# 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:** 53
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1041 "2019-09-28T04:54:31Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > Pardon me for pointing this out, but everyone is forgetting something. Okay okay, I’ll succumb - What did we forget? I recall Nixon resigning because that slimy political animal figured it was his least damaging option. I also recall reading of Tramp’s hero Andy Jackson telling SCOTUS to enforce their own damn ruling. I think of Tramp’s mentor Roy Cohen teaching “never confess, never apologize, never defend; always attack, attack”. No US president has been removed from office. None has been dragged out. How strong can resistance go? Will this loser meekly depart? I fear not. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1042 "2019-09-28T04:58:07Z")
I certainly agree that when the damn breaks, it goes quickly. But we’re not there yet, and the excessive optimism by some people here is reminiscent of the days before the Mueller report was released. Keep the wine in the cellar for now. There’s a lot of investigation and testimony still needed, and a lot of time for Trump and his allies to counterattack. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1043 "2019-09-28T05:12:20Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Trust me, we’re about 10 steps ahead of you. Better than 12-step programs, I hope. :eek: Sorry, but I’ve seen little discussion here about rampant obstruction, which is IMHO quite likely. What steps will skip us around an immovable object… that’s armed? Which troops will be sent to the Oval Office? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1044 "2019-09-28T05:20:05Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > [https://youtu.be/BD3my03ioio](https://youtu.be/BD3my03ioio) > > I love LegalEagle’s videos. This is a great review and analysis of the whole thing. His emphasis on the sentences ending with ellipses is, I feel, pretty spot on. While it’s not impossible that Trump drifted off and changed subject, I feel like he said something too horrible to enshrine at those positions, based on the words leading up to them. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1045 "2019-09-28T05:52:42Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > And yet…[McConnell encouraged Trump to release transcript of Zelensky call: report](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/463483-mcconnell-encouraged-trump-to-release-transcript-of-zelensky-call-report) > > Now, while McConnell is relentlessly partisan, amoral, and seeks only power, he’s not stupid. I can think of very few people who think releasing that memo did Trump any favours at all - if anything, it was worse than any of the previous reporting/speculation of it. Perhaps he’s preparing the spot under the bus for Trump? I think you’re reading too much into it. According to Vanity Fair and Axios, the Trump brain trust (using the term loosely) thought that releasing the transcript would show that the Trumper did nothing wrong and the whistleblower was just exaggerating. AG Barr was apparently pushing this point, saying that the transcript would cool things down. Even those who opposed release (Pompeo and Mnuchin) did so because it would set a bad precedent for trust from world leaders about confidential talks, not because of the content. Congressional supporters also thought it was a good idea. So Trump releases it, and to their great surprise Adam Schiff compares it to a mafia-style shakedown, and support for impeachment goes up. Like, who could have predicted that ?!? “Trump Allies: Uhh, Maybe We Shouldn’t Have Released the Ukraine transcript” > **[Trump Allies: Uh, Maybe We Shouldn’t Have Released That Ukraine Transcript](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/09/donald-trump-ukraine-call-transcript-release)** > > After the rough transcript of Trump’s call with Volodymyr Zelensky went off like a bomb, some in Trump’s circle are having regrets. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1046 "2019-09-28T05:58:11Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Here’s why I think he will: > > The Mueller report was damning, but it was based on things that happened in the past, was dense in the extreme and hard for the public to grasp. The Ukraine criminality is current, egregious, easy to understand and explain to constituents. > > McConnell has always known the Trump dumpster fire would eventually destroy the Republican “brand.” He could only ride this sick pony so far. > > Dems have made it clear they will bring an impeachment vote quickly. Republicans can take a swift vote to remove and still have a full year before November 2020 to regroup. > > The longer Trump stays in office, the longer he defiles the Republican “brand.” > > As previously noted by **galen ubal** , McConnell is relentlessly partisan, amoral, and seeks only power – but he’s not stupid. He does not want to give Trump the opportunity to destroy the country by disputing the results of the 2020 election, which we all know he will. “Rigged,” just like 2016. _But a clean removal by the Senate Republicans is indisputable. Trump will not be able to fight against it._ > > Moreover, if Dems fail with articles of impeachment/removal over the