Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York (D) Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a message to the five senators currently running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination – Sens. Michael Bennet, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren – the impending impeachment trial of Donald Trump comes first. From CBS News:
President Trump’s trial could tie up senators on the Senate floor for the entire month of January, right before the first contest of the Democratic primary calendar scheduled in Iowa for Feb. 3. With the possibility of close votes on procedural questions such as what witnesses should be called to the Senate floor, Schumer says colleagues should make the trial their first priority, even if it might tread on their campaign plans. “This has to come first. This is one of the most solemn decisions that anyone has to make and I’ve told all members of my caucus that scheduling concerns are secondary to doing this the right way,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday.
Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain) The U.S. House of Representatives, for only the third time in the history of our nation, today announced Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Trump. The two articles of impeachment allege: • Article I: Abuse of Power for asking the president of Ukraine to announce an investigation into his perceived political opponent for the 2020 election, former Vice President Joe Biden. In saying during a phone call with the Ukraine president “We need a favor though…” he conditioned military aide that had already been approved by Congress. Article I also notes a head of state meeting was held at arm’s length unless the investigation was announced. • Article II: Obstruction of Congress for directing unprecedented defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives in the form of withholding documents requested by House Committees, and directing current and former Executive branch officials to not cooperate with those Committees. You can, and should, read the Articles of Impeachment here. It’s not long and Americans should be fully informed on this episode of U.S. history. According to The Hill, Trump would like the trial to begin “sooner than later.” Should the Articles of Impeachment pass in the House as expected, a trial will be held in the U.S. Senate where the 100 Senators will act as the jury. There are currently 53 Republican senators. A super-majority of 67 senators will be required to find Trump guilty. I do not see 20 GOP senators voting against their own president as long as he’s appointing the federal judges they want. Article I will be argued as semantics as to whether “We need a favor though” and other evidence will convince those 20 senators to cross the aisle. Article II seems obvious – Trump did obstruct the investigation. But his Republican soldiers in the Senate will turn a blind-eye to that. That’s my prediction. In the end, the ‘point’ will be history showing House Democrats doing their appointed jobs. What is very, very unclear is whether the impeachment proceedings will energize Trump’s base to get out and reelect him next fall, or will more Democratic and Independent voters show up to vote him out? We shall see. The Trumpster, predictably, responded on Twitter:
To Impeach a President who has proven through results, including producing perhaps the strongest economy in our country’s history, to have one of the most successful presidencies ever, and most importantly, who has done NOTHING wrong, is sheer Political Madness! #2020Election
Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain) The editorial board of the Los Angeles Times officially endorses the impeachment of Donald Trump:
The Times’ editorial board was a reluctant convert to the impeachment cause. We worried that impeaching Trump on essentially a party-line vote would be divisive. It is also highly likely that Trump would be — will be — acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate, and that, rightly or wrongly, he would point to that in his reelection campaign as exoneration.
Then a parade of current and former government officials who testified before the House Intelligence Committee established that Trump’s call was part of a larger effort to condition a White House meeting with Zelensky and the release of the aid on an announcement by Zelensky that he would initiate the specific investigations desired by Trump.
Holding the president accountable for gross abuse of power is the business of Congress. The House should get on with that business by writing articles of impeachment that make it clear to the Senate — and the American people — why the extraordinary remedy of impeachment is necessary. And Republicans who complain that the process is partisan could easily rectify that situation by abandoning their lockstep loyalty to Trump and looking at the facts.
The L. A. Times editorial board is calling for President Trump's impeachment for abusing his office, apparently to benefit for himself in his approaches to Ukraine and for his efforts thwart or hobble special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation. https://t.co/J5OqqJ7EyP
So, Rep. Devin Nunes – Donald Trump’s attack dog on the House Intelligence Committee might have been involved in digging up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine, too???
