Thursday, November 21, 2019

Pelosi says the #impeachmenthearings cannot await all court decisions before moving ahead.


Kentucky governor’s stay at Trump hotel could carry legal implications for Trump


Over and over and over, Republicans today misrepresented past testimony in really egregious ways.


NEW: The Secret Service spent $250K at @realdonaldtrump's properties in his first 5 months in office -- paying POTUS's business ***$2,000 a day*** in taxpayer funds, new documents sho


Graham launches probe into Bidens, Burisma and Ukraine


Q: "If Congress allows a president, now or later, to ask a foreign government to investigate a political rival, what precedent does that set for American diplomacy, for the safety of Americans overseas, and for the future of our country?" Hill and Holmes: "A very bad precedent."


Sheldon Adelson In Netanyahu’s indictment


Bear in mind these meetings with Trump, the likely impeachment defendant, when Republicans claim they’re “just jurors” and can’t discuss impeachment. If you can discuss impeachment with the likely defendant, you can discuss impeachment with anyone.


I was a little behind and just got here, but holy shit, if you don’t watch any of the rest of the hearing, watch this clip. Swalwell just absolutely drilled Nunes.


Fiona Hill swept the floor with them


SCHIFF closes #ImpeachmentHearings: "There is nothing more dangerous than an unethical POTUS who believes they are above the law... I would just say to people watching here, at home, & around the world, in the words of my great colleague -- we are better than that! *gavel bang*"


WATCH: Fiona Hill says Sondland wasn't coordinating with her and her staff: "He was being involved in a domestic political errand, and we were being involved in national security foreign policy." ... "I did say to him, 'I think this is all going to blow up' — and here we are."


SWALWELL on Nunes: "He may be the fact witness if he is working with indicted individuals around our investigation." Swalwell asks to submit for the record this DB article that Lev Parnas helped arrange meetings and calls in Europe for Nunes in 2018:


It’s possible that Dr Hill thinks Devin Nunes is a moron.


Nunes asks Fiona Hill and David Holmes if it's appropriate for a political campaign to pay operatives to dig up dirt in a foreign country on their opponents. Both say no and appear gobsmacked by the question –– like the rest of us –– as this is EXACTLY what Trump is doing.


Hill: "[Sondland] was being involved in a domestic political errand and we were being involved in national security foreign policy and those two things had just diverged...I was irritated with him...and I did say to him...I think this is all going to blow up—and here we are."


HILL: "[Sondland] was being involved in a domestic political errand, and we were being involved in national security foreign policy." Trump's bribery scheme directly threatened our national security.


Hill just laid it out perfectly: she was following the official policy of the US government, which as far as she knew, was what the president wanted. Sondland was following the shadow policy, which the president didn’t want anyone to know about.


Fiona Hill: "Sondland was put on a domestic personal political mission."


NEW: Federal prosecutors in NY have subpoenaed several individuals active in Donald Trump's fundraising machinery as part of their investigation into Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says evidence is clear: President Donald Trump used office for personal gain


Fox News shows no signs that it plans to stop lying to its audience, no matter how bad the facts get for Trump.


Folks are forgetting that Russians have attempted to infiltrate the entire conservative movement incl the RNC & the NRA. We don't know the full extent of Russian influence at this point


Hill: "Russia's interest...is to delegitimize our entire presidency...What we're seeing here as a result of these narratives is exactly what the Russian government was hoping for." "We must be very careful...not to give [Russia] more fodder that they can use against us in 2020."


Powerful message from @SpeakerPelosi to @senatemajldr as she lays out the facts and asks "Why do you think your political survival is more important than the survival of our children?"


Israel’s attorney general has formally charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption scandals. Netanyahu, who has denied any wrongdoing and said he’s a victim of a witch hunt, was charged with fraud, breach of trust and bribery.


Remember, Fiona Hills categorical rejection of the theory that Ukraine intervened in our 2016 election is a direct refutation of her former boss, President Trump. She worked for him for over 2 years.


Imagine the courage and guts it took for Fiona Hill to take a job in the Trump White House as the top NSC Russia advisor, knowing full well that Putin helped him win the last election


Holmes unexpectedly gave credible, detailed information, not only making clear that the quid pro quo was well known, but that it was clear “Burisma” equated to “Bidens.”


