Impeachment Megathread Part 3

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Putting on my MAGA hat here for just a moment (yes, I have actually do have one. No, don't ask me why):

What I think he means is that "we (the defense) has substance, they (the House Managers) don't", not necessarily that "we have all of these incriminating documents that we don't want to them to have."  To my untrained ear, it's just Trump doing that thing where he just tries to fill the air with the sound of his own voice by putting words together.  

Nope. Thanks for playing, but the entire 21st Century's quota of "what he really meant was" has already been used up and there is no more available. When Benedict Donald incriminates himself, in public, again, it stands of its own.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1219852782133444609

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I agree with her on that. You think he's going insane and won't be able to take the stage by year's end. Ham handed statements like these would be expected.

Objectively, that a fair point.

But I'm done giving Trump and his Republicans any benefit of doubt. If he's so mentally gone that he can't speak reliably, then he's unfit for office and needs to resign immediately. (And go get proper healthcare.) If he and his enablers want to pretend otherwise, then they need to own what the orange muppet actually says, not "what he really meant". And what he actually said was, "my party is committing obstruction of justice, and we should all be in jail".

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/AntoinePierce/status/1220184970469281793

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/gop-senators-turn-fidget-spinner-toys-during-trump-impeachment-trial-n1121401

Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest deliberative body in the world.

Video needs to be captured so that ads can be run with it every time any of these moronic oathbreakers ever aspires to public office for the rest of their lives.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/SenatorBraun/status/1220152773808918529

Adding this, because of course there's one:

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/manlnthehoody/status/1220190924291969024?s=21

Actually, if the Republican survived I'm pretty sure s/he would vote to acquit.

"It was my fault for getting in the way of his bullet."

"I apologize to the President for moving. It was a perfect shot, and if I'd just stood still it would have killed me easily. President Trump may be the best shot in American history."

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Schiff: Brings Giuliani into the mix, and now we got the Russian hacking last Week of the Ukranian Oil Company where Biden's son was involved.... Russian hacking of US elections will continue.

Doing a pretty good job of putting Russian hacking into the mix and tying it together, and then tying in the potential that other Foreign Governments might see American action of weakness.

"Put American interests first"

It is exactly why Pr. Donald J Trump did a right thing. If you don't investigate the Bidens, Russians will. And nothing can stop these devils!


Ironically, the same people who thought that Pee Tape was plausible (LOL)

The pee tape is a thing that exists. So its more than plausible. (It's also almost certainly a fake, but a very plausible fake.)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://mobile.twitter.com/CBSEveningNews/status/1220491412854185984

That alone is enough to impeach him several times over. If Republicans weren't all traitors, that is.

18 U.S. Code § 872 “Extortion by officers or employees of the United States"

18 U.S. Code § 610 “Coercion of political activity”

18 U.S. Code § 371 "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States"

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://mobile.twitter.com/CBSEveningNews/status/1220491412854185984

##BeBest

I actually think Republican senators wouldn't have to worry all too much if they removed Trump. It would certainly be politically suicidal to convict him if he's not removed in the end. But if they collectively voted him out with a ban to run for office again, he might actually be fading away. Of course he'll continue to send out BS tweets, but honestly, if he's out of power, who will care any longer what this increasingly senile clown has to say? Some of his hardcore supporters will be upset for a while but get tired sooner or later. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I can't imagine a former and discredited president having a lot of power.

It's not just Trump though. Trump is a useful distraction from all the awful things Republicans are doing, and would be doing whether it was him or Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney in the White House. And with Trump (presuming he's replaced by someone like Biden), they can try to play the "It was all Trump, he was terrible, now let's go back to business as usual". Where Republicans lie, cheat, steal and conspire with Russians to illegally undermine America's democracy. And that last part is the kicker. This isn't just Trump. The entire Republican leadership is complicit. Look at how many people Parnas was spending time with. Look at all the Republican Senators and Representatives who were on the take from Russia, directly via laundered campaign finance donations, or indirectly via the NRA. Fact-find trips to Moscow on the 4th of July (that they tried to hide). The RNC email server ransacked by Russian hackers, and the contents never released. The Republican leadership likely thinks that if Trump goes down, they're all going to be looking at major criminal charges. So they'll bull through and hope they can get away with it in the end, because everyone will be so relieved the mango moron is gone.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/SenMcSallyAZ/status/1220757126403981312

where do we start martha..arizona senate race 2018? Getting hammered on twitter.

Ironic words, coming from a woman who - like Trump - got her current position after an election where a majority of voters voted for someone  else.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Adam Schiff.

CNN nad MSBNC love him; and he gave an academy award winning presentation.
FOX News hate him; and he lies through his teeth.

It's a bit disappointing that the media is pre-owned by the political parties regardless of what was said.

Just have to wait for the result of the trial I guess.

Please stop portraying the media as being equally biased. They are not and never have been. Fox News is a Republican/Trump propaganda organization, yes. The rest of the MSM are not "anti-Trump" or anti-Republican. They are pro ratings. All of them, from PBS to CNN to MSNBC have given Mr. Trump huge amounts of free publicity, normalized his insanity, and have long refrained from focusing on his most damning actions and history. If you find one that only ever refers to him as "lying, mentally ill, Russian-oraganized crime money launder, noted abuser, and lawbreaker Donald Trump" or similarly negative terms, then maybe you'd have a point (although I'd call that truthful reporting, personally).

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I have nothing really to add to the discussion other than to say it truly astounds me to see people still supporting Trump after all of the revelations.