The attorney, Joseph A. Bondy, represents Lev Parnas, the recently indicted Soviet-born American who worked with Giuliani to push claims of Democratic corruption in Ukraine. Bondy said that Parnas was told directly by the former Ukrainian official that he met last year in Vienna with Rep. Devin Nunes.
“Mr. Parnas learned from former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin that Nunes had met with Shokin in Vienna last December,” said Bondy.
Shokin was ousted from his position in 2016 after pressure from Western leaders, including then-vice president Biden, over concerns that Shokin was not pursuing corruption cases.
Nunes denies the allegations calling the report “demonstrably false.”
To sum up: Trump used his office, his administration and GOP members of Congress to pressure Ukrainian government officials to investigate Joe Biden all in an effort to help Trump's 2020 campaign#DevinNunesGotCaught
Ambassador Gordon Sondland (screen capture) Gordon D. Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, testified today before Congress that he worked with Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukraine ‘at the express direction of the president’ to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. “I know that members of this committee have frequently framed these complicated issues in the form of a simple question: Was there a ‘quid pro quo?’” Sondland said under oath. “With regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes.”
Mr. Sondland acknowledged that he told a senior Ukrainian official that to get Mr. Trump to release the frozen American security aid, the Kyiv government would likely have to publicly commit to investigating a debunked conspiracy theory involving Democrats in the 2016 election as well as Mr. Biden and his son’s ties to Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.
But the ambassador did not attribute that linkage to any explicit direction by Mr. Trump, instead saying he came to that conclusion on his own based on the fact that the money had been held up for so long.
“In the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of the aid,” Mr. Sondland said, “I later came to believe that the resumption of security aid would not occur until there was a public statement from Ukraine committing to the investigations of the 2016 election and Burisma, as Mr. Giuliani had demanded.”
In true Trumpian form, Trump began to distance himself from Sondland upon hearing the ambassador’s testimony.
However, this morning the tune changed: “I don’t know him very well. I have not spoken to him much. This is not a man I know well. He seems like a nice guy though.”
SCHIFF: You testified that that meeting was conditioned was a quid pro quo for the 2 investigations the president wanted. Is that right? SONDLAND: Correct. SCHIFF: And that everybody knew it. SONDLAND: Correct. pic.twitter.com/3Tcw0OV1vT
TRUMP on Gordon Sondland, who he described as "a really good man and great American" last month and who gave $1 million to his inaugural: "I don't know him well. He was with other candidates … not me. Came in late." pic.twitter.com/oy9TUbwPpf
Sondland is destroying virtually every Trump defense: Trump didn’t care about Ukraine; there was a quid pro quo; Trump & Rudy demanded the announcement of investigations; everyone was in the loop; Ukraine knew about the linkage; all was directed by Trump
While Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was testifying before the House committee handling the ongoing impeachment inquiry, Donald Trump had the bad taste to question Vindman’s attire. From ABC News:
Down Pennsylvania Avenue from the hearing at the Capitol, President Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, struck a dismissive tone when asked whether he thinks Lt. Col. Vindman is a credible witness, making note of the moment when Vindman corrected Nunes for referring to him as “Mr. Vidman” and also seemed to question his motives in wearing a military uniform to testify.
“I don’t know him, as he says Lieutenant Colonel, I understand someone had the misfortune of calling him ‘mister’ and he corrected them. I never saw the man, I understand now he wears his uniform when he goes in. No, I don’t know Vindman at all,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting, ABC’s Jordyn Phelps reports.
It appears Cadet Bone Spurs – our Commander in Chief – is unaware that per Army regulations, “A soldier performing duties in an official capacity will normally be in uniform.”
After Pres. Trump’s comment on Lt. Col. Vindman wearing a military uniform to testify today, an Army spokesperson tells @ABC News: “A soldier performing duties in an official capacity will normally be in uniform.” More from @MarthaRaddatz: https://t.co/wJIckfThSvpic.twitter.com/IeHKrkfBMt
Lt. Col. Alexander VindmanThe Wall Street Journalreports the U.S. Army ramped up plans to possibly move Lt. Colonel Vindman and his family to a military base in properly ensure their security in advance of his testimony today in the ongoing impeachment inquiry.
