Tag: impeachment

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Pelosi To Announce Formal Impeachment Inquiry Today

CNN is reporting that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi plans to put a resolution on the House floor today to address the current Donald Trump/Ukraine scandal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning to put a resolution on the House floor tomorrow to address the Ukraine issue amid growing calls to start the impeachment process, sources said.

What that resolution will specifically say is still being worked out. In fact, a Democratic leadership aide said key committees are working on the language now.

A source adds Pelosi wants to do this before Thursday when Joseph McGuire, the acting director of National Intelligence, comes to the House Intelligence Committee in hopes of pressuring him to reveal the details of the whistleblower complaint.

Separately, CNN is told that Pelosi is telling members she thinks this issue is understandable for the American public, and they get it. (This is critical since her whole thing has been public support.)

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Trump: You Can’t Impeach Me Because I’ve Done A ‘Great’ Job

From CNN:

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a resolution defining the rules of the panel’s impeachment investigation, the first vote the committee has taken related to the potential impeachment of President Donald Trump.

The party-line vote came as House Democrats have struggled to define the committee’s probe, with Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler saying the committee is conducting an impeachment inquiry, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are refraining from calling it that.

Thursday’s vote, which does not need to be approved by the full House, gives Nadler the ability to deem committee hearings as impeachment hearings. It allows staff to question witnesses at those hearings for an hour after members conclude, gives the President’s lawyers the ability to respond in writing to public testimony and allows the committee to collect information in a closed setting.

Trump responded via Twitter asserting he can’t be impeached because he’s done such a “good (great!) job:”

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Half Of House Democratic Caucus Now Supports Impeaching Donald Trump

Half of House Democrats now support impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (L), Donald Trump (R)

From Buzzfeed News:

The gradual trickle of Democrats coming out in support of beginning impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump reached a milestone Thursday, with half of the Democratic caucus now publicly supporting it.

The inquiry would spur an investigation by the Judiciary Committee, which would determine if there is enough evidence to draft articles of impeachment.

Rep. Pete Aguilar of California was the most recent member to voice support of impeachment proceedings, which, according to a BuzzFeed News analysis, raises the count to 118, half of the Democratic caucus.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi continues her call for investigations to continue and maintains she will call for articles of impeachment when she feels House Democrats have their “strongest hand” to move forward.

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Pelosi On Impeachment: “I’m Not Trying To Run Out The Clock”

In the aftermath of Robert Mueller's testimony before Congress earlier this week, many Democrats in the House have critized Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for not beginning impeachment proceedings against President Trump saying she may be "running out the clock."

In the aftermath of Robert Mueller’s testimony before Congress earlier this week, many Democrats in the House have critized Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for not beginning impeachment proceedings against President Trump saying she may be “running out the clock.”

Today, Pelosi addressed the criticisms publicly, saying she and the Democratic caucus would move forward “when we have what we need to proceed, not one day sooner.”

“And everybody has the liberty and the luxury to espouse their own position and to criticize me for trying to go down the path in the most determined positive way,” she added.

From CNN:

More than 90 Democratic members — roughly 40% of the party’s caucus — have publicly stated that they support starting an impeachment inquiry, including a handful who made their decision following the hearings this week from former special counsel Robert Mueller.

CNN reported Thursday that House Democrats who are publicly and privately agitating to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump are growing worried that their time is running short — and that they are missing key opportunities to give them a clear opening to mount a formal probe.

“Their advocacy for impeachment only gives me leverage,” Pelosi said Friday of impeachment supporters. “I have no complaint with what they are doing.”

Pelosi said she’ll continue to stay the course, adding she’s “willing to take whatever heat there is.”

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Rep. Justin Amash: High-Level Republicans Thanked Me For Supporting Impeachment

Rep. Justin Amash

During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union this morning, Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.) told Jake Tapper that many “high-level” Republican officials have privately thanked him for his support for impeaching Donald Trump.

“When I was discussing impeachment I had fellow colleagues and other Republicans, high-level officials, contacting me and saying thank you for what you’re doing,” said Amash. “So, there are lots of Republicans out there saying these things privately, but they’re not saying it publicly, and I think that’s a problem for our country.”

Amash announced last week that he was leaving the GOP to become an Independent in the House.

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Schiff: The GOP Has Become ‘A Cult Of Trump’s Personality’

House Democrats continue to wrestle within their own party regarding the idea of beginning impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump.

This was front and center today as House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he’s ‘just not convinced, not yet,’ that it’s the best thing for the country right now.