Not just his attempt to bribe a foreign country to help him cheat in an election...but ALL of the things he's done.

These are decent people who have been brainwashed somehow to believe Trump is a good person and/or a good president; they've been brainwashed into believing that the end justifies the means, which it certainly does not if the means involve supporting modern day fascism.  I have never been so sad, bewildered, and ashamed for and of my fellow countrymen.  To support Trump is disgusting.  I don't care what your personal politics are, supporting Trump goes beyond that.  The man is evil and what he represents is evil.

Trump supporters are in the same bed with the KKK, Nazis, and other worsts of the worsts in our society.

Here's the thing that no one wants to face up to: they are not decent people. They chose to stop being "decent people" when they supported Trump, if not long before. Living in a nation where 20% or more of the population are the contemporaneous equivalent of Nazis is miserable, and I sympathize with anyone reluctant to come to terms with it. I don't have any good solutions to the situation we face with the Banana Republicans. But deluding ourselves about what they are, or how many of them there are isn't going to help.

Perhaps once the GOP are defeated democratically (if we can accomplish that without a war), and the inevitable Republican terrorism that follows has been dealt with, then maybe they'll go back to pretending they're decent people in public, and we can all get on with our lives in a decade, or two or three.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

In recording Trump asks how long Ukraine can resist Russians

“How long would they last in a fight with Russia?” Trump is heard asking in the audio portion of a video recording, moments before he calls for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. She was removed a year later after a campaign to discredit her by Giuliani and others, an action that is part of Democrats’ case arguing for the removal of the president in his Senate impeachment trial.

Even more potentially damning is a different aspect of Trump's "Ukrainian drug deal" that has gotten very little press coverage.

Ukraine came up during the dinner in the context of a discussion of energy markets, with the voice appearing to be Parnas’ describing his involvement in the purchase of a Ukrainian energy company.

The group then praises Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to which the president says: “Pompeo’s going to be good. He’s doing a good job. Already he’s doing a good job.”

It seems likely that some of Mr. Trump's agents were intended to profit from the Ukrainian Energy industry as an aspect of their activities, likely with Mr. Trump or his children profiting as well. This seems to be reinforced by Mr. Trump, with his well-known habit for projection, obsessively focused on Biden's corrupt contact in the Ukrainian energy sector.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/DavidJollyFL/status/1221575780494381058?s=19

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Long breakdown on Twitter of the whole Trump fundraiser recorded and released by Parnas:
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1221537022680207364

Adding: An excellent point made in the replies:
https://twitter.com/MrsDSF/status/1221539073539674113

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I am still trying to figure out what the crime is with which he is charged.

He is being impeached - other have already linked the impeachment charges.

According to Mr. Trump's lawyers, "Trump's lawyers argue he can't be charged while in office — even if he shoots someone".

The long-standing view of the Justice Department is that a president cannot be indicted while in office. William Consovoy, Trump's lawyer, told the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that the immunity extends to the entire criminal justice process, including grand jury subpoenas for documents.

Are you saying that Trump's Justice Department and own lawyers are misrepresenting the law and the Constitution just to the benefit of their client, and that you'd be fine with the City of New York, or the SDNY perp walking him out of the White House tomorrow?

Once Mr. Trump can no longer hide behind his office, he can be brought up on charges for the great many crimes he has committed. (Though my personal guess is that he will not be found competent to stand trial, his family and subordinates seem unlikely to merit such a finding.)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/revrrlewis/status/1221819309628035072

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1221815532565024771

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1221789190725283840

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Alan Dershowitz just KILLED the Democrats case in one sentence.

A Quid Pro Pro is (even if there is one) is not an impeachable offense. Period!

GAME OVER MISTER SCHIFF

You couldn't read the Constitution, lousy Adam!

I have a sort of morbid curiosity here. Is this just part of your troll act, or are you actually this stupid?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This aged really well.
https://twitter.com/TheLoveBel0w/status/1221982367419715584

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

At this point, I'd almost rather they didn't call witnesses.

The Banana Republicans are going to violate their oaths and betray the Constitution and our Republic anyway, so I'd rather they make themselves look as bad as possible while doing so. MoscowMitch's Senate "acquitting" Don the Con with no witnesses, no evidence, and no investigation would definitely help discredit the GOP even further.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Winesses. No Witnesses.

It does not change the result. All it does is drag Hunter Biden through the mud and lower Joe Biden's chances in the Democratic Primary.

What I don't get is why these witnesses did not get heard in the House inquiry phase of the impeachment?

That makes no sense. Why didn't the House get the facts, questions and answers sorted during their Impeachment investigation?

Because the Executive Branch, acting under Mr. Trump's orders, did everything possible to prevent such testimony or investigation. Which is why he's being impeached for obstruction of justice. (Not that I believe for a nanosecond that you don't already know that.)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/10/us/politics/articles-impeachment-document-pdf.html#g-page-5

Donald J. Trump has directed the unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its “sole Power of Impeachment”. President Trump has abused the powers of the Presidency in a manner offensive to, and subversive of, the Constitution, in that:

The House of Representatives has engaged in an impeachment inquiry focused on President Trump’s corrupt solicitation of the Government of Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 United States Presidential election. As part of this impeachment inquiry, the Committees undertaking the investigation served subpoenas seeking documents and testimony deemed vital to the inquiry from various Executive Branch agencies and offices, and current and former officials.

In response, without lawful cause or excuse, President Trump directed Executive Branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the “sole Power of Impeachment” vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/justinamash/status/1222610051430481923