How is not cooperating allowed in our current investigation process? Donald Trump has not been charged with a crime (impeached) as of yet, but there has been multiple criminal inquiry's against Trump and others. The next step, IN THE REAL WORLD, is investigation into the allegations made against the accused to confirm or deny those allegations. The accused has the right not to answer questions by law enforcement (House of Representatives) unless a subpoena is issued. If the accused still refuses to cooperate after the subpoena, they will be held in contempt and can be fined or placed in jail. It is NOT Obstruction of Justice unless the accused or attorneys try to obstruct or influence the information being asked for. This is a federal crime under our United States Constitution 18 U.S.C 1503. It seems to me that if Trump says they will not cooperate and members of his inner circle have been giving false information to investigator's, this falls under our constitutional laws of obstruction.
9
The slow drip continues unabated
The polls are slowly and inexorably turning against him highly unlikely to change direction
And history shows an unpalatable precedent
Damned if he does damned if he doesn't
He’s going down and the GOP senators that stick with him are as likely to ho down with him as not
No it will not end well for this arrogant anti democracy political party called Republican .
7
I do wonder how many of the pro-Trump responses here are actually written by paid staffers of the Trump campaign, its surrogates, or its foreign sponsors. The talking points are all the same - coup d’eta, attempt to overturn the 2016 election, blah blah. I doubt that many of his loyalists read the “fake” NY Times. [I’m skeptical that many of them know how to read at all.] I believe we are witnessing an extension of the social media campaign.
14
He will never cooperate with the impeachment query, he is above the law.......just ask him!
2
What has been hinted at for a long time but is now becoming perfectly clear during this presidency and impeachment process is this: the Republicans do not believe in democracy.
In ways large and small they support minority rule and subvert the will of the people. Think about gun control and reproductive rights - issues supported by the majority of Americans which are consistently challenged by Republicans.
9
@Binkomagoo
You're only saying that because they illegally gerrymander districts, purge legally registered voters, close polling places in historically Democratic districts, and routinely obstruct justice.
11
A moment of clarity, please. We all know how this tragedy ends. This inquiry will consume 100% of our legislator's efforts. Nothing else will be accomplished. Our enemies will use our distraction to their advantage. The House will vote to impeach. The Senate will vote to acquit. Partisan positions will harden and become more intractable. The people will then decide Pelosi vs Trump in November, 2020, probably by a razor thin margin reflecting an ungovernable democracy.
3
No House has ever tried what this one has. Every other house sent an impeachment and let the Senate trial it. That's what the Constitution calls for. This fake "impeachment inquiry" is not part of the Constitutional process. It's only a made up idea, run as an opportunity for publicity before the elections.
If the House thinks otherwise, they can vote to impeach. If they want to enforce subpoenas, they will find that the enforcement power lies with the president or through the Supreme Court. This is why the District of Columbia is not a state. So that no state government has power over the Federal government.
The Democrats, in the House, cannot overthrow the election and remove the elected president of the United States by any means except full on impeachment with a trial in the Senate.
1
@Analyst
Nobody ever said that impeachment is not going to the Senate for a trial. The House investigates and, if necessary, formally charges the defendant ("impeachment"), and then the Senate has a trial and votes whether or not to convict. Where in the world did you get the idea that there would be no Senate trial? Whoever fed you that garbage is likely just trying to muddy the waters.
8
Don’t be surprised if congress votes to impeach, and the senate establishes rules of evidence required in federal courts. That would eliminate all evidence that is second hand, or hearsay. They could also limit testimony, and how long the prosecution has to present their case. The senate could then demand a vote, or allow Trump to present a defense if McConnell doesn’t think they have 34 votes. If McConnell thinks he has 50 votes, he could simply dismiss the charges before a trial takes place. Why would Trump offer any help to the house, if he has the votes needed in the senate? Impeachment is a political solution to remove a president, and the senate can surely dispose of it regardless of what Pelosi and the house charge him with. I believe Trump will continue to investigate the investigators, counting on the IG report, and Durham’s investigation to expose the misconduct in the Mueller investigation. His ability to declassify existing documents that expose bias is all he needs to do. Timing is essential. His stalling is a political move, and his unwillingness to participate allows him time to secure the senate votes he needs to be acquitted, giving senators up for election in 2020 cover to acquit him. Will Democrats vote to impeach, if the IG report exposes political misconduct and criminal referrals? Will they hurry to impeach Trump before Durham’s report comes out with maybe more misconduct and criminal referrals? I’m waiting like everyone else.
