;)
The Commentariat -- September 25, 2019
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Marianne Levine of Politico: "The Senate voted Wednesday for a second time to block ... Donald Trump's emergency declaration, rebuking the president over his attempt to fund a border wall without congressional approval. In a 54-41 vote, the Senate approved a resolution to disapprove of Trump's emergency declaration, including 11 Republicans. The vote come after the Trump administration announced it would divert $3.6 billion in military construction funding from several states to build his border wall. The president will surely veto the resolution, as he did in March. Under federal law, Democrats may bring up the emergency vote every six months."
Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "The acting Director of National Intelligence [Joseph Maguire] threatened to resign over concerns that the White House might attempt to force him to stonewall Congress when he testifies Thursday about an explosive whistleblower complaint about the president, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The revelation reflects the extraordinary tensions between the White House and the nation's highest-ranking intelligence official over a matter that has triggered impeachment proceedings against President Trump.... Maguire denied that he had done so.... The White House also disputed the account.... But other officials said that Maguire had pushed the White House to make an explicit legal decision on whether it was going to assert executive privilege over the whistleblower complaint...." TPM has a related story here. ~~~
~~~ Washington Post Liveblog (3:25 pm ET entry): "Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, who until now had blocked Congress from seeing the whistleblower complaint that first brought the phone call between Trump and Zelensky to light, will provide that complaint to Congress today by 4 p.m., according to Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.... Nunes made the announcement while speaking on the House floor in defense of Trump."
Tulsi Gabbard Should Change Parties. Tess Bonn of the Hill: "Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) said Wednesday that the partial transcript of President Trump's call with Ukraine's president released by the Trump administration doesn't show a 'compelling' case for impeachment."
Conservative Philip Klein in the conservative Washington Examiner: "The release of the transcript of President Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not the dud that Trump and his allies have been presenting it to be. It's very bad news for Trump. The defense of Trump is that yes, he may have asked a foreign leader to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, but that there was 'no quid pro quo.' While at no point did Trump explicitly say, 'investigate Biden or else,' Trump does state quite clearly all of the great things that the United States does for Ukraine before transitioning into his asks, among which are that Zelensky investigate Biden. Reading the full transcript, and understanding the broader context, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that Trump was using the power and influence of the U.S. to advance his own political interests rather than the national security interests of the nation." ~~~
~~~ Conservative David French of the conservative National Review lays out the quid pro quo evident in the Trump-Zelensky phone conversation. "... right near the beginning of the call, President Trump signals his displeasure with Ukraine. He notes that while the United States has been 'very good' to Ukraine, he 'wouldn’t say' that Ukraine has been 'reciprocal' to the United States.... It's plain that Trump wants something from Ukraine.... Zelensky responds with the key ask. He wants more Javelin missiles, an indispensable weapon system in Ukraine's conflict with Russia.... The next words out of [Trump's] mouth are, 'I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.' He raises Crowdstrike, the firm the DNC used to investigate the Russian election hacks. From context, it seems as if Trump is asking for additional assistance in investigating the 2016 election-interference scandals." Trump continues his ask, urging Zelensky to investigate Biden's son & coordinate the "investigation" with U.S. AG Bill Barr. "Zelensky pledges that the new Ukrainian prosecutor will be '100 percent' his person and that 'he or she will look into the situation.'"
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump on Wednesday adamantly denied that he pressured Ukraine to investigate one of his leading Democratic rivals despite the newly released record of a call in which he asked the country's president to look into Democrats as 'a favor' to him. Mr. Trump received some backing from the president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who by chance met with Mr. Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at the same time the House was gearing up for impeachment proceedings stemming from the interaction between the two leaders. Sitting side by side with Mr. Trump in their first face-to-face meeting, Mr. Zelensky told reporters that he wanted to stay out of United States politics but provided a benign interpretation of the July 25 call in which Mr. Trump asked him to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and any Ukrainian ties to Democrats during the 2016 campaign."
Say What? Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been chosen to try to form Israel's next government, the Israeli president's office announced Wednesday, offering the longtime leader a potential political lifeline even as he faces a looming indictment for corruption. President Reuven Rivlin chose Mr. Netanyahu of the conservative Likud party over his chief opponent, Benny Gantz, a former military chief and the leader of the centrist Blue and White party. The Sept. 17 election left the sides essentially tied but Mr. Rivlin said that Mr. Netanyahu's chances of forming a government were greater than Mr. Gantz's 'at the moment.' But Mr. Netanyahu faces a stiff challenge: He has 28 days to assemble a majority of at least 61 seats in the 120-seat Parliament and no clear path to that number. The parties that have endorsed his bid for another term won 55 seats." ~~~
~~~ Josef Federman of the AP: "President Reuven Rivlin announced his decision late Wednesday after a second meeting aimed at brokering a unity deal between Netanyahu and Gantz ended without an agreement.... Rivlin said his decision was not a solution and that both candidates were responsible for resolving the political impasse."
** "I Would Like You to Do Us a Favor." Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart to work with the U.S. attorney general to investigate the conduct of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and offered to meet with the foreign leader at the White House after he promised to conduct such an inquiry, according to a newly-released transcript of the call.... In late August, intelligence officials referred the matter to the Justice Department as a possible crime, but prosecutors concluded last week that the conduct was not criminal, according to senior Justice Department officials." Mrs. McC: Yeah, I'll bet they did. Bill Barr's dirty fingerprints are all over this. ~~~
~~~ ** Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: President Trump urged the president of Ukraine to contact Attorney General William P. Barr about opening a potential corruption investigation connected to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to a transcript of a July phone call at the center of accusations that Mr. Trump pressured a foreign leader to find dirt on a political rival. 'I would like you to do us a favor,' Mr. Trump said in response to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine raising the prospect of acquiring military equipment from the United States. The president then also asked for another inquiry: that the Ukrainians examine an unsubstantiated theory about stolen Democratic emails." Update: digby republishes some of this report. ~~~
~~~ Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Trump pressed the newly elected leader to work with Rudy Giuliani ... and Attorney General William Barr, on an investigation into the former vice president and his son Hunter. 'There is a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution, and a lot of people want to find out about that,' Trump told Zelensky, according to the White House transcript. 'So whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great.'... Trump added later that he would have Barr get in touch with Zelenksy and that 'we will get to the bottom of it.' In a statement Wednesday, the Justice Department said that it was unaware of Trump saying he would involve Barr in the matter until 'several weeks after the call took place,' when it learned of the whistleblower complaint.... Trump does mention numerous times how the U.S. spends "a lot of effort and a lot of time" assisting Ukraine." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The DOJ's claim that Barr had no idea Trump had given him the task to contact Zelensky is not credible. Either the DOJ statement is a lie -- or the Trump White House is unbelievably incompetent. Everyone knows you have to copy principals mentioned in a letter or other communication, unless the boss specifies not to do so. You certainly have to copy someone who has to follow up in some way on the communication.
