House impeachment managers turn to history in closing trial arguments

Posted on February 3, 2020 by PBS NewsHour - Politics

House impeachment managers and President Trump's lawyers have had their say regarding the president's impeachment. Now, the Senate will render its verdict. Amna Nawaz reports on the closing arguments presented Monday, and Lisa Desjardins and Yamiche Alcindor join Judy Woodruff to discuss what they're hearing from lawmakers and the White House about the possibilities of acquittal and censure.

Trump Lawyer to Schiff’s Team: You’re Conducting ‘Massive Election Interference’ And Americans Will Make You Pay

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Rusty Weiss

White House counsel for the impeachment trial, Pat Cipollone, accused Adam Schiff and the impeachment management team of partaking in “massive election interference,” predicting the American people will not respond kindly to their actions.

In fact, he suggested the one thing Democrats truly do not want to see – the American people deciding their party’s fate at the ballot box.

Cipollone’s remarks came Thursday afternoon at the Senate impeachment trial.

“We’ve never been in a situation where we have the impeachment of a President in an election year, with the goal of removing the president from the ballot,” Cipollone said.

“As I’ve said before, that is the most massive election interference we’ve ever witnessed. It’s domestic election interference, it’s political election interference, and it’s wrong.”

The truth must be thoroughly painful for Schiff and his impeachment clown show to hear.

The Democrats’ impeachment scam is the REAL election interference!

Trump defense team’s Pat Cipollone: “We’ve never been in a situation where we have the impeachment of a President in an election year…That is the most massive election interference we’ve ever witnessed.” pic.twitter.com/lQ0y4R1ZA7

— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) January 30, 2020

Americans Will Make Them Pay

Cipollone proceeded to explain that the House impeachment scam will come back to bite Democrats when the American people vote.

“If you’re going to say that the votes of the American people are going to be disallowed, that all of the ballots need to be torn up … then at the very least you need to be accountable to your own district for that decision and now they are,” he said. “And now they are.”

Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, admitted he and his colleagues forced impeachment because the threat of President Trump’s winning re-election is too great.

They will lose and they know it. Cipollone even suggests they could be thrown out of office for their disgraceful tactics.

“If the American people decide. If they are allowed to vote. If the American people decide, that they don’t like what’s happened here, that they don’t like the constitutional violations that have happened, that they don’t like the attack on a successful president, for purely partisan political purposes,” Cipollone railed. “Then they can do something and they can throw them out.”

Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff…

Two impeachment fanatics chasing dreams of glory…

pic.twitter.com/v2GXdxswSY

— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) January 31, 2020

It’s a Threat

Cipollone’s prediction sounds similar to something President Trump said earlier in the week – that Schiff may eventually pay a hefty price for his actions.

“Shifty Adam Schiff is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN, and probably a very sick man,” Trump tweeted. “He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!”

He also echoed that we were witnessing “a massive election interference the likes of which has never been seen before.”

Schiff whined that Trump was making a threat against him. The President’s lawyer revealed just what that price would be.

And it is, indeed, a threat. It’s a threat that if you continue this ‘resistance’ farce and multiple ‘coup’ attempts against the President of the United States, the voters will make you pay a political price.

They must be held accountable.

The post Trump Lawyer to Schiff’s Team: You’re Conducting ‘Massive Election Interference’ And Americans Will Make You Pay appeared first on The Political Insider.

Thursday Night, the Hour Grew Late For Democrats in More Ways than One

Posted on January 31, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 31, 2020

As news of the Bolton and Schiff videos, clips that destroyed their witness argument, closed in on the Democrats the president’s opponents got stranger and more rabid. They knew they were likely to lose the whole match on Friday and they began to lash out at the GOP legal team, themselves, and at their real enemies, the voters of the United States of America.

Developments included:

GOP attorney Pat Cipollone made the argument that if a partisan impeachment like this was to remove the president from office for the vague charge of “abuse of power” then all future presidents, GOP and Democrat, would be subject to the same type of witch hunt.

