Tag: Impeachment

What Is The Purpose Of Impeachment?

Paper #5 of 5

This is a thought in a series of thoughts on the impeachment process.

The Senate Trial begins tomorrow…..all the jurors have been sworn in and signed the oath….time to get down to business.

Is Trump guilty or not?

I care not this series of posts are about the impeachment process not some silly notion of tribalism.

An easy answer for those that look for easy answers…..for those that want to pass on the whining of politicians and pundits.

Yes one of the purposes for the process of impeachment is to remove the president from office (a process that has not been very effective by the way)…..but it is NOT the only purpose for the process.

Time to look t the Founding Fathers and their opinions and thoughts on the process need to be brought out…..

As Congress considers formal charges of impeachment against President Donald Trump, they should consider words spoken at the Constitutional Convention, when the Founders explained that impeachment was intended to have many important purposes, not just removing a president from office.

A critical debate took place on July 20, 1787, which resulted in adding the impeachment clause to the U.S. Constitution. Benjamin Franklin, the oldest and probably wisest delegate at the Convention, said that when the president falls under suspicion, a “regular and peaceable inquiry” is needed.

…statements made at the Constitutional Convention explaining that the Founders viewed impeachment as a regular practice with three purposes:

  • To remind both the country and the president that he is not above the law
  • To deter abuses of power
  • To provide a fair and reliable method to resolve suspicions about misconduct.

https://www.juancole.com/2019/12/founders-removal-purpose-impeachment.html

If one is to debate or bitch about the process of impeachment then maybe a little knowledge would help……(Hahahaha…..I know in the era of mass stupid knowledge the last thing these mental midgets need)…..

Does anyone know what the term “oversight” means?

(Look it up…I am sure you can use Google by now)

The Founders were concerned that there could be an “imperial president” if there were no oversight…..

I have a problem…I do not care whether Trump is convicted or not, my problem is the oath taken by people that have already made up their minds…..this will be a joke for late night TV….not a political exercise.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Trial Of The Century

The House has impeached the president and now the drama moves to the Senate for the trial…….

The drama has been set into motion….the jurors have been sworn in and signed the oath….

The Senate got the formalities of President Trump’s impeachment trial started Thursday, though the real work of the trial is not expected to start until next week. At noon, House impeachment managers read the two articles of impeachment against Trump, formally beginning the third such trial in US history. Afterward, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was sworn in to preside over the trial, and he in turn swore in the senators as jurors. (Only 99, however: Republican James Inhofe was absent because of a family medical issue.) All this as related developments—including a government watchdog assessment critical of Trump’s withholding of Ukraine aid and allegations by a Rudy Giuliani associate—continue to emerge. Coverage:

  • The trial: Expect the Senate be in session six days a week once things get rolling. There’s no timetable on how long it will last, notes Rolling Stone, though White House adviser Kellyanne Conway predicted two weeks during an appearance on Fox News Thursday. “These two articles are very weak,” she said, per the Washington Post. “We don’t see the need to have a lengthy, protracted trial.”
  • McSally’s slam: GOP Sen. Martha McSally tweeted a video of herself shutting down CNN reporter Manu Raju when he asked her before the trial began whether the Senate should consider new evidence. “You’re a liberal hack. I’m not talking to you,” McSally said. “You’re not going to comment?” Raju asked. “You’re a liberal hack,” McSally responded. The senator is taking flak from those defending a journalist’s right to ask what seemed to be a straightforward question, notes Mediaite, which has examples.
  • That GOA report: Will the watchdog’s assessment that it was illegal to withhold Ukraine aid be consequential? Apparently not. “I think they misunderstand the law,” said Rand Paul, in comments similar to other skeptical GOP senators. “I think presidents withhold money all the time, move money around,” he said, per Politico. “I think there’s a great deal of latitude to what presidents do. So I think they’ve misinterpreted the law.”
  • The judge: The AP predicts that Roberts will play a modest role in the proceedings. He is expected to follow the model of William Rehnquist, who drew little attention when he presided over the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. One legal distinction: Roberts has little experience running a trial, compared to the appellate proceedings at the Supreme Court.
  • The wildcard: Will there be witnesses? The Hill sees this as perhaps the biggest question yet to be answered, and it won’t be answered until after opening arguments by both sides. Democrats who want to hear from top White House officials need four Republicans to force the issue, though Republicans such as Rand Paul are pushing back. For the record, the Hill’s preview also notes that it’s all but guaranteed the trial will end in Trump’s acquittal.
  • Those pens: In remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Mitch McConnell faulted Nancy Pelosi for handing out commemorative pens after signing off on the impeachment articles Wednesday. “The speaker of the House apparently saw nothing strange about celebrating the third presidential impeachment in American history with souvenirs and posted photographs,” he said, calling it evidence of a partisanship. “That pretty well sums it up. That’s what the process has been thus far. But it’s not what this process will be going forward.”

