Tag: Trials

Impeachment Trial–Day 2

On the second day of Trump’s day in the Senate….the Dem managers were a 1000 times better and more articulate than the two baboons that Trump had pleading his case on Tuesday.

That babbling idiot that was pleading now says that his inept handling of the opening argument was on purpose….

“That was by design,” Castor said. “I don’t like reading bad stuff about me in the newspaper any more than anyone else does, or my legal colleagues around the country saying I’m stupid, but the reason I made the change was precisely so that in lowering the temperature in the room, the public coverage would be more about what I said than about what the House Managers said.”

Read the full report.

 

 

This whole trial thing just proves one thing….it is as always party over country….

Image

I say this because evidence means nothing….and the minds of the GOP are already decided the outcome…it is not a trial it is theater of the absurd.

I step down off my soap box and go to Day 2…..

“We are having a trial on the facts.” More:

  • The “inciter-in-chief.” Raskin said Trump was “no innocent bystander” in the Jan. 6 attack. “There was method in the madness that day,” Raskin said, per the BBC. “This was an organized attack.” Raskin said Trump “surrendered his role as commander-in-chief” to become the “inciter-in-chief.” “This was the greatest betrayal of the presidential oath in the history of the United States,” he said.
  • First Amendment argument targeted. Raskin targeted arguments made by Trump lawyers Tuesday that Trump’s fiery speech before the attack was protected free speech. “This case is much worse than someone who falsely shouts fire in a crowded theater,” Raskin said, per the Guardian. “It’s more like like a case where the town fire chief, who’s paid to put out fires, sends a mob not to yell fire in a crowded theater, but to actually set the theater on fire.”
  • “The provocation.” Rep. Joe Neguse, another impeachment manager, said the prosecution’s case would be broken down into “the provocation,” “the attack,” and “the harm.” He started the “provocation” segment by playing clips of Trump urging supporters to challenge the results of the November election. “People listened. Armed supporters surrounded election officials’ homes. The secretary of state for Georgia got death threats,” Neguse said, per Politico. “Officials warned the president that his rhetoric was dangerous and it was going to result in deadly violence,” Neguse said. “He didn’t stop it. He didn’t condemn the violence. He incited it further.”
  • “Deliberate, planned, and premeditated.” Impeachment manager Rep. Eric Swalwell displayed Trump tweets and speeches that he said showed Trump built the “rigged” election claim for months before and after the election, the Post reports. He showed a “save the date” tweet from December, in which Trump said of Jan. 6: “Be there. Will be wild.” “The evidence here is overwhelming,” Swalwell said. “President Trump’s conduct leading up to Jan. 6 was deliberate, planned, and premeditated.”
  • “The actions of a desperate president.” Rep. Madeline Dean, another impeachment manager, described Trump’s attempt to overturn the election result as “the actions of a desperate president” and played recordings of Trump pressuring officials, including a call in which he urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to change the result.
  • Trump “ran out of nonviolent options.” Impeachment manager Rep. Ted Lieu told senators that Trump turned to the “violent mob” after he “ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power,” the Hill reports. Another impeachment manager, Del. Stacey Plaskett, looked at other violent actions by Trump supporters, including an October incident in Texas where Trump supporters tried to force a Biden campaign bus off the road. She noted that Trump tweeted video of the incident with added music and the comment “I LOVE TEXAS!”
  • Impeachment managers also showed video of then-Vice President Mike Pence and his family being evacuated from the Senate chamber after rioters had already breached the building, the Guardian reports. Plaskett said rioters at one point came within 100 feet of the room where Pence was sheltering before Goodman led them away.
  • Other footage showed rioters using wooden beams to smash their way into the Capitol, coming close to the Senate chamber where the trial is now taking place, the Los Angeles Times reports. “They were just feet away from one of the doors of this chamber, where many of you remained at that time,” Plaskett told senators. Footage from security cameras inside the Capitol showed a lone police officer quickly being overwhelmed by rioters.Plaskett also showed the trial new footage of rioters hunting for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shouting “Where are you Nancy” as they make their way through the Capitol, the BBC reports. She also showed video of Pelosi’s staffers barricading themselves in an office minutes before rioters arrive. “You can hear the terror in their voices as they describe what’s happening as they are barricaded inside,” Plaskett said. She said Pelosi was rushed to a secure location offsite because some rioters had declared their intention to kill her.
  • Impeachment manager Rep. Eric Swalwell showed security footage of Capitol police officers blocking a hallway to illustrate how close to danger senators had come. “You know how close you came to the mob. Some of you, I understand, could hear them,” Swalwell said. “But most of the public does not know how close these rioters came to you. As you were moving through that hallway, I paced it off. You were just 58 steps away.” Swalwell also showed video of violence against law enforcement, including graphic footage of an officer being crushed in a set of doors, and of the shooting of Ashli Babbitt as she tried to climb through a broken window to the House lobby.
  • Swalwell also showed previously unreleased security footage of Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is now Senate Majority Leader, and his security detail walking up a ramp and then running back down after encountering rioters, CNN reports. “They came within just yards of rioters,” Swalwell said.