Elizabeth Warren, in a question, tried to impugn the credibility of Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts sighed after he read the question and even Adam Schiff defended Roberts during his response to the question.
The Democrats made repeated attempts to classify any negative information as “conspiracy theories”, even going as far as to label the legal record and established facts as such.When they didn’t do that, when repeatedly shown the record, they just merely punted the question and went back to their tired redundant talking points.
The GOP team made the point that numerous people, including Joe Biden, thought there was no need for witnesses in the 1998 Clinton impeachment trial.
Democrats consistently fell into GOP traps when it came to the CIA informer. When a GOP senator hinted at Ciaramella, a member of the Democrat legal team would whine about it, thus talking about the subject and using up their time. Which is exactly what the GOP team wanted them to do.
The Democrats began to insinuate that the American people are not fit to decide the presidency. Thus the Dems had the duty to it for them through impeachment. We’ll see those clips again.
As Schiff and his pals watched the day grow later, the pressure started to get to them in a very obvious manner. We heard more about “Russian propaganda” and “baseless smears.”The GOP legal team was hitting nerves and it was showing in the words and demeanor of all the Democrats in the room.

In the last question, and we’ll have more on this later, Jerry Nadler bolted out of his seat and stole the podium from Adam Schiff. Schiff seemed stunned by the move and tried to call after Nadler, as Nadler made his way to the podium. Nadler ignored him and proceeded to throw a tantrum.

The trial resumes, perhaps for the last day, Friday afternoon.

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

The post Thursday Night, the Hour Grew Late For Democrats in More Ways than One appeared first on The Political Insider.

Democrats Begin to Meltdown as Their Loss Looms

Posted on January 31, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 31, 2020

There was lots of drama on the Senate floor on Thursday as it began to dawn on Democrats that their years long campaign to drive President Trump from office was falling apart.

Developments during the day included:

In his opening remarks Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell sent a subtle message to his fellow GOP Senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul. He told him to back off on CJ John Roberts. Roberts had the day before squelched a Paul question that named CIA informer Eric Ciaramella.Rand Paul didn’t listen and did the same thing in the first GOP question of the day. Roberts cut him down. Paul was upset and walked off the floor of the Senate. But not much later in the day Roberts allowed almost the same question, just not from Paul and not naming Ciaramella by name. At such, the Democrats, most notably Schiff, went into their victim act and fake indignation shtick.
The GOP team focused on the dichotomy of Democrat statements that contended that keeping the president in office was an “urgent” threat to national security and the nation itself, yet they delayed moving ahead for a month.

Possible swing votes Democrat Senators Manchin of West Virginia and Jones of Alabama signaled they would be voting against Trump at least on witnesses. If Schumer doesn’t give them a waiver, for state political viability, to vote for acquittal he is insane. Another possible swing, GOP Senator Lamar of Tennessee, will stay with the president. That should hold the GOP defections to 2-3, not the 4 the Democrats need to win. It could be over by Friday night, possibly Saturday morning.
The Democrats attempted to use the words of Professor Jonathan Turley, a GOP House witness, in their Senate case. It didn’t work.
A main GOP message, well articulated by all GOP lawyers, was to implore the Senate to let the people, not impeachment, decide who inhabits the Oval Office.
Sensing victory on the general question, GOP Senator Toomey of PA dropped his one witness for each side deal.

After Democrats accused Trump of somehow cheating in the 2020 election before the first vote is cast, Trump lawyer Pat Cipollone hit them with, “Talk about cheating, you won’t even face him,” meaning they are afraid to face Trump in an election again.

Indeed they are. The late day and night got even more amusing. Details to follow in the next article…

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

The post Democrats Begin to Meltdown as Their Loss Looms appeared first on The Political Insider.

Clashes Continue in Trial on Wednesday, GOP Holds Advantage

Posted on January 30, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 30, 2020

The mood was legal yet the elements of fiery controversy were there on Wednesday during the Democrat Combover Festival and Senate impeachment trial of President Trump.

Most GOP questions were handled by attorney Patrick Philbin. But Alan Dershowitz, Pat Cipollone, Pam Bondi and Jay Sekulow also got their turn at bat. The Democrats inexplicably continued to go with the hard on the ear team of Nadler and Schiff, relegating better litigators like Jeffries and Crow to the general sidelines for most of the day.