2
Trump apologists calling for a House vote before proceeding with the impeachment inquiry should remember that REPUBLICAN House members will have to go on the record, too. Many of them, like my Congressman, are lying low and out of sight until they see more of what's coming.
It's too late for the GOPers, though. Voters know where they've stood.
It is getting monotonous to listen to the Republican Congressmen and Senators saying "with an election a little more than a year away the electorate should be the ones making the final decision, Democrats are playing Partisan games! I am 65years old, so unless my mental capacity has significantly diminished during the past few weeks of incorrigible rhetoric coming from the GOP, (I am an independent) then the only thing I can surmise is that this President can "stomp" all over the Constitution that has withstood wars, previous corrupt presidents and representatives and in the 21st century, I have never seen a time when standing up to protect a Democracy, a Republic "the home of the free and the brave"is unlawful, if the United States had wanted to remain under the rule of a British Royalty then why did the ancestors of many including my own fight to become one Republic, is it not up to Congress to be the investigators and the Senate to be the jury, the people have already spoken thru their votes without the knowledge that the Reigning President and his administration were conducting themselves in questionable fashion. Regardless of why a voter casts that vote, it needs to be respected as a valid vote but if the possibility of corrupt activity did indeed occur then there should be consequences in the same manner as if it were a non-political citizen. Donald Trump and his associates must be held responsible for their actions as they knowingly committed these infractions
3
@Rachel Quesnel
"Impeachment" exists specifically to stop a corrupt official from using the powers of the office against a political opponent. If the president, as head of the executive, can simply start investigations of his political opponents, or arresting them for specious reasons, or obstructing justice, or promising pardons to those who break the law, etc., then elections won't be fair, and those who cheat to get into office in the first place will then be able to cheat to remain in office.
3
Dear NYT:
The monumental silliness of the latest Democrat impeachment push -- and its breathless narrative backing by The Times and other media supporters -- is the real threat to our Constitutional order and the rule of law.
Where is the high crime or misdemeanor required under our Constitution?
Where is the substantive due process that should be afforded to any defendant?
Please, Democrats, take the vote, authorize impeachment and give the minority the right to subpoena evidence and confront these political accusers.
Answer this: how is it a crime for a president to request assistance in a criminal investigation of potential foreign corruption by a former vice president?
The president does not lose his or her executive powers merely because he is a candidate for re-election. Conversely, a corrupt federal official does not obtain immunity merely because he is a candidate.
Does The Times truly not see a problem when the unqualified son of the VP is paid $50,000 a month by a foreign energy firm, at the same time the VP is directing US energy and security policy toward that country?
Consider how The Times has hounded every move by the Trump family business -- a shockingly partisan double standard.
And where was The Times' outrage when the Obama administration and Clinton campaign conspired to obtain "dirt" on Paul Manafort in charge of the Trump campaign? See https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/ukraine-sabotage-trump-backfire-233446.
23
@Jorge Thank you Jorge.We don’t recall Democrats fretting when Mr. Clinton made executive-privilege claims that were more sweeping than Nixon’s during Watergate. The media that now profess horror at Mr. Trump raised not a whit of concern when Attorney General Eric Holder denied documents to Congress and was held in contempt. Just politics, they said then. Now, in their hatred of Mr. Trump, they dilate about constitutional norms they ignore when it suits them politically.
If Mrs. Pelosi does choose to brawl over documents, she’s likely to win in court more than she loses. The House in its impeachment power can seek evidence from the executive, and the courts are likely to agree when its requests are reasonable and related to the alleged offenses being investigated. But Mr. Trump may also sometimes prevail if the House is issuing kitchen-sink subpoenas that jeopardize his ability to conduct foreign policy or communicate freely with advisers.
4
@Jorge
If Trump did nothing wrong, then he should not be engaging in stonewalling. He should release all of the documents and allow testimony that would prove his innocence.