Not to worry the GOP Senators have already decided the outcome so this should be a fairly short operation.

I will continue to update my readers during the impeachment process.

My personal observation is that this will be a political circus, a theater of the absurd, this outcome has been preordained by GOP Senators…so this will most likely be a waste of time and energy.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Would A Censure Be Better?

Paper #4

We now await the process to continue in the saga of the impeachment of a president….,the process is waiting to be given to the Senate for their part of the impeachment process…the Trial……

The games being played along partisan lines is just a waste of time for the “trial” will not be a impartial one….I say that because of what the Majority leader has said and the chairman of the Senate judiciary Committee, Sen Graham….they have made it clear that they will not be an impartial jury.

Praise be!  Looks like the partisanship in DC holds……the political center will fail…..and the broken system and process will remain badly broken…..and the president will survive the trial in the Senate and Trump will retain the seat of power.

I have tried to give my reader all the information I could about the impeachment process….the evidence, the analysis, etc.

https://lobotero.com/2019/12/19/the-house-on-impeachment/

https://lobotero.com/2019/12/20/impeached-now-what/

https://lobotero.com/2020/01/07/that-senate-impeachment-trial/

Personally, I think the GOP did all they could to obfuscate the process…..and there is what I see….the GOP has nothing to bitch about but the process…I keep waiting for one of them to talk or rant or bitch or moan about the evidence….so far I got nothing but theatrics.

Not to worry….the Dems are just as much a coward as the GOP…..especially those so-called moderates…..

Progressive Democrats in Congress directed contempt at several of their centrist colleagues for holding a meeting Monday where they discussed censuring President Donald Trump for his alleged attempt to bribe the Ukrainian government rather than impeaching him.

According to Politico, the conservative Democrats attending the meeting included Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.), and Ben McAdams (D-Utah.), who represent districts that Trump won in 2016. 

Progressive Democrats offered little sympathy to the members, who are potentially vulnerable in their 2020 re-election campaigns.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/11/exactly-why-some-people-hate-democrats-progressives-rip-moderates-proposal-censure

Censure?

Believe it or not censure is not something new.  The so-called liberal group MoveOn.org was a censure move for Clinton called “Censure and move on” during his impeachment process….and the group has been a Clintonian mover and shaker ever since.

But a censure?  What the Hell does that mean?

It is less severe than expulsion, a censure (sometimes referred to as condemnation or denouncement) does not remove a senator from office. It is a formal statement of disapproval, however, that can have a powerful psychological effect on a member and his/her relationships in the Senate. In 1834, the Senate censured President Andrew Jackson – the first and only time the Senate censured a president. 

Censure is a formal disapproval that can be adopted by one, or both chambers of Congress. Unlike impeachment, censure is not a power provided by the Constitution, said Gregory Magarian, a professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. The House and Senate have adopted internal rules that allow them to draft and approve a censure resolution, which provides a public record disapproving of an official’s actions. Such a resolution is a rebuke, but does not carry any material punishment like removal from office.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-does-it-mean-to-censure-a-politician

But there is a bit of a problem with a censure…..many know the word but not many know what it is in reality….https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/166736

Back to me.

Censure?  NO go full tilt boogie or go home.

Do I want Trump impeached?

Yes I do.

Truth be told (something that is sadly missing in this process) I kinda hope that the president walks on the Senate side.

Yes I said I want him cleared by the Senate in case you were confused.

Yes, I want him to remain in office and doing what is doing.

Why?

I want the Dems to learn from their time against the GOP……the later is far better at politics and dirty deeds than the former.

Dems need to learn and learn the lesson hard.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

That Senate Impeachment Trial

Paper #3

And The Saga Persists!

I have tried to keep my reader informed…it matters not whether you believe Trump is guilty or not….the important thing is the adherence to the Constitution.

