The Commentariat -- January 24, 2020
Afternoon Update:
The New York Times liveblog of today's developments in the Senate impeachment proceedings is here. "The House impeachment managers are now at work on the heart of their task for the afternoon: stringing together, bit by bit, a story of how President Trump and lawyers around him tried to conceal his Ukraine pressure campaign. Discussion of Mr. Trump's alleged cover-up had focused primarily on Mr. Trump's defiance of subpoenas ... in the impeachment inquiry. But Representatives Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Jason Crow of Colorado suggested to senators that behavior is just one part of a longer cover-up, much of which took place behind the scenes before the House had even learned of the pressure campaign." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's liveblog is here. @13:14 ET: "Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell kicked off today's proceedings by confirming that the trial would resume tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET, earlier than recent days, and run for 'several hours.'"
Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "A recording reviewed by ABC News appears to capture ... Donald Trump telling associates he wanted the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch fired while speaking at a small gathering that included Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.... The recording appears to contradict statements by President Trump and support the narrative that has been offered by Parnas during broadcast interviews in recent days. Sources familiar with the recording said the recording was made during an intimate April 30, 2018, dinner at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. Trump has said repeatedly he does not know Parnas.... 'Get rid of her!' is what the voice that appears to be President Trump's is heard saying. 'Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it.'"
~~~~~~~~~~
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "House Democrats sought on Thursday to pre-emptively dismantle President Trump's core defenses in his impeachment trial, invoking his own words to argue that his pressure campaign on Ukraine was an abuse of power that warranted his removal. On the second day of arguments in the third presidential impeachment trial in American history, Democrats sought to make the case that Mr. Trump's actions were an affront to the Constitution. And they worked to disprove his lawyers' claims that he was acting only in the nation's interests when he sought to enlist Ukraine to investigate political rivals. In doing so, they took a calculated risk in talking at length about Mr. Trump's targets -- former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter Biden.... [Lead House manager Adam] Schiff later volunteered that neither he nor his colleagues had a position on the Democratic presidential primary. Mr. Schiff also brought Mr. Trump into the chamber -- at least on video -- to use the president's own words against him, with a clip in which the president ... called for Ukraine to start a 'major investigation' into [the Bidens]." ~~~
Schiff's Stemwinder:
~~~ Worth remembering when Republican senators vote against the nation. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' liveblog is here. "Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the lead impeachment manager, stepped back to the Senate lectern around 10 p.m. Eastern to deliver one final argument for the day. It turned out to be a stemwinder, jolting the sleepy Senate to attention as Mr. Schiff argued more explicitly than ever before for President Trump's removal from office. ~~~
~~~ "Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, began the House presentation on Thursday with an hourlong lecture on the constitutional history of impeachment. He insisted that the history of the Constitution makes it clear that a criminal violation is not necessary to impeach the president.... He cited words from some of President Trump's key allies in his impeachment defense: Alan Dershowitz, a member of the president's impeachment team; William P. Barr, the attorney general; and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina.... [ABC:] 'Abuse. Betrayal. Corruption,' he said. 'Here are the core offenses, the framers feared most. The president's abuse of power, his betrayal of the national interest, and his corruption of our elections plainly qualified as great and dangerous offenses.'" ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's report on Thursday's proceedings is here. The Guardian's liveblog for Thursday is here. ~~~
~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) spent several minutes Thursday afternoon focusing on the theory that Ukraine was involved in the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), one that Trump has continued to mention despite his own advisers repeatedly pushing back on it as debunked. Mentioning statements from Trump's former aides..., Schiff described the theory as 'brought to you by the Kremlin' and alleged Trump was motivated by his own political ambitions in raising it with Ukraine. 'On the basis of this Russian propaganda, he withheld $400 million in military aid to a nation Russia was fighting -- our ally,' Schiff said.... 'He was doing it because it helped him,' Schiff said, echoing prior remarks from Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), another impeachment manager. 'Because it could get these talking points for him in his reelection campaign, and for that he would sacrifice our ally and our own security.'" ~~~
~~~ Amber Phillips of the Washington Post has a "five-minute Fix" on the day's proceedings: "Democrats made their case that Trump acted corruptly by trying to methodically knock down four of Trump's main defenses."