Ukrainian criminality, it does not in any way preclude them from bringing new articles of impeachment once they obtain Trump’s tax returns and bank records, widely expected to reveal gross criminal abuses such as money laundering, bank and tax fraud. Dems _will_ get them. The law is entirely on their side. If Republicans fail to remove on the first articles of impeachment, Dems will simply continue to bring new ones again and again, right up until November 2020. More time to demolish the Republican party. > > The only hope Moscow Mitch has of retaining his majority in the Senate – his top priority – is to jettison Trump with enough time to form a new line of attack. > > Nominee Mittens Romney, anyone? I think this is quite plausible. And I don’t agree with people who are characterizing your theory as overly “optimistic”. Trump will be easy to beat in November 2020, but Mitt Romney could win! ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1047 "2019-09-28T06:59:22Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I certainly agree that when the damn breaks, it goes quickly. But we’re not there yet, and the excessive optimism by some people here is reminiscent of the days before the Mueller report was released. > > Keep the wine in the cellar for now. There’s a lot of investigation and testimony still needed, and a lot of time for Trump and his allies to counterattack. I’m not, on the whole, a pessimistic type but we’ve been burned so many times by thinking that these investigations would be conducted within normal parameters. There is nothing normal about the people surrounding Trump. Obstruction is their favorite weapon. If the Democrats put someone in jail for telling them to stick a subpoena up their ass, I might reconsider my attitude toward it all. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1048 "2019-09-28T08:29:50Z")
There’s nothing they can really obstruct now. Sure, let’s gather more facts if we can, but we don’t need any. Just what’s in that transcript they themselves released is more than enough for impeachment. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1049 "2019-09-28T08:42:58Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > I’m not, on the whole, a pessimistic type but we’ve been burned so many times by thinking that these investigations would be conducted within normal parameters. There is nothing normal about the people surrounding Trump. Obstruction is their favorite weapon. \*\* If the Democrats put someone in jail for telling them to stick a subpoena up their ass, I might reconsider my attitude toward it all.\*\* Dems lack that power until they repopulate the White House and Executive branch. If Tramp declares martial law and \* gordian-knots \* the process, what then? ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1050 "2019-09-28T10:18:17Z")
Question. Does Congress have any ability to create it’s equivalent of an immunity deal? With a corrupt AG, what’s going to compel the truth from these players? ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1051 "2019-09-28T10:37:36Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Question. Does Congress have any ability to create it’s equivalent of an immunity deal? With a corrupt AG, what’s going to compel the truth from these players? Yes. They typically talk to DOJ but the law does not require DOJ support or action. DOJ can ask the judge for a 20 day delay. It does take a 2/3 vote of the relevant committee so it would require bipartisan support to accomplish. > **[Mike Flynn wants immunity from Congress. Here's how that could happen](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/mike-flynn-wants-immunity-congress-here-s-how-could-happen-n741161)** > > Under federal law, Congress has the power to grant immunity to witnesses who testify at congressional hearings. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1052 "2019-09-28T10:38:42Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > Question. Does Congress have any ability to create it’s equivalent of an immunity deal? With a corrupt AG, what’s going to compel the truth from these players? Don’t worry about that. The players will put their hand on a Bible and swear to tell the truth so that proves they’ll be honest. No way they’d defy Yahweh, the smitiest of them all. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1053 "2019-09-28T10:51:32Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > It does take a 2/3 vote of the relevant committee so it would require bipartisan support to accomplish. > > [Mike Flynn Wants Immunity From Congress. Here's How That Could Happen](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/mike-flynn-wants-immunity-congress-here-s-how-could-happen-n741161) Well there goes that idea. Thanks for the link/answer. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1054 "2019-09-28T11:49:35Z")
