A Party Disgraced

McConnell's Republican Scam

The Senate impeachment trial of Donald John Trump has reached its predetermined conclusion which Mitch McConnell openly admitted prior to the start of the trial.  With only two dissenting Republicans, the vote to allow witnesses has been denied along party lines.

This is a foreshadowing of McConnell's ultimate pre-trial public admission, that Trump will be acquitted next week on both articles of impeachment, regardless of what the evidence shows.

Trump's actions to cheat in the 2020 election has been upheld by the GOP majority.  And when you think about it, Republicans have become famous for finding ways to cheat at elections.  They are the ones who created the false narrative around voter fraud.  They found many ways to deter or suppress  Democrats from voting. They came up with the idea to use mathematical models to help them win against overwhelming opposition by gerrymandering state districts.  Why should Congressional Republicans expect their President to be any more honest than they themselves have shown to be?  Why would they want their candidate to lose in the 2020 election?  

With patriotism devoid in the GOP, they do not care about the Constitution or their oath of office or the oath that they took at the start of the trial to be impartial jurors.  Hell, they don't even care about guilt and innocence or right and wrong.  They only care about power and money.  The power they get from having their party's President working only for the rich and the money they get from that and  ultra-rich donors who's sole bidding they do every day in the Congress.

If there was a party that the devil himself would join, it would be the Republican party.  Think about the atrocities and cruel things that Trump has been allowed to get away with.  Things like caging Latin-American men, women and children because he thinks they are undeserving of entry into America.  Like losing track of over 1800 children in government custody.  Like  preventing the population of innocent Muslim countries from entering the United States.  Like reducing and preventing immigration of refuges from Syria.  Like undoing regulations that the Obama administration placed in order to protect Americans air and water.  Like attempting to eliminate health protections of the Affordable Care Act.  Like reversing DACA so that registered immigrant children are deported back to countries they don't even know.  Like taking from the poor and middle class in order to fund a tax cut that satisfied the greed of the ultra-rich and himself.

And his moral offenses are really something the devil would be proud of.  Things like having extra-marital affairs with porn stars while his wife is pregnant.  Like proudly speaking of sexually abusing women.  Like hanging around with a pedophile and allegedly taking part in sex with underage girls.  Like allegedly raping multiple women who have come forward.  Trump is a scar on the Presidency that the Republican party not only approves of, but encourages to violate the American Constitution.

With an acquittal, Republicans will have given up their constitutional duty to protect America from a tyrant. Every Republican Senator must now face the will of the American people if our republic is to survive.  If America accepts this acquittal without removing those responsible, our government is lost.  The one last chance America has to keep its democracy is left with the voting public.  

Now that Trump will be very active in doing favors for other foreign countries in order to get them to help him cheat in the 2020 election, this may be a formidable task.  It will take every person who is eligible to vote to get out and vote like our democracy depends on it.

Because this time it really does.

Trump's Acquittal is not Guaranteed

Partners in Crime

Today, America witnessed the start of the early proceedings to prepare the Senate for the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, current President of the united States.

But before those proceedings, we heard from the Government Accountability Office.  The GAO has announced that Trump and the Budget Office did in fact break the law when Trump ordered that money approved by Congress to be released to Ukraine, was withheld.

Before that, Lev Parnas, an associate on team Trump, who was tasked along with Rudy Giuliani and others, to coerce Ukrainian President Zelinsky, to announce an investigation into the Biden's, was interviewed on the Rachael Maddow show.

Parnas admitted that Donald J. Trump directed and knew everything about this plot.  Parnas reported that Trump's purpose was to gain political advantage over Joe Biden in the upcoming 2020 election.  There were many pieces to accomplish this plot, including releasing Ukrainian oligarch Dimitry Firtash from DOJ prosecution in a legal case he was involved in, in exchange for announcing information that would be detrimental to the Mueller investigation.

Parnas says that William Barr knew of the plot to release Firtash and was part of the team working for Trump.  The Justice Department has denied any truth to those statements.  Two colluding fox news TV lawyers (Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing) would become Firtash's lawyers and Parnas would broker them.  All of this was to help ensure that the Ukrainians would make the announcement of the Biden investigation.  Back at home, Trump had others at Fox news promoting his conspiracy theories about Joe Biden's son Hunter, to keep the Republican base focused on defending their leader.

It seems appropriate that there should be an investigation into the actions of William Barr, Devin Nunes and others in the administration who colluded in this plot.  If justice is done, we should see additional impeachments or incarceration against others in the Trump circle.

It is hard to believe that the start of the Senate impeachment proceeding would be preempted by such relevant news directly related to the guilt of Donald J. Trump, but this is Trump's America where a mad man rules.  You can expect the worst when a malignant narcissist has the keys to the country.

Meanwhile, back to the impeachment trial.

Chief Justice John Roberts was sworn in by Chuck Grassley, to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the law.  Roberts gave the oath to swear in to all Senators, also to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the law.  Each Senator was called up to sign the document of their oath.

Remember that McConnell and Graham have already publicly declared that they would be traitors to the Constitution and not be impartial jurors.  They also already predetermined and announced that Trump would be acquitted in a rapid trial with no witnesses.