Catch 22. Manu Raju & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "A growing number of Republicans are pointing to ... Donald Trump's threat to invoke executive privilege in order to make their case against subpoenas sought by Democrats for key witnesses and documents, a development that could bolster Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's goal of a swift end to the impeachment trial. GOP senators are privately and publicly raising concerns that issuing subpoenas -- to top officials like acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton and for documents blocked by the White House -- will only serve to drag out the proceedings." Mrs. McC: The "logic" here is impressive: we can't ask Trump for evidence about articles of impeachment including obstruction of Congress because he'll obstruct Congress.
Catherine Garcia of the Week: "Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) was engrossed in a book during Thursday's impeachment proceedings, but one thing managed to make her look up: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) referring to Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a Purple Heart recipient, as an 'American patriot.' 'How patriotic is it to badmouth and ridicule our great nation in front of Russia, America's greatest enemy?' Blackburn tweeted. She did not give any examples of Vindman speaking ill of the United States in front of Russia.... Senators aren't supposed to be using electronics during the trial, but Blackburn tweeted throughout the afternoon and evening. Over multiple tweets, she accused Vindman of leaking sensitive material, being 'vindictive,' and wanting to 'take Trump out.'" ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post reports the background on Blackburn's unsupported multiple attacks on Vindman.
Burgess Everett of Politico: "Sen. Susan Collins was 'stunned' by Rep. Jerry Nadler's late-night diatribe this week against what he deemed a 'cover-up' by Senate Republicans for ... Donald Trump -- so much so that she wrote a note to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.... Collins said she believed the back and forth between House Judiciary Chairman Nadler (D-N.Y.) and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone violated Senate rules and felt compelled to point that out, even though senators are required to stay at their desks and not speak during the trial." Roberts then chastised presenters on both sides. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Nadler could have gotten up there and made a blasphemous, profane harangue accusing Republican senators of mass murder, rape and pedophelia, and he would not have been more offensive than Collins' speech announcing her vote for Brett Kavanaugh. P.S., Susan, you hypocritical slut, in complaining to the CJ about Nadler's supposed violation of Senate rules, you violated the Senate rule to STFU under penalty of prison when you passed that note to Johnny.
Lindsey Graham has some thoughts on impeachment, including a new claim that the Trump administration released funds to Ukraine because he and Sen. Rob Portman called the White House:
After having been treated unbelievably unfairly in the House, and then having to endure hour after hour of lies, fraud & deception by Shifty Schiff, Cryin' Chuck Schumer & their crew, looks like my lawyers will be forced to start on Saturday, which is called Death Valley in T.V. -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning
Trump is upset that Mitch McConnell, who is openly coordinating with him, gave his team a bad slot for TV ratings. -- New York "Daily Intelligencer" (no link)
Jonathan Chait: Trump lead attorney Jay "Sekulow is prone to making absurd claims based on comically obvious errors. And ... when he is called on these undeniable errors, the White House will back him up anyway.... It's probably inevitable, given the nature of the defendant and the charges against him, that Trump's lawyers will bungle the facts and the law. But is it really necessary for the president of the United States to employ a lead attorney who is unable to understand words?" The words Sekulow can't understand in this case are -- "quid pro quo" and "FOIA" -- even though Val Demings explained in the same sentence she used it, that FOIA stood for "Freedom of Information Act." Mrs. McC: Most people probably don't know what the acronym FOIA (pronounced "FOY-yah") means, but a lawyer whose client has been vigorously fighting FOIA requests should definitely know what they are, even without the explanation provided.
Frank Rich: "The facts are utterly damning, even without an infusion of new witnesses and documents, and Adam Schiff's prosecutorial skills may join Clarence Darrow's in American history books." Mrs. McC: And Rich wrote this before Thursday's proceedings.
Kyle Cheney & John Brenahan of Politico: "The White House declined to provide documents to a congressional watchdog investigating ... Donald Trump's decision to withhold military aid from Ukraine, according to documents released Thursday by Sen. Chris Van Hollen. The White House responded to the Government Accountability Office's inquiry with a one-page letter on Dec. 20, citing a legal memo from the Office of Management and Budget that defended the hold on military aid as necessary to ensure spending the funds wouldn't 'conflict with the President's foreign policy.' The correspondence is part of what led GAO to accuse the Trump administration of blocking its inquiry and conclude last week that Trump's decision to withhold military aid violated federal law. Democrats have cited that decision as they press their case that Trump should be removed from office.... The documents released by Van Hollen (D-Md.) indicate that GAO had asked the White House budget office for details on how the hold on military aid complied with the Impoundment Control Act, the law the GAO argues Trump violated."