If this 'transcript' is supposed exoneration of Trump, can't imagine what the inculpatory evidence looks like[.] Bottom of p2 -- Ukraine Pres says Ukraine ready to buy more Javelinsa(weapons). Very next line: 'I would like you to do a favor THOUGH' & then goes into his Biden request -- Neil Katyal, in a tweet
~~~ Poppy Harlow of CNN: Every American should read this five-page transcript. (This is the White House copy of what is actually a memo, not a verbatim transcript. And there are, um, mysterious elipses, even then.) Mrs. McC: Trump's part of the conversation sounds just like the movie version of mob-speak. He makes an unmistakable ask, and he tells Zelensky why Ukraine has to deliver: "... we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time." Quid Pro Quo. ~~~
~~~ Adam Schiff gives a good synopsis of the transcript notes (and he agrees that the notes reflect a "classic mafia-like shakedown of a foreign leader":
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "... at a deeply divisive moment in American politics, [Nancy Pelosi] is confronting the president yet again, by drawing on something Mr. Trump does not have: an intimate knowledge of the intelligence community, gleaned from 10 years on the panel and 15 more as an ex officio member, by dint of her position in leadership.... Ms. Pelosi, Democrat of California, joined the intelligence panel in 1993, just six years after she won a special election to fill a vacancy.... In 1998, she helped write a law protecting intelligence community whistle-blowers -- the same law that Democrats argue that Mr. Trump is flouting.... Ms. Pelosi's tenure on the panel unfolded in a very different era, when the Intelligence Committee was known for working in a bipartisan way. She was ranking Democrat in 2001, at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks, and was instrumental in creating a joint House-Senate committee to investigate the intelligence failures that led to them. In 2003, when Mr. Bush sought authorization to go to war with Iraq, Ms. Pelosi voted against it, saying repeatedly that she did not believe the intelligence supported Mr. Bush's contention that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: One thing that makes a good negotiator is understanding one's opponent. So ~~~
~~~ Kaitlin Collins & Jim Acosta of CNN: "... Donald Trump was incredulous Tuesday as he sat in Trump Tower and watched House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announce she was launching a formal impeachment inquiry against him, sources familiar with the moment say.... Trump said he couldn't believe it, he later told people. He had felt confident after phoning Pelosi earlier that morning.... He figured he could de-escalate tensions by speaking with her directly. It was after that call that Trump made the decision to release an 'unredacted' version of the transcript of his July call -- against the advice of aides such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned him it would set a risky precedent. Trump wanted to undercut the argument from Democrats that he acted inappropriately, he said, and felt he had nothing to hide. But when the announcement he would release the transcript did little to quell the growing calls for his impeachment, Trump was in disbelief." ~~~
~~~ Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Several Senate Republicans were stunned Wednesday and questioned the White House's judgment after it released a rough transcript of President Trump's call with the Ukraine president that showed Trump offering the help of the U.S. attorney general to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. One Senate Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said the transcript's release was a 'huge mistake' that the GOP now has to confront, even as they argue that House Democrats are overreaching with their impeachment effort.... 'It remains troubling in the extreme. It's deeply troubling,' Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters Wednesday, when asked about the transcript.... But other Senate Republicans, allied with Trump, were dismissive. 'Wow. Impeachment over this?' Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) tweeted. 'What a nothing (non-quid pro quo) burger.' While many Republicans continue to dismiss Democrats' impeachment efforts, cracks have begun to emerge privately as GOP lawmakers have discussed Trump's conduct and their party's political standing -- and those fault lines could foreshadow how Senate Republicans ultimately handle a trial, should the House impeach the president, according to several lawmakers and aides." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's not unreasonable to think that Trump has a unique view of transactional discussions. That is, he thinks a quid pro quo is only demonstrated if you say, "I will give you $400 million if your government brings a corruption charge against my chief political rival. If you don't finger him, you get nothing." But since he "coded" the transaction in mafia-speak, Trump thinks the notes of his conversation with Zelensky are "nothing" and their little chat was "perfect."
~~~~~~~~~~
"Treason, Bribery, or Other High Crimes," Ctd.
Fun & Games at the U.N. Today. John Hudson of the Washington Post: "President Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.... The meeting is a high-wire act for both leaders as Zelensky tries to avoid angering the U.S. president or his Democratic opponents while Trump tries to disarm allegations that have generated a formal impeachment inquiry...." The Axios story is here.
Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement of an official impeachment inquiry into his conduct.... 'There has been no President in the history of our Country who has been treated so badly as I have. The Democrats are frozen with hatred and fear. They get nothing done,' Trump wrote online. 'This should never be allowed to happen to another President. Witch Hunt!' The morning message followed a string of posts Tuesday night sharing clips of segments by his conservative cable news allies...."
Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House would begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump, opening a fresh chapter of confrontation in response to startling allegations that the president sought to enlist a foreign power for his own political gain. 'The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution,' she said after emerging from a meeting of House Democrats in the basement of the Capitol. Mr. Trump, she said, 'must be held accountable. No one is above the law.' The announcement was a stunning development that unfolded after months of caution by House Democrats...." (This is an update of a story linked earlier.) The Washington Post story is here. The Guardian story is here." ~~~
~~~ Heidi Przybyla & Adam Edelman of NBC News have a report Pelosi's speech here. The report at the linked page also includes Trump's tweeted responses, which center around "Witch Hunt garbage" and "PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!" At least he reflects how seriously he takes the importance of this Constitutional moment. BTW, Przybyla said on MSNBC that Trump & Pelosi had a phone conversation earlier today, and Trump tried to get Pelosi to "make a deal" with him re: impeachment. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Trump Caves. Nancy Cook of Politico: "The White House is preparing to release to Congress by the end of the week both the whistleblower complaint and the Inspector General report that are at the center of House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, according to a senior administration official, reversing its position after withholding the documents from lawmakers. The move shows the level of seriousness with which the administration is now approaching the House's new impeachment proceedings, even as ... Donald Trump publicly tries to minimize the inquiry as a 'witch hunt' or 'presidential harassment,' or a move that will help him win his 2020 reelection campaign. The administration official stressed the decision and timing could change over the next few days, but as of Tuesday evening the White House was planning to hand over the documents to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The president has agreed to this move, the official added." ~~~
~~~ AND This. Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: "The White House has determined that it will most likely have to allow the whistle-blower who filed an explosive complaint about President Trump to meet with congressional investigators, two people briefed on the matter said Tuesday.... Intelligence community lawyers sent a letter to the whistle-blower on Monday, indicating that the office was trying to work out the issues that would allow the whistle-blower to speak with Congress, according to a person briefed on the matter.... Intelligence community lawyers have had discussions with the White House and the Justice Department officials about how the whistle-blower can share his complaint without infringing on issues like executive privilege." Here's why: ~~~
~~~ McConnell & Senate Republicans Bow to Schumer. Zachary Basu of Axios: "The Senate voted via unanimous consent on Tuesday on a resolution calling for the Trump administration to release to the Senate Intelligence Committee a whistleblower complaint that allegedly involves President Trump and Ukraine.... The resolution is non-binding, but it's a rare show of bipartisanship on an issue that threatens to spark an official impeachment proceeding in the House. The House will vote on a similar resolution on Wednesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ The whistleblower's legal reps are not messing around. They've put up a Website on the matter. Via Cheryl Rofer of Balloon Juice. Mrs. McC BTW: One of the WashPo stories I linked referred to the whistleblower as a male. Don't know if this was a generic use of the pronoun "his" or a slip-up.
Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "Even as the House is ramping up its investigation into the Trump administration's dealings with Ukraine, the Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting its own inquiry and is seeking an interview with the whistleblower who filed the initial complaint with the intelligence community's inspector general, according to a letter obtained by Yahoo News. A letter seeking to question the still-anonymous whistleblower was sent Tuesday to Andrew Bakaj, the lawyer who represents the official. It was signed by committee chair Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. -- signifying that the panel is pursuing the politically explosive issue on a bipartisan basis.... It was not immediately clear whether the White House will agree to let the official be questioned." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Axios: "The intelligence community whistleblower behind the complaint reportedly linked to President Trump and Ukraine has requested to speak to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, according to the chairs of both panels.* Senate Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) 'told reporters that the whistleblower's counsel has also reached out' to his committee, per the New York Times' Catie Edmondson." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~* Mrs. McC: The chair of the Senate Intel Committee is Republican Richard Burr (NC), & the report does not name Burr or really specify that he confirmed receipt of the whistleblower's request. (Photos accompanying the post are of Warner & Schiff.)
We have been informed by the whistleblower's counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so. We're in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower's testimony as soon as this week. -- Rep. Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, in a tweet this afternoon
CNN has a handy timeline of events related to the Ukraine scandal, beginning in May & ending tomorrow.
Kate Sullivan & Sarah Mucha of CNN: "Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday if ... Donald Trump does not cooperate with Congress, he would leave lawmakers with 'no choice but to start impeachment proceedings. 'It is time for this administration stop stonewalling and provide the Congress with all the facts it needs, including a copy of the formal complaint made by the whistleblower. And it's time for the Congress to fully investigate the conduct of this President,' Biden said. The Democratic presidential candidate said if Trump 'does not comply with such a request from the Congress, if he continues to obstruct Congress, and flaunt the law, Donald Trump will leave Congress, in my view, no choice but to initiate impeachment. That would be a tragedy, but a tragedy of his own making,' he said, speaking from Wilmington, Delaware." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said President Trump is making 'lawlessness a virtue' on Tuesday ahead of an expected statement on where she stands on an impeachment inquiry." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Brian Beutler of Crooked: "It took the utter corruption of American foreign policy and a brazen assault on the public's right to a free and fair election for Democratic leaders and other reluctant factions of the party to reconsider their opposition to impeaching President Trump.... One of the few Democrats who recognized that taking impeachment off the table would create an unacceptable level of moral hazard was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). She warned, 'If Donald Trump can do all that he tried to do to impede an investigation into his own wrongdoing and an attack by a foreign government,' and Congress takes no action, 'then it gives license to the next president, and the next president, and the next president to do the same thing.' The only thing her analysis missed is that Congress's inaction also gave Donald Trump license to commit the same crimes all over again.... And that is exactly what happened.... We should encourage and applaud the Democrats now joining the fight, but we should also reflect on what it means that they are poised to impeach Trump for engaging in the same kind of wrongdoing they were once content to let slide. Trump won't be the last president to commit impeachable offenses, but he should be the last one given carte blanche to do so until the foundations of the republic begin to tremble." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
I am currently at the United Nations representing our Country, but have authorized the release tomorrow of the complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine. You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time! -- Donald Trump, in two tweets this afternoon ~~~
~~~ That Is Most Likely a Lie. Reuters: The transcript the "administration"'s releases "isn't likely to come from a recording or be verbatim, former White House and national security officials say. Instead, because of standard White House protocol for handling phone calls between the president and other world leaders, a transcript is likely to be put together from written notes by U.S. officials who listen in.... Standard practice when a president is talking to a foreign leader is not to make a recording but to have at least two and sometimes more note-takers from the National Security Council (NSC) on the call, a former senior NSC official told Reuters.... Evelyn Farkas, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense during the Obama presidency, said not only would any so-called transcript be based on notes, but it would also likely be incomplete because the note-takers usually do not include issues that could be controversial if they became public. 'Typically a note-taker will write notes about what the principal says in a fashion that does not embarrass their principal,' said Farkas." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: So, as I suggested a couple of days ago, the "transcript" will be "Yo, Volo.... Nice talking to you. So long."
Nancy Cook of Politico: "In public, Trumpworld is casting the Democratic impeachment inquiry as more white noise. In private, White House aides and allies say the impeachment momentum now presents a serious threat to the rest of ... Donald Trump's legislative agenda, to his negotiating strength with world leaders and to his concentration.... Few in the White House or the wider Trump orbit have privately defended Trump's call with the Ukraine leader.... But current and former administration aides believe Trump will view the latest impeachment inquiry as a major blow to his ego -- and the proceedings will likely distract him, cloud all his meetings and halt any agenda for this fall, including the passage of a major trade bill heading into an election year."
"Shut Up, Moron." Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "After his wild interview with Laura Ingraham on Ukraine tonight, [Rudy] Giuliani returned to the broadcast later in the hour to respond to a comment by one of the Fox host's guests. Democrat Chris Hahn told Ingraham, 'I just heard the president's personal, political attorney say that he was directed by the State Department to go meet with the Ukraine to get evidence on the president's political opponent.'... When Hahn interjected at one point, Giuliani shouted, 'Shut up, moron! Shut up! Shut Up! You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what you're talking about, idiot!'" It went on from there. Includes video. ~~~
If you have the law, hammer the law. If you have the facts, hammer the facts. If you have neither the law nor the facts, hammer the table.