The evidence was compelling…..well compelling to anyone with an open mind…..that omits the Senate GOP for the most part.

Day Three will be more evidence.

Watch This Blog!

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Impeachment Trial–Day 1

The forthcoming posts are for all those that did not take in the doings in this trial…..or for those that had important things to do like watch the Kardashians…..

Yesterday the Senate trial of Donald Trump and his part in the insurrection of 06 January……but how will all this play out for the cameras and nation….

It’s impeachment, take II. The Senate on Tuesday begins the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Barring surprises, the smart money points to a short trial, maybe lasting a week, that results in Trump’s acquittal. Democrats (and a few Republicans) accuse Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, but Trump’s lawyers say he didn’t encourage violence, was just exercising his First Amendment rights about the election results, and can’t be impeached anyway because he’s out of office. How things are expected to play out:

  • Tuesday: At 1pm Eastern, the Senate will begin a four-hour debate on whether the trial is constitutional given that Trump is a former president. As Vox notes, this holds little suspense because Democrats have the numbers to prevail. The vote will set the stage for Wednesday’s opening arguments.
  • Arguments: House impeachment managers will go first, beginning at noon Wednesday, and their arguments are expected to last into Thursday. The House team is led this time by Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, per USA Today, which has a look at him and the eight other impeachment managers.
  • The defense: Trump’s legal team is expected to begin their arguments on Friday and run into Saturday, per the AP. Originally, the Senate was going to skip Saturday to honor the Jewish Sabbath, as requested by one of Trump’s lawyers, but that request has been withdrawn, reports CNN. This late development was throwing the weekend schedule into flux.
  • Questions: After the arguments wrap up, senators get four hours of questions, a big reduction from the allotted two days in the first trial, notes the Hill.
  • Wild card: Will witnesses be called? If so, this could delay the trial beyond a week. As of Tuesday morning, however, witnesses looked unlikely. Instead, the final vote is expected to happen early next week, after closing arguments.
  • Biden: As all this is happening, don’t expect to hear much from President Biden, reports Politico. The White House strategy approceedings…pears to be to keep Biden as far removed from the developments as possible. His spokesperson isn’t even saying whether he will receive daily updates.

It all began with the Constitutionality of the trial….

Image

Holy crap!

Trump’s lawyer rambled and babbled….contradicting himself over and over…..here are some of the big lines from day one……..

Trump’s lawyers argue that it is unconstitutional to put a former president on trial, while the House impeachment managers say there is no “January exception” that permits an outgoing president to commit offenses, the Guardian reports. Some big lines:

  • “The framers’ worst nightmare.” Rep. Joe Neguse, a House impeachment manager, argued that historical precedent existed for the trial and that Trump’s conduct made it necessary, the New York Times reports. “Like every one of you, I was evacuated as this violent mob stormed the Capitol’s gates,” he told senators. “What you experienced that day, what we experienced that day, what our country experienced that day, is the framers’ worst nightmare.” He added: “Presidents can’t inflame insurrection in their final weeks and then walk away like nothing happened.”
  • “Every time I read that tweet, it chills me to the core.” Another impeachment manager, Rep. David Cicilline, displayed a Trump tweet that described the rioters as “great patriots,” the Hill reports. “Every time I read that tweet, it chills me to my core,” Cicilline said. “The president of the United States sided with the insurrectionists, he celebrated their cause, he validated their attack, he told them ‘remember this day forever.'”
  • “This cannot be the future of America.” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the leading impeachment manager, choked up as he recounted his experiences on Jan. 6. A day before the riot, Raskin buried his son, who took his own life on Dec. 31. Raskin told senators that his daughter and son-in-law were barricaded in an office during the attack and thought they were going to die, the Washington Post reports. He said he was on the House floor, unable to reach them, and could hear lawmakers around him calling their loved ones to say their goodbyes. “Senators, this cannot be our future,” he said. “This cannot be the future of America.”
  • “The floodgates will open.” In an opening statement described by Politico as “meandering,” Trump lawyer Bruce Castor warned the the impeachment trial was a “slippery slope” and said the “floodgates will open” if Trump was convicted. He also described the Capitol riot as “repugnant” and acknowledged that Biden won the election.
  • “This trial will tear this country apart.” David Schoen, another Trump lawyer, said trying an ex-president on an impeachment charge was a “radical constitutional theory” and an “affront to the Constitution, the AP reports. “This trial will tear this country apart, perhaps like we have only seen once before in our history,” said Schoen, per the Post. He accused the House impeachment managers of “pure, raw, misguided partisanship.”

But the best line was on Twitter….”I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and crap out  more coherent sentence than Trump’s lawyer”…well said and very observant.

After all the rhetoric the Senate had it’s vote…..

A day of debate on whether it is constitutional to put a former president on trial in the Senate succeeded in changing the mind of one senator. Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial was declared constitutional in a 56-44 vote, with six Republican senators voting with the chamber’s 50 Democrats. Last month, five Republicans voted against dismissing the trial. On Tuesday, GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana flipped and said he believes the trial is constitutional, the Hill reports. He was joined by Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, and Pat Toomey, who voted the same way last month. “I have always said I was approaching this with an open mind,” Cassidy said, per the AP. He said the House impeachment managers delivered “strong arguments.”

