Tag: Trump abuse of power

The impeachment trial hurtles toward its worst-case conclusion

Washington Post logoAs President Trump’s impeachment trial speeds to a close, perhaps as soon as Friday, likely without any witnesses, the result looks to be a worst-case scenario.

In the beginning, the president’s lawyers made a relatively benign argument: He didn’t do it. No quid pro quo.

But House managers tried their case too well. Evidence piled up on the Senate floor over the past 10 days that the president withheld military aid to force Ukraine to announce probes of his political foes. And former national security adviser John Bolton’s firsthand account leaked about the quid pro quo. Continue reading.

George Conway: Don’t let the defense fool you. This impeachment is all about corruption.

Washington Post logoThe president’s lawyers this week floated their catch-all impeachment defense, one tailor-made for President Trump. It is, in essence, that a narcissistic president can do no wrong.

Like most of the president’s arguments, it’s erroneous. But no argument could have presented the issue more starkly to Republican senators: Will they follow their oaths to defend the Constitution and to do impartial justice? Or will they once again show fealty to Trump personally, thereby accepting his conflation of his personal interests with those of the nation?

The Trump lawyers’ challenge to the Senate began with their answer to the very first question from senators. Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mitt Romney (Utah) asked: What if the president had a mixed motive — if he thought he was acting both “in pursuit of a personal political advantage” and in “promotion of national interests”? Deputy White House Counsel Patrick Philbin responded without caveat. That “cannot possibly be the basis for an impeachable offense,” he said. Continue reading the commentary by George Conway.

GOP whitewash nearly complete: Will they pay in November?

AlterNet logoMitch McConnell’s cover-up of Donald Trump’s corruption looks like it will soon be complete — but not before a betrayal so big it could blow the GOP’s chances of holding the Senate in November.

After 10 days of arguing over whether to allow evidence in Trump’s impeachment trial, the Senate is expected to vote Friday on whether to allow witnesses, a vote Majority Leader Mitch McConnell now believes he will win. Republicans are determined to fast-track the end of a trial where the defendant has offered no real denial of what he’s accused, has refused to provide any material evidence and has already paid off the jury.

Such a lazy defense is precisely why McConnell wanted to avoid an impeachment process altogether. Public opinion had decidedly turned against Trump and the GOP Senate since the trial began. Hundreds took to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to call for witnesses, as 75% of voters in a new Monmouth University poll say witnesses should be allowed to testify. A straw poll on witnesses among GOP senators earlier this week was tighter than McConnell expected after it was revealed that former White House national security adviser John Bolton has a forthcoming tell-all which reportedly lays bare Trump’s plan to pressure Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden. Continue reading.

Graham: It’s “Insane” To Say Republicans Blocked Trial Witnesses

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who voted to block subpoenas for witness testimony in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, said on Thursday that he considers it “insane,” ridiculous,” and “outrageous” to accuse Republicans of blocking witnesses.

“Of all the insane things being said about this impeachment debacle — and there is a lot to choose from — one of the most ridiculous is to say Senate Republicans are ‘Blocking Witnesses,’” Graham wrote on Twitter Thursday morning. “This is an outrageous claim.”

On Jan. 22, Graham joined his Republican colleagues in the Senate to vote 11 times to reject an attempt by Democratic senators to allow witnesses and documents to be a part of the impeachment trial. Graham voted against subpoenaing testimony from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton, among others. Continue reading.

4 takeaways from the final day of questions in Trump’s impeachment trial

Washington Post logoSenators spent Thursday asking questions in President Trump’s impeachment trial, and that was apparently enough for two key Republican senators to come down on how they’ll vote Friday on whether to extend the trial by calling witnesses including former national security adviser John Bolton.

Below are the takeaways from the day.

1. Democrats almost certainly aren’t getting the four Republicans they need to call witnesses

The biggest news of the day came at the end of the trial’s question-and-answer session, at nearly 11 p.m. There are only four potential swing votes, and one of them, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), said he won’t vote to call witnesses.

