Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The 2019-2020 Impeachment, Trial and Acquittal of Donald John Trump

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Originally posted by surfgun View Post
    Shades of Barbara Boxer today. Hilarious.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f0CprVYsG0k.

    Only about 10,000 Lt. Colonels in the US Army. Pretty self important of himself.
    And like the Republicans, that's all you've got: Disparage a man with more honor, integrity and bravery in his little finger than the entire Trump family has ever possessed.

    Originally posted by surfgun View Post
    It’s not Mr. Potato Peeler, it’s Specialist Potato Peeler to you, Sir!

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...mans-judgment/
    Breitbart. That's where you get your information. Well that explains a lot.
    “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

    Comment


    • Sondland says he followed Trump orders in Ukraine 'quid pro quo'

      Washington (AFP) - The US ambassador to the European Union told an impeachment hearing Wednesday that he was following the orders of President Donald Trump in seeking a "quid pro quo" from Ukraine.

      Gordon Sondland -- whose appearance before Congress is being watched especially closely as he was a Trump ally -- said he believed the president was pressing Ukraine to investigate his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden.

      "We followed the president's orders," Sondland said in his prepared testimony to an open hearing of the House Intelligence Committee.

      He said that Trump forced US diplomats to work with his personal lawyer, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

      "We did not want to work with Mr. Giuliani. Simply put, we played the hand we were dealt," he said.

      Sondland said that Trump held off on offering a summit with Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as Giuliani demanded that Kiev publicly announce that it was investigating a gas company on which former vice president Biden's son Hunter held a paid board position.

      Giuliani also wanted Zelensky to investigate a widely discredited conspiracy theory in which Ukraine planted evidence on a server of Biden's Democratic Party to show that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

      "Mr. Giuliani's requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for President Zelensky," Sondland said.

      Sondland said he "never received a clear answer" on why the United States suspended security aid to Ukraine, which is battling Russian-backed separatists, but that he "came to believe" it was also tied to the investigations sought by Trump.

      "I was adamantly opposed to any suspension of aid, as the Ukrainians needed those funds to fight against Russian aggression," he said.

      "In the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, 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," he said.

      Sondland was appearing in the second week of televised impeachment hearings, in which Democrats are seeking to establish whether Trump abused the power of his office by leveraging military aid and a White House meeting to extract a commitment from Zelensky to probe the Bidens.

      The House investigation could conceivably wrap up this week, with evidence then sent to the House Judiciary Committee to draw up articles of impeachment.

      Trump's impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House would place Trump on trial in the Senate, where a Republican majority could protect him from removal.
      ________________

      Let me guess, Sondland is actually a Deep State liberal socialist Never-Trumper....who just happened to donate $1 million to Trump's campaign (to buy an ambassadorship, like any good swamp creature)

      "I don't know him, I never met him" ~ Donald Trump, in about 5 minutes probably
      “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

      Comment


      • yup, that's what Trump just said. so utterly predictable.

        "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."
        There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

        Comment


        • Originally posted by astralis View Post
          yup, that's what Trump just said. so utterly predictable.

          "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."
          Right? Doesn't take much imagination to know what Donald Trump is going to say.

          But, you know, Trump is "always talking shit". Sure wish I had a Get Out Jail Free card like that, where nothing I say is admissible as evidence in...anything.
          “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

          Comment


          • "There will be articles of impeachment, I think we've known that ... It's over ... This is his position, we now know that the president, in fact, committed the crime of bribery ... Articles of impeachment are being drawn up if they haven't already been drawn up."

            ~ Kenneth Star (Notorious Deep State liberal socialist Never-Trumper) on Fox News
            “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

            Comment


            • of note, Sondland deeply implicated Pompeo (most of all), Pence, and Rick Perry.

              also, he was careful to say that the administration was looking for the Ukrainians merely to announce that they were doing investigations into Biden, and -not actually carrying them out-.

              which means the whole blatantly obvious crock o' crap that this was all about Ukrainian corruption is even more blatantly full of crap.
              There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

              Comment


              • Meanwhile, in this place we call reality....