~~~ "Allyson Chiu of the Washington Post: "For most of the roughly 13-minute interview, Giuliani sought to shift the focus from himself back to Democrats and Biden. At one point, he even suggested that Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who went to Ukraine this month, should be impeached instead of Trump. Giuliani argued that Democrats have been 'covering up for what will turn out to be massive corruption in the Obama administration,' highlighting allegations that then-Vice President Biden had pressed the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor who had been investigating a natural gas firm that employed Hunter Biden. According to The Post's Fact Checker, that investigation was shelved before Biden's attempts to oust the prosecutor. Additionally, Hunter Biden, who sat on the company's board for five years, was never accused of wrongdoing during the investigation.... As he pointed fingers at Democrats and a 'crooked press corps,' Giuliani also spouted claims, without evidence, that the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and an FBI agent assigned to investigate the Hunter Biden corruption allegations were both part of a conspiracy organized by liberal billionaire George Soros -- talking so much that his voice became hoarse." ~~~
~~~ "This Is Rudy's Shitshow." Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump's attempt to pressure the leader of Ukraine followed a months-long fight inside the administration that sidelined national security officials and empowered political loyalists -- including ... Rudolph W. Giuliani -- to exploit the U.S. relationship with Kiev, current and former U.S. officials said. The sequence, which began early this year, involved the abrupt removal of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine ... Giuliani targeted [her] with wild accusations ..., the circumvention of senior officials on the National Security Council, and the suspension of hundreds of millions of dollars of aid administered by the Defense and State departments -- all as key officials from these agencies struggled to piece together Giuliani's activities from news reports. Several officials described tense meetings on Ukraine among national security officials at the White House leading up to the president's phone call on July 25.... As those worries intensified, some senior officials worked behind the scenes to hold off a Trump meeting or call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky out of concern that Trump would use the conversation to press Kiev for damaging information on ... Joe Biden, and Biden's son, Hunter.... Though the whistleblower report focuses on the Trump-Zelensky call, officials familiar with its contents said that it includes references to other developments tied to the president, including efforts by Giuliani to insert himself into U.S.-Ukrainian relations.
~~~ Giuliani Fingers State Department. Steve Benen of MSNBC: Monday "night, [Rudy Giuliani] told Fox News' Sean Hannity that State Department asked him to ... dig up dirt on Joe Biden in order to help his client in the Oval Office -- something Giuliani considers entirely proper.... 'The State Department called me and said, would I take a call from Mr. Yermak, who's number two or three to the president-elect, now the president. I was put together with Mr. [Yermak]. I talked to him he gave me enormously important facts. I conveyed them all to the State Department -- unlike the media lies, fake news, I wasn't operating on my own. I was operating at the request of the State Department.' This roughly dovetails with a Wall Street Journal report from the weekend, which said that Giuliani, according to his own account, met with Andriy Yermak, a top aide to the Ukrainian president, as part of a meeting that had been 'set up by the State Department.'... If the U.S. State Department was directly involved in dispatching the president's private lawyer to Ukraine, as part of a political scheme intended to help Trump's re-election campaign, it will make the already damaging story quite a bit worse." ~~~
~~~ Josh Kovensky of TPM: "The State Departmen's apparent involvement in the scandal focuses on Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO who was appointed special representative for Ukraine by then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in July 2017. Giuliani met with top Zelensky foreign policy aide Andriy Yermak on Aug. 3 in a meeting that was facilitated by Volker. Giuliani reportedly debriefed State Department officials afterwards. The question is, how deep did State get in Giuliani's game?... The answer to that question is, in part, the focus of an inquiry by the House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs Committee's into Giuliani's pressure campaign to extract dirt on Biden. It goes to the heart of what makes these allegations against President Trump different and what, in the words of one former Defense Department official, has broken new ground in U.S. political history: the use of the power of U.S. foreign policy to beat down a political opponent.... The State Department issued a statement on the matter Sept. 9, saying that Giuliani 'does not speak on behalf of the U.S. Government.'" Yermak said Monday that he reached out to Volker, whom he knew. ~~~
~~~ Erin Banco, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Rudy Giuliani's contacts with officials at the State Department as part of his controversial efforts to dig up dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine are more extensive than have been publicly reported. And they raise additional questions about the degree to which senior officials throughout the Trump administration were involved in -- or privy to -- attempts by the president to muddy a top potential political opponent." Besides Kurt Volker, Giuliani has said he also briefed U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. "According to two sources inside the department, U.S. diplomats including Sondland and Volker were aware of the details of Giuliani's work in Ukraine on Biden as early as this spring. Those sources said senior officials at the department were read in on Giuliani's calls with Volker and Sondland." Sondland also was in on the July 25 phone call between Trump & Zelensky.