Furthermore, they can have cross examination during the Senate trial. The impeachment inquiry is akin to a grand jury investigation. There are republicans on the committees who can ask questions during the hearings.
And most importantly, if the president wants to investigate potential corruption by the former vice president, then he should call the FBI. Seeking assistance from a foreign government to investigate your political opponent, as a condition for releasing congressionally appropriated funding for that foreign government is against the law, as this is inviting foreign assistance to an an election. It's really quite simple.
127
@Jorge @Iconoclast Texan
So you two equate a man hiding an affair, something Presidente El Trumpo brags about regularly and nearly all of the Christian men persecuting Clinton were engaged in themselves, is the same as Trump using taxpayer dollars to extort an ally into helping him dirty up his apparent opponent in the next election? Or the constant lies? Or the betrayal of our allies?
Making false comparisons is not reasonable either.
117
I am amazed and impressed that many commenters actually see what is happening here:
political theatrics by the Democrats. So of course Trump should oblige and respond accordingly.
34
If it is political theatrics, we now should turn our attention to a theater of war in the Middle East that Trump has orchestrated.
People are dying because he has made “deals”.
A theater of war is worse than a theater of politics, as you label it. In the theater of politics, Trump has denigrated the character of our presidency and our nation.
There is no Emmy, no Oscar for that.
When all of the pockets of all of his oligarchical sponsors, and those who realize that the value of their chief asset - their home - is plummeting (today’s real news), then maybe we can change this awful channel.
110
There is no more theatrical politician than President Trump. He is all theater, all entertainment.
77
@Krdoc exactly correct, war is so glorious because it makes so much money for so many people, and until their pocketbooks suffer, then there won’t be any change.
24
Regarding the Clinton impeachment, I remember (the British magazine) The Economist opining that Clinton should be removed from office, if nothing else for having desecrated that office by lying under oath and his brazen attempts to obstruct justice.
I may be wrong, but I believe that The Economist was right. The leniency with Clinton's transgressions has normalized Trump's behavior before it happened, and now the chickens are coming home to roost.
@Rainer
You are wrong, as far as anybody can tell Clinton never tried to establish a dictatorship, like trump wants, and almost has.
5
Sensing the end, The Trump is doing as much damage as he can to the country he loathes the most--The United States of America.
4
He's been let run loose far too long.
From playing his own PR guy on the phone (who DOES stuff like that?) decades ago to now feeling invincible on a world stage, it's a predictable escalation for someone of his mental limitations, outsize ambition and bottomless selfishness.
Mueller Report could have, should have sunk him. Even he said (shrieked, actually, from all accounts) at the outset 'this will end my Presidency.'
And it should have. That it got such a cautious write-up and tepid reporting and ultimately, equally tepid testimony was a HUGE mistake.
He is fully off the chain now, unleashed and this is the result.
I see nothing ahead but misery ahead, at his behest and meted out from those tiny hands. And yes, he will be re-elected in 2020.
And then what? With truly 'nothing to lose,' ... how can he be restrained then?
7
Wouldn't it be great if we held a march on Washington calling for impeachment and removal?
And won't it be great when the media shows how much larger the impeachment crowd is than his inauguration crowd?
Wouldn't THAT be GREAT!
7
The office of President of the United States, with its incumbent duly elected by the people for the people should be respected appropriately – that is not to say unimpeachable but, come on and face reality!
One self-serving plutocrat has upended a democracy of 330 million people. That is profoundly disturbing.
8
Trump "might" cooperate, if the House does things his way.
Yeah, right.
And he "might" release his tax returns any day now...
Is there anyone who believes a word this individual says?
7
Innocent people don't behave like this.
7
Why is this not in the courts already? Couldn't Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats see this coming?
The only defense of our Constitution is left to the courts, but I fear with all of Trump's appointees the courts may not save us.
3
Of course Trump's case against impeachment is a political strategy. There's nothing constitutionally and legally that supports his position.
In the letter sent by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, it was claimed that the impeachment inquiry “lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation."
What? Stopping foreign interference in U.S. affairs is one of the key reasons why the founders included the impeachment clause in the Constitution in the first place.
