Category: Impeachment

Trump Wins Witness Vote 51-49 – Acquittal Looks Solid

Posted on by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 31, 2020

The Democrat House managers spent all day pathetically talking into the wind. But the decisions of Senators Alexander and Murkowski tipped the scales in a 51-49 vote against calling witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. With that, acquittal for the president is likely relatively close at hand.

Though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer could still propose a series of amendments, all debatable for two hours, to hold up the verdicts for some time.

It is reported that negotiations are going on right now to finish the trial next week at the very latest. The Democrats may want the extra time to make Trump give the upcoming State of the Union address still under threat of impeachment. At that event they very well may try to embarrass the president in some way.

There is a also rumor the Democrats may eventually boycott the remaining votes by walking out of the Senate, only voting “present”, or some other kind of spoiled loser maneuver.

Senators Romney and Collins bucked the GOP and the president by voting for witnesses. Susan Collins will not pay a big price for her rebellion in moderate Maine. But in conservative Utah Mitt Romney could very well see a primary challenge.

RELATED: Ilhan Omar Launches Bill To Stop Trump From Carrying Out ‘Muslim Ban’

A state legislator in Utah has already proposed a measure allowing for the recall of U.S. Senators, that’s how mad the Utah GOP is at Mittens for selling out his party and country.

Democrats wasted all day calling for the same witnesses they had every change to call during the House hearings they ran last month. But they decided not to call them then, waiting for the higher PR platform of the Senate to pull out their bag of tricks.

It was an error, as they don’t control the Senate. However, the Democrats hoped a combination of lies, media pressure, and threats would make GOP Senators come around and vote to extend the trial by weeks and then yet again vote to remove the president from office.

The plan crashed and burned on Friday, the smoldering embers lighting the way to presidential victory.

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

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The post Trump Wins Witness Vote 51-49 – Acquittal Looks Solid appeared first on The Political Insider.

Impeachment trial/Republican cover-up reaches key decision point: Live coverage #4

Posted on by Laura Clawson

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 · 10:39:04 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Surprise, they’re back and voting. After a “quorum call” lasting over an hour, McConnell returned to call the vote on witnesses, and then the Senate is going “back into recess” for an unspecified time.

Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 10:41:48 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

It’s not clear that Schumer and McConnell worked out anything in advance of this vote. So the recess might be for purposes of continuing to hammer out a deal, or we may be done or the day. It’s clear as mud.

Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 10:44:21 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

As expected, Republicans vote down all witnesses, for the first time in the history of impeachment, 49-51. Susan Collins got her hall pass to pretend she’s fair.

Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 10:46:57 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Chuck Schumer calls this a day that America will remember. A “tragedy on a very large scale.”

No information on what happens next.

Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 10:48:07 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Look, it’s our old friend the Fascism Watch. Fascism Watch, what time is it?

Fascism Watch

Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 10:59:10 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 11:06:07 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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This statement makes it seem like the Republicans who want it all in the can tonight might not be getting their way. And there’s absolutely no reason Schumer should give it to them.

Again, if Democrats can make Republicans vote on endless amendments, let’s see amendments to censure Trump. Let’s see amendments to censure Mulvaney for his role in violating the Impoundment Control Act. Let’s see amendments to censure Cipollone for hiding his connection to the case. Let’s see a “sense of the Senate” call that Giuliani be disbarred. 

There is not a single reason to give them an inch on this.

Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 11:11:21 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 11:12:57 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 11:24:56 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 11:30:38 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

So, this is the apparent deal.

The Senate will return to session at 7 PM.  Votes on Friday evening will be limited to 4 or 5 proposed amendments from Democratic senators. (no idea what they will be) McConnell will not hold debate or vote on acquittal tonight. On Monday, both legal teams will give closing arguments, and some senators will give Senate floor speeches. Still no vote. On Wednesday, senators will complete floor speeches and McConnell will call a vote on the articles in the afternoon.

Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 11:31:08 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

That is not official yet, but something similar has come from multiple sources.

Lev Parnas pours gasoline on McConnell’s fire, detailing gigantic conspiracy he could testify to

Posted on by Kerry Eleveld

Indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas has already publicly documented how deeply enmeshed he was in Donald Trump's world and now, in a letter sent by his lawyer to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Friday, he is outlining exactly what he would testify to if given the opportunity. Spoiler alert: It would be absolutely disastrous for Trump.

If allowed to testify, the letter asserts that Parnas would detail Trump's entire Ukraine conspiracy front to back, with receipts, while implicating multiple high-level Trump officials in the process. "If Lev Parnas was called as a witness, he would provide testimony based upon personal knowledge, corroborated by physical evidence including text messages, phone records, documentary evidence, and travel records, which is directly relevant to the President's impeachment inquiry," writes Parnas attorney Joseph Bondy.

Bondy says Parnas will reveal the "genesis" of the relationship between Trump and Rudy Giuliani along with all the GOP operatives who assisted in the effort to remove Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and gather "dirt" on the Bidens. 

"Those holding various roles in the plot included GOP Super PAC America First, President Trump, Vice President Pence, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General Bill Barr, Senator Lindsey Graham, Congressman Devin Nunes, Nunes's Staffer Derek Harvey, Journalist John Solomon, Attorneys Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, Mr. Giuliani, and others," Bondy writes. Yowzer. That's quite a list. Sen. Graham, eh? That would sure explain a lot. 

Bondy promises that Parnas will illuminate the "thousands of micro-steps" he took to lay the groundwork for the plan, including multiple trips to Ukraine in order to meet with top Ukrainian officials and "directly convey the President's 'quid pro quo.'"