I realize that it has been 2+  weeks since my two papers on the subject of impeachment and since there has been so much time under the bridge I feel I need to refresh my readers knowledge of those 2 papers…….never let it be said that I would leave you hanging…..

https://lobotero.com/2019/12/19/the-house-on-impeachment/

https://lobotero.com/2019/12/20/impeached-now-what/

To begin in case you spend your time under a rock or on FOX News……

The president of the United States has been impeached by the US House of Representatives and now it moves to the Senate for the trial…..

Keep in mind there will be a trial and like all trials there is an oath that the Senators must take before the “Trial” begins…..

“I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that in all things pertaining to the trial of the impeachment of __________________, now pending, that I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: So help me God.”

Will this oath mean anything these days in the hyper-partisanship?  I think it will mean NOTHING!

The media has done little to clarify what a “trial” is all about…instead they throw a wealth of opinion from a wealth of lawyers on what all this means.

That leads the Old Professor to try and help where he can.

If the “Trial” is to be fair then it needs to adhere to some principles…..first the process……

Article I of the Constitution grants the House the sole power of impeachment, and if the House does impeach, the Senate the “sole power to try all impeachments.” It also provides that the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court will preside if the trial involves a president. The Constitution authorizes the Senate to “determine the rules of its proceedings,” including additional rules governing an impeachment trial by the Senate. The Senate has established and may modify its own rules supplementing these constitutional requirements.

Now we go to the Senate and there are some principles that must be observed…….

Four principles for conducting a full, transparent, and fair impeachment trial:

  1. Trial procedures should be established before the trial commences. A trial can only be fair if the rules are agreed to in advance. For that reason, any supplemental rules or modifications to the existing rules should be agreed to before the trial commences.
  2. The Senate should hear the full case before voting on the President’s removal. The Senate must allow members of the House to present the case for the President’s removal and the President should be afforded an opportunity to respond. Both should occur before a vote to dispose of or approve an article of impeachment.
  3. The trial should be open to the public. An impeachment trial of a president is a matter of exceptional importance to the American people. They should be able to understand the case for the President’s removal and the President’s defense. The doors to the Senate chamber should be open and the American people permitted to witness the proceedings to the extent possible. Transparency should only be sacrificed to advance compelling interests such as the sanctity of Senate deliberations, the need to protect legitimately classified information, or the recognition of a whistleblower’s right to anonymity.
  4. Each Senator should take seriously his or her oath to “do impartial justice” and to “support and defend the Constitution.” The question is not whether to support the President. The question is whether the President has committed treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors within the meaning of the Constitution.

(Public Citizen)

The problem with this Trial is that I already see where two of the principles have been violated…..and that would mean that this will NOT be a FAIR trial.

There is a process for a fair and transparent trial…and so far Mitch has done neither….but do not take my word for it…..

How a Fair, Transparent Impeachment Trial Should Proceed

My problem is that too many Americans are allowing partisan stupidity to take hold and are turning this process into a circus of lies and moronic babble.

This country is better than this sideshow…at least I still believe we are….but that belief is getting weaker by the day.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Impeachment Vs Civics

The Congress is back in session and the big picture is the wait for the Senate’s trial of Pres. Trump’s articles of impeachment.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will preside over the trial….in this case it will be Chief Justice Roberts and he has made his thoughts about use of disinformation and civics be known before the trial begins…..

As false information and rumor spread instantly online, John Roberts said, it’s even more important that Americans understand how their government works. But civics education has “fallen by the wayside,” the chief justice said in his annual report on the federal judiciary, and Americans “have come to take democracy for granted.” Roberts said judges are helping to fill that gap, Reuters reports, citing Merrick Garland’s tutoring at an elementary school. Garland is the judge whose Supreme Court nomination by President Barack Obama was blocked by Senate Republicans.

Roberts did not mention permitting televising or streaming audio of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments, per the Washington Post, which many have advocated as a way to show government’s workings. He did give as an example the court’s landmark desegregation ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. “Chief Justice Earl Warren illustrated the power of a judicial decision as a teaching tool,” Roberts wrote. Warren’s ruling, he said, was “a mere 11 pages—short enough that newspapers could publish all or almost all of it and every citizen could understand the court’s rationale.”

You see I agree with Roberts about the lack of civics education among Americans…..

https://lobotero.com/2011/04/04/washington-needs-a-civics-class/

https://lobotero.com/2019/12/09/civics-will-solve-any-problems/

All this is a precursor to the beginning of the impeachment trial…..and the Senators need this instruction because of the statements they have made about the trial and its evidence.