I wonder how many of the GOP sycophants in the Senate were feeling a little differently about how their vote would go, being that they had just made a promise to the American people to be impartial.  This was the quietest and most solemn period I have ever seen in the Senate.

We shall see what GOP Senators will do in the coming days.  They should be re-evaluating their intentions given the additional information that has come out recently.  More incriminating evidence is sure to come out before the Senate trial begins.

The Senate is expected to begin their trial in earnest on Tuesday of next week, January 21, 2020, although additional findings and Trump's travels may delay it.

Trump's Legal Defense Team

Besides the Senate Republicans, Trump has defense lawyers defending him in the Senate impeachment trial.  By now the public has become familiar with Trump's peculiar choices in defense attorneys.  A quick synopsis of some of them and their connection to Trump follows.

Pat Cipollone served as assistant to Attorney General William Barr from 1992 to 1993.  In private life, Trump was a client of Cipollone.  Cipollone succeeded Don McGahn who departed (was fired) after he refused to fire Mueller as Trump requested him to do.  Cipollone has been the voice of opposition to the Trump investigations and established the obstruction posture regarding the impeachment demands of Congress.

Jay Sekulow has a history of making millions of dollars from businesses and charity organizations that he created with himself and his family members as owners.  The Guardian reported that documents they obtained showed that attorneys general in New York and North Carolina had opened investigations into one of Sekulow's charities for pressure tactics on donors and misdirecting money to him and his family.  Michael Cohen testified that Sekulow and other Trump attorneys made changes to his false statements about the length of time the Trump Tower project in Russia was ongoing.  Cohen testified that it was Sekulow who instructed him to lie to Congress and testify falsely about the duration of the project.

Ken Starr is best known for heading investigations into the Clinton administration known as "Whitewater."  He was initially appointed by the Bush administration to investigate the death of Vince Foster and investments in Whitewater real estate by Bill Clinton.  This was later expanded into investigating Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.  After four years of investigations, he released the Starr report, which stated that Clinton lied about his affair in a sworn deposition.  This led to the Clinton impeachment.  He was fired as president of Baylor University because he mishandled several sexual assaults there.

Alan Dershowitz has been involved in several high profile legal cases.  He is probably best known for his part as an attorney for O.J. Simpson during his murder trial.  He has handled celebrity cases for Mike Tyson, Patty Hearst and Jim Bakker.  He won an appeal for Claus von Bulow and defended Jeffrey Epstein as well being a consultant for the legal team defending Harvey Weinstein.  Dershowitz stated that he will take a minor role in the defense of Trump, speaking only to the constitutional aspects of impeachment.

Robert Ray has been the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and was the successor to Ken Starr as the Independent Council when he investigated and issued final reports on the Whitewater investigation and other controversies.

Pam Bondi is a former Florida Attorney General.  Bondi was the lead attorney general in the unsuccessful lawsuit intended to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  She argued that the individual mandate provision of the Act was unconstitutional.  Bondi joined with nineteen other Republican run states to allow insurance companies to charge people with pre-existing conditions more for insurance or to deny them coverage.  While Bondi was still attorney general, she hosted Fox news shows and appeared on the Sean Hannity show.  While Bondi was Florida attorney general, she first claimed to be joining a New York suit against Donald Trump for tax fraud in regard to the Trump University scandal.  When a few days later, she received a $25,000 contribution from the Donald J Trump Foundation, she decided to drop out of the fraud case against Trump.  In 2016, Bondi appeared at the Republican Convention where she led cheers of "lock her up" against Hillary Clinton.  In 2019 she was hired by Ballad Partners, a firm with close ties to Trump.  She also began working as a lobbyist for Qatar.  She was hired by the Trump administration to help with messaging during Trump's impeachment.

Jane Raskin is a Florida lawyer who represented Trump during the Mueller investigations.  Resistance to Mueller's requests for interviews came from Raskin and her husband, also a lawyer on Trump's Mueller defense team.

Impeachment inquiry continues to get at the truth while Trump and GOP call it witch hunt

Kiev, Ukraine

Donald Trump's hatred of the beautiful country of Ukraine may grow stronger as his impeachment inquiry continues to uncover damning evidence from witnesses familiar with the Ukraine meeting.

Although there have been plenty of other reasons for the impeachment of Trump, the phone meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky has been the subject that initiated the formal impeachment inquiry by Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats.

Trump and his zealous Republican loyalists have given their own classification of the impeachment inquiry.  According to them it's a "witch hunt," "bull," "a joke," "a lynching" and "a scam."

They believe the Democrats are trying to overthrow the 2016 election.  So they are spending money  on ad campaigns to smear the impeachment investigation.  Trump has so far committed at least $1 million to ad campaigns to lie to the American people about it.

Trump and his supporters present no evidence that would prove Trump innocent of the claims of the whistle-blower and the multiple corroborating witnesses who have been testifying in Congress.  There is only the party line that they expect us to believe, even though they have been caught in their lies thousands of times.

It seems the Ukraine venture by the Trump organization is much more complex than we first thought.

