Thursday, January 23, 2020

The President's Actions Threatened US Troops, Veteran on Impeachment Team Argues


"Mr. Giuliani is the President's personal lawyer. He represented Trump with his knowledge & consent. The evidence confirms that Giuliani and Trump were in constant contact... and that both U.S. and Ukrainian officials knew Mr. Giuliani was the 'key' to Ukraine."


Elsewhere in Senate action, there will be an all-senators briefing tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. on the coronavirus, with officials from CDC, NIH, State and others.


Fox News legal analyst shames ‘unworthy’ Republicans who have already decided to acquit Trump


Adam Schiff: "I don't think we really want Vladimir Putin, our adversary, to be thanking God for the president of the United States."


Here’s a nice shot of the latest @GOP senator/juror—Mike Braun of Indiana—afraid to call Lev Parnas as a witness at the impeachment trial, posing with, of course, Lev Parnas and @RudyGiuliani .


NEW: In a new op-ed, Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano debunked President Donald Trump’s “hoax” defense in his Senate impeachment trial and argued that there was “ample” evidence to remove the president from office.


Gross. Also spot on.


Senator Lindsey Graham left the chamber just before House Democrats played a clip of him speaking during President Bill Clinton's trial in 1999 and saying, "It’s just when you’re using your office in a way that hurts people, you’ve committed a high crime."


Despite repeated Congressional requests, Vice President Pence has refused to declassify his aide Jennifer Williams' additional testimony. "I've read that testimony. And I'll just say: A cover up is not a proper reason to classify a document."


Now that the Trump campaign has the green light to lie in Facebook ads, here is what is happening. Just a string of unhinged falsehoods. In exchange for cash, Facebook is infecting its users with misinformation.


DAILY REMINDER: REPUBLICAN Senators celebrated our 4th of July 2018 in Russia with Putin's people Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) Steve Daines (Mont.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), John Kennedy (La.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), John Thune (R-S.D.


I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I practiced law for over 40 years and I just can't understand why we shouldn't be able to access witnesses and documents that we know contain relevant information.


“I’m still stunned that Republicans don’t want to hear from relevant witnesses.”


Analysis: Democrats use Trump’s allies in their case against the president


Democrats ding Trump for echoing Kremlin talking points. This has been a feature of his foreign policy since he got into politics..... here are just a few examples


It was a devastating performance that demolished the notion that impeachment is not a remedy for abuse of power, especially abuse of power involving the betrayal of our national security by extorting a foreign power to investigate the president’s opponent.


"If you have any question about what Sondland told Ambassador Taylor, if the President's counsel tries to create any confusion about what Sondland told Taylor about his conversation with the President...you're gonna want Taylor's notes," says @RepAdamSchiff. "Demand those notes."


SCHIFF: "It wasn't just that Trump used his personal lawyer. It's also that what he was asking for was never a part of US policy. Witnesses told us Trump's investigations were not in his talking points or briefing materials. To the contrary, they went against official policy."


Another NEW piece of evidence from Schiff: The signed Giuliani letter to Zelenskyy (as part of Parnas trove of documents, which became available after impeachment vote). Top Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann called Giuliani letter a "real smoking gun."


You're not seeing the whole picture, folks


"Well, you gotta give Donald Trump credit for this; he has made a religious man out of Vladimir Putin. (laughter) I don't think we really want Vladimir Putin, our adversary to be thanking God for the President of the US. Because they don't wish us well."


.@RepAdamSchiff outlines the 10 clear ways we know that Trump was out to pursue his own interests, not the country's, in Ukraine:


Banned for life: Former Wells Fargo chief executive barred from banking industry


.@RepAdamSchiff: "You gotta give Donald Trump credit for this; he has made a religious man out of Vladimir Putin. I don't think we really want Vladimir Putin, our adversary to be thanking God for the President of the United States. Because they don't wish us well.


We all knew this was coming. After a massive tax cut for the wealthy that lead to trillion dollar deficits, Trump now says it’s time to look at cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Once again, he wants working Americans to pay the bill for corporations and billionaires.


