House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler will miss the rest of the impeachment trial, the New York Democrat announced Friday.
Mr. Nadler will not attend the rest of the proceedings to be with his wife who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
"I am sorry to not be able to stay ...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hasn't played all her cards yet, and she's already declaring the Senate trial a sham. “I disagree with the idea that he could be acquitted," Pelosi told the South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board on Friday. “You can’t be acquitted if you don’t have a trial, and you can’t have a trial if you don’t have witnesses and you don’t have documents."
Pelosi made the comments heading into a day of closing arguments in which Senate Republicans appeared poised for a vote to quash witness testimony entirely with an acquittal vote soon to follow. (That vote is now expected to be held next Wednesday, following the State of the Union.)
Pelosi also directed withering criticism at Trump's defense team. "To say in a proceeding in the Senate if a president thinks that his election is in the best interests of the country anything is justified," she said, referencing the argument made by Alan Dershowitz, "I don’t know how they have any integrity or respect left.”
Pelosi said the argument was completely antithetical to the Constitution. “What you heard the president’s lawyer say so undermined what is a democracy, our republic, [by suggesting the Constitution’s] Article II says I can do whatever I want," she said. "No, it doesn’t. That’s not what the Constitution is about."
Pelosi also laid blame for the procedure squarely at Leader Mitch McConnell's feet. “The founders always had in their mind that there could be a rogue president, and that’s why they put guardrails in the Constitution. And impeachment," she noted. "But they probably didn’t figure we would have a rogue president and a rogue Mitch McConnell."
Pelosi said in the interview that House Democrats would continue their push in the courts for oversight and more subpoenas to be honored, “or else we have a monarchy.”
Pelosi clearly isn't finished yet. And given all the loose ends being left by Senate Republicans, she will almost surely spend the rest of 2020 pulling those threads. It's honestly a mystery that McConnell thinks he's going to get away without calling witnesses without Pelosi making life a living hell for Senate Republicans from here till November.
By PopZette Staff | January 31, 2020
The ABC talk show “The View” went off the rails once again on Friday morning when cohosts Joy Behar and Meghan McCain got into yet another heated argument over Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
Behar kicked the show off by voicing her frustrations over the fact that the impeachment trial is likely about to end.
“The impeachment trial could be over by tonight,” Behar said. “And Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, who has a deciding vote on letting witnesses testify basically said that Trump is guilty but ‘so what, who cares.’”
The notoriously liberal cohost went on to say that if Alexander were to vote for witnesses, he “would save democracy, a small thing. But no, he doesn’t want to.”
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Behar also accused Alexander of trying to “cover” Maine’s Republican Senator Susan Collins so that she can vote “yes” and then be reelected.
“But she’s a hypocrite and a liar and I don’t trust her as far as I could throw her,” Behar exclaimed.
McCain, however, was not having any of it.
“The counterargument that Republicans are going to make is that it wasn’t a wholly bipartisan trial,” McCain calmly explained. “What I got from Alexander is he said President Trump, what he did was unethical, it just wasn’t impeachable. And I knew you would be very upset, quite frankly, Joy.”
“I am upset. I’m upset for the country,” Behar fired back, already coming unglued. “I feel that people in this country and other democracies have to watch it. We’ve taken democracy for granted because we’ve lived in it for so long and have so many beautiful things because of it. And it’s going down the toilet because of one party.”
McCain was quick to defend the GOP, saying, “it’s not just Republicans,” and adding that it was Democrats who have been “bungling” the case against Trump. She also pointed out that some moderate Democrats may even vote to acquit Trump after the way the trial has been handled.
“I think to blanket it as all Republicans, there were Democrats involved as well,” McCain said as Behar tried to protest. “I know you’re upset, but I’m just trying to explain the other side.”
“God help America and democracy,” an exacerbated Behar said.
REPUBS SUCCESSFUL IN BLOCKING WITNESSES? GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander, a key swing vote on calling witnesses in Pres. Trump’s impeachment trial, does not plan to vote in favor of hearing additional witnesses — we weigh in on how this changes the trial. https://t.co/1qHqfw940F pic.twitter.com/MuLfLqBb6K
— The View (@TheView) January 31, 2020
Behar should really be focusing her frustrations on Democrats right now, as it is they who have wasted the time and money of American taxpayers with this ridiculous impeachment stunt. They knew from the start that Trump would never be impeached in the Republican-controlled Senate, yet they chose to push forward with this farce anyway.
Shame on Democrats for their witch hunt against Trump, and shame on liberals like Behar for letting them get away with it.
This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
Read more at LifeZette:
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The post Chaos Erupts On ‘The View’ As Joy Behar And Meghan McCain Go At It Over Impeachment Witnesses appeared first on The Political Insider.
After a day of procedural debate and voting, six days of opening arguments, and two days of question and answer, the impeachment trial of Donald Trump could conclude Friday with debate followed by Republicans voting to end the trial and cover up Trump’s abuses of power. But Democrats will be keeping up the fight for a fair trial.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 8:45:03 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerAnd we’re back with Philbin in the box again. It’s really kind of amazing that the assistant deputy counsel has shouldered 99% of this trial, leaving Cipollone and Sekulow to shuffle forth only when their specific areas of conspiracy-speak are squeaked.
But then, Cipollone does have reasons to keep a low profile.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 8:48:34 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSomeone on the Trump team has been keeping track of the number of video clips. Was it Purpura? Ken Starr? Lord knows they didn’t have anything better to do.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 8:52:59 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerPhilbin not only isn’t saying anything new here, it’s not apparent he’s put five minutes work into putting this together. It’s just a meander through claims he’s made previously—except worse.
