Tag: Trump obstruction of justice

GOP tries to connect dots on Biden and Ukraine, but comes up short

Washington Post logo“Did you know that Joe Biden called Ukrainian President Poroshenko at least three times in February 2016 after the president and owner of Burisma’s home was raided on February 2nd by the state prosecutor’s office?”

— Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, in a question directed at witnesses at the impeachment inquiry, Nov. 19, 2019

“It is my understanding that on February 4, 2016, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, announced the seizure of property from the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings’ founder, Mykola Zlochevsky. The seizure occurred pursuant to a raid on Mr. Zlochevsky’s home on February 2, 2016.”

— letter from Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Nov. 21, 2019 Continue reading “GOP tries to connect dots on Biden and Ukraine, but comes up short”

Trump Praises Sen. Kennedy For Spreading Kremlin Propaganda

Donald Trump on Monday thanked a Republican senator for appearing on national television and spreading Russian propaganda.

“Thank you to Great Republican @SenJohnKennedy for the job he did in representing both the Republican Party and myself against Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd on Meet the Depressed!” Trump tweeted Monday morning, referencing Kennedy’s appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with host Chuck Todd.

In his appearance, Kennedy wrongly claimed that Ukraine was “meddling in our elections.”

Continue reading here.

Pelosi faces tough choices on impeachment managers

The Hill logoSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is beginning to send out feelers to gauge if members are interested in serving as impeachment managers, a high-profile role that will put those chosen for it in a political spotlight.

Pelosi’s office has quietly reached out to some members she believes could serve as managers, while others have pushed their own names forward, multiple sources tell The Hill.

Unlike the past two modern impeachment inquiries into sitting presidents that only included House Judiciary Committee members as managers, sources say they believe Pelosi may shake things up by adding managers from the House Intelligence Committee.

Continue reading here.

The GOP’s impeachment report is a series of red herrings

Washington Post logoHouse Republicans released a lengthy report Monday defending President Trump in the face of impeachment proceedings. But several of the arguments in it leave something to be desired.

The more-than-100-page document, crafted to preempt the findings in the report by Intelligence Committee Democrats that is expected to be released publicly Tuesday, is an extensive recitation of arguments that what Trump was doing with regard to Ukraine was not only not impeachable but not even wrong. Yet it relies on a series of straw men, rebutting allegations that aren’t really being made against Trump.

Let’s run through a few of the arguments.

Continue reading here.

How Democrats’ missing witnesses could fill in the Ukraine story

The Hill logoThe stonewalling from several key witnesses at the center of President Trump‘s dealings with Ukraine is not stopping Democrats from plowing ahead with their fast-moving inquiry.

Rather than wait to secure their testimony, Democrats say they can move forward because other witnesses have corroborated a whistleblower complaint that sparked the inquiry in September.

Democrats continued to hold that view this week, even as they received a favorable court ruling from a judge who ordered former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify in the probe.

View the complete December 1 article by Cristina Marcos on The Hill website here.

House Intelligence Committee to review impeachment investigation report Monday

The Hill logoThe House Intelligence Committee will begin reviewing a report Monday on its investigation into President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, a committee official confirmed to The Hill.

The committee is then expected to consider and adopt the report Tuesday evening. The report and any minority views will be sent to the House Judiciary Committee, which could draft articles of impeachment against the president in the next few weeks, according to Politico.

This is a major event, moving impeachment proceedings one step closer to a possible impeachment trial in the Senate.

View the complete November 30 article by Marina Pitofsky and Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

Trump’s photo op play: Facing impeachment, the president strives to look hard at work

Washington Post logoPALM BEACH, Fla. — As Democrats in Congress push to impeach him, President Trump has toured a manufacturing plant in Texas, boasted about economic gains and signed numerous bills. He served turkey to U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving and grieved with the families of fallen service members at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

And next week, Trump is scheduled to jet to London to meet with European allies and be received at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II.

Sure, Trump has been consumed by the impeachment proceedings, popping off daily, if not hourly, about what he dubs a “hoax.” But he and his aides also have staged photo opportunities and public events designed to showcase the president on the job — a strategy one year out from the election to convince the American people that he is hard at work for them at the same time that Democrats are trying to remove him from office.

View the complete November 30 article by Philip Rucker on The Washington Post 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”

White House keeps Democrats from critical witnesses

The Hill logoWitnesses pointed their fingers at a number of figures close to President Trump who could help untangle the web around the administration’s dealings with Ukraine during the public impeachment hearings. But Democrats won’t be hearing from them.

The White House has prevented the president’s chief of staff, his former national security adviser, budget officials and two individuals named as part of the alleged rogue channel behind a push for investigations by Kyiv — his personal attorney and outgoing energy secretary — from testifying before Congress.

Democrats could go to court to try to force the officials to testify, but they don’t want to further delay their inquiry and so have decided to move forward without the additional testimony.

View the complete November 23 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

White House Obstruction Crumbling As Inquiry Moves Forward

When Democrats launched a full-fledged impeachment inquiry centering on President Donald Trump’s Ukraine scandal, the White House and the administration had one primary tactical response: obstruct. If the administration could block Congress from obtaining the information about the president’s efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden, it seemed to believe, the air could be sucked out of the Democrats’ sails.

This strategy was reflected in Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s letter to Congress, calling lawmakers’ request to depose officials “an attempt to intimidate, bully, & treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State.” He added: “I will not tolerate such tactics, and I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate the dedicated professionals whom I am proud to lead and serve alongside at the Department of State.”

But as the House of Representatives barrels forward with the inquiry, the strategy of obstruction is falling apart.

View the complete October 15 article by Cody Fenwick from AlterNet on the National Memo website here.