Category: Impeachment

Impeachment trial resumes with more of Trump’s lie-and-attack defense: Live coverage #2

Posted on by Laura Clawson

White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Trump personal lawyer Jay Sekulow, and their whole crew are back to continue the opening arguments in the impeachment defense of Donald Trump. They gave a brief preview on Saturday, which was exactly what you’d expect: lies and attacks. They resume in the wake of reports that former national security adviser John Bolton’s book recounts a conversation with Donald Trump in which Trump explicitly tied military aid to Ukraine investigating his political opponents—exactly what Trump was impeached for—but it’s unlikely that will change the basic lie-and-attack strategy.

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 6:57:50 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Starr arguing partisanship and process. That’s because he knows as well as anybody Trump did it, it was a crime, and can’t be defended. “Process” is all this scoundrel has got.

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 7:00:20 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

BTW, executive privilege isn’t in the Constitution. Maybe it’s in Starr’s special version of the constitution, but not the real one.

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 7:04:53 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

He’s arguing that it’s not obstruction of Congress if the AG says it’s not? Ken Starr, meet John Mitchell and Richard Nixon. 

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 7:05:45 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

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DEVELOPING: More GOP Senators Could Defect in Impeachment Trial

Posted on by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 27, 2020

Respected political analyst Dr. Tim Blessing of Alvernia College in Pennsylvania has had a look at the Senate GOP caucus and how they may vote on witnesses in the impeachment trial.

“I did a count Friday night. The following are GOP Senators who have publicly left some air in their positions as per witnesses: Murkowski, Gardner, Ernst (though she appears to have walked hers back), Collins, Tillis (who also might be rethinking things), Portman, Inhofe (a bit of a surprise), Lankford (also a bit of a surprise), Toomey (who is quietly moving to a center position–but he cannot be re-elected if he does so), Alexander, Enzi, and Romney. I have no idea what Cruz is doing. If we get down in the weeds, some of these folks could switch.”

It’s a majority vote and current projections show that the Democrats only need to flip four GOP Senators in order to get witnesses.

If Dr. Blessing is right and witnesses are called to testify in the impeachment trial, this becomes an entirely different ordeal and one that could go in very strange directions.

LifeZette will provide additional updates as more information becomes available.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
Crucial Moderate Senators Are ‘Offended’ and ‘Stunned’ After Nadler Accuses Senators of ‘Cover-Up’
Congressional Democrats Add Insult to Injury by Alienating Second Possible Impeachment Trial Swing Vote
Rocket Strikes U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

The post DEVELOPING: More GOP Senators Could Defect in Impeachment Trial appeared first on The Political Insider.

Some House Democrats push for Bolton to testify in House as Senate Republicans keep pushing cover-up

Posted on by Laura Clawson

House Democrats have been reluctant to call former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in recent weeks, but that may be changing. Bolton wrote in his forthcoming book that Donald Trump explicitly told him that the hold on military aid to Ukraine was connected to Trump’s push for Ukraine to investigate his political opponents, but most Senate Republicans sound as committed as ever to covering up for Trump.

The House Intelligence Committee had asked Bolton to testify in November, but after he refused to do so without a court battle and the House sent impeachment articles to the Senate, House Democrats argued that the question of Bolton’s testimony was now in the Senate’s hands for the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Now, though, Mother Jones reports that “several House Democrats on Monday initiated talks within their caucus about taking the dramatic step of subpoenaing him or once again requesting that he testify before a House committee, according to multiple Democratic sources.”

Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chair and lead House impeachment trial manager, continues to be opposed to subpoenaing Bolton, not wanting Senate Republicans to use “but the House” as an excuse for not voting to have Bolton as an impeachment trial witness. What if (when) Senate Republicans push through their cover-up, though? Are House Democrats just going to leave Bolton’s likely testimony dangling?

Senator Hawley Preparing Motions to Subpoena Schiff, Bidens, Whistleblower in Impeachment Trial

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Senator Josh Hawley revealed he plans to draft motions to subpoena House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, and the alleged ‘whistleblower.’