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post agrees with Mrs. McCrabbie (see yesterday Comments): Chief Justice John "Roberts's captivity [in the Senate] is entirely fitting: He is forced to witness, with his own eyes, the mess he and his colleagues on the Supreme Court have made of the U.S. political system. As representatives of all three branches of government attend this unhappy family reunion, the living consequences of the Roberts Court's decisions, and their corrosive effect on democracy, are plain to see. Ten years to the day before Trump's impeachment trial began, the Supreme Court released its Citizens United decision, plunging the country into the era of super PACs and unlimited, unregulated, secret campaign money from billionaires and foreign interests. Citizens United, and the resulting rise of the super PAC, led directly to this impeachment. The two Rudy Giuliani associates engaged in key abuses -- the ouster of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, the attempts to force Ukraine's president to announce investigations into Trump's political opponents -- gained access to Trump by funneling money from a Ukrainian oligarch to the president's super PAC. The Roberts Court's decisions led to this moment in indirect ways, as well.... Now, we are in a crisis of democratic legitimacy: A president who has plainly abused his office and broken the law, a legislature too paralyzed to do anything about it -- and a chief justice coming face to face with the system he broke."
Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department secretly acknowledged last month that it had 'insufficient predication' to continue monitoring a former Trump campaign adviser during the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to records made public Thursday -- a notable admission likely to fuel continued criticism over how the bureau handled the high-profile case. The concession was revealed in an order posted on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's website. In December, according to the order, the department told the court it had come to believe that in at least two of the four applications to monitor the former adviser, Carter Page, 'there was insufficient predication to establish probable cause' to believe he was acting as a Russian agent."
Matt Stieb of New York: "As part of his misbegotten campaign to be considered for a Nobel Peace Prize, President Trump is moving forward with a plan developed by his son-in-law to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On Thursday, the administration took a major step toward delivering Jared Kushner's long-delayed proposal, when Vice-President Mike Pence announced an invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet in Washington next week.... Rather than include Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a talk to determine an agreement between Israel and Palestine, Pence extended the invitation to Netanyahu's challenger in the March election, Benny Gantz. At a larger scale, the Trump administration has not welcomed Palestinian leaders to the table as Kushner has drawn up his peace plan -- which the president said would be released prior to the Tuesday meeting.... Palestinian leadership has refused all Trump administration outreach since the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in 2018 -- including ten invitations in recent weeks to discuss the plan."
It Turns Out There Are Many "Mr. Kurd"s. Miriam Berger of the Washington Post: "Trump appears to confuse the Kurds of Syria and Iraq in a meeting with the president of Iraqi Kurdistan. President Trump met with Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraqi Kurdistan, on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. During their encounter, Trump focused on praising the Kurds of Syria.... The Kurds of Syria are geographically and politically distinct from the Kurds of Iraq. Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria are all home to Kurdish populations.... During a news conference in 2018, he referred to Kurdish journalist Rahim Rashidi as 'Mr. Kurd.'... Earlier Wednesday, the White House's official YouTube channel initially listed Trump as having met with the president of Iran at Davos, when in fact it was Iraqi President Barham Salih. The caption has since been corrected." Mrs. McC: Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region, unlike the Irani, Turkish & Syrian majority-Kurdish regions. Apparently that's too complex for Trump to grasp.
