Tag: Trump abuse of power

Graham, Paul rift deepens over Trump’s war powers

The Hill logoA high-profile debate over President Trump’s war powers is fueling a feud among Senate Republicans.

The fallout from a closed-door briefing on the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani has put a spotlight on the divisions among two of President Trump’s biggest congressional allies: Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

“If I had an eye problem, I would go to him. If I had a constitutional question, he would be the last guy I would pick,” Graham said on Thursday when asked about Paul, who is an ophthalmologist. Continue reading.

McConnell tells GOP senators to expect impeachment trial next week

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told Republicans during a closed-door lunch on Thursday to expect President Trump’s impeachment trial to start next week. 

Three GOP senators said the Republican leader warned lawmakers during the caucus meeting that they should not expect to be able to go home next weekend, indicating that the long-delayed trial will be underway.

Proceedings have been held up while Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has refused to send over the House-passed articles of impeachment, but she told reporters earlier Thursday that she would “soon” do so. Continue reading.

McConnell backs changing Senate rules over Pelosi impeachment delay

Axios logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signed onto a resolution by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) seeking to change the rules of the Senate to dismiss articles of impeachment if they are not transmitted within 25 days of their approval — in this case, Jan. 12.

Why it matters: The constitutionality of such a move, which 12 other co-sponsors have signed onto, is not clear. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated on Thursday that she is waiting to see what the Senate trial will look like before she names impeachment managers and transmits the articles.

  • McConnell has said he has the GOP votes to approve a resolution on trial rules without support from Democrats, and he has repeatedly criticized Pelosi for attempting to interfere with the Senate process.
  • The Senate would require a two-thirds majority in order to change the rules, unless McConnell were to invoke the “nuclear option” and decide the issue by a simple majority vote. Continue reading.

Democrats ‘utterly unpersuaded’ by evidence behind Soleimani strike

The Hill logoDemocrats said Wednesday that the Trump administration failed to present evidence supporting the claim that a top Iranian general killed in a U.S. drone strike was planning an imminent attack.

The frustration boiled over after back-to-back closed-door briefings on the strike that killed Iranian Quds Force leader Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said the evidence represented a “far cry” from an imminent attack, while Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) called the briefing “sophomoric.”  Continue reading.

George Conway and Neal Katyal educate Mitch McConnell on how to hold a real impeachment trial — and explain why John Bolton must testify

AlterNet logoAttorneys George Conway and Neal Katyal have written an editorial for the New York Times in which they call on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to stop trying to protect President Donald Trump and hold a real impeachment trial in the Senate.

In particular, the editorial hammers McConnell for declaring that there’s no chance Trump will be removed from office before hearing former national security adviser John Bolton’s testimony.

“Remember that the diplomat Fiona Hill testified at the House impeachment hearings that Mr. Bolton called the pressuring of Ukraine by the administration a ‘drug deal’ and said he wanted no part of it,” they write. “Mr. Bolton himself has said that he possesses new information that has not been revealed. He even gave a speech saying that some of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy decisions were made in his self-interest, not in the interest of the American people.” Continue reading.

Conservative attorney explains why Trump and Pompeo’s justification for Soleimani killing should ‘concern every American’

AlterNet logoAlthough Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani was by no means the first adversary of the U.S. killed during a military operation, his death is inspiring a great deal of debate — even among blistering critics of the Iranian government. Conservative attorney/journalist Philip Rotner considers Soleimani’s death a troubling development in U.S. foreign policy, and he explains in a January 8 article for The Bulwark why the justification being offered by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should “concern every American.”

Founded by two anti-Trump conservatives, Charles Sykes and neocon Bill Kristol, in December 2018, The Bulwark is hardly a journal of pacifists and has a generally more hawkish perspective than, say, Antiwar.com (a decidedly isolationist/paleoconservative right-wing website known for its contributions from Patrick Buchanan, former Rep. Ron Paul and others). But Soleimani’s killing, Rotner stresses, is problematic in many respects.

“President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are justifying the targeted killing of the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, in terms that should concern every American,” Rotner explains. Continue reading.

Fox Judge Urges Reopening Of Impeachment Probe To Review New Evidence

The party line among many of President Donald Trump’s defenders at Fox News is that the recent impeachment inquiry by House Democrats was flawed from start to finish, but Judge Andrew Napolitano hasn’t been shy about offering critical analysis of Trump during the Ukraine scandal — and according to Napolitano, “newly acquired evidence” is reason enough for Democrats to “reopen the impeachment” inquiry.

Appearing on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom on Monday, Napolitano asserted, “If I were a Democrat in the House, I would be moving to reopen the impeachment on the basis of newly acquired evidence — which are these new e-mails of people getting instructions directly from the president to hold up on the sending of the (military) funds  (to Ukraine). That would justify holding on to the articles of impeachment, because there’s new evidence, perhaps new articles.”

Napolitano added, “If I were a Republican in the Senate, I would go about my business as if there had been no articles of impeachment — because until those articles of impeachment come over to the Senate, there is nothing for the Senate to do.” Continue reading.

Trump and Pelosi clash over Iran, impeachment

The Hill logoSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is flexing her muscles at the start of a critical election year by challenging President Trump on two explosive issues — impeachment and Iran — that are sure to exacerbate tensions between Congress and the White House.

Lawmakers in the House will vote this week to limit Trump’s military powers amid intensifying friction with Tehran, marking a new and unexpected front in Democratic efforts to rein in a president they impeached just weeks ago on charges of abusing his office over foreign policy in Ukraine.

The “War Powers Resolution” arrives as questions swirl over when Pelosi will deliver the impeachment articles to the Senate, a step she’s declined to take before Republican leaders outline the trial parameters. Pelosi charged over the weekend that absent a serious effort to gather and weigh new evidence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is merely an “accomplice” to Trump’s misconduct. Continue reading.

‘We’re ready to go’: Trump legal team readies for Senate trial’s start

But they are unsure whether the want to bring in the president’s top House allies.

President Donald Trump’s lawyers have their strategy in place for the upcoming Senate impeachment trial. All they need now is a start date.

Coordinating over the past month, the White House counsel’s office and the president’s team of private lawyers have prepared a detailed legal brief pushing back against last month’s House-passed impeachment articles that seek Trump’s removal from office for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

That document, according to a person familiar with the Trump legal strategy, is modeled after one that President Bill Clinton’s lawyers submitted at the start of his 1999 Senate impeachment trial — which ended a month later with his acquittal. Continue reading.

 

GOP moderates side with McConnell over Bolton testimony

Democrats are unlikely to get four Republicans to vote to subpoena John Bolton.

Despite John Bolton’s willingness to testify about the Ukraine scandal, the GOP-controlled Senate has no immediate plans to subpoena him in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial — a win for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the White House.

While Democrats have called for testimony from Trump’s former national security adviser, so far there’s no sign that they will secure support from four Republicans they would need to follow through on their demand.

In their bid for a “fair trial,” Democrats were hoping moderate Republicans like Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah will endorse their efforts to bring in Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to testify at the trial. They also want to subpoena documents related to the Ukraine scandal. Continue reading.