# 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:** 82
**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 3, 2019, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1621 "2019-10-03T06:50:16Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I’m still intrigued by the rumor I’ve read/heard that Moscow Mitch was the one who encouraged Trump to publish that call summary. Mitch _had_ to have known how damning it was… We can’t be sure he knew it was that damning or how strongly he encouraged Trump to release it. Remember, Trump’s team has been sequestering a whole bunch of conversations. It could be they were out of reach of Mitch’s little sparrows. And I could imagine his encouragement being along the lines of “if you’re sure it’s a nothing burger, release it because things are getting ugly.” If Mitch knew this was the first domino of 10 rather outrageous calls with foreign leaders, then ok it was a trap. I have a hard time believing he would purposely bring this down. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1622 "2019-10-03T07:18:24Z")
Every once in a while, out of morbid curiosity, I pop over to see how Fox News is handling all this. It never ceases to amaze. The latest: “[Ex-Ukraine prosecutor said he was told to back off probe of Biden-linked firm, files show](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ukraine-prosecutor-biden-burisma-back-off-state-department-files)”. What “files” are these, you may well ask. Remember that packet of conspiracy-theory drivel that the State Department inspector general handed over to Congress yesterday, the conspiracy theories and fabrications that were compiled by our old pal Rudy Giuliani, and which the inspector general regarded as evidence of a sleazy attempt to smear Trump’s Democratic opponents with falsehoods and conspiracy theories? Yeah, that one. Fox News is now quoting from those smear documents as if they contained God’s own truth, with no attempt to explain the dubious source. This particular story presents as fact what Giuliani claims in his notes the Ukrainian ex-prosecutor said to him, the one who was so corrupt and dishonest that a consortium of countries wanted him fired – and manages even to exaggerate what Rudy himself had claimed! According to Fox, Rudy’s lunatic rantings are “files” and thus indisputable sources of truth. Well, I suppose Rudy’s lunatic rantings _ **were** _ in a file folder, so I guess it’s a “file”! And this, folks, is where the right gets all their information, except for the parts they get from Breitbart. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1623 "2019-10-03T10:43:11Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’m no fan of David Brooks, but his point was that the Senate would not convict, the country’s attention would shift away from the real issues America faces… Corruption and criminality at the highest levels of government \*are \*real issues. So Brooks is not helping things if he’s promulgating the idea that Trump is a minor matter. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1624 "2019-10-03T10:49:18Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Every once in a while, out of morbid curiosity, I pop over to see how Fox News is handling all this. It never ceases to amaze. The latest: “[Ex-Ukraine prosecutor said he was told to back off probe of Biden-linked firm, files show](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ukraine-prosecutor-biden-burisma-back-off-state-department-files)”. So they are still going forward with their attempts to defame Biden, even after all of this. This is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1625 "2019-10-03T11:16:26Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So was Guiliani\*\* just doing his patriotic duty by spreading bullshit conspiracy theories about Marie Yovanovitch, the Ukraine Ambassador, just before she was due t testify about what she knew about Trump’s dealings in the Ukraine? > > His intention was NOT to influence her testimony? Jail him. > > \*\* I read somewhere the Guiliani, being the idiot that he is, has basically confessed to being the asshole who spread this bullshit. You are saying all sorts of bad things about Rudy. Are you witness tampering? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1626 "2019-10-03T12:58:08Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > So they are still going forward with their attempts to defame Biden, even after all of this. This is amazing. They have to, they need their base radicalized and distracted. Every Republican senator needs to fear a primary challenge or else they might act in America’s interests and look at the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1627 "2019-10-03T13:02:39Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’m no fan of David Brooks, but his point was that the Senate would not convict, the country’s attention would shift away from the real issues America faces, Trump would be strengthened and more likely to win re-election. Many Democrats think Brook’s points are correct, but that by now it would be corrupt or immoral NOT to impeach. > > And anyway, is a Pence Presidency something to hope for? (President Pelosi, OTOH, has a _very_ nice ring to it! 🙂 ) Impeaching Trump and removing him from office requires Republicans in the Senate to go along with it. There is a non-zero chance of that happening (though still quite low) if Pence will step into office, there is an absolutely zero chance of that happening if Peolosi will step into that office. I’m fine with a Pence presidency for the next year, compared to the destruction going on. And, there is the added benefit that if the GOP turns on Trump he will burn the party to the ground on his way down. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1628 "2019-10-03T13:24:33Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > And, there is the added benefit that if the GOP turns on Trump he will burn the party to the ground on his way down. I’m wondering if it would lead to the formation of a third party, a Tea Party if you will. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1629 "2019-10-03T13:30:21Z")
