# Impeaching the Impeachers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 29, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999 "2019-09-29T16:55:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/1 "2019-09-29T16:55:13Z")
Three days ago, after the impeachment inquiry was announced, the president tweeted: “The Democrats are trying to destroy the Republican Party and all that it stands for. Stick together, play their game, and fight hard Republicans. Our country is at stake!” “Play their game” is the most striking command here. Could we see the administration launch a host of politically motivated “investigations” in response to impeachment? (e.g., against Mueller, Hunter Biden, Schiff, Hillary Clinton…) Or do you think it means something else? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/2 "2019-09-29T17:09:17Z")
I think it’s foolish to try to read meaning into the ranting of the criminally insane. He’s cornered, he’s desperate, all he knows how to do is make word salad. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/3 "2019-09-29T17:29:10Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > … > “Play their game” is the most striking command here. > > Could we see the administration launch a host of politically motivated “investigations” in response to impeachment? > > … > **[State Dept. intensifies email probe of Hillary Clinton’s former aides](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/state-dept-intensifies-email-probe-of-hillary-clintons-former-aides/2019/09/28/9f15497e-e1f2-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html)** > > As many as 130 officials have been questioned in recent weeks by State Department investigators. "The Trump administration is investigating the email records of dozens of current and former senior State Department officials who sent messages to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email, reviving a politically toxic matter that overshadowed the 2016 election, current and former officials said. As many as 130 officials have been contacted in recent weeks by State Department investigators — a list that includes senior officials who reported directly to Clinton as well as others in lower-level jobs whose emails were at some point relayed to her inbox, said current and former State Department officials. Those targeted were notified that emails they sent years ago have been retroactively classified and now constitute potential security violations, according to letters reviewed by The Washington Post. … Several of those who have been questioned said that the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security investigators made it clear that they were pursuing the matter reluctantly, and under external pressure. One official said the investigators were apologetic: “They realize how absurd it is.” ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/4 "2019-09-29T19:53:00Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > "The Trump administration is investigating the email records of dozens of current and former senior State Department officials who sent messages to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email Well now Clinton is never going to win the election! Seriously, why the obsession with digging up dirt on a defeated opponent? How does anything Clinton did back then help them now? ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/5 "2019-09-29T21:10:58Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > How does anything Clinton did back then help them now? “Both sides do it, so it’s OK that we do it.” See also: every atrocity Trump commits is met with a (deceptive or outright fraudulent) “Obama did it, too!” ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/6 "2019-09-29T21:53:11Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > “Both sides do it, so it’s OK that we do it.” See also: every atrocity Trump commits is met with a (deceptive or outright fraudulent) “Obama did it, too!” Also: ‘If you oppose me, I will make you suffer. I will take something you did years ago that was perfectly legal, and reclassify it as illegal—and prosecute you for it.’ Classic dictator stuff. “I _ **am** _ the law.” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/7 "2019-09-29T22:17:21Z")
Like the previous posters said, and also: Trump and henchmen do have enough smarts to realize that what was revealed so far will led congressional investigations to items like this: > **[Did the White House Hide a Bombshell Memo From Mueller?](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/white-house-hide-memo-trump-meeting-russia-sergei-lavrov-robert-mueller.html)** > > The Washington Post reports on a memorandum summarizing a meeting between Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. > [@](#): > > Did the White House Hide a Bombshell Memo From Mueller? > [@](#): > > Further we know now that although it contained no classified information from a national security perspective, “the transcript was loaded into a separate electronic system that is otherwise used to store and handle classified information of an especially sensitive nature.” > > That latter bit is almost a bigger scandal than the fact that the president tried to extort a foreign ally to produce fake opposition research in order to win the election. It directly implicates White House lawyers in hiding embarrassing documents under the pretext of protecting national security information. Beyond which, it’s explicitly illegal to classify things for the purpose of covering up embarrassing behavior or misconduct. Presumably the House Intelligence Committee will now have to figure out who these lawyers were, and Russia, if you’re listening, maybe you can track down the emails. > > But here’s where Friday night’s Washington Post story perhaps magnifies the Ukraine scandal: The report, by Shane Harris, Josh Dawsey, and Ellen Nakashima, alleges that there is a memorandum summarizing the White House meeting on May 10, 2017, between Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, a meeting at which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a foreign agent, and at which he also told Lavrov and Kislyak that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him. > > The Post goes on to note that “it is not clear whether a memo documenting the May 10, 2017, meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak was placed into that system, but the three former officials said it was restricted to a very small number of people.” Here’s the problem: That May 10 White House meeting was the subject of intense scrutiny by the Mueller probe because it went directly to the question of why Comey was fired. Page 71 of the second volume of the Mueller report notes, “In the morning on May 10, 2017, President Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office.” The footnote cites to a White House document entitled “Working Visit with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia” which is dated 5/9/17, the day before the meeting, and to an email (5/9/17 White House Document, “Working Visit with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia”); SCR08\_001274 (5/10/17 Email, Ciaramella to Kelly, et al.). That’s the only document that seems to have been produced in reference to the May 10 meeting. There is confirmation of Trump’s remarks about Comey’s firing being a relief from Sean Spicer and Hope Hicks. > > That’s it. The May 10 meeting is supported by an email. Now the question becomes, if there was a memorandum of that meeting, how is it possible that it was not produced to Mueller? They are doing the Hillary Hailmary to distract from that and in desperation. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/8 "2019-09-29T23:30:08Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Well now Clinton is never going to win the election! > > Seriously, why the obsession with digging up dirt on a defeated opponent? How does anything Clinton did back then help them now? NOAA publicly chastised the Alabama NWS for telling the truth. More importantly, Pompeo has been incriminated in the Ukraine scandal. They want former and career State Dept. personnel shown to be corrupt and (_quelle horror!_) Democrat.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/9 "2019-09-30T00:03:11Z")