** Will Bunch of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "[T]he political equivalent of a nuclear bomb just exploded in the Persian Gulf. Or at least the news should have had that kind of impact. Two top experts for the United Nations on cyber-crimes have confirmed an explosive theory that's been ticking for the last year: That Saudi Arabia was behind the phone hacking of [Jeff Bezos] ... right before salacious pictures and texts that ended Bezos' marriage were published in the National Enquirer.... The scandal has nothing to do with Trump's impeachment trial that began in earnest this week ... and everything to do with it...[T]he Trump-Saudi-Khashoggi-Post-Bezos-Enquirer nexus is, arguably, the worst-of-the-worst, betraying how an unfit president has sold out U.S. policy -- and even our young troops -- to murderous dictators while championing the obliteration of the civil liberties like press freedom that might restrain tyranny in America and in our so-called allies." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The Inquirer, like the New Yorker and more & more news outlets, has a "hard" subscriber firewall; that is, it disallows opening pages in private windows & a very limited number of hits-per-month. If you're a nonsubscriber, it's probably worth opening "using up" one of the freebies on Bunch's conspiracy theory. I find it a completely plausible theory. Trump is a hundred percent scum, and conspiring with the Saudis to "get" Bezos & covering up the culpability of MBS in Khashoggi's brutal murder -- not to mention repressing evidence of the top Saudis' culpability in 9/11 -- fits perfectly into his MO. ~~~
~~~ ** Tim Golden & Sebastian Rotella of ProPublica in the New York Times Magazine: "The full story of the F.B.I.'s investigation into Saudi links to the 9/11 attacks has remained largely untold. Even the code name of the case -- Operation Encore -- has never been published before. This account is based on interviews with more than 50 current and former investigators, intelligence officials and witnesses in the case. It also draws on some previously secret documents as well as on the voluminous public files of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission." (Also linked yesterday.)
Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "President Trump has said his plan to weaken federal mileage standards would make cars cheaper and 'substantially safer.' But the administration's own analysis suggests that it would cost consumers more than it would save them in the long run, and would do little to make the nation's roads safer. The revised Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, which has not been released publicly, would require automakers to increase the average fuel efficiency of the nation's fleets by 1.5 percent per year between model years 2021 and 2026. Rules put in place by the Obama administration, by comparison, require a nearly 5 percent annual increase..... The new analysis, outlined in a letter Wednesday by Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), projects that the benefits of Trump's proposed rollback would not significantly outweigh the costs. Trump's approach would lower the sticker price of new cars, according to the documents, but drivers would spend more at the gas pump over time by driving less efficient vehicles." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jan Ransom & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: Actor Annabella Sciorra testified Thursday that Harvey Weinstein raped her. The Hollywood Reporter story is here.
Presidential Race
Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Senator Kamala Harris is weighing an endorsement of Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to multiple Democratic officials familiar with her deliberations. Such a move could lift Mr. Biden's campaign and perhaps do even more to enhance Ms. Harris's chances of becoming vice president, but it could also anger her liberal base in California." The Hill has a summary story here. Mrs. McC: Way back when, I seriously considered Harris as my choice for president; I now want to thank her for confirming my view that she isn't smart enough or thoughtful enough to be president.
I realize that some people are saying, 'Do we really want a race between two New York billionaires?' To which I say, 'Who's the other one?' -- Michael Bloomberg, in a speech in Texas ~~~
~~~ Maggie Haberman & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "... as he has tuned into coverage of his Senate impeachment trial, Mr. Trump has been pricked by a deluge of television ads funded by [Michael Bloomberg] -- a far wealthier billionaire.... The show, 'Fox and Friends,' aired without commentary a new ad from Mr. Bloomberg's team that is based on reporting from a new book, 'A Very Stable Genius,' describing the language Mr. Trump used to excoriate military generals during a Pentagon meeting in 2017. The ad described him as 'erratic' and pointed to the 'chaos' in his administration.... So the president, who is notorious for reacting to what he sees on Fox News, did just that. 'Mini Mike Bloomberg is playing poker with his foolhardy and unsuspecting Democrat rivals,' Mr. Trump tweeted. 'He says that if he loses (he really means when!) in the primaries, he will spend money helping whoever the Democrat nominee is [and so on].'" The Hill's report is here.
Jason Horowitz & Elizabeth Dias of the New York Times: "Pope Francis sought to shift the ideological balance of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States on Thursday, replacing one of his most prominent conservative critics as the archbishop of Philadelphia. Pope Francis announced in a statement that Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia was retiring, and that Bishop Nelson J. Perez of Cleveland, a former Philadelphian and relative newcomer to the national scene, would assume the role." (Also linked yesterday.)
Way Beyond the Beltway
China. Chris Buckley & Javier C. Hernández of the New York Times: "The authorities drastically expanded a travel lockdown in central China on Thursday, essentially penning in more than 22 million residents to contain a deadly virus that is overwhelming hospitals and fueling fears of a pandemic. The new limits -- abruptly decreed ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, China's busiest travel season -- were an extraordinary step that underscored the ruling Communist Party's deepening fears about the outbreak of a little understood coronavirus. It has killed at least 26 people and sickened more than 800 in China and at least six other countries, including the United States, according to statistics from health officials."