The world is now taking a stand against a corrupt GOP covering Trump's crimes. They gave the GOP the benefit of the doubt, hoping they'd do the right thing when the chips were down and the U.S. and world needed them to. The GOP has shown they are complicit. Expect more of this


Your pal Lev says it happened ...


The same Republicans saying they heard nothing new yesterday voted 9 times on Tuesday against new witnesses and documents coming before the Senate. Let me repeat that: The same Republicans saying they “heard nothing new” just voted 9 times on Tuesday to hear nothing new!


“Trump appears to confuse the Kurds of Syria and Iraq in a meeting with the president of Iraqi Kurdistan”


Nadler plays a clip of Alan Dershowitz from 1998: "It certainly doesn't have to be a crime. If you have somebody who completely corrupts the office of president and who abuses trust and who poses greater danger to our liberty, you don't need technical crime."


Always awkward when someone digs up video from your past, right


Susan Collins was “stunned” by Jerry Nadler’s late-night diatribe this week against what he deemed a “cover-up” by Senate Republicans for President Trump — so much so that she wrote a note to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts


More is coming. American Oversight will be negotiating with the White House budget office about getting some redactions lifted from newly released emails, and if it doesn’t sufficiently comply, it's back into court. A ruling could lift many redactions.


Fact Check: President Zelensky still has not visited the White House


Trump stood outside of the White House in October and publicly called on both Ukraine and China to investigate Biden.


A+ @joelockhart rebuttal to R refrain that impeachment too close to elex: “Well it’s unfortunate the president tried to solicit foreign interference in the election so close to the election!” Otherwise wondering if CNN has editorial mandate not to cover substance of impeachment


You will be surprised to learn, I'm sure, that one of the President's lawyer seems to have been involved in a grift that involved funnelling millions of dollars from his Christian charity into his family's pockets.


Just when the Swiss mountain spat between President Trump and Greta Thunberg seemed to have blown over, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took a new dig at the young climate activist


Memorable from Schiff: "The House believes that an impartial juror ... will find that the Constitution demands [Trump's] removal ... That will be for you to decide, with the weight of history upon you, and, as Pres. Kennedy once said, 'a good conscience your only sure reward.'"


The CNN panel’s take, cutting away from the Senate, was 5 minutes of “wow listening is so hard” — to which I would respectfully offer, yes, but your job is not to winge but to help break it down for Americans. Just a thought.


A violent altercation that escalated into gunfire in downtown Seattle left one woman dead and six other bystanders wounded outside a fast-food restaurant. Police said they were searching for at least two suspects


Donald Trump felt that Ukraine owed him. His main focus before releasing the aid was what he would get in return. But it's not his money. It's yours. It's the American people's money, appropriated by Congress to aid our ally's defense and strengthen our own national security.


.@RepAdamSchiff: "The President…bragged that he thought things were going well because they had all the materials. Well, indeed they do have the material hidden from the American people. That is nothing to brag about."


If Senate Republicans acquit Trump, especially after having continued to block key evidence and witness testimony, they’ll own every dangerous abuse of power by Trump that follows.


Trump boasting about documents that he has withheld sounds a lot like a confession to obstruction of Congress.


It looks as if Hannity is riding away from the US Capitol which he has just set on fire. Appropriate.


A shooting on a downtown Seattle sidewalk Wednesday night left at least one woman dead and seven others injured from gunfire in an incident police believe stemmed from an argument between two men that escalated


Is it wrong to hope all the emails get published?


We're mapping the spread of the new coronavirus, a pneumonialike illness that has spread rapidly since appearing in late December


Ivanka Trump was involved in inauguration’s inflated payments to family business — and so was the president: lawsuit


Amazon asks court to pause Microsoft's work on Pentagon's JEDI contract


“Good job,” @LindseyGrahamSC tells @RepAdamSchiff as the impeachment trial wraps for the day. “Very well spoken.”


Jay Sekulow's Christian nonprofit under investigation by 2 states for paying family millions


JUST IN: Dems have transmitted to the Senate a classified letter from Pence aide Jennifer Williams, supplementing her previous testimony re: Pence’s Sept. 17 call with Zelensky. They have asked Pence to declassify but so far he’s refused. It won’t be made public, per aide


Here's the video @RepAdamSchiff just played on the floor of the Senate, in which Trump asked for illegal election assistance from 2 countries. There's the confession. Every American should see this.