Comey delivered the electoral college (not the popular vote) to loser Tramp with his Hillary email announcements, but that wasn’t enough. GOPs have spent well over a billion US bucks investigating Clintons over the decades with nothing worse found than a blowjob lie, but that’s not enough. Team Tramp holds control of near-limitless federal power, but that’s not enough. What will be enough? State of emergency, martial law, round up dissidents, lock down media, sure. That’s a classic process. Oh, media? US commercial media MADE Tramp, gave him billions of bucks of free airtime, and continue to spew his crap far and wide with little obstruction. He’s been their eyeball-grabbing gold mine. With tweets and lying surrogates 24/7, a media lockdown is redundant. Impeachers are already being impeached. When will Team Tramp lock-em-up? Can’t loyalist DoJ minions even guide grand juries, reportedly liable to bring charges against a raw cucumber, to indict? That leaves the “state of emergency, martial law” option. Watch for it. ---
**Author:** ![road\_lobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@road\_lobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/road_lobo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/10 "2019-10-03T10:35:43Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > Three days ago, after the impeachment inquiry was announced, the president tweeted: > > “The Democrats are trying to destroy the Republican Party and all that it stands for. Stick together, play their game, and fight hard Republicans. Our country is at stake!” > > “Play their game” is the most striking command here. > > Could we see the administration launch a host of politically motivated “investigations” in response to impeachment? > > (e.g., against Mueller, Hunter Biden, Schiff, Hillary Clinton…) > > Or do you think it means something else? Autocorrect of “the” to “their” & no proofreading. This is covfefe we’re dealing with. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/11 "2019-10-03T11:31:30Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Also: ‘If you oppose me, I will make you suffer. I will take something you did years ago that was perfectly legal, and reclassify it as illegal—and prosecute you for it.’ > > Classic dictator stuff. “I _ **am** _ the law.” Yes, also typical mafia boss type of stuff. It’s been well documented that he does this and even brags about it. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/12 "2019-10-03T12:55:49Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think it’s foolish to try to read meaning into the ranting of the criminally insane. He’s cornered, he’s desperate, all he knows how to do is make word salad. Trump’s bleatings are to syntax and logic what the sunken city of R’yleh is to architecture and geometry. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/13 "2019-10-03T14:27:10Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > “Both sides do it, so it’s OK that we do it.” See also: every atrocity Trump commits is met with a (deceptive or outright fraudulent) “Obama did it, too!” Also, see [whataboutism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism). Interesting to note this rhetorical strategy was a Russian/Soviet favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/14 "2019-10-03T14:28:53Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Trump’s bleatings are to syntax and logic what the sunken city of R’yleh is to architecture and geometry. I’m afraid you’ll have to stop using that phrase in the future, for it is mine now. DMCAs are pending. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/15 "2019-10-03T22:00:36Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Yes, also typical mafia boss type of stuff. It’s been well documented that he does this and even brags about it. And the tragic thing is that millions of Americans don’t realize how much better their lives are because they’ve lived in a rule-of-law country instead of a dictator/mob-boss/authoritarian country. They have absolutely no idea. But of course it’s possible that they will find out, before long. (And then it will be too late.) ---
**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/16 "2019-10-04T00:20:15Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > And the tragic thing is that millions of Americans don’t realize how much better their lives are because they’ve lived in a rule-of-law country instead of a dictator/mob-boss/authoritarian country. > > They have absolutely no idea. > > But of course it’s possible that they will find out, before long. (And then it will be too late.) _Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got 'Till it’s gone …_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2595abcvh2M/maxresdefault.jpg "Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi (Official Lyric Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2595abcvh2M) ---
**Author:** ![Fentoine\_Lum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b77776/32.png) [@Fentoine\_Lum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fentoine_Lum)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/17 "2019-10-06T21:12:01Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > Three days ago, after the impeachment inquiry was announced, the president tweeted: > > “The Democrats are trying to destroy the Republican Party and all that it stands for. Stick together, play their game, and fight hard Republicans. Our country is at stake!” > > “Play their game” is the most striking command here. > > Could we see the administration launch a host of politically motivated “investigations” in response to impeachment? > > (e.g., against Mueller, Hunter Biden, Schiff, Hillary Clinton…) > > Or do you think it means something else? We’ve all seen what he does and what this cabal of misfits will do. Like mating male rhinos in captivity, they will smear feces all around. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/18 "2019-10-06T22:26:05Z")
[quote=“mjmlabs, post:16, topic:840999”] _Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got 'Till it’s gone …_ [/QUOTE] Well, it hasn’t been Paradise for a while, if it ever was. But I have no trouble believing we’ll be seeing more parking lots. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impeaching-the-impeachers/840999/19 "2019-10-07T10:49:40Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Well now Clinton is never going to win the election! > > Seriously, why the obsession with digging up dirt on a defeated opponent? How does anything Clinton did back then help them now? 1. Trump is obsessed with her. 2. They’re hoping to strike gold. They sort of did, when the Clinton email investigation inadvertently revealed Anthony Weiner (at least two steps removed from any Clintonian scandal) was a sex offender, causing a brief reopening of the investigation which was announced in the last days of an election. They’re probably hoping to see some “scandalous” emails with the names Biden, Warren, Harris, etc, on them. It’s not a good strategy, but Trump has been so absurdly lucky, it’s like he alters reality.