**RioRico** , just a friendly suggestion: There’s a thread here in Elections called “Let’s say that Trump went ‘Bat-Shit Crazy’ and wanted to permanently end all dissent in the US…”. That might be a better place to focus on your theme of extreme measures (like “wagging the dog” with a nuclear launch) that Trump may or may not take if he gets truly desperate. Or, maybe start a new thread. I’m not saying this focus is irrelevant to this thread we’re in now, but with all the events coming fast and furious in real time, it’s complicated enough keeping up with the here and now, and likely/highly plausible near-future developments. Just a suggestion. I’m not junior modding. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1055 "2019-09-28T12:06:05Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > His emphasis on the sentences ending with ellipses is, I feel, pretty spot on. > > While it’s not impossible that Trump drifted off and changed subject, I feel like he said something too horrible to enshrine at those positions, based on the words leading up to them. I thought that was interesting too. The missing explicit quid quo pro could be where the ellipses are located. But even without them, the information revealed so far is very damning for Trump and other top officials. The best thing that could happen for America is Trump is removed from office and goes to prison. The best thing that could happen for the GOP is Trump dies in office. It would end all of the investigations, and not have them saddled with having such an explicit (and vocal) criminal tied around their necks. I do wonder if the GOP have decided that they’ve got all the value they can get from Trump? I don’t think so. I think the GOP is now the Trumpist party (I think it was the Trumpist party before Trump but now we have a more convenient name to put on where they were headed). Have to just wait and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1056 "2019-09-28T12:20:34Z")
So it took ol’ Uncle Joe re-emerging from the sidelines after two years for this to happen. He might not even be the nominee! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1057 "2019-09-28T12:36:06Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > So it took ol’ Uncle Joe re-emerging from the sidelines after two years for this to happen. He might not even be the nominee! Heh. Wouldn’t it be cool if that were the Democratic leadership’s plan all along? 1. Find a potential 2020 candidate plausible enough for Trump to worry about, but it’s okay if he/she doesn’t become the nominee in the end. Biden? Perfect - the Obama association will push Trump’s buttons just right. 2. Convince a family member of that potential candidate to do something legal but doesn’t-look-totally-above-board-maybe-on-the-face-of-it, in a country that depends on our official assistance, not for humanitarian needs but for hard-core security ones. Hmmm…Hunter Biden…and…South Korea? Not quite…Ukraine? Yes! That’s all you really need for the set-up. Obviously I don’t think this is what happened, but it would make for a clever twist/reveal in a book or movie. Of course, Trump would squeal “entrapment” — don’t the perps always? — but no one was _forcing_ him to act. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1058 "2019-09-28T12:54:08Z")
I did like what Bill Maher said about Hunter Biden: “Get a fucking job!” Obviously it in no way justifies the way Trump has massively abused his presidential power, but it is gross nevertheless that Hunter got a job he wasn’t qualified for, paying $50,000 a month, almost certainly just because of who his daddy is. ETA: Maher did not seem to blame Joe for this, just Hunter. And I think that’s probably right. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1059 "2019-09-28T13:08:13Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I did like what Bill Maher said about Hunter Biden: “Get a fucking job!” Obviously it in no way justifies the way Trump has massively abused his presidential power, but it is gross nevertheless that Hunter got a job he wasn’t qualified for, paying $50,000 a month, almost certainly just because of who his daddy is. > > ETA: Maher did not seem to blame Joe for this, just Hunter. And I think that’s probably right. How is he not qualified exactly? Yale Law School graduate. Worked as a lawyer for MBNA bank. Worked in the US Dept of Commerce. Worked as a lobbyist. Was on the board of directors for Amtrak. Founded an investment firm. And then again as a lawyer. Also served in the US Naval Reserve. I mean it seems strange to tell somebody to get a job when they’ve had a pretty good professional career over two decades. > **[Hunter Biden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden#cite_note-entous1-2)** > > Robert Hunter Biden (born February 4, 1970) is an American attorney and businessman. Biden has also worked as a hedge fund principal and a venture capital and private equity fund investor. He formerly worked as a banker, a lobbyist, and a legal representative for lobbying firms. > Biden is the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. In 1972, when Biden was two years old, a car crash killed his mother, who was driving, and his one-year-old sister, Naomi, ... ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1060 "2019-09-28T13:43:00Z")
It’s an energy company, and his prior experience was not in that sector. Also, I am presuming that he does not possess native fluency in Ukrainian or Russian. Do you really think he got that high-paying job just based on his resume and interview and without any consideration of whose son he was? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=52) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=54)