7
This impeachment crisis is not about whether Donald Trump committed a High Crime. He did, he confessed in his memo of the conversation with the President of Ukraine, and he repeated the crime on television when he asked the Government of China to do the same thing.
This impeachment crisis is really about the integrity of House and Senate Republicans. If extorting aid in a U.S. election from a foreign government is not a High Crime, what is?
And if not holding Trump accountable is acceptable to these Republicans, is it acceptable to the voters who put them into Office? That is the real issue in this matter and one that voters get to answer in November 2020.
8
No vote by the House is needed to begin an impeachment inquiry. None is required by the Constitution. The Constitution gives sole right to configure the investigation and the articles of impeachment as they see fit. Period. Read the Constitution, Donald.
6
This was expected given that this President's actions and speech increasingly hold the inherent belief he is above the laws that govern ordinary folks.
Americans do not as a rule suffer such grandiosity for long, especially for one who claims to be "just like you" a common man.
I'm reminded of Lorna Helmsley, she of the infamous phrase "we" don't pay taxes, only the little people do, and given the aggressive manner of this President to shield his tax returns one can deduce he's no common man.
Trying Helmsley for tax evasion, and fraud made Rudy Guilani's career along with convicting mobsters, and insider traders for obstruction that he labeled "crimes against the system".
He railed against those who believed they were above the law "these people believe there is no additional penalty for lying under oath", now however we know his pursuit of justice was in reality a pursuit of power.
3
It is time that patriots let trump know that the Constitution is not malleable; it can't be personalized to fit one person's whims, nor can it be ignored.
Congress, the Constitution gave you the power to put trump in his place; use it!
8
Trumps behavior is so unusual for him. He usually takes the moral high ground.
4
Amazing the hills people chose to die on. Pat Cippolone is early 50s, and a partner at Kirkland & Ellis where he presumably stood to make a lot of money and work on a lot more interesting stuff over many more years. I can understand the desire to serve the public, which I applaud, or to serve a Republican President, and the financial and other gains that might normally come from such service. But, this President? Taking this job AFTER it had become abundantly clear that it is reputation destroying to be associated with Trump? Then writing this awful letter? Career suicide, all for what? It should have been clear long ago that Trump will never have your back or reward you later, just use you and muddy you until he has no further use for you. What the heck was the calculation that caused Cippolone to take this job?
11
Even a murderer is entitled to legal representation and a vigorous defense. And yes, I am suggesting that among things, his decision to abandon the Kurds makes him a murderer.
2
He's got moxie when it comes to being caught red-handed.
Reminds me of the old joke wherein the defendant is convicted and sentenced to death for killing his parents and yells to the Judge, "You can't do that to me, I'm an orphan!"
4
The letter that White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent to Congress refusing to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry was full of lies. Let's look at just a few of the lies in the letter:
Impeachable offenses: Trump is still adamantly—and absurdly—claiming that he did nothing wrong, when we know from the White House’s Ukraine call transcript that he extorted a foreign power to interfere in the 2020 election.
Massive cover-up: Trump claimed that he’s been transparent. That couldn’t be further from the truth. He, his White House, the State Department, and the Department of Justice have engaged in a massive cover-up of his extortion campaign.
Threats: The White House claimed that government officials are being bullied. In reality, Trump threatened the first whistleblower, as well as those in the White House who gave the information to the whistleblower.
Lies and distraction: Trump lied claimed that the impeachment inquiry is a “naked political strategy” to overturn the 2016 election. The reality: The investigation is about Trump extorting a foreign leader to interfere in the 2020 election.
11
Stonewalling itself can be an impeachable offense: Article 3 of the proposed impeachment of Nixon: https://watergate.info/impeachment/articles-of-impeachment
8
What is a challenge to America's Constitutional order is the attempt to overturn the 2016 election by the Democrats, Progressives and political class with the aid of much of the media. This attempt is unprecedented in American history.
3
It might be good for you to learn some American history. Perhaps starting with Mitch McConnell’s little Inauguration Night soiree.