Is it the truth that the piece of paper with writing on it that Trump calls a ‘transcript’ and which he claims is exculpatory is actually a ‘memorandum’ and which is a clear statement of an attempt to force a foreign leader to help get dirt on Biden? Or, are we talking about two different pieces of paper, one personally dictated and approved by Trump, and one dictated and promulgated by Schiff? If I am not mistaken, the Memorandum is actually damning to Trump and there is no way on earth he would have released it if he had actually read it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1630 "2019-10-03T13:32:30Z")
A new Trumpist party would be the Wigs, surely, in honor of their leader? 😛 ---
**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 3, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1631 "2019-10-03T13:33:58Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > …If I am not mistaken, the Memorandum is actually damning to Trump and there is no way on earth he would have released it if he had actually read it. I don’t know if he read the transcript of what he said, but never underestimate Trump’s obliviousness. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1632 "2019-10-03T13:44:51Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Referring again back to the Watergate era, Carl Albert, the Speaker, could have delayed indefinitely the confirmation process for VP, which would have left him next in line for the Presidency if Nixon had died or were to resign (as he eventually did). Albert refused to do so, however, because he thought it wrong that a Democrat should assume the presidency when the US had elected a GOP president and VP. The 1972 election was a historic landslide. The 2016 election was won by the second-place vote-getter. If the goal is to do the People’s will, then let it be so. > [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > So they are still going forward with their attempts to defame Biden, even after all of this. This is amazing. Fox would do that to whoever was leading the Dem polls, and think up a basis for it later. > [@Ravenman](#): > > You are saying all sorts of bad things about Rudy. Are you witness tampering? It may become \*defendant \*tampering. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1633 "2019-10-03T13:45:32Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I’m wondering if it would lead to the formation of a third party, a Tea Party if you will. It might also lead to the formation of a new party of die-hard Trump loyalists, a Pee Party if you will. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1634 "2019-10-03T14:03:08Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I’m wondering if it would lead to the formation of a third party, a Tea Party if you will. Well, considering the “taxes enough already” TEA party clearly had nothing to do with taxes and everything to do with racism, I reckon they will go with Trump and take 80% of the GOP with them. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1635 "2019-10-03T14:06:38Z")
Well, [this](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/03/politics/gop-senators-echoed-biden-on-ukraine-reforms-kfile/index.html) certainly makes the Republican conspiracy theory around Biden a bit awkward. _“CNN’s KFile found a February 2016 bipartisan letter signed by several Republican senators that urged then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to “press ahead with urgent reforms to the Prosecutor General’s office and judiciary.” The letter shows that addressing corruption in Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office had bipartisan support in the US and further undercuts a baseless attack made by President Donald Trump and his allies that Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire then Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to stop investigations into a Ukrainian natural gas company that his son, Hunter Biden, sat on the board of. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden, nor is it clear whether Hunter was under investigation at all.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1636 "2019-10-03T14:32:02Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > A new Trumpist party would be the Wigs, surely, in honor of their leader? 😛 The Comb Overs? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1637 "2019-10-03T15:03:54Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > A new Trumpist party would be the Wigs, surely, in honor of their leader? 😛 Ha! Love it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1638 "2019-10-03T15:08:56Z")
Today, Trump has rolled out his new strategy: “If I just openly do this, perhaps I can make it seem normal”. So, today, he just openly calls for Ukraine to continue its investigation and suggests China opens an investigation into the Bidens. The same China with whom we are in a trade war with: > ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1639 "2019-10-03T15:18:30Z")
> "Trump at 10:37:24 a.m., talking about trade negotiations: “I have a lot of options on China, but if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous power.” Trump at 10:37:54 a.m., asked about Ukraine probe: “Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens.”" ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771/1640 "2019-10-03T15:30:15Z")
IT NEVER HAPPENED! Trump never asked china to investigate Biden. Trumps press conference was beautiful. The best. People are saying this. The transcripts from the lying media are fake. We are now in an era where Republicans will simply believe what they are told by The Leader. If Trump said it was dark out at 12:00 noon, they literally would not be able to see, and stumble about trying to find a flashlight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=81) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-inquiry/840771.md?page=83)