Now Philbin is putting words in the mouth of the House team. Isn’t that supposed to be a no-no?
Finally, Philbin deploys the We Will Call Everybody Everywhere Forever and fight every witness tooth and nail ax. The “we will obstruct you so bad you can’t get through this obstruction charge” tactic.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 8:56:25 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSince Philbin brought up Federalist No. 65, let’s take one last look at what Hamilton says impeachment is all about:
“The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.”
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 8:58:06 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerI believe the summary of Philbin’s closing argument is “Please show that the Senate is too lazy to do it’s job.”
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 8:59:57 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerAnd now Jay Sekulow is standing. Give him ten seconds and he’ll be completely past mentioning anything on this case and talking about the Steele Dossier.
Oh, and as Sekulow mentions all these people he didn’t have the opportunity to cross examine, note that they all work for Trump. Sekulow can question them any time he wants, and twice on Sundays.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:05:14 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSekulow saying the case isn’t proved …
Tell it to Alexander, Murkowski, and Rubio, all of who agreed that the case was proved.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:08:05 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerIs there a way to set an alarm for when Jay Sominex finishes this speech?
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:10:03 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerWhat was missing from the entire close of the Trump defense team? Trump’s lead attorney, Pat Cipollone. That’s one helluva coincidence.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:15:04 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSchiff returns to the podium to wrap up the reply. And states that in the end the case from Trump’s defense team comes down to “So what?”
Schiff: “So what? He has a God-given right to abuse his power. It’s the Dershowitz principle of constitutional lawlessness.”
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:17:44 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSchiff makes this so compelling. I’d really like to think there are some people out there who didn’t think they would be interested in this, who happened to be in a room when Schiff began one of his talks, because he’s not just a good attorney and a good speaker, he’s like a great professor, bringing emotion to the issues and hitting his points with emphasis.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:18:36 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerThere’s that little technical point again. The idea that “we don’t have kings here.” That’s the point where Republicans disagree.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:21:27 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSchiff hits the idea that Trump’s team is saying “shame on the House for not fighting harder to overcome our obstruction” while Trump’s team continues to obstruct.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:23:17 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner xFriday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:29:47 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSCHIFF: "'[The president] has a God-given right to abuse his power and there's nothing you can do about it' -- it's the Dershowitz principle of constitutional lawlessness. That's the end-all argument for them ... God help us if that argument succeeds." pic.twitter.com/qCKWXOSsXM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 31, 2020
Schiff brings up the fact that Trump’s team could have questioned any of the government witnesses, including putting them under oath. Instead, they would prefer to simply threaten the Senate over using up months of their calendar.
And Schiff brings it back to where Sekulow ended — what’s the point of calling witnesses anyway, when under their claims they’ve made, Trump can do anything he wants anyway.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:31:00 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerBTW, Jerry Nadler isn’t there today because he’s at the bedside of his desperately ill wife, making tough decisions along with his family about how to proceed.
Alan Dershowitz isn’t there today because he left early to catch a flight to the Superbowl.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:34:05 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSchiff reads from letter to the Senate by former Republican Senator John Warner.
xFriday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:35:52 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerNEW: Former Senator John Warner, a Republican and elder statesman of Virginia politics, has issued a statement calling on fellow Republicans to follow “judicial norms†by “welcoming relevant witnesses and documents†in President Trump’s impeachment trial. pic.twitter.com/GeRRjIkHfo
— Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@SherylNYT) January 31, 2020
Schiff: “If we have faith that the ship of state can survive the truth … this storm shall pass.”
McConnell calls for a quorum vote. Which is almost uniformly a stall for time so he can gets his ducks in a row. The question here is … are their wandering ducks?
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:40:12 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSchumer and McConnell talking together … apparently trying to determine what happens next, and whether they can wrap it all up today or events will roll to at least Monday. McConnell is surely moving to gets things done so Trump can spend the SOTU basking in the “exoneration.”
C-SPAN saying that Alan Dershowitz isn’t just absent, but that he’s official withdrawn from the defense team. Not sure what that’s about … maybe Cipollone didn’t tell him he was part of the Ukraine plot?
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:43:09 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner xFriday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:47:32 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSchumer and McConnell are talking on the floor during the break Along with their top aides. And Thune too. This comes after McConnell huddled with Murkowski, Romney, Collins and Lamar in his office during the last break. All about how to end the trial
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 31, 2020
McConnell is apparently preparing an amendment that would set the scheduled for the end of the trial. But if he can’t get Schumer’s agreement, Democrats can offer amendments to that amendment, each of which would get two hours of debate.
In other words, tonight could end up looking like the starting day, were we went to 2 AM. Or … it could be worse.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:57:35 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerSchumer has left the Senate chamber. So has Roberts. No clue what the evening schedule is going to be like.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:58:12 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner xFriday, Jan 31, 2020 · 10:06:14 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerMcConnell and Schumer talked directly with a small group, including their respective floor generals - Laura Dove on GOP side and Gary Myrick on Dem side - doing a good chunk of talking.The two leaders spoke for a good 10-12 minutes before Schumer went to go huddle on his side
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 31, 2020
From the sound of it, McConnell left out some necessary steps in the resolution passed at the start of the trial. So to get the votes on the witnesses and articles he has to introduce an amendment to schedule them. Since that is in the form of an amendment, it's subject to amendment. Semi-endlessly.
Hey, where’s that article about how McConnell was so great at this?
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 10:17:41 PM +00:00 · Mark SumnerWatching the Senate for weeks has given me one serious non-impeachment question ... why do these guys always stand around with their arms folded? Are their no pockets in their suits?