It has been reported that before he resigned, John Bolton warned the administration that Rudy Giuliani may be too closely involved in the Ukraine situation.  Not being an official government statesman, this would be an illegal activity for Giuliani.

Kurt Volker, Envoy to Ukraine, testified that Trump requested military aid to Ukraine to be held up.  Giving testimony on Trump's thinking about Ukraine, he said that Trump believed (or said he believed) that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 election.  Volker also had text messages that showed that Trump and Giuliani pushed Zelensky to investigate the Bidens.

Bill Taylor testified that Trump would withhold military aid to Ukraine until they publicly announced an investigation into the Bidens.

Catherine Croft, who reported to Ukraine envoy, Kurt Volker, testified that Trump told Mulvaney to hold off on Ukrainian aid.  She also testified that Trump was pressured by Giuliani to remove Ukraine Ambassador Yovanovich.  Yovanovich herself testified that there was a concerted effort by the Trump administration and Rudy Giuliani to remove her for questionable motives from her position as Ambassador to Ukraine.

Christopher Anderson, also a report of Kurt Volker, testified that the White House blocked a condemning formal statement by the State Department regarding a 2018 incident where Russia seized a Ukrainian vessel.  Anderson also testified that he attended the meeting where John Bolton warned the White House of the interference of Giuliani in Ukrainian affairs.

Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, a Ukrainian expert, testified that Trump and the White House omitted details about the quid, pro quo regarding dirt on the Bidens from their telephone meeting summary. As the Ukraine expert, he attended the meeting held in Ukraine with Energy Secretary Perry.  After the meeting he was told by the White House staffer Fiona Hill that he would not be invited to the debriefing of the meeting and was instead replaced by a former Devin Nunes staffer, Kashyup Patel.  Patel has no knowledge of Ukraine.

The witnesses corroborating testimony is getting to the facts that even Trump loyalists cannot deny.  We are fortunate that there are still some patriots left in government.  Trump attempts to pervert the truth with such statements as "the Ukraine meeting was perfect!" and "no quid, pro quo!" But these are falling apart with the barrage of witnesses who are claiming otherwise to Congress.

Let the truth cleanse this administration.

Multiple Trump officials should be impeached over the substance of Ukraine meeting

Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker

Throughout his Presidency, Donald Trump gave the public many examples of his betrayal of the Constitution and denigration of the office of President.  So many of Trump's actions have been attacks on  democracy and our American way that any one of them could be a part of the articles for impeachment.

Nancy Pelosi has focused on one of Trump's recent infractions before she committed to impeaching him.  And that one was a big one.  Big in substance but also big in the number of Trump officials involved.

This recent infraction was the quid, pro quo that Trump asked from the newly elected Ukraine President.  Trump is so driven to find ways to ensure his re-election, he has not only avoided taking precautions against future Russians interference, but has also asked the Ukrainian President to dig up dirt on his Presidential challenger, Joe Biden.  Trump told Ukrainian President Zelensky that he must report on the requested investigation into Joe Biden and his son in a public announcement to be given at a White house visit, or he would not be given military aid that Ukraine so desperately needs to defend against Russia.

Just as Trump and his family asked Russia for dirt on his 2016 challenger, Hillary Clinton, they have now asked Ukraine for dirt on his 2020 opponent, Joe Biden.  It seems when it comes to finding an illegal leg up on the competition, Trump is surprisingly consistent.

And now we find out that this plan was in effect many month's ago, when his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, his EU Ambassador, Gordon Sondland and his Energy Secretary, Rick Perry were sent to discuss related matters with Ukrainian officials.

On July 25, 2019, Trump had the infamous quid, pro, quo call with Zelensky.  Mike Pompeo was present for the call.  Trump instructed Mick Mulvaney to delay the Ukraine military aid related to the quid, pro, quo call.

If by these actions Trump is guilty of impeachable offenses, so are all of the other Trump officials that were involved.  Perry has self-impeached as he recently announced his resignation, but all the others except Giuliani should also be impeached.  Giuliani is not a federal employee but has to answer for other crimes such as not registering as a foreign agent.

As for impeachment, Donald Trump's attorneys have gone to court to have the impeachment deemed illegal since there was no formal impeachment vote in the House.  Last week Lindsey Graham introduced a resolution condemning the impeachment inquiry as illegitimate.  Republican officials  have been stymied by a judge covering the case who has determined that the inquiry being carried out by the House is legitimate and does not need a vote to continue.

However, Nancy Pelosi has announced that Democrats wanted to push back on claims by Trump that the impeachment is not valid and will hold a vote on Thursday, October 31, 2019 to establish the procedure for open hearings, dispositioning transcripts and transfer of evidence to Judiciary as they consider impeachment articles.

The impeachment will happen.  The House of Representatives has the votes for that.  However, the impeachment is not the same as removing Donald Trump from office.  It will take more Americans to register their outrage with Trump in order to convince Republicans in the Senate to vote to remove him from office.  At this point, the GOP is still solidly with Trump.

As public hearings give Americans more insight into the impeachable offenses of the Trump administration, perhaps more GOP Senators will come to their senses and save America, democracy and their own dignity.