                Vindman Shuts Down GOP Rep. Jim Jordan’s Attack on Him

                National Security Council official Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman brought his receipts to Tuesday’s impeachment hearings when Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) attempted to question Vindman’s judgment, reading aloud a recent employment evaluation describing him as “brilliant.”

                Referencing the previous testimony of NSC official Tim Morrison, Jordan noted that Morrison claimed he and others raised concerns about Vindman’s judgment and believed he may have leaked info to the press.

                “Your former boss, Dr. [Fiona] Hill, had concerns about your judgment,” Jordan added. “Your colleagues had concerns about your judgment and your colleagues felt that there were times when you leaked information. Any idea why they have those impressions, Colonel Vindman?”

                Vindman, meanwhile, pulled out the last performance evaluation that Hill had given him, dated this past July.

                “Alex is a top 1% military officer and the best Army officer I have worked with in my 15 years of government service,” Vindman read from the document. “‘He is brilliant, unflappable, and exercises excellent judgment’—I’m sorry—‘Was exemplary during numerous visits,’ so forth and so on. I think you get the idea.”

                As for Morrison’s remarks, Vindman stated that they had only recently started working together and that Morrison hadn’t been there very long and it could have been a clash of cultures.

                Jordan, seemingly a bit shaken, quickly moved on to asking Vindman if he ever leaked information, something the veteran denied.
                ____________

                In other words, Jordan can go fuck himself with a chainsaw.
                “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

                Comment


                • Originally posted by astralis View Post
                  of note, Sondland deeply implicated Pompeo (most of all), Pence, and Rick Perry.

                  also, he was careful to say that the administration was looking for the Ukrainians merely to announce that they were doing investigations into Biden, and -not actually carrying them out-.

                  which means the whole blatantly obvious crock o' crap that this was all about Ukrainian corruption is even more blatantly full of crap.
                  We're just about to the point (if we haven't reached it already) when Trump and Trumpers come right out and blatantly admit "Yeah, it was a quid pro quo. Yeah, it was illegal. Yeah, so what? That's just Trump being Trump!"

                  I mean, we've seen this little kabuki theater script read to us how many times now? We know it by heart, same pile of steaming shit from Trump, different day.
                  “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

                  Comment


                  • what is hilarious is that Devin Nunes opened up today's testimony by warning Sondland that Dems would do their best to smear him.

                    by noon the GOP lawyer argued that Sondland was not credible.
                    There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by surfgun View Post
                      It’s not Mr. Potato Peeler, it’s Specialist Potato Peeler to you, Sir!

                      https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...mans-judgment/
                      I see Breitbart left out the answer.

                      but here it is, watch the video.

                      https://www.thedailybeast.com/impeac...-attack-on-him

                      (edit) i see Top has already covered this)
                      Last edited by Gun Grape; 21 Nov 19,, 03:06.

                      Comment


                      • And that, folks, is what is called a smoking gun.

                        Read Gordon Sondland’s full opening testimony in the Trump impeachment hearing
                        PBS, Nov 20, 2019 9:22 AM EST

                        Amb. Gordon Sondland: “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?” As I testified previously, with regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes,”

                        First, Secretary Perry, Ambassador Volker and I worked with Mr. Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine matters at the express direction of the President of the United States. We did not want to work with Mr. Giuliani. Simply put, we played the hand we were dealt.

                        Fourth, as I testified previously, Mr. Giuliani’s requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for President Zelensky. Mr. Giuliani demanded that Ukraine make a public statement announcing investigations of the 2016 election/DNC server and Burisma. Mr. Giuliani was expressing the desires of the President of the United States, and weknew that these investigations were important to the President.

                        Fifth, in July and August 2019, we learned that the White House had also suspended security aid to Ukraine. I was adamantly opposed to any suspension of aid, as the Ukrainians needed those funds to fight against Russian aggression. I tried diligently to ask why the aid was suspended, but I never received a clear answer. In the absence of any credible explanation for the suspension of aid, 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.



                        https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politic...chment-hearing
                        Trust me?
                        I'm an economist!