Sen. Lindsey Graham Was ‘In The Loop’ On Ukraine Scheme, Says Lev Parnas

Rudy Giuliani told him “on several occasions that he spoke to Lindsey Graham about the situation, that Lindsey was always aware,” Parnas told Anderson Cooper.

Rudy Giuliani’s indicted business associate Lev Parnas accused Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) of being “in the loop” on the scheme to pressure Ukraine to launch an investigation into unfounded accusations against former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic presidential candidate.

Parnas, a Florida businessman who had donated to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, said he was “1 million percent” certain that Graham was aware of the Ukraine operation.

“Rudy told me not once but on several occasions that he spoke to Lindsey Graham about the situation, that Lindsey was always aware,” he told Anderson Cooper in a CNN interview Wednesday night. Graham was “aware of what was going on going back to at least 2018, maybe even earlier,” Parnas said. (Check out the video above beginning at 1:30.)

Brian Kilmeade Goes Rogue On Fox News: John Bolton Is ‘Not A Liar’

The Fox News host reminded his colleagues that the former national security adviser was once a regular fixture on their program.

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade broke rank with his colleagues on the network Thursday, defending former national security adviser John Bolton.

Bolton, who was previously well-received on the network and appeared as a paid contributor for over a decade, has been harshly criticized by numerous Fox News hosts this week.

The change of heart comes in the wake of reported allegations in Bolton’s forthcoming book, a copy of which was leaked to The New York Times. The manuscript reportedly confirms the key charge against President Donald Trump in his Senate impeachment trial: that he explicitly tied the exchange of congressionally approved military aid to the opening of an investigation into a leading rival for the November presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Biden’s son Hunter. Continue reading.

‘You can’t make this up!’: Senate erupts in laughter when Adam Schiff reveals DOJ lawyers just completely contradicted Trump’s impeachment defense

AlterNet logoTo defend against Democratic allegations of an illicit cover-up, President Donald Trump’s lawyers have argued fervently that the second article of impeachment in the Senate trial charging him with obstructing Congress is completely unwarranted. Instead of charging Trump with obstructing Congress, they’ve argued, Democrats should have taken the president to court to enforce subpoenas of his aides and requests for documents.

But on Thursday, a Justice Department attorney — who, ostensibly, works for the president — completely contradicted this argument.

There’s long been a tension in the president’s impeachment defense and his administration’s position in court, as many have pointed out. Trump’s impeachment attorneys have argued that Congress shouldn’t have charged Trump with obstructing their investigation but instead worked out disputes in the judicial branch. But when Congress has taken the administration to court to enforce its subpoenas, Justice Department attorneys have argued that judges can’t resolve the dispute between the legislative branch and the executive. Continue reading.

New recording shows access Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman had to Trump at Mar-a-Lago donor event

Washington Post logoTen days before Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman dined with President Trump at his Washington hotel, they were part of a small group of Republican Party donors who met with the president at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, a new recording shows.

The two men — who later assisted Rudolph W. Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine — were part of a gathering held in an ornate room of the property and also attended by Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, according to the video and people in attendance.

While it was known that Fruman and Parnas had attended an event at Mar-a-Lago, the focus of the event, the timing and who else was in attendance had not been made public. Continue reading.

Alan Dershowitz for the Defense: L’État, C’est Trump

At the Senate impeachment trial on Wednesday, Donald Trump’s lawyer said that the President can do just about anything he wants.

An hour into the Senate trial of Donald John Trump on Wednesday, the emeritus Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz came to the floor to answer a question from a former Harvard law student, Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas. In theory, it was a question that went to the heart of the impeachment case against Trump, about the President’s imposition of a quid pro quo on military aid to Ukraine and whether his motivations mattered. Dershowitz had something larger and more profound to say, however: Donald Trump has the power to do just about anything he wants to do, and there’s nothing that the U.S. Senate can or should do about it. Continue reading “Alan Dershowitz for the Defense: L’État, C’est Trump”