7
@wes evans
Complete nonsense. One of the primary reasons we have an impeachment clause in the first place, as opposed to simply waiting for the next election, is to prevent a corrupt president from using the power of the office to attack his political opponents, thus stacking the deck for his own re-election. Here we have documented evidence that the president withheld foreign aid in an attempt to get a foreign power to investigate his political opponent for the sole purpose of raising a specter of impropriety. He used his personal attorney, outside of government oversight, and then tried to hide the evidence. What's more, the ridiculous claims against Biden have already been thoroughly debunked. And after all that, he stood in front of a camera and asked China to investigate his opponent. And that's not to mention myriad violations of the Hatch Act, etc.
This is the very definition of why we need to impeach and impeach now!
14
@wes evans
First off, impeachment is not "overturning an election" as the Vice President, who was also chosen by the Electoral College, would assume the presidency.
Secondly, this is not "unprecedented" as Clinton was impeached; Nixon resigned before impeachment; and Andrew Johnson was impeached.
4
I believe he is convincing the public. Convincing them that impeachment is needed.
9
I am tired of this petty little man attempting to dictate rules and procedures .
Can we remove him now?
9
Alas, I don’t think they’re gonna let us close enough for the Oxy-Clean to work its magic.
1
If the Dems are serious about impeachment, why not put it to a vote? Until they do so, all the talk about a “constitutional crisis” rings hollow.
3
The impeachment inquiry is what’s happening now. If they draw up articles of impeachment he won’t be impeached unless they vote.
7
@Edward / They need additional evidence to what they already know. This will be given by the people surrounding the president through sunpoena. Their testimony will be given to the congress under oath. If they lie, jail is I assume, certain. A sunpoena is not negotiable, it's mandatory.
1
@Edward-Have to have an investigation Edward. We need to know all the facts before the nation undertakes such a monumental decision. So far, the facts revealed do not shine a positive light on the actions of Trump.
3
Question: What would happen if Sondland or anyone else defied Trump and testified before congress?
3
@Phillip Usher Would be interested to know that too.
1
Impeachment strategy, indeed -- this by a dunce who chastises Kurds for not having participated with the Allies in storming the Normandy beaches on D-Day.
Yes, impeachment strategy, indeed. Looney, at worst. Demented, at best.
12
In all of this just remember one thing, follow the money. In the case of trump that trail leads to Russia and this Presidents traitorous love and submission of American foreign policy to V. Putin's every need. He should be tried on that right now, before he does more damage to America.
5
Why not hold a vote? Why not agree on some fair ground rules?
1
@Nana, fair? Trump doesn't want fair ground rules. He wants to continue playing with the same marked deck, assisted by his father's money and his amoral lawyers, that he's been using his whole life.
3
Why would the House be surprised that he is trying to block them from doing their constitutional duty? Trump has ignored his Intelligence Chiefs, has failed to consulte with his military as he recklessly invites Erdogan to kill the Kurds and to release Isis prisoners. Trump has ignored and violated immigration laws and has appropriated military money to build a wall.He has put his loyalists in the Justice and State Department.He wants no accountability for his actions.The House is key to Impeachment and they need to push hard against the Trump political strategy-he has now become a danger to us and to the world as he is casual about Isis returning to Europe.Every day , in every way his behavior screams for impeachment.Even the myopic Senate is up in arms about his withdrawal from Syria and his betrayal of our allies.Move now and move fast!
10
Spin Doctor Trey Gowdy is back. His role is to protract the issue as long as possible. He is not a man who feels Constitutional imperatives apply to elected republicans.
10
Trump couldn’t believe his luck when he was elected president, with a much needed assist from Putin. As it turns out, the American presidency is a bully’s Paradise. Trump being both a con man and a bully enjoyed all the twists and turns of the knife he stuck in our democracy. I’m sure Putin is thrilled to see his investment pay off so big. Everyone, Putin, Trump, Trump’s henchmen and mentally challenged Americans got what they wanted. The rest of us, not so much.
12
To quote William Shakespeare from “All’s Well That Ends Well” he is “A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality.”