                        Comment


                        • I just want to say that in 2016, at which time I was present at some Ukrainian Cabinet meetings (relevant to my Ministry) I never heard a word about a Ukrainian plan to hack the DNC or put millions of bots on social media. It was the Government's agenda to procure weapons from anywhere - particularly Javelins from the US. No way we were interested in the slightest - or had the means - to interfere in US elections. When you are at war it takes most of your thought, resources and time arguing about. We never got sufficiently insane as far as I know, to launch an active operation on the US as well as being invaded by Muscovy.

                          But Devin Nunes is apparently suing an imaginary cow on twitter or something peculiar. It's BS.

                          Comment


                          • What’s next in the House impeachment inquiry

                            On Thursday, the US House wrapped up a marathon week of public hearings for its impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. With lawmakers headed home for Thanksgiving break, the question on everyone’s minds is “what comes next?”

                            In its rough form, what’s next is that the House Intelligence Committee and Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) will compile and submit a report of its investigation to the House Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee hasn’t had jurisdiction on the narrow Ukraine-focused impeachment investigation, but it’s the body that will decide whether or not to draft articles of impeachment — the “charges” against Trump.

                            There are no more public hearings on the schedule for now. Of course, this could change if someone else with valuable testimony comes forward. But some Democrats don’t want to wait long for a star witness like former National Security Adviser John Bolton — who has said he won’t testify unless compelled by a court.


                            “He blew our timeline up,” Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), a member of the House Oversight Committee told Vox recently, adding that testimony from other sources about Bolton made it seem like he was opposed to Trump’s objectives in Ukraine. “When we looked at the evidence we wanted from him, we had other sources. ... He can be prickly at times, and you’re not sure what he’s going to come out with.”

                            An Intelligence Committee spokesperson declined to comment on whether there would be additional hearings before or after the Thanksgiving holiday, or when Schiff would submit his report.

                            For a while, the buzz around Capitol Hill has been that the Judiciary Committee could draft articles to send to the full House before Christmas. Some House Democrats have said they’d like to vote on impeachment by the end of the year, but there’s still no set timeline. On Thursday, the Washington Post reported Senate Republicans are in talks with senior White House officials to limit a Senate impeachment trial to two weeks, and it’s likely the earliest a trial could come is January.

                            On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left the door open to the possibility of more testimony, but was careful not to put forth any deadlines.

                            “All of this is up to the committees of jurisdiction. They have the responsibility and they see the flow of evidence in fact,” Pelosi said. “We aren’t finished yet, the day is not over, and you never know what testimony of one person may lead to need for testimony of the other, as we saw with Ambassador Taylor at the beginning of last week bringing forth Mr. Holmes today.”

                            An aide to a member on the Intelligence Committee told Vox that while there’s some talk at the staff level of holding more sessions, Democrats are feeling confident they have enough information about Trump’s efforts to co-opt US foreign policy and compel the Ukrainian president to open investigations that would benefit him politically. The House comes back to Washington the week after Thanksgiving, when work will resume.

                            “Certainly there’s more to investigate re: [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo, etc.,” the aide said, “but for the case against the president at this point we have more than enough.”

                            Pelosi also repeated her invitation to President Trump to appear before the committees under oath. “We haven’t made any decision, and as I said to the president, if you have any information that is exculpatory, please bring it forward, because it seems the facts are uncontested as to what happened,” she said. “If you have reason to convince people that something was different — under oath — please let us know.”

                            The spotlight is about to move to the House Judiciary Committee
                            After the Thanksgiving break is done, the intense focus around impeachment will likely switch from the Intelligence Committee to the Judiciary Committee.

                            While the Intelligence Committee (along with the House Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees) has had jurisdiction over the House’s impeachment investigation, the Judiciary Committee will ultimately be the group deciding whether or not to move articles, which would then go to the Senate for the official trial — if approved by the full House. Here’s how the rest of the House’s side of the process works, as I wrote along with my Vox colleagues Li Zhou and Matt Yglesias:

                            Once House lawmakers’ investigation is complete — we don’t yet know when that will be — they can decide whether or not to recommend articles of impeachment, or charges to be specifically brought against the president. The House Judiciary Committee would vote on these charges and then advance them to a vote by the full House. The House then decides if it officially wants to charge the president on these counts, a move that requires a simple majority to pass.

