Neither President Donald Trump nor his attorneys will participate in Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing, they said late Sunday. In a letter to Chairman Jerrold Nadler, White House counsel to the President Pat Cipollone said, “We cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the … Read More
Why Trump Embraces Conspiracy Theories
I think this piece by Peter Nicholas in the Atlantic goes a long way toward explaining Trump (and his followers’) dependence on kooky conspiracy theories. The question is whether or not Republicans can, or even want to, turn this around is unanswered. This is the conclusion. I recommend you read the whole thing if you can. It’s fascinating: To grasp why conspiracy … Read More
Trump: ‘Rudy Who?”
LISTEN: President Trump is now distancing himself more than ever from lawyer Rudy Giuliani, claiming he did not direct Giuliani to act on his behalf in Ukraine in a new interview with Bill O’Reilly. pic.twitter.com/6JaP9oOLMI — TheBeat w/Ari Melber (@TheBeatWithAri) November 26, 2019 Funny, but also deeply absurd, based on the known facts: Trump told Zelensky on July 25 call: … Read More
The Lawfare L’Affaire Ukraine Report
Breaking — some more to add to the timeline. The Office of Management and Budget’s first official action to withhold $250M in aid to Ukraine came on the evening of July 25—the day of the now-infamous call between Trump and Ukrainian president Zelensky. The Office of Management and Budget’s first official action to withhold $250 million in Pentagon aid to … Read More
No Absolute Executive Privilege, Rules Judge
It might seem like ages ago that former White House Counsel Don McGahn blew off the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena seeking his testimony related to the Mueller report. That’s because, well, it was ages ago. On Monday evening, a federal judge resolved the dispute between the executive and the legislature. And D.C. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nearly 120-page ruling couldn’t … Read More
Eight Days Later
It’s been eight days since Trump’s mysterious visit to Walter Reed, and the only thing that has become clear is that we are being lied to. Trump and White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham initially billed Trump’s visit as the first part of the President’s annual physical. But two days later, the President’s doctor described the hospital visit as an … Read More
Lev Parnas Has Tapes Of Trump/Giuliani Conversations, And Now The House Impeachment Committee Has Them
ABC News: The House Intelligence Committee is in possession of audio and video recordings and photographs provided to the committee by Lev Parnas, an associate of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who reportedly played a key role in assisting him in his efforts to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News. The … Read More
Trump Fires Navy Secretary Who Defied Him By Putting Law Above Loyalty
A frenzied few days of public statements and private jockeying ended Sunday as Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer was forced out over his role in the drama surrounding Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL. In his letter, which was requested by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Spencer takes aim at President Donald Trump for interfering on Gallagher’s behalf. “…I … Read More
Bolton Speaks (Sort Of)
So,… this just happened: We have now liberated the Twitter account, previously suppressed unfairly in the aftermath of my resignation as National Security Advisor. More to come….. — John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) November 22, 2019 Re: speaking up — since resigning as National Security Advisor, the @WhiteHouse refused to return access to my personal Twitter account. Out of fear of what … Read More
House Impeachment Hearings Over: What Now?
I join everybody else in believing that President Trump will be impeached by the House. Sadly, I think two or three Democrats will not join the rest of the party, but I doubt there will be any Republican defectors, and the GOP will make mincemeat of that. In the Senate, I had hoped there would be signs of adulthood, but … Read More
Live Impeachment Testimony: Hill and Holmes Bring Up The Last Day Of Public Testimony
Another bad day for Republicans. Here are the key takeaways: Holmes’s succinct explanation of two quid pro quos The explanation by Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, of how the Ukraine quid pro quos worked got lots of attention Wednesday — remember “2 plus 2 equals 4?” Sondland’s point was basically that everyone understood why a White … Read More
Nunes In The Loop Too
“I thank the gentleman, always, for his remarks,” a bemused committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said to laughter in the hearing room after Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), ranking member, completed his remarks after a long day of impeachment inquiry testimony. Nunes hits all his marks during these now-familiar derisive opening and closing speeches before the House Permanent Select Committee … Read More
Nail In The Coffin: Sondland Testifies And Throws Trump (and Pence and Pompeo) Under The Bus
People will remember today as they remember say John Dean’s testimony. It’s a historic moment. Kind of fun to take a breath and register that. — Harry Litman (@harrylitman) November 20, 2019 Yup. Is there a mercy rule for congressional hearings? — Justin Amash (@justinamash) November 20, 2019 Nope. It’s over. Gordon Sondland’s devastating testimony must end the Trump presidency. … Read More
Live Impeachment Testimony: Vindman, Williams, Morrison and Volker
Busy day on the hill. But here were the key takeaways: Colonel Vindman and Ms. Williams both testified that they were never aware of any other national security officials in the United States government who supported the decision to withhold nearly $400 million in security aid for Ukraine, which both said was directed by the White House chief of staff, … Read More
Monday Morning Impeachment Update
Well, let’s start off with Trump’s latest tweet on the subject: Newsflash: he won’t do this, but the tweet is giving his lawyer’s heartburn, I’m sure. Now that Trump has said he'd willingly testify, I'm sure he's willing to free Pompeo, Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, Rick Perry, and John Eisenberg to testify? — emptywheel (@emptywheel) November 18, 2019 But the weekend … Read More