Personally, I do not think it will make any difference Senators have said they have made up their minds before the trial has begun….do not be surprised for that is a prime example of the American judicial system at work.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–20Dec19

My my how times change…….

Just take Senator Lindsey Graham…..his undying support for the president was not so much back in 1998 and the impeachment of Bill Clinton…..

Now is the time to stop telling the American people that it is for them that these people pretend to care……it is all about the Party and the ideology of stupid.

But just listen to Graham in his own words…..

https://youtu.be/-dEyUXNrw8Q
 
Just goes to show just how “principles” are in short supply in our nation’s capital and our Congress.
 
When will these old farts realize that everything they say is now on line and can be used…..
 
If anyone thought this would be a fair trial in the Senate then you would be mistaken….this is going to be a replay of the Clinton impeachment…..another circus to go down in history.
 
I thought is if nothing was done then let there be testimony….but so far that is not happening…so in my mind there is something to hide by the president.
 
I have always stated that I thought that politicians were our biggest hypocrites….nice to be proven right….every now and then.
 
Be Smart!
 
Learn Stuff!
 
I Read, I Wrote, You Know
 
“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Impeached–Now What?

Paper #2

Yes Irene the president has been impeached by the House of Representatives….instead of whining about the outcome of the House vote why not look forward to the trial in the US Senate, where the president will most likely be acquitted (acquittal does not mean not guilty).

The Impeachment process in the House is done….the Senate now awaits the articles so they can set up a date for them trial to begin.

So what now has been asked…..

– The Democratic-controlled House voted almost entirely along party lines Wednesday night to make Donald Trump the first Republican president in US history to be impeached—and analysts don’t expect things to get any less partisan in the weeks to come. Trump will go on trial in the Senate next year, but the timing is now unclear: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after Wednesday’s vote that Democrats are considering holding off on sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate because they are concerned that the trial will not be a fair one. More:

  • The next steps. Before the process can move to the Senate, the House needs to appoint impeachment managers to present the case. Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff and Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler are seen as likely candidates. Rep. Justin Amash, an independent who left the Republican Party and voted for impeachment, may also be included to “confer some bipartisan credibility on the Democrats’ case,” the Guardian reports.
  • Acquittal expected. With Republicans holding 53 of the 100 seats in the Senate and a two-thirds supermajority required to remove Trump from office, an acquittal is widely expected—a conviction would require 20 Republican senators to switch sides. But the process is likely to “further aggravate the political and cultural fault lines in the country” that Trump’s presidency “has brought into dramatic relief,” the New York Times reports.
  • Support for a delay. Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer says he has taken the idea of a delay to every member of House leadership and there has been a lot of interest, including from Pelosi, Politico reports. “As long as we have the articles of impeachment under our control, we have an opportunity to prevent a travesty,” he says.
  • Trial negotiations. In a look at how a Senate trial would work, the Washington Post notes that a majority of senators will have to agree on rules for a trial, which are not set out in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants a speedy trial with no witnesses called, though he may reach a compromise with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to avoid a public battle. After rules are agreed upon and a trial begins, senators, including those currently on the campaign trail, will work six days a week.
  • Trump’s legacy. Trump has downplayed the importance of impeachment, arguing that his opponents are the ones who look bad, but historians say the stain on his legacy will be permanent, the AP reports. “It’ll be impossible to look back at this presidency and not discuss impeachment. It is permanently tied to his record,” says Princeton University presidential historian Julian Zelizer. “Ukraine will be his Watergate. Ukraine will be his Lewinsky.” Rice University presidential historian Douglas Brinkley agrees that impeachment is a “medallion of shame,” but notes that the impeachment will “look smaller” if Trump wins the election this year and becomes the first impeached president to be re-elected.

The talking point after the vote was that the House should withhold the articles from the Senate until the Spring of 2020…..considering the worthlessness of Mitch then I agree with this idea….even some conservs are feeling this would be a good idea as well and worth considering…..

It is beginning to dawn on Democrats that the moment they send articles of impeachment for Donald Trump to the Senate, they will have lost all of their leverage.

So they shouldn’t do it.

At least not yet, especially in light of the recent comments by Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham.

McConnell has said that he intends to work in “total coordination” with the White House and that “I’m going to take my cues from the president’s lawyers.” He adds: “There’s no chance the president will be removed from office.”

Graham is, if you can believe it, even less subtle. “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind,” he said over the weekend at Doha Forum in Qatar. “I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here . . . I will do everything I can to make it die quickly.”