I said before that Trump’s lawyers spoke and spoke and had very little to actually say…..even the ‘accused’ thought his lawyers were a joke…..

After the first day of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, his lawyers are getting bad reviews from Republicans—and the former president himself, according to Politico. Sources say Trump, who spent the day at Mar-a-Lago watching the Senate trial, was not impressed by the dry, technical arguments made by lead attorney Bruce Castor. The sources tell Politico that Trump was frustrated by the contrast between the contrast between his attorneys’ performance and the effective opening arguments made by House impeachment managers, who showed a graphic video of the Jan.6 Capitol riot. GOP Sen. John Cornyn also criticized Castor, saying he’s seen “a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments,” and Castor’s “was not one of the finest,” the Washington Post reports.

Castor, who spoke for 48 minutes, “just rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument,” Cornyn said, adding that second lawyer David Schoen did a better job. Sen. Ted Cruz, another Trump ally, said he didn’t the former president’s lawyers did “the most effective job,” while lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Rankin was “impressive,” the AP reports. Sen. Bill Cassidy—one of six Republicans to vote with Democrats in favor of proceeding with the trial, and the only one to flip after the previous vote on its constitutionality—told reporters that Trump’s lawyers were “disorganized” and “random,” while House impeachment managers made a “compelling, cogent case.” When asked about the criticism from Republicans, Castor said, “We had a good day.

I understand why some think this is necessary….but the final tally is already set.

Image

Watch the Dems opening video….

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Trump’s Senate Trial

If so then it will be the second one in four years.

There is lots of talk about a second trial for Trump in the Senate….the first one failed (go figure)…..

After the events on 06 January 2021 and the situation where Trump fed the lunacy of his supporters….he was impeached twice in the House….and then the trial in the Senate…..but since Trump has left office can he be tried by the Senate?

President Trump, having reached the historic — and infamous — landmark of being impeached twice, now faces trial in the Senate. But unlike the first time, he will no longer be in office. So, does the Senate have the power to try an ex-president on impeachment charges?

The Constitution says that after the House of Representatives votes to impeach a president or any other civil officer, the case is sent to the Senate for a trial, which “shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification” from future office. Conviction requires a two-thirds vote, but barring Trump from future office would take only a majority vote.

https://www.npr.org/2021/01/18/957866252/can-the-senate-try-an-ex-president

As you can see there is a bunch of opinions on this matter.

But what about the US Senate?

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pointedly did not rule out Wednesday that he might eventually vote to convict the now twice-impeached President Donald Trump, but he also blocked a quick Senate impeachment trial.

Minutes after the House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump, McConnell said in a letter to his GOP colleagues that he’s not determined whether Trump should be convicted in the Senate’s upcoming proceedings. The House impeachment articles charge that Trump incited insurrection by exhorting supporters who violently attacked the Capitol last week, resulting in five deaths and a disruption of Congress.

“I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate,” McConnell wrote.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-impeachments-capitol-siege-mitch-mcconnell-29ca8c7dff7943c3daf2952d4a809097

You see there is still a wealth of opinions and possible actions.

Personally I want to see Trump pay a high price for thumbing his nose at the Constitution and the rule of law.

Any thoughts?

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Review: Trial Of The Chicago 7

I seldom do many reviews but in this case I will make an exception…..

You see I am an old fart and remember this trial well…..the Netflix handling of this historic trial was good and even sort of accurate……but they did state that it was “based on an actual incident”……but first…..who were the Chicago 7?

Initially there were eight defendants (and the group was known as the Chicago Eight), but one, Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers, denounced Hoffman as a racist and demanded a separate trial. The seven other defendants, including David Dellinger of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (MOBE); Rennie Davis and Tom Hayden of MOBE and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); and Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman of the Youth International Party (Yippies), were accused of conspiring to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-chicago-seven-go-on-trial

Here are the two trailers….

https://youtu.be/FVb6EdKDBfU
https://youtu.be/OAaZIfeQzT0

I followed the story in ’68 as best I could for I was ass deep in mud and rain in South Vietnam…..so if I had been stateside I might have been in Chicago…..so I will let someone who was there at the protests and at the trial…..Nancy Kurshan……this is her review of the Netflix film and her thoughts on the trial.

Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, streaming on Netflix, is entertaining, sometimes moving and often funny. But it played fast and loose with the facts. I ought to know. I was a yippie organizer for the ’68 protest and present every day at the trial, working on the defense side— in the beginning with Tom Hayden, tracking down witnesses. As the nature of the trial morphed, I became the “yippie props gal”. I acquired the robes that Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman wore to court in Sorkin’s movie.

