Happy Impeachment! Next step is removal. (Trump thread 98)

[TheClaws]

In the last thread, Trump was impeached by Congress. Now the question is when the articles will be sent to the Senate for Trial, as - at this stage - there is no guarantee from Mitch McConnell of a fair trial. Trump clings to his belief that his call to Zelensky was “perfect”.

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3732056-Trump-and-the-Giant-Impeachment-Trump-thread-97

[cozietoesie]

Dear me, Perking. You're too well informed.

[PerkingFaintly]

I was paying attention at the back of the class, cozie.

Can't always put my hand on the ref I want, and have to admit I'm struggling to keep up with the progress of the suits and countersuits about witnesses and evidence being produced for all the different legal troubles 45 has...

He's used to being in legal trouble, of course. But he's used to either paying or bullying to make it go away. And now those don't work.

[PerkingFaintly]

If I had the energy, I'd also pull out a bunch of refs on the topic of "affairs are a national security risk because of blackmail."

I'm a bit tired, but whistlestop tour.

There are indeed occasions when affairs can be a national security risk because of blackmail.

Trump is unusual because he's SOOOO vulnerable in this respect. We now have evidence of him being vulnerable actually during the time of the election as well as afterwards. National Enquirer did a "catch and kill" of the Stormy Daniels cover-up, some details below but IIRC Trump and Cohen also discussed their concerns that NE's David Pecker would retire or sell the magazine, and the need to further secure the story if this happened.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/12/national-enquirer-trump-payments-david-pecker-catch-and-kill

Fox News also sat on one of the affair stories before the election.

So Trump was already deeply in hock before he was sworn in.

Oh, um, pee-pee tapes. If true, or even half-true, then he was much more deeply compromised and by a foreign power.

More on the topic of being compromised...

Sally Yates made clear in her evidence to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017 that Michael Flynn was compromised and blackmailable by the Russians, and that she'd informed the White House of this, and that they didn't seem at all bothered. Flynn was convicted of lying to the FBI; he'll be sentenced on 28 Jan 2020, so date for diaries.

IIRC, although Yates assumed at the time that Mike Pence had been misled by Flynn, there's still the possibility that Pence wasn't misled and did actually know that Flynn had been offering official US sanction-relief to the Russian ambassador while Flynn was just a private citizen and Obama was still president. Might still be some shoes to drop there. Have to wait and see.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Flynn

[lionheart]

They were spoilt for choice really. Do you choose one thing or everything or take the middle ground?

It's like impeachment poker and it should not be this way.

[cozietoesie]

Why not? (Thinking of our visitors.)

[cozietoesie]

Y]]

[lionheart]

You should be able to trust the Senate to do its job.

To assess the facts, put country over party and hold people accountable instead of tolerating the endless corruption, obstruction, lies and incompetence.

I wonder what will be left of the GOP once this presidency is over.

[cozietoesie]

Quite so, lion.

[TheClaws]

It doesn’t matter if Trump is guilty or not guilty of a high crime, impeachment and removal is a political process not a judicial process. Congress is divided- House is Democrat majority and the Senate is Republican majority. There is no way the Senate will approve impeachment and removal. And even if they did, the VP Pence takes over.

It’s a complete waste of time and money. It’s being done by the House to clog up Congress so that no work at governing gets done until the end of Trumps term. It’s the ultimate filibuster or fuck you to the Senate.

This, I feel, is the ultimate Conservative excuse. Why do this when there is other work to be done? (Never mind the 200+ bills sitting on Mitch McConnell’s desk ready to go.) No. This gives a dictator full rein. This lets him do whatever he likes. Do you really want that?

[TheClaws]

I find it astonishing that anyone could not see the conflict of interest in Biden Jr and Sr and their overlapping roles in the Ukraine gas and oil industry, in which the former had absolutely zero experience.

Do you actually think it's just coincidental? Or do you accept that it seems dodgy as fuck, but set that aside for fear you might share a momentary headspace with Trump?

No, I do find it dodgy, and I think it will affect his candidacy. However, I don’t think Trump should have investigated him in the way he did, using official resources.

[WalmartMom]

It part of the modern great corruption. We had it with Brexit passage. US has it with Trump.