Impeach and Withhold

I think that the Dems will fair better if they delay and give them time to make the rounds and make their case for the trial…it will give them time to frame the conversation and not let the president and his sycophants do it for them.

Then there is the chance that a debate about censure will come out of the flames of the impeachment……

Censure?

And the Old Professor will explain that in the next in the series here on IST.

The next post in this series will be coming in January 2020….when the Congress returns to DC to go back to work(?)……so the trial will get lots of lip service…..just something the media demands that is why they ask the same questions over and over and expect a different answer……now that is sanity!

Two weeks of total bullsh*t

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The House On Impeachment

Paper #1

The Never Ending Story

Trump Impeached!

The US House of Representatives have voted to impeach the president of the United States only the 3rd president to be so….

Here is what the House had to say…..

The House has impeached President Trump. After a daylong debate, the chamber voted on the first article of impeachment, abuse of power, and Democrats easily passed it, reports the Washington Post.

  • First vote: The final tally on the abuse-of-power article was 230-197, with two Democrats (Reps. Collin Peterson of Minnesota and soon-to-be Republican Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey) voting “no” with Republicans, reports the Hill. Another Democrat, 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, voted “present.” No Republicans voted in favor of impeachment.
  • Second vote: The House passed the second article, obstruction of Congress, by a vote of 229-198. This time, Democrat Jared Golden of Maine joined Van Drew and Peterson in voting no. Again, no Republicans voted in favor.
  • The history: The votes make Trump the third president in US history to be impeached. Next comes a trial in the Senate, which is expected to end in Trump’s acquittal on the charges.

The votes took place as Trump was holding a political rally in Battle Creek, Michigan. “It doesn’t really feel like we’re being impeached,” the president told cheering supporters before the first vote took place, reports the AP. He cited “tremendous support” for him among Republicans and said the nation is “doing better than ever before.” Earlier, he issued an all-caps tweet: “SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!”

That Tweet sounds like it could be written by any one of his supporters in their posts…….help spread the words my brothers (that is sarcasm if it was missed).  Just regurgitation from the Lord High Chancellor.

 

The vote was NO surprise…..if it were I ask where the Hell have you been?

The vote was along party lines….the tribes are alive and well…..but there were a few surprises….

The biggest was the Dem candidate that I support for the nomination voted “present”……

The only presidential candidate who had a vote on impeaching President Trump Wednesday decided against giving a yes or no answer. Instead, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard voted “present” on both articles of impeachment and criticized the process, the New York Times reports. The Hawaii Democrat said in a statement that she wanted to “make a stand for the center.” She said her conscience wouldn’t let her vote against impeachment, because she believes Trump “is guilty of wrongdoing,” but she “also could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting president must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country.”

Gabbard slammed Republicans, for abdicating “their responsibility to exercise legitimate oversight” and Democrats, whose “extreme rhetoric was never conducive to an impartial fact-finding process,” CNN reports. She said she had introduced a resolution to censure Trump, which would “send a strong message to this president and future presidents that their abuses of power will not go unchecked, while leaving the question of removing Trump from office to the voters to decide.” Fox reports that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the “present” vote, saying “We are sent here to lead.” “To not take a stand one way or another, on a day of such great consequence to this country, I think is quite difficult,” the Democrat said.

I do not approve of her vote….but I know why she did it….after all she is in there punching for the nomination.  (My support remains but just a bit disappointed……but that is normal with most Dem candidates).

Trump can say after leaving office that he is in an exclusive club….he is a president that has been impeached…..that stigma is permanent!

The Trial in the Senate is the next step…..I will be writing my thoughts on that as well…..and so much more.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Judiciary Impeachment Saga–Day 3

That is Day 3 of the House Judicial Committee portion of the process.

Here we go we are moving closer to the Senate every day……the House has issued 2 articles for impeachment….read them for yourself……https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/10/articles-of-impeachment-trump-abuse-obstruction-full-text-pdf-080185

House Democrats are on course to impeach President Trump by Christmas, with a big announcement expected Tuesday morning. Sources tell the New York Times that the House Judiciary Committee worked through the night Monday to prepare articles of impeachment to be unveiled at a 9am news conference by Nancy Pelosi and other House leaders. The sources say the articles will charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. “A lot of us believe that what happened with Ukraine especially is not something we can just close our eyes to,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel said, per the AP, after leaving a meeting of committee chairmen at Pelosi’s office late Monday.