Although the actors were great, Sorkin failed to reflect the essence of many of the characters. He showed Jerry as a violence-provoking buffoon, one who let a female FBI agent get close to him in the midst of what we had put our hearts and souls into for much of the year. The only woman that was next to him the whole time was me. And I knew Jerry’s faults as well as anyone which is finally why I left him. But I also knew his strengths. He had tremendous courage. Not Rambo courage. It was ridiculous to see him in the film talking about molotov cocktails. He couldn’t even make a smoothie. But he was brave. He stood up 3 times to the House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC). All times in costume. First as a revolutionary war hero with tri-corner hat and all, then as an international guerrilla, and finally as Santa Claus. (It was Xmas time, and the headlines read HUAC BARS SANTA.)  Many times bravery involves being able to put yourself out there, even if you are scared, to be outspoken and fight for what you think is right. Jerry had been a journalist and knew how to work the media to expand the movement. He developed theatrical politics and was a creative, brilliant tactician of protest. He helped lead the earlier protests against the war. It was largely his vision, as the Project Director, that guided the 1967 attempt to SHUT DOWN the Pentagon through both levitation and huge civil disobedience action against the war where 800 of us were arrested.

I Was in the Room Where It Happened: One Woman’s Perspective on “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

I liked the film…not so much for its accuracy but it reminded me of my youth and my days of protests and the injuries my protesting lead to in later years.

Keep in mind that the 7 were protesters and Bobby Seal was on trial at the same time for murder….that made it 8 defendants….a small fact but important nonetheless…..

Now spend some time an watch a documentary of the trial and the actual events….it is lengthy but well worth the view for those interested…..Chicago 7 +1

https://youtu.be/nTzYgiL2HiM
 
7 Reasons Why the Chicago 8 Trial Mattered - HISTORY
 
 
This is another look at the Netflix offering……
 
Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a historical drama streaming on Netflix. It deals with the court proceedings in 1969–70 in which organizers of protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, held in Chicago, faced charges of conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot. The charges brought by the Nixon administration’s Justice Department were aimed at intimidating and criminalizing political opposition.
(does that at all sound familiar?)
Be Smart!
 
Learn Stuff!
 
I Read, I Write, You Know
 
“lego ergo scribo”

Senate Impeachment Trial–Final Day

Mercifully It’s Over!

Finally this Greek comedy has mercifully come to an end…at least in the US Senate…..but we will see and hear more in the coming days until the writers get cramps and move on.

The final vote….and the vote was no surprise….

President Trump has been acquitted on both articles of impeachment and will not be removed from office, USA Today reports. The vote for the first article, abuse of power, was 52-48, CNN reports. All 47 Democratic senators voted to convict, the Wall Street Journal reports. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney also voted to convict, breaking with his fellow Republicans, a decision he had announced on the Senate floor before the vote Wednesday, the AP reports. Romney said Trump’s actions were “perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of oath of office that I can imagine.” He’s the only senator in US history who has ever voted to convict a president from his own party during an impeachment trial. Romney did not, however, vote with Democrats on the second article, obstruction of Congress; the vote on that charge was 53-47.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts declared, per the Guardian: “The Senate having tried Donald John Trump, President of the United States, upon two Articles of Impeachment exhibited against him by the House of Representatives, and two-thirds of the Senators present not having found him guilty of the charges contained therein: it is, therefore, ordered and adjudged that the said Donald John Trump be, and he is hereby, acquitted of the charges in said articles.” Before the trial officially adjourned, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell presented Roberts with a golden gavel to thank him for presiding over the trial. “We typically award this to new senators after about 100 hours in the chair, but we can all believe that the chief justice has put in his due and then some,” he said. The Senate is now in recess until next week

The only thing this accomplishes is the rapid deterioration of our political system into chaos of corruption and greed…..well done GOP…..they have NEVER cared about the nation or the Constitution except when it is a slogan/prop for voters…..

The GOP can NO longer claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility or to champion the Constitution.

Not to worry the president will have to go before the cameras and doing his Reality TV thing on this acquittal…..

President Trump celebrated acquittal in his impeachment trial Wednesday by suggesting that he could remain president for more than 90,000 years—long beyond the limits set by both the human lifespan and the US Constitution. Trump tweeted a video based on a Time magazine cover from last year that shows campaign signs up to “Trump 2048,” the Hill reports. The video, which the president has shared before, shows the sign number ticking upward until it reaches “Trump 90,000,” followed by “Trump 4EVA.” Trump allies including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, meanwhile, tweeted about Trump being “acquitted for life,” the Week reports.

In another tweet, Trump slammed “failed presidential candidate” Sen. Mitt Romney, the only Republican senator to vote for conviction—and the only senator to vote against his party in any of the three presidential impeachment trials in US history. Had Romney “devoted the same energy and anger to defeating a faltering Barack Obama as he sanctimoniously does to me, he could have won the election,” said Trump, who also tweeted a video that claimed Romney was a “secret Democrat asset.” The president said he would make a statement at noon Thursday from the White House to “discuss our Country’s VICTORY on the Impeachment Hoax!”

It is over!

Trump will forever be an impeached president like Clinton…..on the other hand he was acquitted of the “crimes” like Clinton.

Now the story should be…..will there be  price for the Senators vote?