Charles Pierce of Esquire: "This has to be the beginning of the end. The House Democrats, slower than molasses up until this point, suddenly have been transformed into quick drying cement around the president*'s ankles.... The Ukraine business has shifted something in the political tectonics. The slippage has begun in earnest, on one side of the aisle, anyway. On the other side, there are clues within the [Washington] Post stories that folks are feeling the ground shift under their feet as well.... Despite Republican enabling and Democratic timidity, the hour of the Founders has come around again. There is no place left for anyone to hide, no clever dodge left to employ, nothing left to kick down the road. History accepts no alibis." Thanks to MAG for links to several of Pierce's posts. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Trump said Tuesday that he held up American aid to Ukraine ... because European countries have not paid their fair share to support the country, and pointed to the fact that the money was eventually released as evidence that he had done nothing wrong.... He also said that a groundswell for his impeachment among Democratic lawmakers amounted to a new 'witch hunt.' 'I'm leading in the polls and they have no idea how to stop me,' Mr. Trump said, though the president trails the leading Democratic candidates in most polls. 'The only way they can try is through impeachment.'... Mr. Trump also noted that the funds allocated for Ukraine 'were fully paid,' although he did not mention the fact that his administration acted only after the delay became public through news media leaks, and under bipartisan pressure from Congress. And he suggested that a transcript of his July 25 phone call with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, whose release many Democrats have insisted on, would become public. Mr. Trump repeated his assertion that the transcript would exonerate him." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Note that it's-Europe's-fault is a different "explanation" from the "corruption" excuse Trump gave yesterday. ~~~
~~~ Update: Aaron Rupar of Vox: "... Donald Trump's rationale for why he withheld congressionally approved aid to Ukraine changed overnight. On Monday, Trump told reporters that his decision to withhold aid to Ukraine -- a decision seemingly at the heart of a whistleblower complaint roiling Washington -- was over his concerns to ensure that the country's new government was doing everything possible to root out corruption. But asked a similar question on Tuesday, Trump's talking point suddenly changed to his frustrations about European countries not spending enough on foreign aid. 'My complaint has always been, and I'd withhold again, and I'll continue to withhold until such time as Europe and other nations contribute to Ukraine, because they're not doing it,' Trump told reporters, ahead of his speech to the United Nations General Assembly." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ "Trump: I'd Like to Withdraw My Guilty Plea and Change to 'Not Guilty.'" Jonathan Chait: "In Trump's defense, he and his allies were easily lured into admitting all their guilt because, for several months on end, nobody cared about it. Now that Democrats care enough to potentially impeach him, they are hastily constructing post hoc defenses." Chait covers some of the other defenses Trump's backers are testing. "The [Steve] Doocy defense is that it’s not extortion unless you explicitly told the shopkeeper you'd break his legs unless he paid protection money.... Byron York[, t]he Washington Examiner columnist and self-appointed amateur Trump defense attorney argues... [Chait paraphrase], How can you impeach the guy if he might have committed other crimes we don't know about? And by the way, we don't know about them because he's hiding the evidence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Betsy Klein of CNN: "... Donald Trump admitted Monday that he delayed aid to Ukraine ahead of a call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, when he pushed the leader to look into potential rival Joe Biden and his son's work, giving the excuse that he was waiting for European nations to contribute their fair share of aid and claiming there was 'never any quid pro quo.' 'As far as withholding funds, those funds were paid. They were fully paid. But my complaint has always been, and I'd withhold again and I'll continue to withhold until such time as Europe and other nations contribute to Ukraine because they're not doing it,' Trump said Tuesday as he arrived at the United Nations ahead of his speech to the General Assembly.... There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Watergate Redux. Former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman (D-N.Y.) in a New York Times op-ed: "For those of us who were there during Watergate, the Ukraine scandal is beginning to sound like an echo chamber.... Mr. Trump's reported actions would amount to a Nixonian misuse of presidential power that threatens our democracy and constitutes high crime and misdemeanor.... [The] nearly $400 million in congressionally appropriated military aid for Ukraine [Trump put] on hold ... was not released until Sept. 11, after news broke of a whistle-blower complaint about the Zelensky call.... This strongly suggests there was no legitimate reason for the hold.... Among the grounds for the 1974 committee vote to approve three articles of impeachment against Mr. Nixon was that he authorized I.R.S. audits of political opponents on his 'enemies list' as well as an illegal wiretap on a White House staff member who worked for his chief presidential rival.... If Mr. Trump had a shred of evidence against Mr. Biden or any legitimate governmental objective in view, he would have directed the Justice Department or State Department to work directly with Ukraine.... Pressuring Ukraine to investigate Mr. Biden and his son for political purposes violates their civil liberties.... Mr. Nixon violated the civil liberties of Daniel Ellsberg.... Among the grounds for Nixon's impeachment was his involvement in breaking into Mr. Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office, seeking information to smear him." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Articles I've read about the timing of Trump's removal of the hold on the Ukraine funding have cited formation of the House investigations, but Holtzman puts her finger on what I'd bet is the real reason: public news of the whistleblower complaint. Though the first news reports didn't reveal the nature of the complaint, Trump knew what was in it as the White House had already "reviewed" it.
Quin Hillyer, a conservative columnist for the conservative Washington Examiner: "Based simply on what President Trump has admitted to, combined with one piece of as-yet-uncontradicted reporting, Trump has committed impeachable offenses in his dealings with Ukraine." Hillyer goes on to explain why. Mrs. McC: He makes more-or-less the same arguments you & I might make. Funny Congressional Republicans don't do the same.
Peter Nicholas of the Atlantic: "Knowing he was new to all this, White House aides took pains early in ... Donald Trump's term to chaperone him when he got on the phone with world leaders.... Nearly three years in..., Trump seems to be in the midst of a kind of awakening: discovering new ways that he can use the machinery of government to advance a partisan, personal agenda uncoupled from the larger public interest.... Instances of Trump using the office to serve himself are coming with more frequency. In recent weeks, he's brazenly promoted his commercial interests and targeted California, a stronghold of anti-Trump sentiment. 'What frightened me in his first couple of years was his ignorance,' John Dean, who was White House counsel under former President Richard Nixon..., told me.' What frightens me now is, he is learning how things work and how they can be abused.'... He's organized his presidency, and both his campaigns, around the needs of his political base. But as his first term wears on, he seems more focused on marshaling presidential powers to serve a constituency of one: himself."
Conservative David Frum of the Atlantic: "Back in the early days of the Trump presidency, Trump's enablers wistfully suggested that he might grow into the job as he learned not to do corrupt things.... The breathtaking thing about Trump's latest abuse is how many people knew about some, or all, of it as it happened. Vice President Mike Pence personally spoke to the Ukrainian president about the importance of 'corruption' -- which in Trump-speak means the importance of doing more of it, not less. Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney relayed the order to block the distribution of congressionally voted-on funds to Ukraine. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo extracted statements from Ukrainian officials, in what seems like an effort to shield Trump from the scandal. And all of this happened in plain sight."
Eric Levitz of New York: Wherein Jim "Comey explains that Congress should keep a criminal in the Oval Office to teach the American people a valuable lesson about owning their mistakes. James Comey has suggested that Donald Trump is a pathologically narcissistic criminal -- and described his presidency as a 'forest fire' that threatens to consume the foundations of our republic. Still, the former FBI director hopes that Congress will allow that fire to continue burning for another 16 months -- so as not to let the 'American people off the hook' for the mistake they made in 2016.... Which seems insane." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: A lot of people have bad judgment, and that's certainly true of top government officials. But Jim Comey -- upon whom both Republicans & Democrats bestowed top jobs where discernment and, well, common sense, are required -- has remarkably bad judgment. I mean, weird bad judgment. Not to mention that, although he is a lawyer & has sworn to uphold the Constitution, he doesn't seem to put much stock in that particular document; WTF does he think its impeachment provisions are for?