“This is exactly what the Russians were hoping for...that they would pit one party against the other” - Fiona Hill


.@GStephanopoulos calls ex-NSC Russia expert Fiona Hill's testimony "a tutorial—and a warning—about Russia.


Treason is at the root of Trump's crimes, for they promote the overarchin' message of Russian Intelligence in their attempt to divide and weaken our nation. Trump is truly our number one national security threat


It's equal parts frightening and heartbreaking that Russia's primary agent of propaganda dissemination is the President of the United States. Here is Trump's e-mail today pushing the Russia created story that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.


Fiona Hill’s startling testimony shows Trump’s crime is so much worse than abuse of presidential power


Fiona Hill: "You tell John Eisenberg, Ambassador Bolton told me, that I am not part of this whatever drug deal that Mulvaney and Sondland are cooking up."


‘This is a fictional narrative’: Fiona Hill delivers damning slam against Nunes’ lie that Ukraine attacked US election


Bye-bye Bibi. Israeli prosecutors have done what Bill Barr has said Robert Mueller cannot do here. Nobody is above the law. Netanyahu indicted: A-G to charge PM with bribery, fraud, breach of trust


JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli Justice Ministry: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicted on fraud, breach of trust and bribery.


Yikes! Hill names former Nunes aide Kash Patel as the person she believes was the NSC official she was told Trump wanted to speak with about Ukraine even though Patel was not involved in Ukraine policy.


Dr. Hill: "Some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia... did not conduct a campaign against our country—and that... for some reason, Ukraine did. This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves."


Hill: "In the course of this investigation, I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance the Russian interests...These fictions are harmful even if they're deployed for purely domestic political purposes."


Holmes: "At a time of shifting allegiances and rising competitors in the world, we have no better friend than Ukraine – a scrappy, unbowed, determined, and above all dignified people who are standing up against Russian authoritarianism and aggression. They deserve better."


GOLDMAN: What did you understand [Bolton] to mean by the 'drug deal that Mulvaney and Sondland were cooking up'? HILL: I took it to mean investigations for a meeting. GOLDMAN: Did you go speak to the lawyers? HILL: I certainly did.


NEW: 107 Members of Congress call for the immediate firing of White House Senior Adviser to the President Stephen Miller.


Just to emphasize, Dr. Hill noted that Rudy Giuliani's input & conspiracies on Ukraine, Russia were taken by the President over that of the entire U.S. intelligence community and the NSC


BREAKING: Benjamin Netanyahu to be indicted


Epstein victims' lawyer says Prince Andrew should speak to US authorities 'without conditions and without delay'


Here is a link to Devin Nunes' open statement for today, where he accuses Democrats of a coup and keeps repeating "they got caught" over and over without even the slightest hint of irony.


Thank you @RepAdamSchiff and @SpeakerPelosi for providing the American people the transparency we deserve and working to expose Trump’s unprecedented abuse of power. History will remember your patriotism and Trump’s shameful corruption.


BREAKING @DevinNunes “got caught” working with an indicted Ukrainian.


Hill/Holmes hearing notes here: Fwiw -- not enough people read Hill's closed door deposition. It was dense with information about the real consequences of what POTUS was doing. She also called out the fact that republicans were promoting fiction re "Ukraine collusion" story


Fiona is a resolute professional. Her testimony today might frustrate people on both sides of the aisles. We could not be more fortunate and privileged to be able to call her our Brookings colleague.


What Hill is really asserting this morning is that current GOP Members of Congress are being successfully used by the Russians.


Hill in her testimony will argue that such a theory amounts to a fictional narrative at a time when the US should be focused on the real threat: Russia.


A dire warning from Fiona Hill, a top US expert on Putin, today in her opening statement, obtained by @NBCNews: “Right now, Russia’s security services and their proxies have geared up to repeat their interference in the 2020 election. We are running out of time to stop them"


Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross discussed “competitive issues facing the U.S. aerospace market” with the CEO of Boeing in March 2017, a time when Ross’ wife owned nearly $3 million worth of stock in the company.