In short, Parnas is offering to give congressional investigators a treasure trove of information. Sure, Parnas comes to the table with a tarnished reputation. But he has the exact profile of a witness that prosecutors use to build criminal cases all the time. Even better, he appears to have documented nearly everything and has somehow managed to finally get control of all his materials and evidence. 

As former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance tweeted, "If his testimony is corroborated by John Bolton, something that his lawyer’s letter suggests but that we won’t know for certain unless they both testify, then Trump is in deep trouble, even if the Senate whitewashes this."

Senator Hirono: Trump ‘Believes He Is King Now’ — ‘I Think Our Country Is in Great Danger’

Posted on by Guest Author

In the wake of Sen. Lamar Alexander announcing that he would not vote to allow witnesses in President Donald Trump’s ongoing senate impeachment trial, his fellow Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii criticized the direction of the trial, which looks likely to end in an acquittal.

Appearing on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Hirono said that Trump seems to think he is “king” as a result of the trial’s looming outcome.

RELATED: Democrats Show Frustration at Losing to Trump, Again

Hirono Claims Trump Will Face Impeachment as ‘Every Turn’

“[T]his is the last response for these two days of questions and answers that I got from the president’s team, and that is, ‘Let’s just assume he did it. So what?’” Hirono said. “And I’ve been saying for a long time that’s probably what they’re going to end up with — you can say all of these things, but so what? The ‘so what’ means that this president, who believes that he can do anything he wants under Article 2 of the Constitution, will continue to go forward.”

“And I tell you, what the Trump team said, ‘Oh well you’re going to impeach him and convict him for what he did,’ that means this president is going to be facing impeachment at every turn,” Hirono continued.

‘I think our country is in great danger’

“What they really are afraid of is this president unfettered without a conviction means that he’s going to be doing a lot more stuff that will subject him to impeachment because that is what this guy is. He believes he is king now,” she added.

“I think our country is in great danger,” Hirono finished.

RELATED: Democrats Begin to Meltdown as Their Loss Looms

The Democrats are Dangerous – Not Trump

This is comical. Does Hirono not think their lengthy and ridiculous impeachment push has taken everyone’s focus off of important policy issues–to the detriment of the country?

Couldn’t that be considered “dangerous?”

And while Hirono and other Democrats think Trump behaves like a king, they have busily invested everything they have into overturning the 2016 election.

Guess what other kind of figure might seek to undo the will of the people. Kings. Tyrants. Dictators.

All the things Dems continue to accuse Trump of being.

So before another Democrat accuses Donald Trump of being a “king” or having a heavy hand, they might want to look in the mirror.

The post Senator Hirono: Trump ‘Believes He Is King Now’ — ‘I Think Our Country Is in Great Danger’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Pelosi slams Senate sham trial: ‘You can’t be acquitted’ if you don’t have witnesses

Posted on by Kerry Eleveld

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. 

Chaos Erupts On ‘The View’ As Joy Behar And Meghan McCain Go At It Over Impeachment Witnesses

Posted on by LifeZette

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.”

RELATED: CNN Slams Trump For Appointing Non-Diverse White House Task Force On Coronavirus

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.

RELATED: Republican Lawmaker Launches Bill To Officially Classify CNN And Washington Post As ‘Fake News’

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:
Republican Lawmaker Launches Bill To Officially Classify CNN And Washington Post As ‘Fake News’
Fox Refuses To Air Super Bowl Ad About Abortion Survivors – Greenlights Commercial Featuring Drag Queens
Meghan McCain Breaks Her Silence About Feud With Whoopi Goldberg After Being Told To ‘Please Stop Talking’

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.

Impeachment trial/Republican cover-up reaches key decision point: Live coverage #3

Posted on (Updated by Laura Clawson

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 Sumner

And 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 Sumner

Someone 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 Sumner

Philbin 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 Sumner

Since 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 Sumner

I 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 Sumner

And 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 Sumner

Sekulow 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 Sumner

Is 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 Sumner

What 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 Sumner

Schiff 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 Sumner

Schiff 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 Sumner

There’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 Sumner

Schiff 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

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Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:29:47 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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 Sumner

BTW, 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 Sumner

Schiff reads from letter to the Senate by former Republican Senator John Warner.

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Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:35:52 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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 Sumner

Schumer 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

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Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 9:47:32 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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 Sumner

Schumer 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

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Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 10:06:14 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

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 Sumner

Watching 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?

Senate Republicans vary from tortured to triumphant in abetting the Trump/McConnell cover-up

Posted on by Joan McCarter

Senate Republicans are taking various approaches in rationalizing their decision to cover up impeached president Donald Trump's crimes, depending on how much they care about their reputations. Sen. Marco Rubio, the Bible-verse-touting Republican from Florida, pretends to be thoughtful and statesmanlike in his statement. "For purposes of answering my threshold question I assumed what is alleged is true," he wrote. "And then I sought to answer the question of whether under these assumptions it would be in the interest of the nation to remove the president." Essentially, "Yeah, he did it. He tried to cheat in the 2020 election, but so what?"

That's taking a page from Sens. Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski, bemoaning that they can't find the awful impeachable behavior of Trump impeachable because of the nasty, nasty partisan House forcing them to destroy the republic. Add into that pile the guy who loves to position himself as very troubled by Trump, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska. He can only offer up, "Let me be clear; Lamar speaks for lots and lots of us." Brave Sasse can't even use his own words.

Please give $3 to our nominee fund to bury them. The Democrats must take the Senate back.