Rep. Collins Warns Dems are Using Stone Sentencing Intervention to Continue Impeachment Push
Stone was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia.
Month: February 2020
Senate votes to limit Trump’s military authority against Iran
The Senate on Thursday passed a resolution limiting President Donald Trump’s authority to attack Iran without congressional approval, delivering the president another bipartisan foreign-policy rebuke and flexing its constitutional power over military actions.
The 55-45 vote came nearly six weeks after Trump ordered an airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general who led the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds force. The strike drew immediate condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, and it prompted Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to introduce a War Powers resolution aimed at re-asserting Congress’ constitutional authority to declare war.
Kaine’s resolution requires the president to cease all hostilities targeting Iran within 30 days unless explicitly approved by Congress. It is expected to pass the House later this month, but Trump is likely to veto the measure. It needed only a simple majority to clear the Senate.
“War is the most solemn responsibility we have, and it cannot be outsourced to anyone,” Kaine said ahead of the final vote. “We have a special obligation to make sure we deliberate — and deliberate carefully — before we send troops into harm’s way.”
In the years following the 2001 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force against al Qaeda and Iraq, Congress has largely abdicated its war-making powers to the executive branch. If Kaine’s bill clears through the House as expected, it will be the second time a War Powers resolution has reached Trump’s desk — after last year’s House and Senate passage of a similar bill to cut off U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen’s civil war. Trump vetoed that measure.
Thursday’s vote capped a weeks-long push by Kaine and other senators to respond to Trump’s decision to strike Soleimani in Iraq, where administration officials claimed he was plotting attacks against Americans.
"The Senate just sent a clear shot across the bow, a bipartisan majority of senators don’t want the president waging war without congressional approval, that sums up the whole thing," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) after the vote. “Trump or any other president cannot plunge the United States into an endless conflict in the Middle East."
Kaine’s effort was jolted when key senators from both parties expressed deep frustration after a classified all-senators briefing a week after Soleimani’s death. During that briefing, according to senators, top Trump administration officials struggled to defend the rationale — both strategic and legal — for the strike. Formal consideration of the War Powers resolution was on hold during the Senate’s three week impeachment trial.
In addition to all 47 Democrats, eight Republicans supported the War Powers measure — Susan Collins of Maine, Todd Young of Indiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. Senate Republican leaders vehemently opposed it, and on Wednesday, Trump urged senators to vote against it, appearing to turn the vote into a loyalty test for the GOP.
“We are doing very well with Iran and this is not the time to show weakness,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “If my hands were tied, Iran would have a field day. Sends a very bad signal. The Democrats are only doing this as an attempt to embarrass the Republican Party.”
Indeed, Trump has struggled to maintain unified GOP support for his foreign-policy moves — often making impulse-driven decisions that shock Trump’s congressional allies and foes alike. Thursday’s vote further underscored the hawk-versus-dove divisions among Republicans when it comes to foreign policy and national security issues.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said Democrats were “pretending as though the president is rushing to war.”
“But the facts just aren’t there. There is no war with Iran. An airstrike is not war,” Inhofe added.
Earlier Thursday, Democrats defeated a last-ditch effort to tank the measure altogether when the Senate voted to kill an amendment from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that would have created an exemption for military forces deemed to be engaging in operations targeting foreign designated terrorist groups. Democrats sounded the alarm about the amendment, arguing that it would effectively gut the underlying effort.
Kaine said Cotton’s proposal “would establish a very dangerous precedent” by allowing a president to launch military operations against any foreign organizations designated by the executive branch as terrorist groups. Cotton accused Kaine of acting as “a lawyer for Iranian terrorists” in opposing his amendment.
Burgess Everett contributed to this report.
Michael Bloomberg says his money is why Trump got impeached
Trump campaign, GOP haul in $60M amid impeachment trial
President Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican Party brought in more than $60 million in January, amid the impeachment battle on Capitol Hill. 
Gowdy to Dems Calling For Barr Resignation: “Dumbest Damn Thing I’ve Ever Heard”
Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy blasted Democrats demanding the resignation of Attorney General Bill Barr, calling it the “dumbest damn thing (he’s) ever heard.”
The left has been in quite a tizzy after President Trump lashed out at federal prosecutors via Twitter for recommending an excessive prison sentence for former associate Roger Stone.
