# The Trump Impeachment Inquiry **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 24, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771 "2019-09-24T20:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 144
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2861 "2019-10-17T04:19:55Z")
We’re the Hessians now. GWB sent thousands of our young people to war for no very compelling reason. Trump sends them to fight for money. That’s progress of a sort, I guess. At least we’re getting _something_ out of it. The important thing, though, is that Republican presidents support our troops, not like those mean old Democrats. Anyway, this is slightly tangential, but I rarely pass up an opportunity to quote “Another Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries”: > [@Hugh MacDiarmid](#): > > It is a God-damned lie to say that these > Saved, or knew, anything worth a man’s pride. > They were professional murderers and they took > Their blood money and impious risks and died. > In spite of all their kind some elements of worth > With difficulty persist here and there on earth. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2862 "2019-10-17T04:26:15Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Well, [here’s](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHCRHKtW4AA6o3g?format=png&name=small) how the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff feels. Aye; I noticed all the downward looks on one side of the table in that photo, as Nancy Pelosi stood up to the President of the United States and told him off. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2863 "2019-10-17T04:56:39Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Aye; I noticed all the downward looks on one side of the table in that photo, as Nancy Pelosi stood up to the President of the United States and told him off. Who are the guys to the right of the Chairman? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2864 "2019-10-17T05:46:42Z")
Back up clones. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2019, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2865 "2019-10-17T10:20:25Z")
WaPo reporting that Elijah Cummings has died. > **[Elijah Cummings, Baltimore congressman and civil rights leader, dies at 68](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/10/17/elijah-cummings-dies-baltimore/)** > > Rep. Elijah Cummings chaired the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee and helped lead the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump. “…He was 68.After undergoing an unspecified medical procedure, the Democratic leader did not return to his office this week, the[Baltimore Sun](https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-cummings-medical-20191016-hpfkqhuhovdslgjwmn6syyltiq-story.html)reported. A statement from his office said that he had passed away due to “complications concerning longstanding health challenges.” Born to a family of Southern sharecroppers and Baptist preachers, Mr. Cummings grew up in the racially fractured Baltimore of the 1950s and 1960s. At 11, he helped integrate a local swimming pool while being attacked with bottles and rocks. “Perry Mason,” the popular TV series about a fictional defense lawyer, inspired him to enter the legal profession." ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2866 "2019-10-17T12:55:00Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Is pursuing any policy objective that might benefit the president in a re-election campaign “using his office for personal gain” in your eyes? …Let’s not continue to pretend the president was, ‘pursuing a policy objective’. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2867 "2019-10-17T13:18:04Z")
Author and historian [Heather Cox Richardson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Cox_Richardson) made a rather remarkable [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/241446929332714/posts/2026221770855212) yesterday - remarkable mostly because it summarizes only one day of his presidency - from which I will excerpt the following: > [@](#): > > over the course of the past ten days, the profound debacle of our withdrawal from northern Syria, leading to the ethnic cleansing of our former allies, the release of valuable ISIS fighters, and a huge victory for Putin’s Russia has ripped away whatever shreds of excuse for Trump’s behavior his supporters could still clutch. These two disasters, both entirely of Trump’s own making, are reinforcing each other to collapse the Trump presidency with really shocking speed. As that happens, Trump himself is melting down, increasing the momentum of the crisis. > > The story of Syria, and that the domestic story is getting so bad that people are defying Trump, has cracked open the wall that has protected the president. People are heading for the exits. Last night, news broke that a federal appeals court has reopened a case charging Trump with violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause and profiting illegally from his hotels while in office. Today, we learned that there are major discrepancies between Trump’s taxes and bank records for loans, suggesting he might well have committed tax or bank fraud. Then Time Magazine published a piece by David Schulkin, Trump’s first Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs, presenting his interview for the job as virtually a Saturday Night Live skit, to which he compared it in the piece. > > Pelosi is right: Trump is spooked by his collapsing power. > > I have spent more than 30 years studying political history, and I have nothing to which to compare the craziness of today. I have no idea what will happen in the hours after I hit the send button. But it does feel like the political tide is turning. This is relevant to this thread because as soon as Republican Senators abandon the sinking ship like the rats they are, it’ll be over. And yesterday’s events showed that’s not a pipe-dream anymore. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2868 "2019-10-17T13:38:44Z")
So when will the revelations from all this closed-door testimony that can be made public actually be made public? Would Pelosi call for a formal inquiry at some point and recall these witnesses for a public hearing? ---
**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:** [October 17, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2869 "2019-10-17T13:42:29Z")
I think Pelosi isn’t in a huge hurry here because she sees Trump unraveling, and his congressional support slowly eroding. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2870 "2019-10-17T13:43:53Z")
I read yesterday that Schiff has promised to release transcripts when doing so won’t interfere with the inquiry process. My understanding is that he means the process will shift from investigation into formal impeachment, and the transcripts will be edited for security reasons and made public at that point. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2871 "2019-10-17T13:45:23Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Author and historian [Heather Cox Richardson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Cox_Richardson) made a rather remarkable [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/241446929332714/posts/2026221770855212) yesterday - remarkable mostly because it summarizes only one day of his presidency - from which I will excerpt the following:This is relevant to this thread because as soon as Republican Senators abandon the sinking ship like the rats they are, it’ll be over. And yesterday’s events showed that’s not a pipe-dream anymore. I just hope they don’t receive a hero’s welcome by the voters and the Dems. Too late for that. They ought not receive absolution and a soft place to land for their moral cowardice to date. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2872 "2019-10-17T14:08:32Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Author and historian [Heather Cox Richardson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Cox_Richardson) made a rather remarkable [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/241446929332714/posts/2026221770855212) yesterday - remarkable mostly because it summarizes only one day of his presidency Thank you for this post. I’m going to share Dr Richardson’s post on FaceBook. Believe it or not, I’m actually seeing signs of discontent against unindicted co-conspirator Donald John Trump among my right-wing friends and family. They don’t seem able (yet) to give up their support, but the stench is really making their eyes water. While Congressional representatives in gerrymandered districts don’t have to worry about weakening support for the president, Senators don’t have that luxury. If the president is not impeached, his coattails will trip them badly. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2873 "2019-10-17T14:31:29Z")
ETA: I thought I had quoted post 2850. Yep. That’s where the goalpost is now. The quid pro quo stuff is BS, anyway. I suspect someone once told Trump he could ask foreign leaders for stuff as long as there wasn’t a quid pro quo. Not knowing what that phrase means, Trump attempts to make shady deals, then hollers “No Quid Pro Quo”, like it’s some sort of magical incantation that makes crime go away. Now, I actually think that Trump having his minions running around the world pursuing conspiracy theories and trying to undo the Mueller investigation is worse than the attempted takedown of Biden and his kid. It reminds me of the time he had Joe Arpaio running around d the world in search of Obama’s birth certificate. By taking the absolutely ridiculous stance that there was nothing wrong with that phone call, the Republican lawmakers emboldened Trump. Now he thinks he can go to war with his own State Department with Republican backing. And this is just Act 1. Trump has almost 3 years of pent up frustrations with his own people and their “rules” and “laws” bubbling under the surface. There will be a series of increasingly outlandish and disturbing foreign policy moves that the Republican leadership will feel pressured to defend. I think Trump will close the Mexican border for at least a day sometime before Halloween. Lindsay Graham learned a hard lesson this week. He thought if he snuggled up to Trump under the covers and gave him blowjobs every night he could be an effective voice of reason. He thought he could whisper “Honey, leave those troops in Syria and come back to bed for some loving” and Trump would see that he was a friend acting in good faith and heed his counsel. Well, that didn’t work and he’s going down ::snicker:: in history as the TrumpSucker and he didn’t even push Trump into one reasonable decision. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2874 "2019-10-17T14:41:52Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Lindsay Graham learned a hard lesson this week. He thought if he snuggled up to Trump under the covers and gave him blowjobs every night… Now there’s a mental image that I really, really want to unsee. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2875 "2019-10-17T14:50:19Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Lindsay Graham learned a hard lesson this week. He thought if he snuggled up to Trump under the covers and gave him blowjobs every night he could be an effective voice of reason. And to think that some thought he never swallowed any of what Trump spewed. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2876 "2019-10-17T15:14:36Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Author and historian [Heather Cox Richardson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Cox_Richardson) made a rather remarkable [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/241446929332714/posts/2026221770855212) yesterday - remarkable mostly because it summarizes only one day of his presidency - from which I will excerpt the following:This is relevant to this thread because as soon as Republican Senators abandon the sinking ship like the rats they are, it’ll be over. And yesterday’s events showed that’s not a pipe-dream anymore. I feel like I’ve seen this “things are different this time” article 10 different times. Even if there was a tape of Trump saying “Make sure the Ukranians know I’m holding back military aid in return for dirt on Biden. I want a straight quid pro quo” the Republicans still wouldn’t convict. They’ll just say it isn’t appropriate, but it’s not worthy of impeachment. Trump will claim total and complete exoneration, and swing voters will believe it (if you’re still a swing voter at this point you’re not the sharpest knife). Warren will win the primary and Trump will go apeshit on her policy of abolishing private insurance. If you think Trump drummed up support for his wall by falsely claiming an immigrant invasion, just wait until you see what he does with a hot button issue that swing voters are actually concerned about. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2877 "2019-10-17T15:16:51Z")
From the commercial I saw and various GOP talking points, it seems like the party line is that all this impeachment noise is just the latest partisan effort to block Trump from doing the job all you patriots sent him to Washington to do. “The Swamp hates him!” I’d love to ask these folks, just what is it you think Dems are stopping Trump from doing? In other words … if the House dropped all its inquiries, and all the other investigations by various entities vanished, and Trump didn’t have to face any questions at all about any of his activities, _just what the hell do you think he’d be accomplishing_? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2878 "2019-10-17T15:19:42Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > From the commercial I saw and various GOP talking points, it seems like the party line is that all this impeachment noise is just the latest partisan effort to block Trump from doing the job all you patriots sent him to Washington to do. “The Swamp hates him!” > > I’d love to ask these folks, just what is it you think Dems are stopping Trump from doing? > > In other words … if the House dropped all its inquiries, and all the other investigations by various entities vanished, and Trump didn’t have to face any questions at all about any of his activities, _just what the hell do you think he’d be accomplishing_? [del]Whining[/del] Winning ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2879 "2019-10-17T15:24:44Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > If you think Trump drummed up support for his wall by falsely claiming an immigrant invasion, just wait until you see what he does with a hot button issue that swing voters are actually concerned about. But this time he’ll only get support from the 40 percent, so Trump’s opponent _will_ win, whoever she/he is. But the polarization will continue, even more pronounced, after January 2021. The bigger danger lies in the fact that the 40 percent control a disproportionate number of Senate votes. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/2880 "2019-10-17T15:39:52Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > From the commercial I saw and various GOP talking points, it seems like the party line is that all this impeachment noise is just the latest partisan effort to block Trump from doing the job all you patriots sent him to Washington to do. “The Swamp hates him!” > > I’d love to ask these folks, just what is it you think Dems are stopping Trump from doing? > > In other words … if the House dropped all its inquiries, and all the other investigations by various entities vanished, and Trump didn’t have to face any questions at all about any of his activities, _just what the hell do you think he’d be accomplishing_? I don’t understand why a group of Dems in the House don’t conspicuously work on an infrastructure (or anything whatever) bill to show the people that they are still moving forward on important issues. Hold a press conference to unveil it and make a big deal about still getting work done. it doesn’t matter if it’s a damn resolution that’s half a page long - it’s just propaganda. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=143) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=145)