"President Trump told his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to hold back almost $400 million in military aid for Ukraine at least a week before a phone call in which Trump is said to have pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate the son of former vice president Joe Biden, according to three senior administration officials.
Officials at the Office of Management and Budget relayed Trump’s order to the State Department and the Pentagon during an interagency meeting in mid-July, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. They explained that the president had “concerns” and wanted to analyze whether the money needed to be spent.
Administration officials were instructed to tell lawmakers that the delays were part of an “interagency process” but to give them no additional information — a pattern that continued for nearly two months, until the White House released the funds on the night of Sept. 11."
"Trump on Monday repeated his denial of doing anything improper and insisted that his July 25 conversation with Zelensky was “a perfect phone call.” He also hinted that he may release a transcript of it.
But the Ukrainian leader was apparently left with a different impression. Murphy, who spoke with Zelensky during an early September visit to Ukraine, said Monday that the Ukrainian president “directly” expressed concerns at their meeting that “the aid that was being cut off to Ukraine by the president was a consequence” of his unwillingness to launch an investigation into the Bidens.". (bolding mine)
I’m gonna guess that the “transcript” will be written in Sharpie pen in familiar handwriting. And the transcriptionist will be “John Barron”, with help from “David Dennison”
I suspect the momentum towards an impeachment inquiry will be impossible to stop. Whether that actually damages Trump is another matter. The key metric as always will be his popularity. If it stays in the low 40s where it’s been for more than a year he hasn’t been damaged though of course winning re-election will still be tough. If his numbers slide to the mid 30s things could get interesting. With Trump the safe bet has been that nothing much will change but possibly just possibly this issue may be different as indicated by Romney’s pretty strong statement.
As the Clinton impeachment showed - a good number of Republicans don’t think a President should be impeached for sexual pecadillos. (Even if his sexual conduct included under-aged girls/minors). It was barely 30 years ago when a good number of states had laws stating the age of sexual consent at 16 years old. A few states still claimed 13 years old as the age of sexual consent. There is nothing that even implies that Trump had sex, or wanted sex with females/males under the age of 18. So - today’s Democrats had to find something else, but every time the Democrats make a claim -whether sexual or non-sexual, it turns out that far more Democrats are found to be potentially guilty of that claim than Trump, or any Republicans. The only thing the push for impeachment is accomplishing is to push moderates from both parties to roll their eyes, pinch the bridges of their nose, and either vote for Trump, or not cast a vote at all. There is absolutely nothing in the shenanigans of the Democrats, MSM, the vacuous blatherings of Hollywood, Left-Wing Billionaires, etc. etc. that will cause a Trump voter to not vote for him in 2020. The casual socialistic/neo-communism of the left wing (as perceived by average Americans of all races/creeds/colors) will lead centrists to vote for Trump in far greater numbers than 2016. 45 states to 5. . . . at least.
The analogy wasn’t *really *the point, I could have left it out altogether. You asked why impechment should proceed.
By the way, all of the Democrats concerned that impeachment somehow helps Trump, (His voters are already going to vote for him, you know) should be mindful of the effect the decision not to impeach could have on the Dems. They could very easily come across as the party thet sat on their hands (Our hands were tied, we wouldn’t have gotten a conviction, whattya gonna do?) without putting up a fight.
And, for that matter, giving ammunition to Trump. “All those Democrats, they say terrible things about me, but they never even tried to impeach! All those bad things they say, all fake news!”
What a difference a day makes.
*
“Pelosi is expected to more forcefully endorse an impeachment inquiry today, while leaders may also allow a floor vote on a resolution condemning Trump over the Ukraine allegations. And they’re even discussing a “select committee” on impeachment. Pelosi will huddle with the leaders of key committees and then the full House Democratic Caucus later today to discuss their next steps. But several members and aides think Pelosi is more open to the idea of impeachment than ever before. “We will have no choice,” Pelosi told CNN’s Jeff Zeleny of launching an impeachment inquiry. "It will be a big week.” *
To repeat myself: impeachment is the right thing to do. WHEN it is the right time. The timing on it is everything. To wit:
“We will have no choice.”