“If Republicans actually believed the president to be innocent, they would seek the relevant documents and sworn testimony of the top aides who now dodge accountability.” A WaPo editorial.


"This was a vintage mob operation with Trump at the top not putting his fingers too directly on things but sending out his lieutenant Rudy Giuliani..."


Fiona Hill Wrote the Book on Putin’s ‘Protection Racket.’ Now She’s Testifying About Trump.


The House Intelligence Committee hears testimony from Fiona Hill, the National Security Council's former top director for Europe and Russia, and David Holmes, a U.S. Embassy official in Ukraine.


In her opener, Fiona Hill addresses lawmakers who believe Russia didn't interfere in elections & it was Ukraine instead: "This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.


Why is Mitt Romney meeting with Trump at the White House today?


Trump donor Gordon Sondland has established that the bribery scheme of the Ukranian leader came straight from @realDonaldTrump. People can still disagree, as a political matter, whether impeachment should occur. But as a factual matter, @POTUS committed impeachable offenses.


I noticed that Devin Nunes is in the news. If you’re interested in a strange tale about Nunes, small-town Iowa, the complexities of immigration policy, a few car chases, and lots of cows, I’ve got a story for you...


Zuckerberg is attacking Warren and dining with Trump


Fiona Hill, in her opening statement, really hits GOP House members hard: You’re pushing a “fictional narrative” of Ukraine interfering ni election. I will not be part of a an attempt to “legitimize” that.


BREAKING: 5-time draft-dodger attacks military. The Republicans are now the “War Criminal Party.”


Jim Jordan was imposed on us for egregiously partisan reasons. Now he’s afflicting the nation.


David Holmes and Fiona Hill, two central witnesses to the pressure campaign in Ukraine, plan to testify publicly today in the impeachment inquiry.


Hill is the closer for Democrats, a no-nonsense Russia expert who worked closely w/ Bolton and raised alarms about Sondland and Giuliani. The rundown,


Fiona Hill taking a jab at her former boss, John Bolton, in her opening remarks? “I believe that those who have information that the Congress deems relevant have a legal and moral obligation to provide it.” Bolton has not complied with House requests, like others


The president will meet with some of his Republican critics ahead of a likely Senate trial that will decide the fate of his presidency


Schiff: We have not received a single document from the State Dept. ... Those documents bear directly on this investigation and this impeachment inquiry. I think we know now ... the knowledge of this scheme was far and wide and included, among others Secretary Pompeo and the VP.


Today's public hearing in the Trump impeachment inquiry: 9AM ET: -Fiona Hill, the former director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council -David Holmes, a top staffer at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine


ICYMI: Jeffrey Epstein scandal topples another member of his powerful millionaires club, pressure mounts for Prince to cooperate with US prosecutors | Miami Herald


In Fiona Hill’s opening statement she will say it’s a “fictional narrative” for some on the committee to believe Ukraine, not Russia, attacked our democracy


Remember like 15 minutes before trump became president when conservatives thought a national ID card was modern tyranny and anti-American? Well, turns out it's ok as long as they data goes to Peter Thiel to make a master list of who gets to be a citizen.


Unbelievable. Zuckerberg had secret dinner with Trump & Peter Thiel of Palantir last month. Watch Zuck being questioned about Palantir below. This company has unprecedented access to data through govt contracts in US & UK. SO many unanswered questions


Fox News' Chris Wallace: "To a certain degree, [Gordon Sondland] took out the bus and ran over President Trump, Vice President Pence, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani, Mick Mulvaney," he added. "He implicates all of them."


More than $35 million of the roughly $400 million in aid to Ukraine that Trump delayed has not been released to the country, according to a Pentagon spending document obtained by LAT.


Wow from Fiona Hill: “Based on questions & statements I have heard, some of you on this cmte appear to believe that Russia & its security services did not conduct a campaign against our country & that perhaps, somehow, for some reason, Ukraine did. This is a fictional narrative.”