All Roads Lead to ... Ukraine. Theodoric Meyer of Politico: "Tony Podesta and Vin Weber said on Tuesday the Justice Department has told them they're no longer under investigation for potentially violating foreign lobbying laws for work they did years ago on behalf of Ukrainian interests. The development brings to a close a case that helped to bring down one of K Street's most prominent lobbying firms, and that led Weber, a former Republican congressman, to resign from his lobbying firm last month, even though neither Weber nor Podesta was ever charged with wrongdoing.... Weber and Podesta's lobbying for an obscure think tank called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine first attracted scrutiny after the 2016 election, as prosecutors started looking into Paul Manafort's work in Ukraine.... The decision to close the investigation comes weeks after a jury acquitted Greg Craig, a former Obama White House counsel who was charged with lying to the Justice Department about his own work with Manafort on behalf of the Ukrainian government in 2012."
Bill Barr to the Rescue. Benjamin Weiser & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors in Manhattan told a judge Tuesday night that they are considering inserting themselves into a lawsuit filed last week by President Trump that argued he cannot be criminally investigated while in office. The unusual court filing suggested that the president's own Justice Department could take a position on a sweeping constitutional argument by Mr. Trump and his lawyers that has not been tested in a court. It could also put the department in the middle of a larger dispute between Mr. Trump and the Manhattan district attorney's office, which has issued a subpoena demanding eight years of the president's personal and corporate returns.... In trying to block the district attorney's subpoena, Mr. Trump's lawyers had argued that a sitting president cannot be 'investigated, indicted or otherwise subjected to criminal process.'... The filing came the night before the judge, Victor Marrero of Federal District Court in Manhattan, was scheduled to hear arguments in the case from Mr. Trump's lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney's office. It was unclear why the government chose to weigh in so late on a case in which it has had no formal role. But any potential involvement by the United States government would normally be approved, if not initiated by, the Justice Department in Washington."
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. -- President John F. Kennedy, inaugural address, 1963 (thanks to Nancy Pelosi for the reminder) ~~~
~~~ Anne Gearan & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "President Trump leveled one of his harshest critiques of globalism on Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly, promoting the 'America First' approach that has defined his presidency on issues of defense, trade and immigration before a body built on multilateral cooperation. Trump read the address in a somber monotone, rarely punctuating words or pausing for emphasis.... He also took a hard line against Iran ... and vowed to 'stop Iran's path toward nuclear weapons.' 'All nations have a duty to act. No responsible government should subsidize Iran's blood lust,' Trump said." NPR's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ BOR-ing! Dan Mangan of CNBC: "... Donald Trump's United Nations speech was a snooze -- at least for Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The 81-year-old Ross took a nap -- a very long nap -- as his boss addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. Television footage of Ross showed the wealthy businessman sleeping soundly as Trump talked about a possible trade deal with China -- which is part of the Commerce chief's portfolio -- and the U.S. stance on Iran. Ross had his eyes firmly closed for as long as 15 minutes, video suggested, as Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave the impression of listening intently to Trump." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Isn't That Special. AP: "Fox News has apologized for a guest who called environmental activist Greta Thunberg mentally ill, and said he would never appear on the network again. Michael Knowles of "'he Daily Wire'" made the comment Monday during a segment on a Fox evening newscast, also saying Thunberg was being exploited by her parents and the left wing. Fox had no comment Tuesday about its own prime-time host, Laura Ingraham, who likened Thunberg to a murderous child cult leader from a Stephen King short story." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Juliet Eilperin & Dino Grandoni of the Washington Post: "Trump administration officials threatened this week to withhold federal highway funding from California, arguing that the state has not shown what steps it is taking to improve its air quality. The move by the Environmental Protection Agency escalates the fierce battle between President Trump and the left-leaning state, and could put billions in federal funding in jeopardy. In a predated letter sent late Monday to the California Air Resources Board, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler suggested that the state 'has failed to carry out its most basic tasks under the Clean Air Act' and needs to either update its plans to tackle air pollution or risk losing federal money.... The decision to invoke a rarely used federal punishment represents the latest salvo in the Trump administration's feud with California over environmental and other policy issues. At stake, the EPA said, are billions of dollars in federal highway funding every year." The NPR story is here.
David Gilbert of Vice: "The New York Times says that the White House was aware of a threat to the safety of one of its journalists working in Egypt, but did nothing to stop it, forcing the newspaper to ask Ireland for help getting him to safety. 'Two years ago, we got a call from a U.S. government official warning us of the imminent arrest of a New York Times reporter based in Egypt named Declan Walsh,' Times' publisher AG Sulzberger said ... on Monday.... 'We learned the official was passing along this warning without the knowledge or permission of the Trump administration. Rather than trying to stop the Egyptian government or assist the reporter, the official believed, the Trump administration intended to sit on the information and let the arrest be carried out.... Unable to count on our own government to prevent the arrest or help free Declan if he were imprisoned, we turned to his native country, Ireland, for help,' Sulzberger wrote. Within an hour, Irish diplomats had taken Walsh from his house and escorted him to the airport before Egyptian forces could detain him.... The revelations from the Times came within hours of Trump meeting with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the UN General Assembly. Trump, who last month reportedly called Sisi 'my favorite dictator' once again praised the Egyptian leader, and said he was 'not concerned' about protests that broke out in Egypt over the weekend." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) (Sulzberger's NYT op-ed also was linked here yesterday morning.) ~~~
~~~ Matt Yglesias of Vox: “The conceptual link between the misconduct Sulzberger alleges and the president is very clear -- Trump has denounced the free press as 'fake news' and 'enemies of the people' and somehow managed to look at America's decades-long pattern of turning a blind eye to human rights abuses by our Middle Eastern allies and made policy even blinder. But the specific facts Sulzberger describes don't directly implicate the president or any other top officials beyond the embassy in Cairo. It's the classic case of a situation for which a rigorous oversight investigation is necessary. Congress should find out if this is a case of rogue officials misreading signals from the top, or if it's genuinely the case that the secretary of state, the president, or other top officials have instructed embassies to stop going to bat for the rights of American journalists abroad.” (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'd like to know why the Times held back this startling story for two years. Was it to make the world safer for its journalists? That would be a very good reason, but why is it okay to tell the story now? The newspaper still has reporters in dangerous countries around the world. ~~~
~~~ Update. Declan Walsh of the New York Times tells his own story, & that of other journalists in Egypt. Mrs. McC: BTW, see also Patrick's comment in yesterday's thread. There will be heroes.