The Department of Justice earlier this week revealed that they would seek a reduction of the “extreme” sentencing request – nine years – setting off a firestorm of controversy that culminated in four career prosecutors quitting the case one by one.
The issue seems to be a matter of timing. The announcement was made after Trump’s tweet, giving the impression that Barr and the DOJ were reacting to the comments.
Gowdy says none of it is true.
Trey Gowdy weighs in on Roger Stone sentencing recommendation:
“The notion that Bill Barr should resign is about the dumbest damn thing I have ever heard … There are child pornographers who do not get nine years. There are people who rob banks who don’t get nine years.” pic.twitter.com/mQD6jaQlwQ
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) February 13, 2020
He’s Seen Some Pretty Dumb Things
The former Representative from South Carolina has certainly seen some dumb things during his career, but this one apparently takes the cake. The argument is two-fold.
First, Gowdy agrees with the President that Stone’s sentence is beyond the pale.
“There are child pornographers, people who rob banks who do not get nine years,” he noted before advising that a sentence of two or three years would be more appropriate.
Second, he explains that there is roughly a zero percent chance Barr was swayed by the President’s comments.
“I can tell you this: Bill Barr was aware of this recommendation before President Trump ever tweeted a single syllable, a single character,” said Gowdy. “So the notion that Barr was somehow motivated to move because of this tweet is just factually wrong.”
“The notion that Barr should resign is about the dumbest damn thing I’ve ever heard,” Gowdy added.
Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought. Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller Scam was improperly brought & tainted. Even Bob Mueller lied to Congress!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2020
RELATED: New Trump Impeachment Push For Democrats Over Roger Stone Affair?
Barr Is Fully Within His Rights
To absolutely nobody’s surprise, Democrats, permanently housed in their perpetual outrage echo chamber, are using the DOJ’s actions as their latest effort to force an administration member out of office.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal demanded Barr step down on Wednesday. The House Judiciary Committee promised to interrogate him over his handling of the sentencing during a hearing in late March.
Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton accused Trump and his administration of operating like a “failed-state fascist.”
There has even been talk of more articles of impeachment.
“I can tell you this: Bill Barr was aware of this recommendation before President Trump ever tweeted a single syllable, a single character,” explained Gowdy. “So the notion that Barr was somehow motivated to move because of this tweet is just factually wrong.”
And while the former Rep. wishes Trump – or any other President – would cease weighing in on ongoing investigations, he concluded that he was well within his rights to commute Stone’s sentence or pardon him, should he so desire.
“He could do it [pardon Stone] by tweet tonight,” insisted Gowdy. “He’s the head of the executive branch and people have a chance in November if they want a different one.”
Imagine the outrage when President Trump announces Stone’s pardon via tweet. That will be about the “dumbest damned thing you’ll ever see.”
Until the next faux outrage.
The post Gowdy to Dems Calling For Barr Resignation: “Dumbest Damn Thing I’ve Ever Heard” appeared first on The Political Insider.
Senate Republicans are not bothered one bit as Trump’s abuses of power escalate
Donald Trump is going to war with the very idea of equal administration of justice in the United States of America, and the Senate Republicans who voted last week to acquit him of abuse of power are just nodding along, barely even pausing to furrow a brow. Trump has intervened in the sentencing of his old buddy Roger Stone and publicly thanked Attorney General William Barr for doing his bidding. He’s attacked the judge and a juror in the case. These are not trifling matters in a democracy, but Republicans just don’t care.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed it with a simple, “I do not have an opinion on that.” To Sen. John Cornyn, it’s “kind of immaterial” if Trump intervened to reduce a sentencing recommendation for a friend. “It doesn’t bother me at all, as long as the judge has the final decision,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley—of the judge Trump has been working to publicly intimidate. In translation: Trump’s escalating assaults on the rule of law change nothing for Republicans.
The list of Republican senators who just don’t give a damn goes on and on. Sen. Lindsey Graham is “comfortable the system is working,” even though he gave lip service to the principle that Trump shouldn’t be speaking out about specific cases in the courts. Sen. Lamar Alexander said that “politics should never play a part in law enforcement,” without mentioning Trump by name.
Another series of Republicans pretended not to know what the issue was, falling back on the old Paul Ryan favorite, “I don’t know the facts of the case; I haven’t been following it” (this time, that one came from Sen. Ted Cruz).