The Democrats also continued to let the unintentionally comic Val Demings take the podium. She is so inarticulate that her time on camera has become the designated bathroom break time for Democrat and GOP Hill staffers alike.

Other developments were as follows:

The questions from the senators were mostly contrived set ups to their own party’s lawyers. When they addressed the other side the questions became increasingly aggressive as the day wore on.
Supposed swing vote GOP Senator Susan Collins of Maine was seen to be visibly upset at Democrat insults to her and other senators. The Democrats are pushing her towards acquittal.
GOP Senator Rand Paul had a question thrown back at him by Chief Justice John Roberts when Paul named Eric Ciaramella as the informer. More details on that in a following article.
The Democrats focused on Bolton. Yet the GOP, and you will be sure to hear of this today, unearthed videos where Bolton states there was nothing amiss with the president’s communications with the Ukrainians.
A constant GOP theme during the day was that policy or political differences are not sufficient to meet the standard of impeachment set forth by the Founders.The Democrats countered with their usual “big lie” strategy of ignoring reality and focusing on their fictional talking points. Schiff even revisited his old trick of making up lines he then insinuates were the president’s real meanings.
The Democrats stoked the fire on their love affair with the hapless Lt. Colonel “Flounder” Vindman, even though his was perhaps the worst and most discredited testimony during the House hearings.
Jay Sekulow showcased the poison pill defense, as we predicted. He said he would call both Bidens, Schiff, and Ciaramella to the stand, at the very least, if the Senate voted for witnesses.

The New York-California Axis was on display during the Democrat presentations, as the leftist party can’t seem to find very many legal acolytes or elected supporters much distant from the Big Rotten Apple or the Left Coast.
Swing vote possibility Democrat Senator John Tester, given the nature of a question he sent to the Chief Justice for the Democrat House managers, may be leaning against the president.

More to follow…

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

The post Clashes Continue in Trial on Wednesday, GOP Holds Advantage appeared first on The Political Insider.

4 moments to watch from Day 3 of Trump’s impeachment defense

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Candice Norwood

President Donald Trump's impeachment defense team on Tuesday concluded their third day of oral arguments by trying to undermine leaked details from an upcoming book by former national security adviser John Bolton.

GOP Trial Defense Team Wraps Up, Scores Big

Posted on January 28, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 28, 2020

Tuesday, the last day of the GOP case to the Senate in defense of President Trump, was marked by scholarly analysis and low key appeals to basic integrity by presidential attorneys Pat Cipollone, Patrick Philbin, and Jay Sekulow.

Philbin led off the day, after an intro by Cipollone, expounding on points made Monday by Alan Dershowitz. He specifically warned of the expansive nature and vague context of the “abuse of power” impeachment charge against the president, likening it to a Bill of Attainder.

That kind of bill, legislation targeting a single individual, was prohibited by the Founders in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution.

The podium was then taken by Jay Sekulow who, eschewing his usual tough manner, moderately emphasized that elections, not impeachments, are the proper way to change presidents in this nation.

He did castigate Democrat manager Jerry Nadler for referring to executive privilege as “other nonsense.” In warning of Nadler’s attitude and impeachment itself, Sekulow oddly channeled the robot from “Lost in Space” as he intoned “danger, danger, danger” more than once.

Will Robinson could not be reached for comment.

Pat Cipollone concluded the active defense case with a subtle, yet hard-hitting, strike against the Democrats by playing videos showcasing their own words from the Clinton impeachment against them.

Nadler, Lofgren, and even Chuck Schumer had to sit there mortified while their on-screen selves from over 20 years ago warned against partisan impeachment and the negative future effects of it on the nation and the presidency.

Schumer even predicted then that Democrats would want “payback” in the future and would unfairly target a GOP president.

Upon seeing that, Cipollone simply responded, “You were right.”

Pat Cipollone closed with a sincere appeal to the Senate, “It is time for this to end here and now.” His manner and tone were agreeable, even gentle, as he asked the 100 members of the U.S. Senate to look to the better angels of their natures and defend the Constitution by rejecting these articles of impeachment. His pitch seemed to be convincing and effective, as opposed to the bombast of the Democrat legal team.