Hahahahaha. Bienvenido a los Estados Unidos, Amigos. Thanks to Akhilleus (see his commentary in yesterday's thread) & digby for this:
Trump visited the US border this week & said rock climbers tested his wall & agreed it cannot be climbed. But Mexicans have turned Trump's wall into a tourist attraction & are playing a game to see who can climb it the fastest, no ladders or ropes needed. The record is 45 seconds pic.twitter.com/2Xr4rolKk2
— Stone 🥶 (@stonecold2050) September 22, 2019
Presidential Race 2020
Quint Forgey of Politico: "A new national survey shows Elizabeth Warren now sitting atop the 2020 Democratic field, further cementing her ascendancy in the party's presidential primary after a pair of polls showed her leading in the first two primary states. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents polled by Quinnipiac University said they favor Warren, according to a new poll released Wednesday morning. Twenty-five percent said they prefer former Vice President Joe Biden. Although Warren's edge falls within the survey's margin of error, Biden's formidable lead over the rest of the field has crumbled since the last Quinnipiac national poll in August, which showed him with 32 percent support and Warren with 19 percent support."
Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii became the 12th Democratic presidential candidate to qualify for the October debate after a poll released on Tuesday showed her with 2 percent support in New Hampshire.... It is not yet clear whether the debate will take place over two nights, but Ms. Gabbard's inclusion adds to that possibility." The Politico story is here.
Michael Cooper of the New York Times: "In an 11th-hour reversal, the superstar singer Plácido Domingo withdrew on Tuesday from the Metropolitan Opera's production of Verdi's 'Macbeth' and indicated he would not return to the Met, amid rising tensions over the company's response to allegations that he had sexually harassed multiple women. Mr. Domingo's withdrawal on the eve of the performance -- opening night is Wednesday -- came as a growing number of people who work at the Met expressed concern about his upcoming performances. Other American cultural institutions, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and San Francisco Opera, had already canceled Mr. Domingo's upcoming appearances, citing the need to provide a safe workplace." NPR's story is here.
Way Beyond the Beltway
U.K. Welcome Back, Parliament! The Guardian is liveblogging developments. The liveblog includes a live feed. The New York Times also has a liveblog here; it's less detailed than the Guardian's.
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Reader Comments (24)
News of approaching impeachment has lifted my spirits. I'm reminded of some of the lines from the Chambers Brothers song (1968) "Time has come today"
Time has come today
Can't put it off another day
I don't care what others say
Now the time has come
No place to run
I might get burned up by the sun
But, I've had my fun,
I see that Torture Memo boy John Yoo has a piece in the NYTimes entitled: Beware of impeaching donald trump. It could hurt the Presidency.
I can’t bring myself to click on it. trump has damaged the presidency by removing the people with expertise and ethics from the conversation. A real president would have people with him or her to say “You can’t do that” and follow the expert guidance. There is no presidency to hurt with investigation, just a mob organization.
And as has already been noted, the rot is widespread throughout the administration. I am trying to fathom a clean sweep of everyone who was in on this corrupt Ukraine pressure. President Nancy may have a lot of appointments to make in a hurry.
@NiskyGuy: That was exactly my reaction to the Yoo op-ed. I wonder if Yoo's op-ed says, "Hey, if it's okay for a president to authorize torturing prisoners -- and as I've always said, it is -- then it's definitely okay for a president* to do a little politicking with a pile of taxpayers' funny-money." Well, I'll never know, because I'll be damned if I'll read the op-ed.
I'm very glad to see my cynicism of the possibility of impeachment knocked down and stomped upon.
Now please, can we avoid screwing it up?
Call me a pessimist but since the Senate acts as jury and Roberts
the judge, this may not go well. If trump is cleared of all wrong-
doing, I think things could get much worse.
Tell me I'm wrong.
And not to add to the paranoia, but what if this phone conversation doesn’t come across as damning as we expect. Why wouldn’t Trump stonewall to the last pebble like he’s done with his tax returns? Why hand over unredacted documents (Barr didn’t even want to release the Mueller report unredacted) if they could lead directly to impeachment?
I’m sure he’s counting on Moscow Mitch and the Party of Trump Traitors to bail him out, or maybe he believes his own bullshit about the conversation being perfectly “innocent”. After all, who is left to give him anything but bad advice? Something feels all wrong about this. I have no doubt that he is a traitor who should not only be impeached, but jailed (or executed, as Bill Weld suggests).
But he’s skated on everything. Everything crossable is crossed.
I'm kinda hoping he pulls an Epstein.
Oh, Forest, we sincerely hope you are wrong! Good lord, we have waited this long for the Tick Tock Mofo to commence–- it will kill us if this is not accomplished.
I had to read the NPR California headline here twice thinking I was understanding it incorrectly–- so after reading the actual report I threw up my hands in disbelief. This sounds again like Fatty doing dirty to California for not doing what Fatty wants which is to keep California dirty.
And then reading the Egypt– reporter- story, my hands went up even higher. I would say that these two stories alone would be fodder for serious investigations. We are on the brink, people, and we better get this bastard out before we get blown up good and proper.
And Nisky? you think we are going to push out Pence along with his Second Skin?
Bea,
I skimmed the Yoo piece. As for you and Nisky Guy, the name was enough.
Maturity would have had me read carefully before I reacted, but what's wrong with an occasional return to youth? Doctors recommend it, in fact.
So I just reacted and hastily sent a comment to the Times, which as of this AM has not yet appeared. Don't know why. It was joyfully ad hominem but avoided all the best words.
A microcosm of real world problems--and there are many--and Pretender solutions--there are none.
Separate negotiations with more than 180 countries oughta be a lot of fun,
A fundamental principle that seems to have escaped the whole administration: Picking up your ball and going home means you're out of the game.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/business/universal-postal-union-withdraw.html?
https://www.lawfareblog.com/so-you-want-impeach-president
A good read. We need cool heads to pull this off. No political grandstanding. We don't need a progressive Louie Gohmert. As Sargent Joe Friday used to say, "Just the facts ma'am. The important take away from this article is stick to the provable, impeachable charges. We don't want to come across as a foaming at the mouth lynch mob. Let the trump enablers twist in the wind.
I do admit, I want to hear trump's new catch phrase, "I've been fired"!
Maybe more than some of you, I have understood Pelosi's hesitation to go down the impeachment path. Now that she's decided to go ahead with it (the Pretender gave her little choice), while I fully support what she's doing, I still see dangers along the way.
The greatest danger I see is that there are two elements to the battle just joined, one of which will play into the Pretender's hands.
There's the substance. On the evidence of his behavior should he be removed from office? In a heartbeat.
But the Pretender presidency has never really been about substance. It's always been about putting on a show, playing the role of a fighter engaged in constant combat against this or that. His predecessor. Brown people. Bad trade deals. NATO. The Deep State. The Nobel Prize Committee. Greta. The Gang of Four. A succession of enemies against which he can struggle heroically, tweeting like mad, a new one every day.