                            Four Judiciary Committee members told Vox on Wednesday they’re not yet sure the timeline will be.

                            “Judiciary won’t do anything [on articles of impeachment] until the [Intelligence] Committee wraps up our work,” said Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), who sits on both committees.

                            When asked about the status of articles of impeachment in the Judiciary Committee, committee member Ted Lieu (D-CA) demurred.

                            “We haven’t made a decision yet,” Lieu said, adding he expected that to happen in December. “There’s still additional testimony. We also want to give every opportunity for the President to provide exonerating evidence.”

                            Another Judiciary Committee Democrat noted it’s significant that despite Trump saying he’d “strongly consider” coming forward to testify, neither he or his White House has come forward to offer the exculpatory evidence pushing back on the case current and former intelligence and State Department officials have laid out around Ukraine.

                            “I don’t want to prejudge it, but this evidence is so damning, and you’ll notice there’s no exculpatory information coming out from the administration,” Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) told Vox.

                            “The picture is so abundantly painted clear now,” Dean added. “The picture is clear for the American public.”
                            _________________
                            “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

                            Comment


                            • On Thursday, the Washington Post reported Senate Republicans are in talks with senior White House officials to limit a Senate impeachment trial to two weeks, and it’s likely the earliest a trial could come is January.
                              In this environment, a phrase like this just gets passed over without comment.
                              It deserves comment.
                              It is yet another example of the GOP putting party ahead of nation, duty, and even self-respect.

                              Shame on anyone who continues to support this gang of thugs.
                              Trust me?
                              I'm an economist!

                              Comment


                              • House impeachment investigators reportedly have secret recordings of Trump and Rudy Giuliani, given to them by Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas
                                Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, has handed secret recordings and photographs to investigators on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating whether President Donald Trump abused his power in seeking to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into Democrats.

                                According to ABC News, the material includes audio recordings, video recordings, and photographs of Trump and Giuliani together as well as documents in English and Ukrainian.

                                The committee started looking at the material last week, ABC said, adding that it was provided by Parnas in compliance with a subpoena issued to him in October.

                                It is unclear specifically what the recordings contain, and in a statement Parnas' attorney Joseph A. Bondy would not comment on their content.

                                "Mr. Parnas has vociferously and publicly asserted his wish to comply with his previously issued subpoena and to provide the House Intelligence Committee with truthful and important information that is in furtherance of justice, not to obstruct it," he said in a statement to ABC.

                                The House Intelligence Committee, the White House, and Giuliani's attorney did not immediately respond to requests from Business Insider for comment.

                                Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, played a central role in seeking the political investigations that are at the heart of the House impeachment inquiry.

                                Trump is thought to have made Giuliani responsible for seeking announcements from Ukraine that it would investigate Joe Biden, a domestic political rival of Trump's, as well as an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 US presidential election.

                                Parnas, a Florida-based businessman, was said to be a key part of Giuliani's investigation, helping the former New York mayor broker contacts with Ukrainian officials.

                                Parnas was arrested in October alongside another Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, on charges of illegally channeling foreign money into GOP election campaigns, an investigation separate from the impeachment probe. Both men deny the charges.

                                According to the ABC report, some of the information sought by the House committee is in the hands of federal investigators in the Southern District of New York, which is investigating Giuliani's ties with Parnas and Fruman.

                                Trump has sought to link the investigations into Biden and the 2016 election to larger concerns about Ukrainian corruption and not as something meant to benefit him. He has also denied that his withholding of nearly $400 million in Ukrainian military aid was meant to compel Ukraine to announce the investigations.

                                Multiple witnesses in the House impeachment inquiry, however, testified in recent weeks that a "quid pro quo" deal was being sought by Trump — any recordings of conversations on the matter between Trump and his key emissary in Ukraine will be of significant interest to investigators.
                                ______________

                                But we need to talk to that whistleblower, dammit! I mean, who gives a shit about the inferno raging down the street, we have to find out who call 911 to report it!! (Said no firefighter ever)
                                “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X