To impeach or not to impeach, that is the question

The evidence against Trump is mounting. Republicans in the Senate are going to have a hard time defending Trump.

USA Today writes, "Evidence unveiled Tuesday in the impeachment proceeding against President Donald Trump shows an associate of his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, worked to get the Ukraine government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

"The documents appear to show that Giuliani and Lev Parnas, who faces unrelated campaign finance charges, knew the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine would be removed the day before it happened last year.

"The materials, provided to Congress by Parnas' lawyer on Monday, were released Tuesday by four House committees.

"They include Parnas' handwritten notes on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Vienna, the committees said. One page refers to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky: "get Zalensky to annouce that the Biden case will be Investigated.'"

 

Mitch McConnell said yesterday that he strongly opposes foreign intervention in our elections. Yet, he is protecting a President who invited foreign intervention in our President election for selfish political reasons. McConnell has opposed providing evidence, documentation, and witness testimony in his Senate trial. He once said the Senate trial will be according to the White House playbook.

However, he is gradually changing his tune, and now he says witnesses are an open question that will be decided by 51 Senators.

Of course, that has always been true. So, what has changed? What has changed is that he has lost support within in his caucus as moderate Republicans want to hear the evidence and testimony, which is true in any trial, Lawyering 101 at the local community college.

McConnell also realizes that Trump has played him for a fool. In many cases, Trump has convicted himself, and Trump can't make up his mind as to what kind of trial he wants. So, what is the White House playbook? Not even Trump knows. It depends upon the day ... or the hour.

Then, of course, there is the mounting evidence since the House impeached Trump (see previous post) and the fact that Trump's fired NSA has volunteered his services in the Senate trial.

Then there is public opinion. Over 70% of Americans want to hear witnesses in the Senate trial. That is far too much for McConnell to ignore. He is up for reelection this year.

 

Unsupportable nonsense.

 

At first Trump wanted a flashy Senate impeachment trial with plenty of witnesses, and he the star of a television melodrama. This makes sense for a reality TV show host who thinks of himself as still a reality TV show host. During the week, he is virtually a daytime television star, appearing for the most innocuous of reasons, but shunning a full blown solo press conference. He is scared to death of the White House press corps.

Then he said he would follow the Senate lead. He said he wanted a speedy trial without witnesses and evidence. A position McConnell had at the time (see previous post).

Then he said he favored a trial that would include witness testimony from the whistleblower, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, Adam Schiff, and even Nancy Pelosi.

Then he said he supported the proposed Senate resolution that would dismiss the two Articles of Impeachment, virtually eliminating the Senate trial.

My apologies, I have not turned on the news yet today. I have no idea what Trump wants today.

 

In a Dear Colleague letter signed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Charles E. Schumer of New York, senators learned of the rules for the Senate trial. Of course, there was no mention of witnesses.

For more, see https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/mcconnell-schumer-issue-ground-rules-for-impeachment-trial

 

Interesting, the process of the Senate impeachment trial of Donald John Trump and his fans have little or no comment, essentially no comment.

Pelosi signed the Articles of Impeachment today and they were delivered to the Senate. A lot of pomp and circumstance follows. The trial itself is expected to begin on Tuesday.

 

The historic impeachment trial of President Trump got underway today with the arrival in the Senate of the seven House managers to formally present the two charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice of the United States, is headed to the Senate later today, where he is expected to be sworn in to preside over the trial focused on the President’s conduct toward Ukraine. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said the trial will get underway “in earnest” next week, probably Tuesday.

The Post reports, "Fallout also continued Thursday from new allegations by Lev Parnas, a former associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, that Trump knew of his efforts to dig up dirt in Ukraine that could benefit Trump politically. The impeachment charges — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — center on the allegation that Trump withheld military aid and a White House meeting to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, including former vice president Joe Biden.".

Trump's fans? Totally silent.

I can't blame them. Their fallen hero will either be removed from office (unlikely) or be voted out of office along with a large number of Republicans. Already thirty Republican lawmakers have quit. 2018 was a banner year for Republicans who chose to quit.

 

Sandy, I wondered how long it would take you to bump your own OP. You let me down as it fell off the front page of this fourm hours ago. Next time call me and I will save you the trouble of repeating yourself.
The phoney impeachment of Trump will cost your party the election.
BTW, who do you think will do better? You complain but always evade that question. People dislike complainers but appreciate those who name someone who will do a better job with respect to the economy, protecting our citizens, and appointing judges that will follow the constitution.

 

Still another nail in Trump's coffin.

The Times reports, "The Trump administration violated the law in withholding security assistance aid to Ukraine, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency said, weighing in on a decision by President Trump that is at the heart of the impeachment case presented to the Senate on Thursday.

"The agency, the Government Accountability Office, said the White House’s Office of Management and Budget violated the Impoundment Control Act when it withheld nearly $400 million this summer for “a policy reason,” even though the funds had been allocated by Congress."

 

I can't help it if Trump's fans do not defend their hero. I will continue to update readers on Trump's impeachment trial. It is the only thread that does so.

BTW, have you looked at the view count lately?

Trump's fans say the impeachment is a hoax, but they completely avoid the evidence and recent developments. In other words, like you, they are all talk.

 

Sandy, I already gathered for the self important, it is all about "view count".
Remember, the most views on YouTube are those of disasters and car accidents.
Thank you for your continuing education of the deplorables.
BTW, in your continual editing of my posts, you neglected to tell us who you support.
Waiting for your honest response.

 

I think it's too late for this question.

 

Bump for Sandy's OP.
Trump will not be removed from office.
Your welcome Sandy.

 

That's true.

 

This report is the OP, written 2 1/2 months ago. So, I agree. There have been countless updates since October.