Who is Fiona Hill? She was a @realDonaldTrump appointee to the National Security Council, specializing in Russian and Eurasian affairs. Today she will testify under oath and destroy ridiculous GOP talking points


"I don’t know much about it": NBC News chairman dodges on outside investigation


Establishments owned by Provenance Hotels are getting spammed with bad reviews as the man who once owned them gets embroiled in impeachment drama


Congratulations to President Trump for “opening” a “plant” that @BarackObama announced in his 2013 State of the Union Address


When that phony, obnoxious, fake dumbass person in class walks up to you...


Turkey says talking with Russia over Kurdish YPG in northeast Syria


Putin has interfered too much in Western Democracy and he is allowed to get away with it. #BorisJohnson needs to release the Russia report to the British people. It’s unacceptable that he won’t. What is he hiding?


Gordon Sondland says Ukraine president asked: "When do we get our money?"


Hillary Clinton calls for White House adviser's removal, says his presence is an 'emergency'


Meanwhile,Republicans are trying to manufacture evidence against the Democratic frontrunner


Sondland’s testimony establishes what the House needs to conclude in order to impeach Trump for the “high Crime” of crippling Congress’s lawful impeachment process by withholding the documents and witnesses demanded of the White House and the State Dept


Ken Starr on Fox wonders if senate will nudge Trump to resign: “The real issue is if senators are watching. Are senators going to now say in light of what we hear today, ...‘We need to make a trip down to the White House’? That historic example set during the Nixon presidency."


Pete is the son of an upper middle class academic. Warren is the daughter of a janitor. But Pete gets to be the “Midwesterner” while the women who grew up poor in Oklahoma, went to public school, went to college as a single mom - is “elite” and “uppity.” Cool.


Basically, as Putin and Erdogan finesse Trump, so do Zuckerberg and Thiel (and Cook)


My successor at DOD, Laura Cooper, just testified that the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington was asking the State Department about the freeze in security assistance already on July 25. Yes, that’s the day of the Trump-Zelensky call.


Cooper says she has learned new information from her staff. Staff showed two unclassified email from State. One received July 25th at 2:31: "Ukrainian embassy are asking about security assistance." Important to timeline.


"Humanitarian aid is never a crime." Tucson jury has found Scott Warren of @NoMoreDeaths not guilty of all charges for providing food, water, and aid to undocumented migrants in the Sonoran Desert.


Vindman’s lawyers slam Fox News


Samantha Bee: Gordon Sondland is the "selfish, idiotic" hero America deserves


Protesters stay holed up on Hong Kong campus, surrounded by riot police


"When Ken Starr gets on Fox & suggests that, maybe, in the light of Sondland’s testimony, some Republican senators should Go To The White House, something important has kicked in." Sondland Is a Smug Plutocrat Who Was OK With All of It Until He Wasn't


Sen. Amy Klobuchar said if American voters think a woman can't beat President Trump in next year's presidential election, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "does it every single day"


We’re old enough to remember when spreading white supremacist propaganda would actually get you canned.


Again I repeat my prediction: Nunes will serve more time in prison than any other Trump associate.


Remember all these Hong Kong protesters waving US flags? They were asking us to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. And it just passed. Unanimously in the Senate and 417-1 in the House. That’s veto proof.


Beating Trump, rather than beating up on each other, was focus of fifth Democratic debate


It's unclear why Facebook and the White House didn't admit Zuckerberg, Trump and Peter Thiel had this dinner until we found out separately and asked Facebook. It's also unclear what the Facebook CEO, board member and president talked about.


I wanted there to be some accountability for Gordon Sondland today. He frankly had been a little too smug. Until now, his testimony has been incomplete, so we owed it to the public to get to the bottom of that.


The man who embodied the real corruption in Ukraine was Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign manager, now in US jail. Ukrainians were right to be suspicious of Trump for hiring him and for praising Putin, still waging war on Ukraine.


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


It's an impeachable act to hold up the aid for personal reasons, but Republicans have argued that Ukraine would have had to know about it for it to be impeachable. Okay, Ukraine knew. Your move, bootlickers.


One of the funniest, most shade-throwing things about these hearings is Schiff's just total refusal to even pay attention to Nunes batshittery. Just the same whatever dude, "thank the gentleman". Ice cold.


