# 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:** 307
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6121 "2019-12-13T03:17:41Z")
> [@simster](#): > > So - I keep seeing articles where Trump’s attorneys and McConnel are in direct talks and strategizing on the trial portion. > > [McConnell and top White House lawyer agree to close coordination, but not final strategy, on impeachment trial](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-inquiry-12-12-2019/h_9cd383133c8cf89f33961626b7df8bd6) > > I don’t get how that is proper in any sense of the word - If the defense attorney regularly met and strategized with the Jury Foreman (or any member of the jury) - that would be ‘Jury tampering’ and the lawyer tossed - same would be true if it were the prosecuting attorney. > > Setting up schedules, etc - sure - but??? > > I realize this is par for the course for this group. He’s trying to get out of the bus lanes is all it means. He also said that the reason Obama failed to get many judges through is him, with a big laugh… ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6122 "2019-12-13T03:22:48Z")
> [@simster](#): > > So - I keep seeing articles where Trump’s attorneys and McConnel are in direct talks and strategizing on the trial portion. > > [McConnell and top White House lawyer agree to close coordination, but not final strategy, on impeachment trial](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-inquiry-12-12-2019/h_9cd383133c8cf89f33961626b7df8bd6) > > I don’t get how that is proper in any sense of the word - If the defense attorney regularly met and strategized with the Jury Foreman (or any member of the jury) - that would be ‘Jury tampering’ and the lawyer tossed - same would be true if it were the prosecuting attorney. > > Setting up schedules, etc - sure - but??? > > I realize this is par for the course for this group. Impeachment isn’t a criminal trial; it’s purely political. I’m surprised you’re surprised. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6123 "2019-12-13T03:31:14Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > I don’t know how you people can still watch these hearings. I had to stop about a week and a half ago because my rage at, and contempt for, the GOP were seriously affecting me. I was genuinely wishing that bad things befall these people (and think I still am). Is anyone else starting to feel consumed by rage? Yes. I’m still watching, and getting angrier every time Matt Gaetz or Jim Jordan opens his mouth to spew lies and talking points. Wishing horrible, nasty, painful, permanent things on many people. The worst part is knowing that there’s not any light at the end of this particular tunnel. The Republicans will win in the end, and America will lose, and there isn’t anything that I, or anyone else, can do about it. Though I have researched volunteering with voter transportation to make sure as many people as possible get registered and vote, even if they can’t drive. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6124 "2019-12-13T03:56:14Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > … > I agree on the news. It started with OJ. I have family who just should not be enfranchised in todays world. We are really missing that fairness doctrine. Looking back it was kind of quaint and a little innocent. Nice times… It started for real in 1990 with the First Gulf War. CNN had been operating around the clock for a while, but that was when they kicked their intense 24/7 coverage into high gear. They even suspended commercials for a while. It was all news all the time, and it’s been that way ever since. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6125 "2019-12-13T04:29:55Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > It started for real in 1990 with the First Gulf War. CNN had been operating around the clock for a while, but that was when they kicked their intense 24/7 coverage into high gear. They even suspended commercials for a while. It was all news all the time, and it’s been that way ever since. Makes sense. I don’t think I had cable in 90. OJ was a 24 hour mania and they made all kinds of incursions/innovations on the viewer so they would never feel out of touch: chirons, blinking signals etc. With those things there are more and more levels of incursion. I remember watching SNL on the first gulf war, and arthur kent, but it didn’t feel like we had lost our minds yet. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6126 "2019-12-13T05:34:46Z")
I disagree on 24 hour news being a big cause of the problem. There are cable and online 24 hour news stations covering every country’s politics, but most have fortunately not followed the path of US news or FOX. In the case of US news in general, there are two main problems in my view: 1. The debates are often circuses, where they will repeatedly book a guy who claims the sky is green because (s)he’s entertaining and they want to look “balanced”, but can leave viewers potentially with the idea that it’s a 50:50 toss up. (Or even if a viewer knows the issue is actually settled, the shouting matches are not exactly educational). 2. US politicians get away with far, far too much: they treat the media with contempt because the American public tends to take politicians’ side when they do so (blaming the media is a standard meme). So a guest doesn’t answer a question and the interviewer just accepts the dodge and moves on. But FOX is still in a whole other universe though, and in no way the yang to MSNBC’s yin. Right now, there’s little distinction between FOX and infowars: it’s just about spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories. If you learn about an issue through FOX, you know less than nothing: you know misinformation, and you’re angry about it. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6127 "2019-12-13T06:07:55Z")
Sorry, previous post was a bit of a tangent ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6128 "2019-12-13T06:15:42Z")