The meeting followed a daylong House Judiciary Committee hearing in which Trump’s conduct was described as a “clear and present danger” to national security. Pelosi said Monday night that no final decision had been made, the Washington Post reports. “You think I’m going to tell you the articles of impeachment?” she said to reporters. “We’re in a place where our members, our leadership of our committees of jurisdiction have now gotten the last input,” she said. “They’ll make a determination, a recommendation as to how we will go forward and what the articles will be.” Sources tell Politico that the House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on the articles Thursday, which will be followed by a vote on the House floor to impeach Trump.

Then the presser about the whole process…..

Tuesday brought another historic milestone in the impeachment process against President Trump. Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders unveiled two articles of impeachment against the president—abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, reports the Hill. Trump, meanwhile, lashed out in a morning tweet. “To Impeach a President who has proven through results, including producing perhaps the strongest economy in our country’s history, to have one of the most successful presidencies ever, and most importantly, who has done NOTHING wrong, is sheer Political Madness!” he wrote.

In Tuesday’s news conference, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler said Trump brought this on himself by using the powers of his office to “seek a personal benefit,” a reference to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. “He endangers our democracy, he endangers our national security,” said Nadler, per the AP. The 2020 election “is at risk,” he added, and “that is why we must act now.” Next steps: The judiciary panel is expected to approve the articles of impeachment as early as Thursday and send them to the full House for a vote next week.

I link to the articles of impeachment one more time….maybe that will prod people into actually read them….(probably wishful thinking for FOX News will give them the BS they want to hear)…..

Read the full text of the articles of impeachment below: 

Not to worry there is more.

It’s not over until the House vote.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Judicial Impeachment Hearing–Day 2

The drama in DC picked up again yesterday…..this is day two of the Judicial Committee hearing on the possible impeachment of Pres. Trump.

My short summary for those that had better things to do….I watched so you did not have to…..

For those interested in the process I give you the impeachment report that was released by the House Intel Committee……https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6566093-House-impeachment-report-PDF.html#document/p1

The day’s doings……

The House Judiciary Committee resumed its impeachment proceedings Monday, with each party laying out familiar narratives. For example, Democratic staff investigator Daniel Goldman said President Trump’s “persistent and continuing effort to coerce a foreign country to help him cheat to win an election is a clear and present danger to our free and fair elections and to our national security,” per the Hill. Countered GOP lawyer Stephen Castor, as quoted in the Washington Post: “The impeachment inquiry has returned no direct evidence that President Trump withheld a meeting or security assistance in order to pressure President Zelensky to investigate former vice president Biden for the president’s political benefit.” Other highlights:

  • From the GOP: “This may become known as the focus group impeachment because we don’t have a crime, we don’t have anything we can actually pin, and nobody understands really what the majority is trying to do except make sure the president can’t win next year if he’s impeached,” said the panel’s ranking Republican, Doug Collins of Georgia.
  • About Pelosi: Collins also objected to Nancy Pelosi’s directive last week to write up articles of impeachment, even before the panel’s hearings were complete. “She just quit,” he said. “She just stopped.”
  • From Democrats: “The evidence shows that Donald J. Trump, the president of the United States, has put himself before country, he has violated his most basic responsibilities to the people, he has broken his oath,” said the panel’s chairman, Jerry Nadler of New York. Regarding the parties’ differing views: If “we could drop our blinders for just one moment, I think we could agree on a common set of facts as well.”
  • Rancor: The GOP’s Jim Sensenbrenner said Democrats were badgering Castor during questioning, but Nadler said “sharp” questioning was par for the course. Politico notes that at one point, Nadler banged his gavel, prompting Collins to mutter, “Bang the gavel harder—still doesn’t make it right.”
  • Protester: A protester shouting that Democrats were committing “treason” was escorted from the proceeding as it began, per CBS News video.  (Treason is for a time of war)
  • Next: Pelosi was meeting with other House leaders Monday night, per CNN. She hasn’t scheduled a meeting with the full caucus on impeachment, but she’s invited all House Democrats to a meeting Wednesday morning.

As with all these…Dems were serious and presented evidence and the GOP spend their time playing political games and attacking everybody as a “whistleblower”…….

Rumor has it that the Dems will issue their articles of impeachment on Tuesday……and we wait!

For those that cannot bother with the process I will help make it simple without the use of “big” words…..

If you missed it……not to worry….There is more!

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”