The Congress will take a week off to recover from having to work days on end…..their wallets are slimmer since the donors have been otherwise distracted.

Now the work of the country needs to be handled….like that will happen.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Senate Impeachment Trial–Day 11

We are getting damn close to the final chapter…..the vote will bring this portion of the Greek comedy to a close…..

Last month I wrote that there should be a censure instead of a impeachment…. https://lobotero.com/2020/01/13/would-a-censure-be-better/  ……..no one was listening….will guess what is being floated before the official vote?

It’s time for closing arguments in President Trump’s impeachment trial. Both sides are getting two hours apiece in the Senate on Monday, but the ultimate vote—an expected acquittal—won’t take place until Wednesday, reports USA Today. The reason? So senators can make speeches on the Senate floor before casting their votes. Coverage:

  • For the defense: “You understand the arguments that we’ve been making, and at the end of the day, the key conclusion, we believe the only conclusion based on the evidence and based on the articles of impeachment themselves and the Constitution, is that you must vote to acquit the President,” said White House counsel Pat Cipollone, per CNN. He reiterated a common accusation from the defense team, that Democrats are trying to overturn the 2016 election results.
  • Schiff’s plea: In his own closing argument, House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff said senators had a duty to act. “I do not ask you to convict him because truth or right or decency matters nothing to him, but because we have proven our case, and it matters to you,” he said. “Truth matters to you. Right matters to you. You are decent. He is not who you are.”
  • Censure? With acquittal all but a certainty, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen suggested Monday that Trump should at least be censured for his dealings with Ukraine, reports the Washington Post. “If they were serious about punishing misconduct and they don’t want to vote to impeach and remove, at the very least, at the very least, they should have enough respect for the system to introduce a resolution of censure after Wednesday,” he said of Republicans. Fellow Democrat Michael Bennet voiced a similar sentiment. Some GOP senators, including Lamar Alexander, have said Trump’s actions were inappropriate but not impeachable.
  • Maybe not: The chances of censure? “Zero,” said GOP Sen. Mike Braun. Even some Democrats weren’t thrilled. “What he did was an impeachable offense,” said Sen. Jon Tester. “A slap on the wrist doesn’t do any good.”
  • Done deal? By the count of Politico, 34 senators have indicated they will vote for acquittal, meaning Democrats face a “mathematical impossibility” in convicting Trump.
  • Those speeches: Senators aren’t allowed to speak during impeachment trials, so this week’s speeches required a parliamentary workaround. The Hill explains: After closing arguments, the Senate will adjourn as a court to allow for the speeches. When they’re done, the Senate will reconvene as a court at 4pm ET Wednesday, and the vote will then take place.

Soon all the whining, bitching and ranting will be over….and then what?

Why bother with a Wednesday vote?

We already know the outcome…..why waste valuable time on stupidity?

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Senate Impeachment Trial–Day Of Rest

The Senate decided to take a break from the rigors of doing nothing and give the Senators the weekend to run back for their infusion of corporate cash from the masters they serve.

With that said I have a couple of thoughts…..

One, I agree with mot of the so-called conservs that it is a sham…..I mean a trial with no witnesses….now that is something many criminal has desired in the past…..maybe now they will get their wants.

The House made their case….like the outcome or not….it was based on facts and evidence and witnesses….like them or not……but the defense has been something out of a Greek comedy.

The Senate impeachment trial playing out in Washington, D.C., is a history-making event, not just because it is only the third time that the Senate has ever been asked to formally consider removing a president, but also because it showcases, in stunning terms, the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of the Republican Party. It would be laughable, if it weren’t so tragic, to watch defenders of President Donald Trump tying themselves into knots in attempting to prove his innocence. They are forced to resort to constant contradictions of their own past statements—and of one another—at every turn, because there is no other way to defend Trump’s actions.

Chief among the embarrassing discrepancies on display is how Trump’s backers approached the 1999 impeachment of President Bill Clinton compared with their handling of Trump’s trial today. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who may be the single most powerful enabler of Trump’s impunity with his assurances of being in lockstep with the White House, said this about the president during a closed-door testimony at Clinton’s Senate impeachment trial:

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/01/31/trumps-impeachment-defense-incoherent-design

This opens the door for an unscrupulous politician to rape and pillage the nation….you know kinda like those third world politicians that you condemn.

I know they won’t but the GOP needs to be reminded of their actions this year and the blind eye they turn to corruption and criminal activity.

But I know if anyone can spin this into something positive and vote getting it is the toads in the GOP.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Senate Impeachment Trial–Day 10

Did this silly drama end on Friday?

Well the answer is…NO IT DID NOT!

The Senate is taking the weekend off from President Trump’s impeachment trial. After voting Friday against hearing from witnesses, Democrats and Republicans came to a deal about how the next five days will go. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced four amendments to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s resolution for how to end the trial, all having to do with subpoenaing witnesses; all were quickly voted down. Sources say Schumer could have dragged things out, but agreed not to if McConnell agreed to schedule the final vote for after Trump’s State of the Union address, which is coming up Tuesday. (But sources also tell Politico Trump’s lawyers asked for more time to prepare their closing arguments.) Then, per CNN, the Senate voted 53-47 to approve McConnell’s resolution laying out the schedule for the rest of the trial, and the trial was adjourned for the night.