People vote. Throw votes in the garbage can. Use the law to change the elected result. Use self acclaiming arguments to prove one is right, even though these are the tactics of political corruption.

I dislike Trump but I hope he sweeps all 50 states next Nov to crush this outrageous anti-democratic force that, like anti-Brexit, can only be stopped by a total wipe out against it by the vast majority of good and sensible Thomas Paine types who can see a scam on them a mile away.

[Lweji]

I dislike Trump but I hope he sweeps all 50 states next Nov


Sure you do.

[lionheart]

Trump and Brexit are two very different things with some overlaps.

But I appreciate the irony of your position. An autocracy headed by a fuck-wit is the price to be paid for the destruction of what you believe to be an 'anti-democratic force'.

Only one of these things is grounded in the Constitution, the law and common decency. The other is ugly to the core.

If it happens, then God help the USA.

[PerkingFaintly]

Although to be fair, we've now pretty much shown that Trump could be live-streamed being spit-roasted by Mitch McConnell and Devin Nunes on the rug in the Oval Office, and "his base" would still cling to their plastic figurehead in the hope he'll deliver their dreams.

So the threat to reveal his sordid little sex life no longer has the power over him (or his campaign managers) that it had.

But blackmail's all about the blackmailee's fear, so he was certainly blackmailable while he still believed the exposure would harm him.

[TheClaws]

I think we might be drawing the attention of a few bots and trolls. It might be best to return to what we to do best - share information and links - and not allow them to distract us. I think that’s what they’re trying to do.

[TheNorthWestPawsage]

Paranoia - It's just pathetic exhausting isn't it?

Home Alone 2: Donald Trump scene cut in Canada, angering supporters

CBC removed president’s cameo in 2014 to save time, but Trump’s son says move is ‘pathetic'
www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/27/home-alone-2-trump-scene-cut-in-canada-angering-supporters?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

...Donald Jr, who on Friday shared a link to a news article suggesting the edit was an example of “virulent left wing media bias”. He echoed the article he was sharing, calling it “pathetic”.

Charlie Kirk, of the conservative organisation Turning Point USA, claimed the scene was cut “because it humanizes a man the left loves to dehumanize”.

The president himself then weighed in on Twitter, linking the edit to the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

“I guess Justin T doesn’t much like my making him pay up on NATO or Trade!” he said, adding that the movie would “never be the same again (just kidding)!”...

[TheNorthWestPawsage]

Gary Kasparov:
This was my message to the media going into 2020. Your responsibility is to the truth, not to "giving both sides" when one side is lies. And you cannot expose lies without spreading them. So repeat the facts.
twitter.com/kasparov63/status/1210280850094526464?s=21

[Roussette]

A piece on Trump's foreign policy.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/27/2019-the-year-us-foreign-policy-fell-apart-donald-trump

[lionheart]

Grim.



<a class="break-all" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/us/navy-seals-edward-gallagher-video.html#click=t.co/aQ14oOgRe2" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/us/navy-seals-edward-gallagher-video.html#click=t.co/aQ14oOgRe2

[lionheart]

'The men of Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7, described Chief Gallagher as “freaking evil” and “toxic” in videos not shown publicly before.
The remarks are blistering testimony about their platoon chief, who was protected by President Trump from punishment. '

[lionheart]

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/27/betsy-devos-trump-republicans-education-secretary

[lionheart]

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-conviction-all-time-high-msn-news-a9260336.html

[Lweji]

Public support for Donald Trump’​s removal from office is the highest it has ever been, according to a new poll.

Hence the underbridge efforts.

[Lweji]

I bet MAGA snowflakes sat to watch Home Alone 2 just to see Trump. Poor things.

[lionheart]

This is just peculiar in so many ways (none of them good).

www.citizensforethics.org/foia/don-jr-sheep-hunting-mongolia-cost/

'On December 11, 2019, ProPublica reported that President Trump’s son, Don Jr., took a trip to Mongolia to hunt argali sheep. He was joined by five Secret Service bodyguards, the defense attache from the US embassy in Mongolia, and Republican political donor Kevin Small who also appears to have killed an argali sheep. After the hunt, Don Jr. met privately with Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga. The Mongolian government retroactively gave Don Jr. a permit to kill the sheep. '