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Reader Comments (15)
I'm so old I remember President George W. Bush "repressing evidence of the top Saudis' culpability in 9/11." I even remember him arranging to fly them out to Saudi Arabia when all flights were supposed to be grounded. I also remember that President Obama refused to declassify a 21 page section of the 9/11 Commission Report that discusses the involvement of the Saud family. Now, there may well be nothing there, but it seemed suspicious at the time. These are reasons why I don't find the Democrats' current impeachment process very convincing. I'll be glad if it removes Trump from office, because now Pence doesn't have enough time to really do as much damage as he could in a longer term, but I don't believe it's going to happen.
Any day now...
Peese in the Midel Easte, by Donnie Trumpy. Details later.
Yeah, much, much later.
I can see it now. Kushner’s plan for “peace”: Israelis get everything. Palestinians get bulldozed into the nearest pit.
That oughta play with MAGA droolers. Look for more of this nonsense as election season heats up. Next week, Fatty’s cure for cancer! (Big Macs without the secret sauce,) after that, the cure for black and brown people! Yay. There’ll be a long list of bullshit promises and DOA “plans” directed at the Trumpy masses, all designed to get him as many stoopid votes as possible.
Oh, and a Nubile Piece Prize would be nice too. Especially so he can wave it at that horrible née-groe who already has one (because he’s black, of course).
The Psycho Season is here early.
@Procopius writes, "These are reasons why I don't find the Democrats' current impeachment process very convincing."
I know I'm asking for it, but I would like to learn what it is about the impeachment argument you find unconvincing.
INVESTIGATOR BECKER LOOKS INTO PECKER:
Last night Schiff made the point that if Trump stays in office no telling what other damage he may do. Juan Cole has written a blistering piece illustrating how the Saudi hacking scandal is much bigger than anyone realizes and how Trump, Kushner, Putin, Pecker and the evil prince of Arabia are intertwined.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-saudi-hacking-scandal-is-much-bigger-than-anyone-realizes/
"Trump's dirty tricks and influence peddling abroad are reshaping the globe." Cole
Always foolhardy to guess what is on someone else's mind when I'm frequently not sure what's happening in my own, but let me answer for Procopius if I can, without giving offense. Then Procopius him-(her-?) can let me know if'n I got it wholly wrong.
Based on past posts, Procopius (speaking of and to, in both the third and second person) presents him?self as a skeptic who at times seems to have as little trust in the Dems as he does in the R's.
Though on balance he seems to trust the Dems more than the R's to do the right thing fo the country, that message is occasionally overwhelmed by a tendency to apply a plague of skepticism equally on both houses. Insofar as it finds fault with both Bush II and Obama and takes a shot at the Dems' impeachment process and knocks Pence, today's post fits that pattern.
While I am a great fan of skepticism myself, it is in that equal application that I have occasionally found room for further discussion.
But today, Procopius, we are equally skeptical that the Senate will convict. No room left for discussion there.
The claim, by confederates in Congress, that abuse of power is not a proper reason for impeachment, on display all week from a multitude of treason-supporters on the right, still prompts disbelief. But not disbelief in the health of self-serving hypocrisy from those dark environs.
We'll ignore for the time being the fact that that assertion is an admission that power HAS been abused, otherwise, why bother making such a big deal about it? If they didn't agree that Fatty has abused the power of the presidency, their argument would be "no abuse", but that's not what they're saying. If you were arrested for murder and your lawyer tried to argue that murder was not a crime, instead of maintaining that you din' do nothin', she--and you--would be as much as admitting that, yeah, you did bump off that guy, but hey, it's not really illegal. Right?
But back to the absurd claim that abuse of power is no big deal.
R's like Mitch McConnell were ready to lynch President (the last real president) Obama for what they considered abuse of power (for his use of executive orders, something Fatty does willy-nilly with zero complaints from the same whiners). President Clinton's dalliance with a much younger White House intern was roundly criticized as an abuse of power (it was) and a direct cause of his own impeachment trial, as argued by the same jamokes who now bellow that abuse is no big deal.
To get right down to it, the United States EXISTS because subjects of the crown here in the colonies, those who have since been enshrined as the Founders, considered abuse of power the single biggest reason for not just impeachment, but outright revolution. Had King George and his ministers taken the foot off the pedal just a bit and allowed for a certain amount of representation (that is, lightening up on the abuse) in matters directly related to the colonies (taxation, for instance), we might still all be singing "God Save the Queen" instead of "My Country Tis of Thee".