The move would be especially urgent due to new revelations that moderate Republican senators are threatening to join Democrats in their call for new witnesses in the impeachment trial.

“If the witness vote succeeds, Hawley aims to force votes on subpoenas for House Intelligence Chairman Schiff (D-Calif.), Vice President Biden, Hunter Biden, Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, the still-unnamed whistleblower,” Politico reported over the weekend.

“If the Senate calls witnesses, I will ask for votes on all these next week,” Hawley tweeted.

RELATED: Romney Says He’s ‘Very Likely’ to Join Democrats on Call For New Impeachment Witnesses

An Urgent Move

Hawley’s proposal is pivotal considering a New York Times report on suspiciously leaked manuscript details involving a book from former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

The report – from anonymous sources – indicates that Bolton accuses President Trump of withholding military aid to Ukraine until Joe Biden and his son Hunter were properly investigated.

While the media hit job smacks of a replay of that carried out against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, it is enough to cause weak-kneed senators to crumble and attempt to completely re-litigate the impeachment articles in the Senate.

Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) has admitted, “I think it’s very likely I’ll be in favor of witnesses.”

Susan Collins, Senator from Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, Senator from Alaska, are also reportedly flaking. Meaning Democrats would need just one other Republican colleague to tuck their tail between their legs and join them in the impeachment hit job.

Should they succeed, Hawley’s measure would present the impeachment managers with a difficult double-edged sword, raising the specter that Schiff, Biden and the whistleblower could all be called to testify.

RELATED: Report: GOP Adding a ‘Kill Switch’ Option to Prevent Democrats From Turning Impeachment Into Circus

Activate the Kill Switch

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell finalized rules for the impeachment trial, adding what some defined as a ‘kill switch’ in which the President’s legal team could either move to judgment or move to dismiss at a meaningful time.

The House failed to do their homework and call Bolton to testify in the first place. Bolton’s claims in a book he is setting up for online pre-order contradict the reality behind the transcripts of the telephone call. So, they’re not a game-changer by any stretch. That said, perhaps it’s time to implement the ‘kill switch.’

Seeing Schiff, the Biden’s, and the whistleblower dragged in to testify would be an interesting prospect sure, but the longer this gets dragged out, the longer Democrats and the media will have to continually manufacture new evidence – just as they did with Kavanaugh.

It’s time to stop the madness.

The post Senator Hawley Preparing Motions to Subpoena Schiff, Bidens, Whistleblower in Impeachment Trial appeared first on The Political Insider.

Impeachment trial resumes with more of Trump’s lie-and-attack defense: Live coverage #1

Posted on by Laura Clawson

White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Trump personal lawyer Jay Sekulow, and their whole crew are back to continue the opening arguments in the impeachment defense of Donald Trump. They gave a brief preview on Saturday, which was exactly what you’d expect: lies and attacks. They resume in the wake of reports that former national security adviser John Bolton’s book recounts a conversation with Donald Trump in which Trump explicitly tied military aid to Ukraine investigating his political opponents—exactly what Trump was impeached for—but it’s unlikely that will change the basic lie-and-attack strategy.

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 6:56:32 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Ongoing coverage can be found here.

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 6:13:48 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Trump attorney Jay Sekulow opens by saying they won’t address “allegations that are not based on evidentiary standards at all.” So, apparently not going to say the B(olton) word today. 

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 6:20:13 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

White House lawyer, Ken Starr, noted expert on blow jobs and covering up sexual assault, is (very slowly) seeming to tell us that House Democrats are stinking liars because they don’t have to take an oath like their Senate colleagues did before they signed off on the cover-up.  

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 6:24:19 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Starr says we’re in the “age of impeachment.” (Note: there have been three presidents impeached in 200+ years.)

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 6:32:08 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

Yeah, this is today’s argument. There are too many impeachments. And, uh, that’s about it. 

Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 6:36:11 PM +00:00 · Laura Clawson

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Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 6:37:33 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill

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Monday, Jan 27, 2020 · 6:50:53 PM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

So, just to be clear, Starr is arguing that Clinton was charged with “actual crimes” and Trump isn’t. So lying about a consensual affair is a crime but a president trying to fix a presidential election is not.