The Senate reconvenes Wednesday at 1pm to begin two days of senatorial questions to opposing legal teams. Chief Justice Roberts asked that responses be brief.

Whether the legal teams will act as such remains to be seen.

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

The post GOP Trial Defense Team Wraps Up, Scores Big appeared first on The Political Insider.

Trump Defense Goes for Broke on Monday

Posted on January 27, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 27, 2020

Saturday saw the Trump defense team embarrass the Democrat House managers. With a carefully devised message and personality calibration they laid out their case in a concise yet powerful manner.

But Jay Sekulow, the Trump attack dog, said Saturday was but a mere preview. That sets a serious expectation level. What’s the movie going to look like? Here are some possible PR and legal scenarios.

The kitchen sink- The Democrats want it? They get it. After bringing up Hunter Biden and his dad repeatedly on Friday the Democrats have left the door open for the GOP team to walk right through it. Is it a trap? Will they pull a Battle of Cowpens? Unlikely.

It very well could be an invitation from the hard left of the Democrat party to do their dirty work for them and implicate Biden just before the Iowa caucuses.

Just as there are those who say the Pelosi delay was an effort to help Biden by keeping Sanders and Warren out of Iowa close to the election. Either way, Team Trump has said they’re going for it and the possible consequences are devastating for the Democrat legal team.

It will not be too hard to prove that this impeachment effort is but a distraction operation to set aside notice from a myriad number of Democrat scandals, the Bidens among them.

There is no there, there- Pat Cipollone’s team has already shown us this in an entertaining trailer. The main feature looks quite popcorn worthy. The basic premise is, where’s the crime? A phone call? A missed meeting? As Mike Purpura said, “There can’t be a quid pro quo without a quo.”

They could expose the big lie behind the entire Democrat case, that this is a political operation and not a legal argument. It is an attempt to refight the 2016 election by way of impeachment and Senate trial.

It will likely have the same outcome as that election: Donald Trump is the president.

Where is the victim? – If the Ukrainians say they felt no pressure and they didn’t even know about the defense aid delay during the time in question, just who exactly was victimized?

These and other gambits will be featured on Monday by Team Trump. It promises to be a good day for the president’s defense.

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

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AP fact check: Trump’s impeachment defense

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Calvin Woodward, Associated Press

President Donald Trump's lawyers claimed that House Democrats were hiding evidence and did not allow Trump to participate in the House inquiry.

Congressional Democrats Add Insult to Injury by Alienating Second Possible Impeachment Trial Swing Vote

Posted on January 25, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 24, 2020

The only way the Dems had a shred of a chance of convicting President Donald Trump in the current Senate impeachment trial was by bringing over several GOP Senators on early votes that could start a rockslide towards GOP guilty votes.

So what do they do?

They insult the Senate.

Specifically House impeachment manager Jerry Nadler, who this analyst has had a run in with in the past, told the Senate they were engaged in a “cover up” if they did not vote with him and that the Senate itself was also “on trial.”

In rebuttal, presidential counsel Pat Cipollone gave as good as he got.

As we reported earlier on Friday, Nadler’s tone did not sit well with possible swing vote Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) who publicly registered her distaste and signaled her non-happiness with Dem tactics. That cannot help their case with her.

Now Politico is reporting that fellow possible swing trial vote Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) was so ticked off at Nadler that she sent a note to presiding judge U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

She commented to Politico, “It reminded me that if we were in a normal debate in the Senate, that the rule would be invoked to strike the words of the senator for impugning another senator.

So, I did write a note raising the issue of whether there’d been a violation of the rules. I’m going to cast my vote regardless of the congressman’s performance. His negative comments about the Senate will not have any impact.”

Oh yes they will.

That note, and no doubt his own observations, caused Roberts to tell the assembled pols and lawyers, “It is appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the House managers and the president’s counsel in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body.”

He continued, “One reason it has earned that title is because its members avoid speaking in a manner, and using language, that is not conducive to civil discourse.”

If the GOP 53 vote shield wall holds then the Dems not only have come all this way for nothing, dragging the nation and the government along with them, but they may be forced to give their own Senators vote waivers to protect those who hail from Trump states.

If that comes about, Nadler may regret his words. But the president won’t.

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

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