Abuse of power is no reason for impeachment? It is the SINGLE BIGGEST REASON short of outright treason, a crime of which the current occupant is also guilty. As sin.
And sin is something these creeps know all about.
@ Procopius: I'm so old I remember the voice of FDR during his Fireside Chats on the fancy radio console housed in a special corner of our living room. Now given that, surely I can recall the whole lot of intrigues, cover-ups and big mistakes this country has delivered. So I ask you, given your recalls, what those have to do with "These are reasons why I don't find the Democrats' current impeachment process very convincing." Seriously––I'm intrigued–-I'm really interested in what you think. Thanks.
PD,
Your reference to the assorted crooks now making hay while the sun is not shining (MBS, Putin, Trump, Kushner, et al) is yet another index of the existential muck into which the Fatty Debacle has plunged the United States.
The other day, one of the House Managers (it might have been Schiff, but I'm not sure now), while expanding on the very excellent point that Trump's giving short shrift to national security so as to foreground his own personal political advantages, has provided an unusual opening for Putin. Putin, he said, looks for weaknesses (that was, after all, his primary MO as a KGB field officer) and ways to exploit them. Describing Trump as a weakness is no less true than saying it gets dark at night.
And at night is when the malefactors, footpads, cutpurses, second story men, sneak thieves, ransackers, dacoits, douchebags, and pillagers do their best work. Trump's ascendance has been like a clarion call for crooks, both here and abroad. "A new sheriff's in town, and he's as big a thief as we are! Let's go to work."
And with that enormous window of opportunity flung open, Trump has directly invited foreign powers to rape and pillage, to damage democracy and have their way with American policy and polity, as long as little Donald gets his cut, of course. It's no wonder that we've been overrun with criminality, both foreign and domestic. When the guy who is supposed to stand for the rule of law, for American sovereignty and national security, is thinking only of how to line his own pockets, and has no problem aligning with crooks and traitors to do so, it's open season on the United States.
Russia is already hard at work making sure the Crook in Chief stays in office. Putin wants to maximize this once in a lifetime opportunity. I mean, how often can he expect that an American president will treat him like a master and do his bidding?
Moscow Mitch is happy to help as well. And Lindsey Graham is thrilled to take down all the signs that indicate that such behavior will not be tolerated in this country. Republicans will tolerate anything that keeps them and the Dear Leader in power. Anything.
I don't call them the Party of Treason for nothing.
Politicians will be politicians. However, Kamala Harris gave an interview to Zerlina Maxwell on Signal Boost this a.m. She denied making a decision to endorse anyone. The clip is just over 1 minute.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1220727718582607874
Oh, and not for nothin', but if Adam Schiff decides to announce for the presidency, I, for one, will certainly give him a look. Most definitely ahead of the likes of Bloomberg and Steyer.
And now that I think of it, if Warren wins, she could do far worse than to make Schiff her AG. It would be a relief to have an Attorney General who is not a mob lawyer.
I know words mean nothing--or whatever they want them to mean at the moment--to the R's, but when she complained about Nadler's word choice, a real judge would have asked Senator Collins what word she would prefer to "cover-up" to describe House and Senate Republicans' behavior.
So the administration* has refused to hand over documents to Congress, it seems because Congress (the House) is run by those non-'Merican Dimocrats. But how, pray tell, did they come to believe that Congress didn't have an oversight role?
Why, that would be in the first two years of the reign of error (and to think, that's how we referred to the W years), when House Rs didn't seem to care about anything the White House did. People had to be laughably (cryably?) awful, like Scott Pruitt, with mountains of bad press before Congress noticed.
I suspect the Rs in charge ran the word "oversight" through google translate to and from Russian until the sentence read: " The Congress shall _overlook_ anything the White House does."
I like what I am hearing from the House Impeachment Managers, but I haven't heard anything that will make the arrogant, bullying bullshitters, known as Republicans, snap out of their cultish trance. The big bully is on their side, and he'll never let them down. Until he does. Ask Michael Cohen.
Trump's upset because his senate defense will be on tv Saturday morning, calling the time slot "Death Valley". I prefer to remember Saturday morning tv as cartoon time, and I'm sure the GOP defense will keep up the traditions.
@Bobby Lee, in particular -- Looney Tunes.