> [@MulderMuffin](#): > > I watched about six hours of it this morning and afternoon. Your recap: > > Democrat: Trump solicited foreign aid in the upcoming US election and used congressionally approved taxpayer dollars as leverage. > Republican: Hunter Biden, though. > Democrat: Trump obstructed Congress by putting out a blanket mandate that no one should testify in the inquiry. > Republican: Unfair process! Secret basement illuminati crystals aliens conspiracy! _a bit of foaming at the mouth_ > Democrat: Trump shows a clear pattern of abuses of office, and here is a list and references and testimony. > Republican: I yield the rest of my time to Jim Jordan. > Jim Jordan: Becky told Andrew that Mikey said he heard Timmy say that Julie overheard Karen telling Timmy that Mikey likes Life cereal. > > Rinse, repeat. > > Me: Are you SURE murder is illegal? Like all the time? Really? Damn. > > And that is a verbatim, word for word transcript, every letter, every comma.\* And as far as I know, it’s still going on at this very moment. > > \*Not a verbatim transcript. That was wonderfully hilarious. 😃 Thank you for writing/posting it! ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6129 "2019-12-13T13:06:29Z")
Do I have this straight? Last night, the Demos had intended to pass articles of impeachment out of committee. But the Republicans effectively filibustered, proposing motion after stupid motion, babbling on and on about irrelevant subjects, just so that the committee vote would be too late for the news cycle. So about midnight the Demos decided to postpone the vote until the next morning. And now the Repubs accuse the Demos of gamesmanship! :smack: BTW, _ **serious question for those following this closer than I:** _ The insipid Brat-in-Chief has committed at least a dozen clear-cut crimes. Yet it appears that the House is going ahead with just a skimpy case — nothing but the personal extortion and treason w/r Ukraine? Is this correct? What’s the reason for this strategy? Just to get the whole impeachment/trial over with quickly? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6130 "2019-12-13T13:37:44Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Since it appears all but certain that impeachment will not succeed in the Senate, it occurs to me that the Democrats ought to simply continue to hold hearings and facilitate deeper investigation into the president’s activities without ever actually fringing the issue to a floor vote. Everything he does will be held up to the light, as though the WH were made of the clearest polished beryl, and he will never obtain the least modicum of closure without removing himself from public life (and even then, maybe not so much). If they do that, then the novelty will wear off, and the public will stop paying attention. The House will become just another media outlet competing for eyeballs on their investigative reports on Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6131 "2019-12-13T14:02:14Z")
So, at this point, are there \*\*any \*\*House Democrats who aren’t likely to vote in favor of impeachment? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6132 "2019-12-13T14:24:20Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So, at this point, are there \*\*any \*\*House Democrats who aren’t likely to vote in favor of impeachment? There are a couple. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6133 "2019-12-13T14:45:54Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So, at this point, are there \*\*any \*\*House Democrats who aren’t likely to vote in favor of impeachment? Post #6084 > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > **[Dem to vote no on Trump impeachment articles](https://a.msn.com/r/2/AAK2wz4?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare)** > > > [@](#): > > > > WASHINGTON— Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew said Wednesday that he will vote against articles of impeachment that outline the case for President Trump’s removal fromoffice, becoming the first Democrat to publicly say he will not vote with his colleagues. > > … > > > > Van Drew added that some of his Democratic colleagues have reached out to him about impeachment and guessed as many as three or four in total could join him in voting against impeachment articles. > > > > “There are numbers of my colleagues who are thinking about it, what they want to do, and are not sure,” he said.Van Drew was one of two House Democrats who voted against impeachment procedures in October, with 232 voting in favor, including Independent Justin Amash. The other was Rep. Collin Peterson, a Democrat who represents a district in Minnesota that went to Trump by 30 points in the 2016 election. > > > > Peterson has not come to a firm conclusion yet over how he will vote on articles, telling the Washington Examiner that he was still looking over everything but was “leaning no.” > > … > > Van Drew says he feels that the president will be strengthened when the impeachment process fails to remove him from office, and that that’s what elections are for. > > … ---
**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:** [December 13, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6134 "2019-12-13T15:05:43Z")
Vote is happening right now, I have it on NPR. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6135 "2019-12-13T15:12:20Z")
2 articles pass the House Judiciary. Full house vote next Wed. according to NPR. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6136 "2019-12-13T15:16:56Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > 2 articles pass the House Judiciary. Full house vote next Wed. according to NPR. Any Republicans voting “yes?” [obviously I’m joking] ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6137 "2019-12-13T15:26:22Z")
At this point I’m just impatient. Just vote now! While we’re at it, let’s have the Senate vote next week. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6138 "2019-12-13T15:27:43Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Any Republicans voting “yes?” > > [obviously I’m joking] Fucking Gohmert had to ask how his vote was recorded just to make sure. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6139 "2019-12-13T15:37:39Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Fucking Gohmert had to ask how his vote was recorded just to make sure. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you hate him? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/6140 "2019-12-13T15:40:17Z")
Dems should get this over as soon as possible since everyone knows the outcome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=306) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=308)