The U.S. Army is prepared to move Col. Vindman and his family onto a military base in the area to ensure their security if it is determined that they are in physical danger, according to U.S. officials. Army security officials in recent weeks conducted a security assessment at Col. Vindman’s request, reviewing both his and his family’s physical security and their online security, according to U.S. officials.
Army security officials have also been monitoring Col. Vindman and his family around the clock to make sure there aren’t any imminent threats, officials said. “The Army will make sure he’s safe, and the Army is actively supporting any safety needs as deemed necessary,” an official said. “It’s hard that he has been catapulted into the public eye. He served his country honorably for 20 years, and you can imagine this is a tough situation for him and his family.”
From Lt. Colonel Vindman’s appearance on Capitol Hill today:
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman: “Dad, I’m sitting here today in the U.S. Capitol, talking to our elected professionals, is proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the Soviet Union…” “Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth.” https://t.co/SfAn7B5WcJpic.twitter.com/kI9cwN6RUl
Apparently, the announcement of an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, by the Ukraine government that Donald Trump sought in exchange for previously promised military aid was to have taken place on Fareed Zakaria’s CNN show, although at the time CNN didn’t know the full backstory. Zakaria told his viewers today he felt he owed them an understanding of what he and his team did and didn’t know as they sought the interview with President Zelensky. It makes sense that Trump’s White House would WANT the announcement on CNN because Democrats watch CNN. Trump wanted as many possible Dem voters to see/hear the allegations to taint support of Biden. It’s worth noting, again, that journalists from across the political spectrum – even Fox News – have repeatedly said there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by Joe or Hunter Biden. Trump just wanted his 2020 version of ‘her emails’ to discourage Democratic voters. Watch below.
The @nytimes has reported that Ukrainian Pres. Zelensky was set to make a public announcement of the investigations sought by Pres. Trump on my @CNN program. So, I think I owe viewers my best understanding of what actually happened.
Donald Trump took to Twitter today to threaten Americans that impeaching him “would lead to the biggest FALL” in stock market history. Not just a recession, but a depression. Mind you, the stock market tripled during President Obama’s 8 years in office, so, there’s that. And even as the impeachment inquiry continues, the market continues on its way. Wall Street sees whats happening and seems fine with the possibility of impeachment.
Dow hits 28,000 – FIRST TIME EVER, HIGHEST EVER! Gee, Pelosi & Schitt have a good idea, “lets Impeach the President.” If something like that ever happened, it would lead to the biggest FALL in Market History. It’s called a Depression, not a Recession! So much for 401-K’s & Jobs!
Trump should be kissing Obama’s ass. Obama inherited recession. Took market from 7,000 to 20,000. Unemployment from 8.3% to 4.6%. Consumer confidence from 25.3 to 107.1. Ended IRAQ war. Crippled ISIS and MS-13. Trump’s trade wars, foreign policy and 1% tax cut threaten stability pic.twitter.com/Ylq2xH0jOj
Marie Yovanovitch (screen capture) Via Time Magazine:
The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was abruptly removed by President Donald Trump earlier this year took center stage on Friday morning to testify in the second public hearing in his impeachment inquiry.
Ambassador Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch, 61, was ousted in May after what her former colleagues describe as a “smear campaign” by Trump’s allies, led by his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. In a July 25th call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, which sparked the initial whistleblower complaint, Trump described her as “bad news” and someone who was “going through some stuff.”
“I didn’t know what it meant,” Yovanovitch told lawmakers in a closed-door hearing last month in regards to those comments. “I was very concerned. I still am.”
Other diplomats have testified that Yovanovitch, who was known as an outspoken critic of corruption in Ukraine, was unfairly removed after a sustained lobbying campaign from Giuliani and others.
Here is the live feed from the hearing via C-SPAN2:
