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impeachment inquiry hearings thread


henrygandorf

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12 hours ago, suddenly shaggy said:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mulvaneys-omb-held-up-lethal-ukraine-aid-in-2017-for-fear-of-russian-reaction

Just dropping this afternoon that Mulvaney froze the previous round of javelin anti-tank missiles because he didn't want to upset Russia. 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/12/politics/mick-mulvaney-subpoena-court-fight/index.html

Quote

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney no longer plans to sue in federal court over his House subpoena in the impeachment probe.

Instead, his attorneys told a federal judge Tuesday morning he's planning to obey the White House and Justice Department's direction for him not to testify. 

Mulvaney's move on Tuesday ends a maneuver in the courts that Mulvaney began Friday to reposition himself legally after he didn't show up for his subpoenaed testimony in the House. 

On Friday, he tried to jump onto another former national security official's lawsuit, asking the court for guidance, which surprised and drew opposition from those around former national security adviser John Bolton, another major witness the House had sought to hear from. 

The decision also highlights how Mulvaney's standing among Trump administration officials had been floundering, and how he could become one of the most significant targets of Democrats in the coming weeks after two witnesses told Congress they believe he was a key broker in Trump's political request from Ukraine.

 

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Can people just write articles? At minimum just drop a link in twitter to a PDF.  Jesus.


You may know this, but if not...

Below most of these threads you will find where someone already unrolled it


https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1193576528552091648.html

If not, just reply to the thread with “@threadreaderapp unroll” and it will immediately appear
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30 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I actually find Perry to be one of the least offensive morons in this moron parade (did I just type that?), but him going down would be a nice little cherry on top.

I would take Rick Perry as POTUS for life if it meant Trump would exit the White House today.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/us/politics/trump-michael-atkinson-inspector-general.html

 

Quote

President Trump has discussed dismissing the intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson, because Mr. Atkinson reported a whistle-blower’s complaint about Mr. Trump’s interactions with Ukraine to Congress after concluding it was credible, according to four people familiar with the discussions.

Mr. Trump first expressed his dismay about Mr. Atkinson around the time the whistle-blower’s complaint became public in September. In recent weeks, he has continued to raise with aides the possibility of firing him, one of the people said.

 

Quote

The president has said he does not understand why Mr. Atkinson shared the complaint, which outlined how Mr. Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate Mr. Trump’s political rivals at the same time he was withholding military aid from the country. He has said he believes Mr. Atkinson, whom he appointed in 2017, has been disloyal, one of the people said.

Mr. Trump’s private complaints about Mr. Atkinson have come as he has publicly questioned his integrity and accused him of working with the Democrats to sabotage his presidency.

 

Quote

It is unclear how far Mr. Trump’s discussions about removing Mr. Atkinson have progressed. Two people familiar with what took place said they thought that Mr. Trump was just venting, and insisted that Mr. Atkinson’s dismissal was never under serious consideration.

But the mixture of public attacks and private discussions about a possible dismissal is a familiar way Mr. Trump has undermined investigators who have examined his conduct or that of people close to him. The president publicly criticized James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and Jeff Sessions, the former attorney general, before he dismissed them for perceived disloyalty.

 

Spoiler

Mr. Trump believes he has the power to fire anyone in the executive branch, though aides say they have learned to ignore many of his private rants, unless the president brings up the subject repeatedly and appears on the precipice of making a move they feel could be damaging.

Spokesmen for the White House and inspector general’s office declined to comment.

Inspectors general are supposed to be insulated from politics so they can follow the facts and provide oversight of the executive branch. While presidents have the authority to remove them, they are supposed to take that action only in cases of misconduct or failure to fulfill duties.

In 2009, President Barack Obama fired the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which runs AmeriCorps, for what White House officials said was incompetence. Republicans and even some Democrats questioned the move, while conservative pundits held up the inspector general as a victim of Mr. Obama’s politics.

People close to the president believe the political consequences of firing Mr. Atkinson could be devastating, especially when Mr. Trump needs all the Republican support he can get for a potential impeachment trial in the Senate.

Mr. Trump’s decision in May 2017 to fire Mr. Comey, who was leading an investigation into ties between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia, set off a firestorm that led to the appointment of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.

The following month, after it became public that Mr. Mueller was investigating Mr. Trump for obstructing justice, Mr. Trump told the White House counsel at the time, Donald F. McGahn II, to have Mr. Mueller removed. That incident later became a central episode in Mr. Mueller’s report, and House Democrats are still considering using that incident in an article of impeachment on obstruction of justice.

Mr. Atkinson’s handling of the anonymous whistle-blower’s complaint was a major factor in the decision by House Democrats to initiate an impeachment inquiry. After conducting an investigation that led him to believe the complaint was credible, he forwarded it to the government’s top intelligence official, Joseph Maguire, who did not provide it to Congress in the time frame required under the law, but did allow Mr. Atkinson to alert lawmakers about the existence of the complaint.

In early September, Mr. Atkinson told Congress that Mr. Maguire had refused to hand over the document. Under pressure from Democratic lawmakers, Mr. Maguire then gave the document to Congress.

Mr. Maguire later acknowledged that he and his top lawyer had checked with the White House and Justice Department about whether he was permitted to turn the document over to Congress, saying that he was concerned that such an action could infringe on executive privilege issues.

Lawyers for Mr. Maguire and the Justice Department said that because Mr. Trump was not a member of the intelligence community, Mr. Atkinson did not have the jurisdiction to deliver the report.

Mr. Trump said in recent days that he believes Mr. Atkinson should be forced to testify at impeachment hearings the Democrats are scheduled to begin this week.

“I recommend that Nervous Nancy Pelosi (who backed up Schiff’s lie), Shifty Adam Schiff, Sleepy Joe Biden, the Whistleblower (who miraculously disappeared after I released the transcript of the call), the 2nd Whistleblower (who also disappeared), & the I.G., be part of the list!” Mr. Trump tweeted on Saturday, using the acronym for inspector general.

Mr. Trump’s public attacks on Mr. Atkinson have been part of his larger attempts to delegitimize the whistle-blower and the process that led to the disclosure of the complaint.

In these efforts, Mr. Trump has tried to present himself as an advocate for whistle-blowers, falsely claiming that he had been behind legislation to protect them.

“To think I signed the Whistleblower Protection Act!” Mr. Trump tweeted on Monday, misstating what he had signed.

 

Edited by Francisco 2.0
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42 minutes ago, Bama Chick said:

Well Uncle Joe has got to be loving the idea of Warren, Sanders, Harris, Klobuchar, and Booker being sidelined for the most crucial part of the primary.

Just say call me when there's a vote and I'll vote to impeach.....watch the snowflakes freak the fuck out when a Dem says what Lyndsay has been saying... 

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1 hour ago, Bama Chick said:

Well Uncle Joe has got to be loving the idea of Warren, Sanders, Harris, Klobuchar, and Booker being sidelined for the most crucial part of the primary.

Can’t speak for Harris/Klobuchar/Booker but Warren and Sanders aren’t going to play by McConnell’s rules if he’s trying to sandbag.  They will release a statement, and go about their business campaigning.  What is McConnell going to do? Impeach them?  

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8 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

So is that the Senate Rs trying to fuck with the Senate Prez candidates or is that reading too much into it?  Seems just petty enough to be an R strategy.

Could backfire. The Senate Prez candidates get to show off a bit in that setting. I have been largely impressed with Harris during previous showings but not impressed with her candidacy overall. Could help the candidates that have these skills to make a move up. 

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4 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

So is that the Senate Rs trying to fuck with the Senate Prez candidates or is that reading too much into it?  Seems just petty enough to be an R strategy.

Like Smokey said, could backfire, and could backfire spectacularly - we are talking about giving the Senate D’s who are running a platform and nationwide airtime to directly go after Trump and to drive home the need to replace him now through impeachment, or next November at the ballot box.   Not good for Trump at all.

Not a lawyer, but if I had to guess, the intense schedule is to get this over with as quickly as possible.   Side result, they might be able to bore most Americans and cause them to tune out.  As well, this will give them plenty of time to put the screws to those folks who have been testifying.  Expect donation and voting records, along with that of their spouses/whoever, of all witnesses to be put on public display.  

They have (mostly) not attacked what those witnesses are saying, but instead attacking the process and he witnesses themselves.  

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2 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

What about Fox???  They showing Roseanne reruns?  

Fox News probably will.  They know Trump will be watching the hearings, and no way they give up their most important audience member.  They will probably have some talking heads giving a running commentary that appeals to Daddy Trump.

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7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

 As well, this will give them plenty of time to put the screws to those folks who have been testifying.  Expect donation and voting records, along with that of their spouses/whoever, of all witnesses to be put on public display.  

They have (mostly) not attacked what those witnesses are saying, but instead attacking the process and he witnesses themselves.  

Those witness testifying just need to be told to respond "Sir, truth and facts are non-partisan.   Deny them at your peril, but I am giving you the facts".

Edited by Judge Roybeanbag
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11 hours ago, SmokeyTheBear said:

Could backfire. The Senate Prez candidates get to show off a bit in that setting. I have been largely impressed with Harris during previous showings but not impressed with her candidacy overall. Could help the candidates that have these skills to make a move up. 

Yeah, this is a gift to Harris.  At a time when her campaign can barely pay gas money, she gets free national air time doing what she does best. Probably too little too late, but her prospects were quickly dwindling. 

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