Per McConnell’s resolution, the trial will resume Monday at 11am Eastern for up to four hours of closing arguments; House managers and Trump’s lawyers will get two hours each. Then it will be adjourned again until Wednesday at 4pm Eastern when a final vote on the articles of impeachment will be held (and Trump will almost certainly be acquitted). Between the adjournment Monday and the vote Wednesday, senators will be allowed to make floor speeches on the trial. Senate Majority Whip John Thune explained to CNN that Democrats planned to use “any number of dilatory tactics” to ensure the trial extended beyond the SOTU anyway, essentially forcing McConnell to cut the deal and spare senators late nights and weekend sessions. Sources say McConnell called Trump and got his approval for the timing. Also happening Monday? The Iowa caucuses, 2020’s first primary election; the schedule gives the four Senate Democrats running for president time to campaign.

So I have the weekend off from the madness and the utter silliness.

But the best thing all day was the vote on witness to be heard or not…..I mean it prtoves that this is a sham and a waste of time…..I mean why have witnesses to a crime during a trial…..

The Senate will not call witnesses to the impeachment trial. Senators rejected the measure 51-49 on Friday, with the GOP’s Mitt Romney and Susan Collins the only Republicans to vote with Democrats. The outcome had effectively been sealed earlier Friday when GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she would vote against calling witnesses, reports NBC News. Coupled with Lamar Alexander’s same announcement Thursday night, that gave Mitch McConnell the votes he needed to block additional witnesses such as John Bolton. But will the trial be wrapped up in the wee hours of Friday as some have speculated? Maybe not. Coverage:

  • Next week? Politico reports that GOP senators and aides are warning that the trial might extend into next week after all. The proceedings could go on until Wednesday, meaning they would not be over before Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday and the Iowa caucuses on Monday. This would allow for lengthy closing arguments from both sides, as well as speeches from senators from the chamber’s floor.
  • More from Bolton: The New York Times has more details from the former national security adviser’s upcoming memoir that relates to the impeachment trial. Bolton writes that Trump asked him for help pressuring Ukraine to investigate politico foes two months before the president’s famous phone call with Ukraine’s president. This would mark the earliest known such effort by Trump. Bolton asserts that Trump asked him to make sure Ukraine’s president met with Rudy Giuliani.
  • And more: Bolton also wrote that top White House aides including chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Giuliani, and White House counsel Pat Cipollone (who is defending Trump in the trial) were in the room at the time. Giuliani called the claim “categorically untrue.”
  • Trump denies: “I never instructed John Bolton to set up a meeting for Rudy Giuliani, one of the greatest corruption fighters in America and by far the greatest mayor in the history of N.Y.C., to meet with President Zelensky,” Trump said in a statement. “That meeting never happened.”
  • Murkowski elaborates: “The House chose to send articles of impeachment that are rushed and flawed,” said the Alaska senator in a statement. “I carefully considered the need for additional witnesses and documents, to cure the shortcomings of its process, but ultimately decided that I will vote against considering motions to subpoena,” Murkowski said in a statement.
  • Alexander elaborates: On Friday, Alexander explained his thinking on Trump’s behavior, saying it was inappropriate but not impeachable. “It seemed to me that the president did it, he did what he was accused of,” Alexander said, per the Washington Post. “There’s a difference between inappropriate conduct, which that clearly is, and treason, bribery, high crimes, and misdemeanors. … I think there’s a big gap between this conduct and impeachable conduct.”
  • Dershowitz: Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz has become a “lightning rod” for criticism, per the Hill, but Dershowitz tells the outlet his role on the defense team has been limited. “I did not participate in strategic decisions or tactical decisions about witnesses or anything like that,” he said. “I just delivered my constitutional argument and made myself available to answer questions.” His argument: That Trump should not be impeached because he did not commit a crime.

This is a textbook trial all right…..I will be used to show how to get away with a crime by a president……I hope the GOP remembers that they did this to the country and its people.

Maybe the voters will finally show some intelligence and get these corrupt slugs out of government.

We will see…..more to come next week…..

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Senate Impeachment Trial–Day 9

Before I get the guts of the day’s doings there is something I want to pass on……

This trial is a work of absurdity…why? Some jurors have stated without hearing evidence that the accused is not guilty….that flies into the face of our so-called fair and balanced judicial system.

I am not alone in seeing the absurdity…….

President Trump is on trial.

As in a real trial, charges have been asserted: the House alleges high crimes and misdemeanors. A judge presides: Chief Justice John Roberts sits in his fine black robe at the head of the chamber. There are prosecutors (the House impeachment managers) and defense counsel (Trump’s “A-team” of lawyers).

And pursuant to our Constitution, the jurors—the members of the Senate—have sworn an oath to render “impartial justice” at the end of the trial.