15
If only the republicans in both chambers of congress felt the same scorn for Trump as they did for Clinton. John Hastert, former House Leader went after Clinton with a hatred passion unequaled until it was made public that he was victimizing high school wrestling male students and winning over parents approval and taking them up to his cabin in the woods on weekends. And then we had the Catholic priests case of pedophilia which is still ongoing. Then came the Boys Scouts case of the same nature which didn't seem to be the same lynch him criesthat emanated during the priest trials. Didn't the Boy Scout case involve a much larger number of victims? Now we have the Trump thing which is affecting the whole balance of things throughout the world, his latest faux pas in his decision with the Syrian seven year war and still brewing is causing a stir from his republicans but they are working on an alibi that will spin the blame. In the meantime, to digress, prevent Trump from making decisions on his own not matter the outcome of impeachment. And by all the muster you republicans can find, come down from the cloud you float on and start proceeding as common sense dictates and stop trying to squeeze every bit of breath from the Constitution to fit your overreaching and give up on loopholes. They are not bipartisan by your interpretation undermining intent of our forefathers. At least that's my interpretation of your actions and reactions. Get with all the people.
4
If any of the witnesses or documents requested by Congress exonerated the President, they'd be produced at the speed of light. They don't. Making obstruction of justice Trump's only, desperate play. Didn't work for Nixon, and it won't work now.
14
While Trump is the core here, the entire genesis of his career both as a sordid real-estate businessman and as the president is driven by the undergird of attorneys. Why is that a section of the well-educated attorneys is quite blasé defending Trump willing to risk their profession, careers, and push boundaries in a nonsensical way? Here, if we look at the obstruction of Justice as documented in Muller report, or the current Ukraine saga, the truth is undisputed based on Trump’s own acts and admissions.
Apart from Sessions, it is hard to fathom that Pat Cipollone, John Dowd, William Barr et.al will go to any length, or do anything to protect their client. Without them, Trump is unavailing. Why do these esteemed legal professionals continue to defend the indefensible with matrilineal zealotry, and sometimes, even help get away from the clutches of the law? At the end of the day, aside the monetary benefits, how do they measure their own “moral convictions” or “ethical consequences”?
4
Is it not time to step back and contemplate our hate-filled national political atmosphere? Are we not at the point of creating a national disaster, a disaster that will affect all equally, as even the rational function of government now is poisoned by conflict? Let’s step back and think about the consequences of what we are doing.
3
I would say Pelosi's refusal to have a vote to initiate the impeachment inquiry rather than declaring it by fiat amounts to an unabashed challenge to America's longstanding constitutional order.
5
Show me where the Constitution says that, please. For extra credit, show me why your thoughts about procedure are so very much more important than dealing with Trump’s lying, stealing, and sneering at the Constitution.
14
@KR
I'm already tired of this completely stupid talking point. Impeachment in the House is simply the formal bringing of charges, followed by a trial in the Senate. What's more, your pointless vote didn't happen in previous impeachments, and would obviously pass the House anyway.
1
well, so far, judging from polls, Trump's actions are convincing more people he's unfit, should be impeached and removed.
6
Impeachment is just a political extension of the resistance that has been tearing it’s head since Election Day. It’s sold many a newspaper when it started with the “not my president” faction.
Schiff’s parody, secretive testimony, selective leaking, baiting tweets, and covert actions involving the whistleblower says that it is all about politics.
An complete inability to follow precedents of all other modern impeachments is even more telling.
4
@Charlie
Do you know why people have been resisting Trump since before election day? Because he has been a criminal since before election day. If somebody is abusing the powers of his office, who in the world do you expect to fight back if not the opposition political party?! In the past, we used to say that you don't nominate somebody with baggage because their entire term will be dominated by scandal after scandal. Well, you voted for a guy with tremendous baggage, and -- SHOCKER! -- his entire term has been dominated by scandal after scandal. This is what you get for voting for a criminal!
3
I continue not to understand the worry about someone whose approval has never been above the low 40%s. Impeachment should proceed in any case. (A collateral effect will be to expose most of the Republicans in Congress for what they are, before the 2020 election.)
4
There is no case against impeachment. We have a corrupt. lawless president who refuses to comply with valid congressional efforts to investigate him. Congress is trying to gather facts, and his administration refuses to cooperate. Should there ever be an impeachment trial, the president will have ample opportunity to present his defense. