# 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:** 170
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3381 "2019-10-29T01:52:14Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > That link didn’t seem to work for me…[Here](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/us/politics/Alexander-Vindman-trump-impeachment.html) is what is hopefully a better one. Note to self: when you suck at posting, check link. ---
**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 29, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3382 "2019-10-29T02:02:52Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > That link didn’t seem to work for me…[Here](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/us/politics/Alexander-Vindman-trump-impeachment.html) is what is hopefully a better one. “I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen…” Well golly, he’s about to find out that Republicans in America don’t agree with him. Because Trump. And fuck ethics and country. And, of course, reasons. And by the way, look over here, No Quid Pro Quo! ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3383 "2019-10-29T02:29:58Z")
From Nancy Pelosi’s letter to the Democrats of the House: > [@](#): > > This resolution establishes the procedure for hearings that are open to the American people, authorizes the disclosure of deposition transcripts, outlines procedures to transfer evidence to the Judiciary Committee as it considers potential articles of impeachment, and sets forth due process rights for the President and his Counsel. Does this mean that massive by next week or so we’ll be seeing some of the transcripts of the depositions already taken and perhaps some open hearings on CSPAN? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3384 "2019-10-29T02:38:11Z")
Vindman testimony contradicts Sondland in big ways, leaving Sondland open to accusations of perjury - [thread from Manu Raju, CNN](https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1189005440803377152). ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3385 "2019-10-29T02:47:40Z")
[Kate Brannen](https://twitter.com/K8brannen/status/1188995647296413699), _Just Security_: > [@](#): > > Ambassador Sondland testified that neither Fiona Hill, nor John Bolton nor anyone else on the NSC staff ever raised any misgivings about what was going on. [Read Gordon Sondland's Full Opening Statement In Congress' Impeachment Inquiry : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2019/10/17/770714277/read-gordon-sondlands-opening-statement-to-congress) > … > Vindman’s testimony directly contradicts that. > > He says he told Sondland in July that his statements about getting Ukraine to investigate the Bidens were inappropriate and Fiona Hill echoed the same concerns. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3386 "2019-10-29T04:12:23Z")
Intel Committee member [Rep. Joaquin Castro](https://twitter.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/1189022382008291328): > [@](#): > > Based on all the testimony so far, I believe that Ambassador Gordon Sondland committed perjury. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3387 "2019-10-29T08:55:48Z")
Colonel Vindman’s testimony will be very, very hard to dismiss, I believe, if that article is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3388 "2019-10-29T09:48:52Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Lt. Col. Vindman’s statements are clear and unequivocal. They leave no room for doubt about what was going on and why. > > In a normal world, that he served in Iraq and was wounded there should give him real credibility. Tomorrow Trump will tweet that he was a “bad officer, a rotten apple folks”. Or a [Ukrainian double agent](https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1189002513594441730). This is all depressingly predictable. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3389 "2019-10-29T10:15:16Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Colonel Vindman’s testimony will be very, very hard to dismiss, I believe, if that article is accurate. …[“You underestimate the power of the Dark Side.”](https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1189002513594441730) ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3390 "2019-10-29T12:57:29Z")
Pelosi has the votes and Trump will be impeached at a time of her choosing. But, Trump can only be removed from office at a time of the Republicans choosing. So, what’s the best strategy for the Republican party? 1. Support Trump and hope for the best, which is - four more years of a vindicated Trump with a mandate to rule as he pleases. 2. Obstruct everything and blame the Dems but remove Trump from office by one vote. The prize is not worth the effort. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3391 "2019-10-29T13:06:43Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Colonel Vindman’s testimony will be very, very hard to dismiss, I believe, if that article is accurate. The goal posts are going to move is all. Inch by inch. Mulvaney pretty much already put it at, “It was a quid pro quo but who cares? How the president runs his foreign policy is his prerogative. This stuff happens all the time.” That career civil servants find all of this profoundly disturbing, alarming, irregular, ill-advised, poorly executed, and dangerous to our national security interests is of no concern to anyone who trusts Trump without question. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3392 "2019-10-29T13:22:49Z")
The Democrats announced that the I[ntel committee](https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/29/gop-strategy-impeachment-060938)will be in charge of public hearings. This locks out Trump’s biggest cheerleaders in the GOP (Jordan, Meadows and Zeldin) and puts the committee with the fewest number of GOP members in charge at 9. And 2 of those 9 (Turner and Hurd) have already expressed concern with Trump’s actions. > [@steronz](#): > > The goal posts are going to move is all. Inch by inch. Mulvaney pretty much already put it at, “It was a quid pro quo but who cares? How the president runs his foreign policy is his prerogative. This stuff happens all the time.” > That career civil servants find all of this profoundly disturbing, alarming, irregular, ill-advised, poorly executed, and dangerous to our national security interests is of no concern to anyone who trusts Trump without question. The right wing talking point seems to be that Vindman was born in Ukraine and therefore his loyalty to the US is questionable. Multiple people have brought that up now on various news shows, so apparently this was the coordinated best response they could come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3393 "2019-10-29T13:57:13Z")
Vindman arrives in [full uniform](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-inquiry-10-29-2019/h_376a1baf82750fe8195261e780d39aa2). ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3394 "2019-10-29T13:59:28Z")
I mean, he’s active duty, what else would he show up to work in? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3395 "2019-10-29T14:14:45Z")
It didn’t happen. Maybe it happened, some slimy, squamous swamp critters say it happened, but upstanding real Americans say it didn’t. Nobody knows for sure. OK, it happened, but he didn’t do it. OK, he did it, but it was small stuff, do it all the time, not impeachable. Rudy? Your bus is here. Two bits says the Pubbies offer a plea bargain. They will offer to “censure” Il Douche for poor behavior and bad optics. OK, that’s it, he has been firmly scolded, that’s that, time to move on… ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3396 "2019-10-29T14:23:55Z")
The Republicans are going to get either vertigo or whiplash with all their spins, darts, and dodges. GOP: Waaaaah! They didn’t take a vote before they started issuing subpoenas! No fair! Courts: They don’t need no steenking vote, the process is valid. GOP: Waaaaaah! We don’t know who the whistleblower is! It’s all second hand heresay! Dems: We don’t even need his testimony. The White House was stupid enough to give us the summary of Donald’s “perfect” phone call in which he does the very same thing the whistleblower said he did. And if that wasn’t enough, he invited China to do the same thing in front of television cameras. GOP: Waaaaaah! The testimonies were given in closed door sessions! No fair! Dems: We’re going to take a vote of the full House to authorize the impeachment investigation and make all the depositions public. GOP: "Waaaaaah! This means we were right all along! Everything up to this point has been irrevocably tainted! Our beloved Donald couldn’t cross examine! Dems: There will be public hearings. Both parties will get to examine the witnesses. I suppose we have to have an opposition party, but can’t we at least have one that isn’t in constant need of a diaper change? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3397 "2019-10-29T14:47:07Z")
Well, depends… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3398 "2019-10-29T14:56:56Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > GOP: "Waaaaaah! This means we were right all along! Everything up to this point has been irrevocably tainted! Our beloved Donald couldn’t cross examine! I would _love_ it if Donny Two-scoops did his own cross examination. You know he’d want to and it would be a real Emperor has no clothes moment. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3399 "2019-10-29T15:02:02Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I would _love_ it if Donny Two-scoops did his own cross examination. You know he’d want to and it would be a real Emperor has no clothes moment. Interesting possibility. Does he have enough self-awareness to know that he would be completely over his head to try such a stunt? I think the best we could plausibly ask for would be having Rudy Colludy doing the defensive cross-exams. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/3400 "2019-10-29T15:02:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, depends… I’d rather have one that didn’t need so much pampering. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=169) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=171)