Pete Buttigieg: "You met with a murderous dictator" (Assad) Tulsi Gabbard : "I take the example of those leaders who came before us. Like JFK who met with Kruschev. Like Roosevelt who met with Stalin—" Pete: "Like Donald Trump who met with Kim Jong Un."


Sondland. “A guy who got put there”


Trump press secretary backtracks claim Obama officials left 'You will fail' notes https://t.co/wZl6TL5e4x Our Press Secretary LIED about the Trump transition; when called out on the lie, she scoffed, “I don’t know why everyone is so sensitive!”


Don't ya just hate senior State Department officials who intentionally place classified information in UNCLAS channels? I seem to recall there being an issue with this in 2015-16 but that was a long time ago now. It's hazy


Ken Starr: We now know that the president in fact committed the crime of bribery... I think articles of impeachment are being drawn up if they haven't already been drawn up


The bribery scheme "was no secret." -Ambassador Sondland


Senior China diplomat says Beijing will never allow anyone to destroy HK's stability


Google announced updates to its political ad policy, including restricting how political ads can be targeted on its platforms. However, the company made no apparent changes to how it will treat lies pushed by candidates.


BREAKING: A federal judge in DC just blocked 4 executions feds wanted to carry out, which would've been 1st since '03. US Dist Judge Tanya Chutkan says federal law seems to require US to follow execution procedures used in state where inmate was convicted


Solid ⁦@RepSwalwell⁩ you could have heard a pin drop.


Fortunately for Donnie & friends, nobody has the capability to intercept completely open, unsecured mobile phone calls. Nobody, I tell you. Certainly not Russia


Analysis: Gordon Sondland’s testimony torpedoes Republican defenses of Trump


“Be careful what you wish for” is a real thing.


Today, "a lifelong Republican” hand-picked by President Trump to execute this Ukraine pressure campaign told the American public that "yes" there was a quid-pro-quo. That's big.


Democrats must decide if they’ve gathered enough evidence to justify impeaching President Donald Trump quickly or press for more


Republicans support this fraud who stole money from a fundraiser for veterans to pay for his own presidential campaign.


Republican defenses break down during impeachment hearings


Fact-checking Tim Morrison’s claims about Trump-Zelenskiy call transcript


To normal people, this sounds crazy. But Hannity is inoculating his listeners against actual news bearing down on them. His listeners do not tune in to learn things, they listen to him to confirm things they already believe.


Suddenly Trump needs notes to say these simple words? After he was rushed to hospital on Saturday? Did he have emergency neurological symptoms?


The Ukraine funds were certified in MAY, Cooper testifies.


If Mike Pompeo doesn’t testify, he should be impeached


RUSSIAN MOB GOON PARNAS HELPED DEVIN NUNES "INVESTIGATE" ON TAXPAYER DIME


Under Secretary Hale just did what Pompeo refused to do. He said, under oath, that what happened to Ambassador Yovanovitch “was wrong.” What Trump did to her “was wrong.” What Trump had Giuliani do to her “was wrong.” I’ll add, Pompeo’s refusal to support her “was wrong.”


NEW: Ukraine embassy was asking about security assistance on July 25, Pentagon official Laura Cooper says. Says two emails on subject sent to her staff that day. Blow to GOP argument that Ukraine didn't know about hold.


Whoa! Cooper just said that since she testified in private, her staff has brought to her attention emails and other information that show Ukraine was inquiring about the suspended aid on July 25, the same day as the Trump-Zelensky call. This is a month earlier than we thought


Prince Andrew is not the only powerful person connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s exploits. He just had the misfortune of having his photo taken — look at the others. There is a lot of smoke.


Kamala Harris hits Tulsi Gabbard, says it's "unfortunate" that there's someone on the stage who has "spent four years, full time on Fox News criticizing Pres. Obama ... criticizing people on this stage," who, when Trump was elected, “buddied up to Steve Bannon."


Lawyer: "Parnas is prepared to testify completely and accurately about his involvement in the President and Rudy Giuliani’s quid pro quo demands of Ukraine.”


Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, helped arrange meetings and calls in Europe for Rep. Devin Nunes in 2018, Parnas' lawyer told The Daily Beast.


My god. Within minutes the Trump campaign is promoting Tulsi. All you need to know.