So, it looks like a trial. Except that in my 40 years as a lawyer, I’ve never seen a trial that corruptly flouted the basic requirements for fairness as brazenly as this one.

In a real trial, any juror who admitted conspiring with the defendant would be unceremoniously ejected from the jury. Yet Republican Senate leader and sworn-to-be-impartial juror Mitch McConnell openly proclaims on television, “Everything I do during this, I’m coordinating with White House counsel.”

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/01/29/senates-make-believe-trial-donald-trump

Day 9 is in the bag…….what amazing stuff has transpired (you realize that is sarcasm, right?)

Question and answer portion continues…….

Let’s go the analysis shall we?

After a dinner break, senators have resumed their final round of questions in President Trump’s impeachment trial, a session expected to last into Thursday night. (Read highlights from the first round.) That will set the stage for Friday’s much-anticipated vote on whether to call witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton. Ongoing coverage:

  • Rand Paul: For the second straight day, Rand Paul submitted a question that named the person believed to be the whistleblower in the Ukraine controversy, and for the second straight day, Chief Justice John Roberts refused to admit it. “The presiding officer declines to read the question as submitted,” said Roberts, per CNN. Paul said afterward that his submitted question made no reference to a whistleblower and read it aloud to reporters. The Hill, however, notes that it did include the name that has been reported in conservative media as the whistleblower. Paul said Roberts had no right to block the question.
  • Paul’s explanation: “My question today is about whether or not individuals who were holdovers from the Obama National Security Council and Democrat partisans conspired with Schiff staffers to plot impeaching the President before there were formal House impeachment proceedings,” he tweeted. CNN reports he walked out of the impeachment trial to talk to reporters after Roberts blocked his question. On Wednesday, after his first question was rejected, a reporter for Roll Call said Paul was visibly angry during a break in the trial. “I don’t want to have to stand up to try and fight for recognition,” Paul said loudly, according to Niels Lesniewski. “If I have to fight for recognition, I will.”
  • The question gets asked, sort of: Later in the day, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson submitted a question the Guardian says was “clearly based off” Paul’s rejected question, only this one did not include a name. Roberts read the question, which had to do with a right-wing claim that the whistleblower schemed with Democratic staffers of House intelligence committee members in an attempt to take down the president. CNN notes the question was about lead Democratic impeachment manager Adam Schiff’s staffer who used to work at the NSC, and that Schiff was “really mad” when it was asked.
  • Is it actually illegal to out the whistleblower? Short answer: It’s complicated. CNN explains all the ins and outs here.
  • Who is the whistleblower? Schiff said at one point, before Johnson’s question, “I can’t tell you who the whistleblower is because I don’t know, but I can tell you who it should be. It should be every one of us. Everyone one of us should be willing to blow the whistle on misconduct.”
  • Awkwardness for Roberts: The chief justice read a question from Sen. Elizabeth Warren that he might have been tempted to answer. The Democrat asked whether “the fact that the chief justice is presiding over an impeachment trial in which Republican senators have thus far refused to allow witnesses or evidence contribute to the loss of legitimacy of the chief justice, the Supreme Court and the Constitution.” The GOP side of the Senate began buzzing, per the Washington Post, while Democrats showed no emotion. After a pause, Schiff deflected from Roberts, saying it’s Congress that’s taking the hit. “It reflects adversely on us,” Schiff said.
  • Trump’s slam: In a tweet Thursday, the president went after Schiff. “His District is in terrible shape,” wrote Trump. “He is a corrupt pol who only dreams of the Impeachment Hoax. In my opinion he is mentally deranged!”
  • More Schiff: Another one of Schiff’s notable answers of the day came when he was asked why some aid freezes are OK, but the Ukraine aid freeze is not. “No one has suggested you can’t condition aid, but I would hope that we would all agree that you can’t condition aid for a corrupt purpose, to try to get a foreign power to cheat in your election,” he said.
  • Tie-breaker? A big question in regard to witnesses is whether Roberts would break the tie if the vote is 50-50. On Thursday, Nancy Pelosi said he should do so, per the Post. She also said that if the trial does not allow witnesses or new documents, it will be a sham and thus any acquittal will be meaningless. Trump, she said, will be “impeached forever.”
  • A DoJ comment makes waves: In an unrelated trial related to the 2020 census, a Department of Justice lawyer said in federal court Thursday that the House can use its impeachment powers to enforce subpoenas. Schiff mentioned the comment at the impeachment trial a few hours later, saying it was “in the category of ‘you can’t make this stuff up.'” CNN explains more here.
  • General mood: CNN describes the senators as “lackadaisical” on Q&A day 2, noting that some were not present when the session got started and some wandered in late.
  • Dershowitz circles back to Wednesday: On day 1 of Q&A, Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz offered what the AP calls a “stunning defense” of Trump’s aid freeze, arguing that a president can’t be impeached for something he does in the interest of getting himself re-elected, if he believes that re-election is in the public interest. That sparked quite an outcry, with critics saying it sets a dangerous precedent, but Dershowitz tweeted two dozen times Thursday on the matter. The first one: “Taking advantage of the fact most of their viewers didn’t actually hear the senate Q and A, CNN, MSNBC and some other media willfully distorted my answers.”