“In terms of the impeachment process, it’s not mandated by the Constitution. We can avail ourselves of this when the president demonstrates acts that are high crimes or misdemeanors. It is certainly true that much of his conduct qualifies for that, but at the same time we have to recognize the reality that one party, the Republican Party, has turned itself into a cult of the president’s personality and is not likely to act consistent with its constitutional obligations. And we have to figure out in that context, is this the right thing for the country, and I’m just not convinced, not yet, that that’s the case.”

Several freshman rank and file Democrats are ready to dive into impeachment proceedings, but as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said earlier this week, even if articles of impeachment pass in the Democratic-controlled House, the GOP-led Senate (which acts as the judge and jury over such allegations) will never find Trump guilty.

That would then make Trump a martyr to his followers and could embolden them even more in the 2020 election.

Plus, were he to be found ‘not guilty’ by the Senate, that verdict could dissuade any charges being brought against Trump in the private sector once he’s out of office.

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Pelosi: Trump “Wants Us To Impeach Him” So He Can Be Exonerated By GOP-Senate

“I think the president wants us to impeach him,” Pelosi told Kimmel. “He knows it’s not a good idea to be impeached, but the silver lining for him is then, he believes, that he would be exonerated by the United States Senate.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

As more and more Democrats feel the need to push for impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has shown restraint regarding rushing into things.

On one hand, the more info we get about 10+ episodes of obstruction detailed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, the more it makes sense that Trump did indeed attempt to obstruct the investigation and he should be held accountable.

But the danger lies in the fact that Trump would not be found guilty by a Republican-led Senate. And a ‘not guilty’ verdict in the Senate would embolden his supporters.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, Pelosi explained her thinking as well as what she believes Trump wants to see happen.

“I think the president wants us to impeach him,” Pelosi told Kimmel. “He knows it’s not a good idea to be impeached, but the silver lining for him is then, he believes, that he would be exonerated by the United States Senate.

“And,” she added, “there is a school of thought that says, ‘If the Senate acquits you, why bring charges against him in the private sector when he’s no longer president?’ So when we go through with our case, it’s got to be ironclad. Ironclad.”

I completely agree. Watch below.

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Nancy Pelosi On Mueller’s Comments: “Congress Will Continue To Investigate”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has issued a statement in response to this morning’s comments by Special Counsel Robert Mueller:

“The Special Counsel’s report revealed that the President’s campaign welcomed Russian interference in the election, and laid out eleven instances of the President’s obstruction of the investigation. The Congress holds sacred its constitutional responsibility to investigate and hold the President accountable for his abuse of power.

“The Congress will continue to investigate and legislate to protect our elections and secure our democracy. The American people must have the truth. We call upon the Senate to pass H.R. 1, the For The People Act, to protect our election systems. We salute Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team for his patriotic duty to seek the truth.”

Pelosi urged Democrats to whoa up on impeachment calls, saying, “We want to do what is right and what gets results.”

The House Speaker added, “We do want to make such a compelling case that even the Republican Senate will be convinced of the path that we have to take as a country.”

Several Democratic candidates for president weighed in with their thoughts as well:

Oh, and the Trumpster had to chime in as well:

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GOP Congressman Says Attorney General “Deliberately Misrepresented” Mueller Report

Rep. Justin Amash surprised some folks earlier the month when he became the first Republican in Congress to call for impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump.
Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan

Rep. Justin Amash surprised some folks earlier the month when he became the first Republican in Congress to call for impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump.

Today, Amash issued a lengthy 25-tweet statement outlining how he views Attorney General William Barr “misrepresented key aspects” of the Special Counsel’s report.

Amash goes on to cite Donald Trump Jr.’s Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer and the inability of Robert Mueller to secure a proper interview with Donald Trump as concerning issues in the Special Counsel’s report that Barr seems to have obfuscated.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Nancy Pelosi: ‘We Believe That The President Of The United States Is Engaged In A Coverup’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "We believe the President of the United States is engaged in a cover-up"
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Donald Trump keeps pressing to hide more documents and suppress more testimony; more Democrats are shifting towards impeachment mode; and now, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is starting to sound like her colleagues are moving her in that direction as well.

Following a meeting with House Democrats, Pelosi reporters that “no one is above the law,” and “we believe the President of the United States is engaged in a cover up.”

Pelosi was scheduled to meet with Trump and other lawmakers this morning regarding infrastructure legislation.

He wasn’t happy.

Mangling the English language once again, Trump sputtered, “Instead of walking in happily into a meeting, I walk in to look at at people that had just said I’m doing a cover-up. I don’t do coverups.”

Uh-huh. That’s why he’s telling his former lawyer, Don McGahn, to not testify before Congress. Because he’s totally-not covering anything up.

At the impromptu presser in the White House Rose Garden, Trump told reporters he told Democrats at the White House he couldn’t work with them while they were pursuing investigations into him and his administration.

Isn’t it his job to DO his job?