Trump’s impeachment defense resumes Monday amid fallout from Bolton bombshell

Posted on by Laura Clawson

What is Donald Trump’s defense team going to do during their impeachment trial arguments now that former national security adviser John Bolton has blown up one of their key contentions? They’ve insisted again and again that no witnesses had heard directly from Trump that Ukraine aid was held up to get investigations of Trump’s political opponents. But now we learn that Bolton’s book says that he had exactly that conversation with Trump—and Bolton has said he would testify under subpoena. 

The impeachment trial will resume at 1 PM ET with Trump’s defense team continuing the opening arguments it briefly launched on Saturday, at the time strongly centering that “there are no eyewitness accounts” claim. The Sunday evening report of Bolton’s claim should pose a problem to any defense team. But does this one care enough? 

Pat Cipollone, Jay Sekulow, and the rest of Trump’s lawyers have been content to lie and attack. They’re unlikely to change that basic strategy now, whether they continue on as if there was no new information, or acknowledge the reports in order to attack Bolton. But it will be interesting to see if they appear at least a little flustered. If they seem to have had a late night trying to reformulate their case even the slightest bit. If there’s visible flop sweat.

The other question is how Senate Republicans will respond. They’ve been okay with the whole lie-and-attack defense because they want to cover up what Trump did and move on, Republican political power intact. They’ve swallowed the Trump arguments whole, no matter how ridiculous, while feigning deep outrage every time Democrats have suggested that there’s a problem with covering up a president’s efforts to solicit foreign interference to benefit him in an election. Thanks to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s tight restrictions on cameras, we don’t get to see the senators’ reactions. But it sure is going to be interesting to hear from reporters how the atmosphere in the Senate chamber and the demeanor of key senators compare with previous days.

Bolton Manuscript Leaked, Romney and Collins May Vote Against the President

Posted on by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 27, 2020

Reports out of DC, on the heels of the selective leaking of John Bolton’s new book, is that Republican Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine are likely to go south on the GOP trial process and vote to bring in witnesses.

If that happens the trial won’t be over by late this week/early next week. It could go on for weeks. If the duo votes against the president’s trial agenda the Dems would still need two more votes to win on the subject. They are targeting GOP Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.

The pressure to vote for witnesses was ratcheted up over the weekend with leaks from John Bolton’s new book that claim that the president directly told Bolton that the delay in military aid to Ukraine was tied to Biden.

RELATED: Trump Defense Goes for Broke on Monday

Bolton is using the same team and strategy as has James Comey and the leak was coordinated to coincide with the impeachment trial, a vote on witnesses and, most importantly to Bolton, the availability to preorder his book online.

But bringing on witnesses is a two-edged sword for the Dems. Yes, the Dems may get Bolton. But the GOP could call Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Adam Schiff, and Eric Ciaramella. As spiritually satisfying at it would be to watch Jay Sekulow munch on their still warm legal carcasses for lunch, the sooner this charade is over is the sooner the president can get back to undistracted work and the Congress can get back to whatever it does on a daily basis aside from fundraisers and hitting on lobbyists.

Bolton’s move can not only be seen as revenge for being fired by Trump, but as another chapter in the intramural GOP fight over a Cold War national security stance or the America First approach of the president.

RELATED: Poll Gives Trump Best Economic Rating in Almost Twenty Years

If Collins and Murkowski vote for witnesses it is likely to throw some meat to their moderate supporters. Alexander is a lame duck and can vote the way he chooses without electoral repercussions.

Though if he desires an appointment in a second Trump administration this would not be the way to get it. And then there’s Mittens.

This would be a way for him to play to the press and shiv Trump at the same time. Given Romney’s notorious sanctimony and ego, it may be a temptation he is unable to resist.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
Crucial Moderate Senators Are ‘Offended’ and ‘Stunned’ After Nadler Accuses Senators of ‘Cover-Up’
Congressional Democrats Add Insult to Injury by Alienating Second Possible Impeachment Trial Swing Vote
Rocket Strikes U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

The post Bolton Manuscript Leaked, Romney and Collins May Vote Against the President appeared first on The Political Insider.