Seriously- Trump let it slip in Davos that cutting Medicare & Social Security are on his second term agenda.#MidnightMoscowMitch warned him to stay quiet during the campaign...but he confirmed it today. It’s still their plan.


This is why we revolted from England. This is why we rejected hereditary privilege. This is why the Framers put an impeachment clause in the Constitution—to convict a president who behaved like a king and put his own family before public officials.


16 people monitored for contact with U.S. coronavirus victim


Putin is above the law in Russia. Erdogan is above the law in Turkey. Kim Jong-un Is above the law in North Korea. But in America the Constitution is sacredly obligatory upon all. The President must be held accountable for his corrupt


BOOM! America says call the witnesses! Landside Rebuke of Trump/GOP Senate’s Cover-Up: 72% say Senate “should allow witnesses w/ firsthand knowledge to testify.” 70% also say senators should “act as impartial jurors.”


Our latest poll shows a bipartisan majority wants testimony from Bolton, Pompeo -- not Hunter


Impeachment manager @RepAdamSchiff laying out his case of Trump's pressure on Ukraine: “We're to believe they felt no pressure?! Folks, they're at war! They're at war and they're being told, you're not getting $400 million in aid you need unless you do what the President wants."


Justice Roberts needs to man up or this sham trial is going to be his biggest legacy.


Based on what Sekulow just said to press, the POTUS posse has not at all prepared a response because they believe the Senate has already been bought off. They have *nothing* prepared. This is bonkers.


Based on my experience with Republican colleagues in the House, I suspect that many Senate Republicans are hearing the facts of this case for the first time.


Rand Paul (R-Moscow) weighs in. Who funds your father’s institute


In watching Schiff’s excellent lay down of evidence, timeline & actions, I’m distracted. What else was going on - with Russia, Saudi Arabia, N Korea, Turkey, etc - where descriptive records aren’t available? This can’t be a stand-alone cluster.


Even without witnesses, House Managers are brilliantly weaving together a compelling case with video clips. These witnesses may not be enough to tell every ugly detail of this scandal, but they are enough to make the case.


Americans know about Trump's Ukraine scheme because people with a sense of duty were willing to step forward and speak out. People like Ambassadors Yovanovitch and Taylor, Lt. Col. Vindman, Dr. Hill. They were willing to risk their careers. Can Members of Congress do the same?


Schiff ends by focusing on the 'dedicated officials' who testified in the House investigation: "They risked everything, their careers. And yes, I know what you're asked to decide may risk yours, too. But if they could show the courage, so can we. I yield back."


Hard to criticize CBS hiring Reince Priebus when CNN still employs Rick Santorum.


Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn has been accused of breaking Senate rules by giving a live television interview while proceedings for Donald Trump's impeachment trial were still ongoing.


90,000 documents for a Democrat lying about a sex act. 0 documents for a Republican bribing a foreign country to cheat in *another* election.


My 12 year old came home today and told me he got into a disagreement with his Social Studies teacher He said Trump was impeached, she said he wasn’t, and the senate won’t impeach him He said Mom, I told her as respectfully as I could she was wrong but she didn’t believe me


The House Managers observing more than 10 @SenateGOP leaving the floor should give a signal to @SenSchumer to as for a quorum call. That will be the press's signal to out the GOP slugs who are giving interviews. The we bury their home states in the people there super lazy.


Dems need to address this directly with Roberts. It is just going to get worse.


On Monday, Senator Hawley was prepared to have no record evidence at all. On Tuesday, Senator Hawley voted ten times to make sure he didn’t hear any of the missing evidence withheld by the White House or any of the witnesses who haven’t yet spoken. On Wednesday,


Why all eyes are on Lamar Alexander at Trump impeachment trial


Impeachment trial may be headed for a classification showdown


Warren: Senate atmosphere reflects serious, historic impeachment


Warren on Trump administration: Corruption. No other word for it.


Schumer praises Schiff for holding GOP rapt, convincing public


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