THAT’S when it will happen: when we clearly have no choice. Nancy is handling this exactly right. Let’s face it, the longer she lets Former President Trump* out on that long leash, the more likely he is to knit himself a noose out of it.
In case my position is not clear: impeachment is right. It must happen. It will happen. When the time is right.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Former President Trump* will REVEL in a big, ugly, messy, name-calling impeachment campaign. It will be the ultimate distraction from all his other offenses. He loves a fight, a pitched battle, the nastier the better. 'cause he knows he can out-nasty anyone he comes up against. And win. That is HOW he wins.
Consider this: “he was more engaged, more alive, more fully his full self” … impeachment proceeding will bring out his Trumpiest qualities. When it happens (and I mean “when” not “if”) we ain’t seen nuttin’ yet. So we better have an ironclad case and all fully armored ducks in a row.
Now at 165, and there seem to be more Dems coming out for an impeachment inquiry every few minutes. Politico’s counter will be running behind all afternoon, I betcha.
I agree with this. The House needn’t ease up on its prosecution of this criminal. It should pursue the evidence it needs to decide whether to impeach. It needs to examine the suspect’s tax returns. It needs to subpoena testimony. If the criminals turn down the House’s legal demands, perhaps a Joint Resolution should be proposed — let Senators go on record whether they approve of the rule of law or not. These steps should be pursued before initiating impeachment proceedings.
What the House must NOT do is to rush through articles of impeachment which would promptly be rejected by the Trump-controlled Senate (if Moscow Mich allows a vote at all). If the Democrats proceed on that path, they will have exhausted their ammunition. Trump will be tweeting non-stop about his “exoneration,” and having already played “the impeachment card” the D’s will be powerless.
The battle will NOT be won in the Trump-controlled federal courts, in the Trump-controlled Justice Department or in the Trump-controlled Senate. It will be won, if at all, in the hearts and minds of the American people. Serious charges can be brought against Trump and his criminal cronies without “throwing him into the briar patch” — i.e. without turning control of the prosecution over to Moscow Mitch.
She does, and I think we’ll see it play out today and throughout the rest of the week. You’re right! What a difference a day makes!
I don’t think the occupant of the Oval Office quite expected this to go the way it has, and I don’t believe he wants to be impeached. He likes to pretend he wants to be impeached.
Watching him stumble through his press gaggles (Joe Biden deserves the electric chair? Really? He was actually safeguarding the country against corruption? <choke> Ah-huh.) and the fact that few of his usual allies are stepping up to attempt to defend the indefensible is making him crazier than a cut snake. He looks the part, too.
Based just on what we know around this story already, Trump has violated his oath of office, violated the Constitution and broken several laws. Bribery, extortion, conspiracy. Abuse of power. His henchmen are likely vulnerable to similar charges, including Giuliani, Mulvaney, Pompeo and Mnuchin.
This one is different, for sure. It’s much simpler to follow than the Russian crimes. It’s out in plain sight, no investigation needed. The best Moscow Mitch can offer in rebuttal is that the Democrats are policitizing this? Oh, dear.
Biden is ready for this smear. The public isn’t as gullible as it was during the Hillary campaign. And after 3 years of the Trump clown show, the majority know who in this situation is more apt to lie about what’s happening.
Impeachment inquiry coming soon. Pelosi can investigate for a year. And some.
I have to disagree strongly, septimus. No more subpoenas, no more testimony, you do like they did in 1974 and impeach on the basis of what’s already available. Sure, in 1974 they had the Senate Watergate Committee testimony from the previous year. So? We’ve got the Mueller report, which isn’t exactly chopped liver, and plenty more than that already publicly known.
You don’t try to impeach over everything and the kitchen sink, either. Trump is corrupt in many ways; stick with a few of the absolute biggest things where the evidence is already there, so the public can focus on them. My picks, which I’ve probably listed before:
Ten instances of obstruction of justice, per Mueller.
The Ukraine extortion, based on what has become publicly available already.
BABIES IN MOTHERFUCKING CAGES. Shit, there should be Nuremberg-style trials about this after Trump’s sorry ass is kicked out of office.
If any of those insinuations about sex with minors have any basis in reality, cite, please and thank you.