael Bloomberg, is now a candidate.
   The company said it will not publish investigative pieces on Bloomberg or any other Democratic candidate, but will write on President Trump.
   Whether that constitutes bias is a valid question, since candidate Bloomberg is not the Democratic nominee and a full opponent of the current president. For that matter, Trump is not yet the official nominee for re-election.
   As  for bias against journalists, the president in the past has banned the New York Times, Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Politico, Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, the Des Moines Register as well as several individuals with CNN and other media outlets from contacts with the White House.
   Not that it made any difference. Journalists can either enter rally auditoriums with the general public or watch the event on television, including CSPAN, the nonprofit set of networks that send out government and political events commercial free and without comment.
   Separately today, the House Intelligence Committee released its report on the impeachment inquiry, spelling out how, when and where the president went beyond constitutional guidelines in performing the duties of his office.
   More to the point, the report lists some of the ways he may be guilty of violating the constitutional ban on "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors," and therefore should be impeached, convicted and removed from office.
   Specifically, the report details evidence that he abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to help him get re-elected, and then tried to stop Congress from investigating the allegations.
   Also today, a federal appeals court ordered that the president's financial documents must be provided to Congress by the  bank holding them.
   The case will very likely be appealed to the Supreme Court.