 

Despite Senate Majority Leader's wish the Senate trial keep as low profile as possible, Trump wants to turn the trial into a daytime melodrama with him as the star, of course.

The Post reports, "With his Senate trial to begin in earnest next week, President Trump has added some high-profile lawyers to his legal team, including Harvard emeritus law professor Alan Dershowitz and former independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr."

Starr is a serious mistake, unless Trump is lying again. With him, you never know. If Starr is one his lawyers, it will become known that before Clinton was impeached, Starr conducted a three year investigation as the special prosecutor with all the witnesses he needed from the White House.

We no longer have the special prosecutor. The impeachment inquiry was conducted by the House with all the due process Trump wanted -- he chose not to defend himself and blocked witness testimony from the White House -- and the inquiry was much shorter.

Unless Trump wants to incriminate himself again, Starr will not be one of his lawyers. That announcement was strictly for show, in other words, pure Trumpism.

I have a feeling Mitch will make sure that happens. After all,he runs the Senate, not Trump, and even Trump must follow Senate rules

 

Mitch's caucus is splitting apart.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is considered a moderate, shared her views on how the process should play out and recommended that it mirror former President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial from 1999, to allow for bipartisan input.

"That process [from 1999] provided for the opportunity for both sides to state their case and for Senators to ask questions through the Chief Justice," she wrote.

"At the conclusion of that phase of the 1999 trial, the Senate voted on a motion to subpoena witnesses and admit additional materials after the case had been heard and the questions had been posed," Collins continued. "I voted in favor of that motion subpoenaing witnesses."

"While I need to hear the case argued and the questions answered, I tend to believe having additional information would be helpful," the statement read. "It is likely that I would support a motion to call witnesses at that point in the trial just as I did in 1999."

 

Adam Goldman writes, "Federal prosecutors in Washington are investigating a years-old leak of classified information about a Russian intelligence document, and they appear to be focusing on whether the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey illegally provided details to reporters, according to people familiar with the inquiry.

"The case is the second time the Justice Department has investigated leaks potentially involving Mr. Comey, a frequent target of President Trump, who has repeatedly called him a “leaker."

"The timing of the investigation could raise questions about whether it was motivated at least in part by politics. Prosecutors and F.B.I. agents typically investigate leaks of classified information around the time they appear in the news media, not years later."

Do Trump and his lawyer, Bill Barr, have to be so stupidly transparent? They do not have much respect for Trump's base who are undoubtedly cheering madly.

 

Perhaps not, but then there is this. Trump incriminated himself. Maybe the Republican Senators will determine it is perfectly okay for our President to invite foreign interference in our elections for his personal benefit and use bribery on a foreign leader as incentive, and maybe the court of public opinion and the ballot box will think differently.

This is pretty solid evidence and it is direct evidence. Senate Republicans and Trump's fans avoid it. It's dynamite.

 

Hopefully the Senate will handle this with the same degree the House did.
Now, since nobody likes constant complainers, man/woman/alphabet up, who is your choice that would do better.
Congrats on bumping yourself again.

 

The House indicts. The Senate tries. Those are two different animals.

 

This is nothing short of incredible. Trump's corruption has spread to the House of Representatives.

The Post reports, "A month ago, when phone records showed contact between Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Lev Parnas, Nunes said he didn’t recall Parnas’s name and couldn’t confirm the call. On Wednesday, with Parnas about to appear on TV for the first time, Nunes suddenly offered a (very conveniently timed) confirmation, but he downplayed the call as being about “random things.'"

Nunes lame excuse was played out on Fox. It was pathetic. He got caught in a lie on national television and he knew it.

There's more, a lot more.

Trump's supporters are abandoning him. Does anyone blame them?

 

The Post continued, "Now, Nunes’s claims about his ties to Parnas are even more questionable.

"Newly released documents Friday night showed Parnas in repeated contact with a Nunes aide, Derek Harvey. He appeared to be looping Harvey into the Ukraine effort led by Rudolph W. Giuliani, and the messages show the three of them met at the Trump hotel in Washington. Parnas also set up calls for Harvey with the same Ukrainian prosecutors who were working with Giuliani.

"And in one exchange, there is an indication Harvey may have known this was all about Joe Biden:

“Also do you want to interview the general prosecutor who got [ditched] by Biden? Also the anti corruption prosecutor? Let me know,” Parnas wrote on April 19.
“Does tomorrow work?” Harvey responded.

"Harvey even apparently became angry that Parnas and Giuliani were sharing documents with conservative journalist John Solomon, rather than Nunes’s office.

"The combined picture is a Nunes aide who was pretty abreast of what Giuliani and Parnas were up to — to the point where he was meeting with them and expressing frustration at not being the recipient of their information.

"And that isn’t easy to square with the picture painted by Nunes. Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has suggested Parnas was just a person he didn’t know who was spouting a bunch of stuff that he [did not know about]."

If all this is true, Nunes should be expelled from the House. He conspired with Trump to have a highly respected ambassador removed from her post. Instead of overseeing the President, his sworn Constitutional duty, he collaborated with the President.

 

How is it Trump's highly paid lawyers have a stomach for this? According to these lawyers, it is perfectly okay for the President to invite foreign interference in our Presidential elections for his benefit and use bribery on a foreign leader as incentive. In addition, they argue it is okay for the President to ask a foreign government to investigate an American citizen who just happens to be Trump's chief rival.

Those lawyers make me sick. I hope Trump is paying them a lot of money because they are losing every bit of their self-respect as an American.

 

If Pence was involved in, and indeed complicit in, the things Dirty Donald is accused of in the impeachment trial shouldn't he too be impeached???