That he never clearly defines the goals of the struggles in which he's engaged is essential to the game he plays. Ahieving victory is not the important thing because winning is for him is not so much gaining a specific goal as is keeping himself in the public eye, playing the role of a beleaguered fighter. reviled by many perhaps, but the only one who knows what's right. And when he does lose, he can always declare victory and immediately create the next headline.
Impeachment will cast him firmly in his favorite role for the next year, just where he wants to be. Governing was, from the beginning of the Pretend presidency, always too much trouble. It was always so much easier and entertaining to pretend to fight.
The drama's outcome will depend on which, the substance or the show, the country decides matters the most.
I can see why my Yoo comment didn't make the trip. Caught in a logjam, I'd guess. The comments are now closed. There were 1010, from my skimming almost universally negative.
Looks like Yoo ran into a buzzsaw of his own devise.
Just read the released transcript over on the Wapo. What a piece of garbage. Such a love fest with much admiration to Trump and his amazing cabinet! Crap.
Definitely not a verbatim exchange as evidenced by Trump's complete sentences!! It is not a transcript of a recorded conversation. That's what we need to know about.
The whistleblower's testimony will be more important.
Masha Gessen on Thunberg as the anti-Trump, with her usual clarity.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/greta-thunberg-is-the-anti-trump
Last night, on Maddow, Sen. Murphy said he had no explanation for the Senate voting unanimously to release the whistleblower complaint. Murphy had spoken with GOP colleagues earlier in the day and they had been opposed. Now that the "redacted" version may well be released, it makes sense. McConnell was most likely advised of this yesterday by Barr/WH. It gave him a perfect play to spin the Senate GOP as cooperative, when in fact they're as committed to covering Trump's crimes as always.
In the memcon there's this exchange toward the end:
" ... Zelensky: ... I would kindly ask you if you have
any additional information that you can provide to us, it would
be very helpful for the investigation to make sure that we
administer justice in our country with regard to the Ambassador
to the United States from Ukraine as far as I recall her name
was Ivanovich. It was great that you were the first one who told
me that she was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%.
Her attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the
previous President and she was on his side. She would not accept
me as a new President well enough.
. . . .
(S/NF) The President: Well,she' s going to go through some
things. I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also
going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the
bottom of it. ..."
This is DiJiT throwing career Foreign Service Officer Maria Yovanovich under the bus, and saying he's going to have the bus back up over her. She was US Ambassador in Kyiv from 1916 until she was recalled a few months early this spring, based on a smear campaign instigated by Giuliani and a host of conservative lobbyists. She had been very much active in US anti-corruption activities in Ukraine and did not fit into DiJiT's plans to have Ukraine as the launch pad for anti-Biden kompromat and government-assisted laundering of the Manafort record. This plot has been cooking for over a year now, and the whistleblower has just now brought a lot of ther crap to the surface.
Amb Yovanovich is a career professional (not a "bad ambassador") and has said nothing since her recall. She is sidelined, parked down the Foggy Bottom street at Georgetown, still on State's payroll. Expect to hear her testify when things get rolling.
How can something that is not verbatim, but is a sort of, kind of, the way we remember thing be considered a trustworthy document (never mind an actual transcript)? Even if it does have a read between the lines quality it likely would not pass muster with confederates on the Supreme Court because The Orange Traitor never says “Fuck over Joe Biden so I can win in 2020. My boy Rudy is waiting in a cab outside your office with a bag of money.”
Winger hacks will be shouting “complete vindication!”
I wonder if Zelensky would be willing to release Ukraine's readout of the Trump call so we can see how they line up?
Dan,
Great pick. And I would add that the Chambers Brothers also remind listeners that, while being run over by time, "there are things to realize".
I doubt Fatty will realize them, but at least Democrats finally did.
If Trump, Giuliani, and Barr all ended up in the slammer together, which two would band together to stage an Epstein with the other, thereby trying to pin it all on that guy and demand that they, being, like totally, totally innocent, be released?
I'm gonna guess Trump and Barr would hold the necktie party for Giuliani who already seems like he's completely lost it. Trump wouldn't knock off Barr. He needs him. But then Barr would make a more compelling witness against Trump than crazy Rudy.
Hmmm...what to do? And Barr could never trust Rudy if they decided to turn on Fatty, he's got a big mouth and he can't shut up once he gets going. Besides, if they picked Trump, they'd need a lot of material to go around that fat neck.
Nope. It'd be Rudy. Time for another investigative report on hyoid bone fractures. Even without a Full Epstein, the thought of all three of those jabronis (along with Mulvaney and a dozen other crooks) in orange jumpsuits waiting in line for their lithium makes the heart light as a feather.
Okay, so this isn't earth shattering, given what's going on all around us, but it was heartening to see, in the Stolberg-Times piece (linked above), that she knows how and when to use the word "flouting". Yesterday, driving home, I heard someone on the radio state that Trump was "flaunting the law".
I almost drove into oncoming traffic.
@Akhilleus: Yesterday, I heard both Biden (in his impeachment speech) & another elected Democrat on the teevee -- I forget who -- accuse Trump of "flounting" the law.
Marie,
"Flounting"?
Okay, I would have driven off a cliff.
To Be a Bedbug or Not to Be a Bedbug.
I see that Bret (bedbug) Stephens, in the NY Times (tell me again how this moron has a place at that table? Oh, wait. Blowup Doll Boy Douthat and Our Miss Brooks are there too...never mind...) rips the idea of impeachment, referring to it as a bad call by Pelosi, saying it will help Trump.
Okay. Enough of that bullshit.
And enough crap from anyone yelping that this will help the Orange Traitor.
It might. Who knows? But that should not now (and shouldn't have, even a month ago) keep Democrats from doing their constitutional duty (Confederates don't care about duty or the Constitution or morals or ethics or America). They have a duty to defend the Constitution and the country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And with Trump, you get both. He's a domestic enemy who inveigles, invites, and/or inculcates foreign enemies to screw America and Americans for his personal benefit and profit.
If this isn't the Platonic ideal textbook example of an impeachable offense, then none exists.
Should soldiers on D-Day not have stormed the beaches at Normandy because they might have gotten hurt, or worse? Should firefighters not run into burning buildings to rescue trapped families because they might get burned themselves? Should parents not protect their kids because it might cause them financial, physical, or psychological problems?
We either do the right thing because it's the right thing to do, or we can just fuck off, do not pass Go, and go straight to hell.
And that's what Bedbug Bret and everyone else whining about why Democrats should let Trump do what he wants to, can do. Gnawing insects, all of them.
Trump is a criminal, a liar, a traitor, and a despicable human being. He needs to be held accountable for his many crimes.