Tag: Trump abuse of power

Independents souring on impeachment underscores risk for Democrats

The Hill logoNew public opinion polls are moving against Democrats on impeachment as independents sour on the House inquiry and increasingly express opposition to the hearings that have consumed Washington in recent weeks.

The new data comes as a surprise to Democrats, many of whom believe witnesses have offered damning testimony about President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.

Witnesses have testified that Trump pressed Ukraine’s leaders to conduct investigations of the energy company Burisma Holdings — which was seen as code for probes of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, given the younger Biden’s work for the company as a board member.

There has also been testimony that security aid for Ukraine was delayed to put more pressure on that country’s government. Other witnesses have castigated Trump for pursuing conspiracy theories that Ukraine and not Russia was a major player in electoral interference in 2016.

View the complete November 24 article by Jonathan Easley on The Hill website here.

Trump’s GOP support hardens despite damning impeachment testimony

Washington Post logoAfter two weeks of extraordinary open hearings that Democrats envisioned as their best opportunity to shape public opinion on impeachment, President Trump claims to be impervious to the cascade of damaging revelations because of hardening Republican opposition to his removal from office.

So far, the historic proceedings have exacerbated the political divide. Some moderate Republican lawmakers once seen as the most likely to break with Trump condemned his conduct but signaled in recent days that they would probably vote against his impeachment because they do not believe the president’s actions meet that threshold.

This phase of the inquiry was particularly damning for Trump, simply because of the fact pattern that emerged. A series of government witnesses, testifying under oath and at risk of perjury, implicated the president in a scheme to pressure Ukraine to influence the 2020 election.

View the complete November 23 article by Philip Rucker on The Washington Post website here.

JUST IN: State Dept. FOIA Doc Release Shows Links Between Oval Office, Giuliani, and Pompeo on Ukraine

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had multiple conversations in March 2019 with President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, after the latter complained to Trump’s then-Oval Office operations director that he was getting nowhere “through regular channels.”

These revelations come from a 100-page trove of State Department documents released on Friday to the nonpartisan watchdog group American Oversight. The documents, which were part of a FOIA lawsuit for all Trump administration dealings on Ukraine, include multiple emails of Pompeo’s call schedule, showing the nation’s top diplomat holding calls with Giuliani. (The documents can also be viewed here).

In addition to call logs showing Giuliani and Pompeo speaking several times, there is a March 27 email from Giuliani’s personal assistant, Jo Ann Zafonte, to then-Director of Oval Office Operations Madeleine Westerhout, who acted as Trump’s unofficial gatekeeper in the White House. Zafonte requests a phone number for Pompeo so she can set up a call between him and Giuliani because she has “been trying and getting nowhere through regular channels.”

View the complete November 23 article by Reed Richardson on the Mediaite.com website here.

The Evidence That Trump Concealed

Accumulating evidence of impeachable offenses by President Donald J. Trump, based on available documents and witness testimony, is overwhelming. It began with the July 25 “transcript” he urged us all to read in which he responds to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s entreaty for more military assistance by asking for those two “favors.” Officials described under oath how, under orders from Trump, they were required to pressure the Ukraine government into announcing “investigations” of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and the Democratic National Committee, which did not have to be genuine. And it may yet extend beyond the damning revelations delivered during the past several days before the House Intelligence Committee. Continue reading “The Evidence That Trump Concealed”

Watch: Eric Swalwell calls out Devin Nunes’ own ties to the Ukraine scandal to his face

AlterNet logoRep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif, called out Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., on Thursday over his links to an indicted associate of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani who assisted with the effort to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations to help President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.

Swalwell cited a Daily Beast report that Giuliani business partner Lev Parnas helped Nunes arrange meetings in Europe while the former House Intelligence Committee chairman led an investigation seeking to undermine former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia at Thursday’s impeachment hearing.

His comments came after Fiona Hill, the former top Russia expert on the National Security Council, hit out at Republicans on the committee who have pushed a conspiracy theory welcomed by Trump that Ukraine framed Russia in the 2016 election meddling case, which she said “clearly advance[d] Russian interests.”“Dr. Hill, you cautioned us on the dangers of members of this committee perhaps peddling any Ukrainian conspiracy theories that could benefit Russia,” Swalwell said. “I want to ask you if you’ve heard the name Lev Parnas, of Ukraine, someone in this investigation who was influencing President Trump and Rudy Giuliani about some of the debunked conspiracy theories you referenced,” he added, referring to a baseless George Soros-linked conspiracy theory that led to the ouster of former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

View the complete November 22 article by Igor Derysh from Salon on the AlterNet website here.

Democrats set to open new chapter in impeachment

The Hill logoAfter a two-week barrage of public hearings, Democrats are eyeing the next stage of their impeachment inquiry as they edge closer to an end-of-year goal for wrapping up their investigation into President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and other Democrats on the panel finished their last scheduled public hearings this week with what sounded like closing arguments for impeachment. 

Schiff said lawmakers will determine their next steps “in the coming days.”

View the complete November 22 article by Cristina Marcos and Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.

Impeachment news roundup: Nov. 22

Trump explains why he wanted Giuliani to lead Ukraine effort, and where does the inquiry go next?

The House left town for its Thanksgiving recess on Thursday with little clarity on where the impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump goes from here.

After two weeks of public hearings with 12 witnesses, Democratic Intelligence Committee members have not said whether they will call more to testify after the Thanksgiving break.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that the course impeachment takes is “up to the committees of jurisdiction.” But she also suggested that her party will not wait for the courts to decide whether Trump administration officials who have refused to provide documents and testimony to the panel conducting the impeachment probe must comply. That court process could take months, and Democrats have said they want to wrap up the impeachment process by as early as Christmas.

View the complete November 22 article on The Roll Call website here.

Trump goes off the rails in Fox News interview spewing Obama conspiracy theory

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump went off-the-rails when he called in to “Fox & Friends” Friday morning. For 57 minutes straight with no commercials the fast-talking President spewed conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory, tossed around lies and personal attacks against top Democrats, including coming close to saying once again that President Barack Obama spied on him and his campaign.

“They thought I was going to win and said ‘how can we stop him?’” Trump said of Obama and his administration.

“You’re dealing at the highest levels of government. They were spying on my campaign. This is my opinion,” Trump said.

View the complete November 22 article by David Badash from The New Civil Rights Movement on the AlterNet website here.

Trump says he might veto legislation that aims to protect human rights in Hong Kong because bill could affect China trade talks

Washington Post logoThe legislation easily passed Congress with a veto-proof majority.

President Trump suggested Friday that he might veto legislation designed to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong — despite its near-unanimous support in the House and Senate — to pave the way for a trade deal with China.

Speaking on the “Fox & Friends” morning program, the president said that he was balancing competing priorities in the U.S.-China relationship.

“We have to stand with Hong Kong, but I’m also standing with President Xi [Jinping],” Trump said. “He’s a friend of mine. He’s an incredible guy…But I’d like to see them work it out. Okay. We have to see and work it out. But I stand with Hong Kong. I stand with freedom. I stand with all of the things that we want to do, but we also are in the process of making the largest trade deal in history. And if we could do that, that would be great.”

View the complete November 22 article by David J. Lynch on The Washington Post website here.

Nunes Dumbfounded When Witness Debunks His Conspiracy Theory

House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes was caught off guard on Thursday when a witness in the impeachment hearings rejected a favorite right-wing conspiracy out of hand. It was an amusing and revealing moment showing how deep Nunes is in the alternative reality crafted by President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, outlets like Fox News, and others.

The moment came when he asked State Department official David Holmes about the so-called “black ledger,” which documented payments former Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort received from former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. When the ledger was revealed in 2016, it prompted Manafort’s removal from the campaign, and Republicans have alleged that it was part of a plot by the country to hurt Trump. During his questioning, Nunes asked if Holmes had heard of the “black ledger.” Holmes said he had.

Holmes, who works at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, replied simply: “Yes.”

Nunes was clearly taken aback.

View the complete November 22 article by Cody Fenwick from AlterNet on the National Memo website here.