The other thing that goes on and on is Trump’s abuse of power. The Washington Post reports that, according to a former senior administration official, when aides try to persuade Trump that he should stay out of legal cases, he says, “I have a right to say whatever I want.” According to that official, “He knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows that he has more power than anyone else in the government—and when he tweets, everyone has to listen to him.”
A Republican congressional aide told the Post, “It’s like bad weather. Nothing more, nothing less.” Yes, abuse of power and the destruction of democratic norms and institutions is just a little bad weather.
“We cannot give him a permanent license to turn the presidency and the executive branch into his own personal vengeance operation,” Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said Wednesday, addressing his Republican colleagues in a committee meeting. “If we say nothing—and I include everyone in this committee, including myself—it will get worse. His behavior will get worse.”
Republicans are on board with that, is the problem.
'He doesn't give a f—': Trump is making a fool out of every Republican senator who said he learned his lesson from impeachment
With Impeachment Over, Critics See Trump ‘Retribution Tour’
The Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump last week.
John Kelly knocks Trump for ousting impeachment witness
Kelly defended Vindman during an appearance at the Drew University Forum lecture series, saying he did "exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave."
John Kelly defends Vindman for doing ‘exactly’ the right thing in response to an illegal order
For better than a year, John Kelly played the role of chief of staff for Donald Trump, during which time he was the designated the “adult in the room” who would supposedly keep Trump’s bad-baby behavior under control. That went so well. Kelly, who spent the six months before that running Homeland Security and turning the Border Patrol into a meaner and also a meaner force, was apparently unhappy during those White House days. But he could keep quiet for the sake of the children … that he put in cages.
Since then, Kelly has sat out any number of outrages. But it seems that in the post-impeachment world, as Trump is systematically disassembling the vestiges of the Justice Department and sending a key witness in his impeachment proceedings, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, off to somewhere so that “the military can do what they want” to him, Kelly has reached the point of being concerned enough to speak up—just like everyone else who leaves Trump’s White House and speaks out only when it can’t do a damn bit of good.
During his time sitting outside Trump’s office door, Kelly was often described as angry at some Trump policy, or frustrated by his inability to control Trump’s chaotic behavior, or infuriated by Trump’s willingness to listen to anyone who praised him, even when they didn’t have a clue about the facts. But the only effect of that anger seemed to be that for much of his time in office, Kelly was something less than a figurehead. He and Trump seemed to rarely talk, and policies were made without his knowledge or presence.
Now that he’s borrowed Susan Collins’ wagging finger of concern, Kelly has quite a few items on his list. As The Atlantic reports, Kelly spoke to students and guests at Drew University in New Jersey for over an hour, laying out concerns about
Trump’s personal relationship with Vladimir Putin and how it shaped U.S. policy with regard to Russia. Trump’s personal relationship with Kim Jong Un and how it shaped U.S. policy with regard to North Korea. Trump’s intervention in military discipline to pardon service members accused of war crimes. Trump’s absolute fixation on building a border wall and how it shaped policy with regard to Mexico and Central America.On that last point, Kelly also expressed concern about about the language and tactics Trump used in his immigration policy, including calling all immigrants rapists. Which was very much not an apology for his role in the whole system.
However, one topic on which Kelly was particularly vocal was Trump’s actions against Vindman. Kelly praised the Army colonel, saying that Vindman did just what he was supposed to do when he reported his concerns about Trump’s call to the Ukrainian president. As The Hill reported, Kelly painted Vindman’s actions as just what would be expected of a good officer. “He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave,” said Kelly. “He went and told his boss what he just heard.”
Kelly described what Trump has said was a “perfect call” as a fundamental change in the relationship between the United States and Ukraine. Until that point, starting during the Obama administration, the United States had a policy of supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia. With that call, Trump predicated that support on getting a personal political advantage.
“We teach them, don’t follow an illegal order.” said Kelly. “And if you’re ever given one, you’ll raise it to whoever gives it to you that this is an illegal order, and then tell your boss.”
But, of course, John Kelly is just one of “Trump’s generals”—the group that Trump used to give himself a semblance of credibility during his first days in office. All of them have since been disposed of, and Kelly’s words are likely to have all the sting of a tongue-lashing from James Mattis, or … Pufnstuf? Something like that.
Trump doesn’t need generals anymore. Or laws. But he may learn something from Kelly—that it’s time to get rid of the idea of an illegal order. When it comes from Trump, it can’t be illegal.