Sorry but to me this day was more about the game than the trial….the questions were for their persons time on camera than the evidence…..and then there is Rand Paul…..if there was ever a “media whore” it is this slug.

Not to worry there is more to come…..the fun is not over yet.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

 

Senate Impeachment Trial–Day 8

Day 8 and it is still not finished…..there is so much news and this is all the blogs are awash with…..that and how “liberals” are socialists….is there an election soon?

Looks like the GOP is trying to wrap their portion up soon…..

President Trump’s defense rested its case in his impeachment trial Tuesday, with White House lawyers urging senators to vote to acquit—and at least three Democrats may end up joining Republicans in doing so. Politico reports that Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Doug Jones of Alabama are still undecided and say they won’t know whether to vote to convict until the trial is over. “I am leaning in certain ways but I want to hear, I truly, honestly, want to hear the entire trial,” says Jones, who is up for reelection in a red state this year. At least one of the senators may end up splitting their vote and choosing to find Trump guilty of abuse of power but not of obstructing Congress, or vice versa.

Republican Sens. Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski might buck their party on calling witnesses, but it’s not clear whether they would vote to convict the president. A vote on calling witnesses is expected Friday, after 16 hours of questions from senators, which start Wednesday. The Hill reports that Republican senators, who hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber, emerged from a caucus meeting Tuesday expressing confidence that they would have the 50 votes needed to avoid calling John Bolton or any other new witnesses, meaning the trial could end Friday. Senators say Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the meeting that a vote to bring in new witnesses could extend the trial for weeks.

These 3 Dems are the ones I would expect to side with the GOP…….no matter the evidence.

Question and answer portion……

President Trump’s impeachment trial moved into the 16-hour Q&A phase on Wednesday, and a thus-far largely quiet Chief Justice John Roberts is featuring much more heavily. NBC News explains the process: Senators must write each question on a six-line question card and then give that card to Mitch McConnell or Chuck Schumer. Questions are then given to Roberts, who will name the questioner and then read the question aloud. He has asked that each side—that would be House managers and Trump’s lawyers—limit its answer to five minutes, the time set by Chief Justice William Rehnquist in the 1999 trial of President Bill Clinton, per CNN. Mitch McConnell on Wednesday said that today’s question period would last up to 8 hours; another session will follow Thursday. Coverage:

  • The first question from the Democrats addressed Bolton straightaway: Is there any way to render a verdict in this case without hearing from Bolton, Mulvaney, and other key witnesses? Adam Schiff’s answer in part, per CNN: “The short answer to that question is, no. … And when you have a witness as plainly relevant as John Bolton, who goes to the heart of the most serious and egregious of the President’s misconduct, who has volunteered to come and testify, to turn him away and to look the other way, I think, is deeply at odds with being an impartial juror.”
  • The GOP then asked the president’s lawyers to respond to that question: Deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin said it boils down to precedent. “What is the precedent that is going to be set for what is the acceptable way for the House to bring impeachment to this chamber?” They didn’t even subpoena John Bolton, he noted, “and to now insist this body will be the investigative body and do all the discovery … then that’s the new precedent, that the House doesn’t have to do the work, they throw it over the transom, and then this institution [the Senate] gets derailed and has to deal with it. That should not be the precedent.” (CNN notes Democrats did formally ask Bolton to voluntarily testify in its impeachment inquiry; he didn’t show because the White House asked current and former officials not to participate.)
  • In answering the following question, Schiff said not hearing from witnesses was setting a more dangerous precedent. He also said Democrats didn’t subpoena Bolton because they didn’t want a drawn-out court battle.
  • A question from Ted Cruz: “As a matter of law, does it matter if there was a quid pro quo?” Trump’s lawyers said presidents are allowed to authorize money with conditions when dealing with foreign policy. “If you don’t do it, you don’t get the money. If you do it, you get the money. There’s no one in this chamber that would regard that as in any way unlawful,” said Alan Dershowitz. Responding to that, Schiff said “All quid pros are not the same. Some are legitimate and some are corrupt, and you don’t need to be a mind reader to figure out which is which.”
  • Dershowitz also argued that, hypothetically, Trump is allowed to use such a quid pro quo to benefit his own re-election if he believes that re-election is in the national interest: “Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest. And mostly you’re right—your election is in the public interest. And if a president did something that he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.” Trump’s team is arguing in hypotheticals because they still do not concede a quid pro quo was attempted.
  • CNN reports 41 protesters were arrested as they attempted to climb the Capitol Rotunda steps; 39 were charged with crowding, obstructing and incommoding; one was charged with all of that plus resisting arrest; and one was charged with crossing a police line and failure to obey.
  • What kind of questions are likely? Politico lists a dozen. For context: During Clinton’s impeachment trial, 106 questions were asked.

On and on……the “news” just keeps coming…..and the silliness knows no party.

I leave you with one thought….do not use this trial as an example of our fair and balanced judicial system for this is nothing but a sham dressed up to look like a trial.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”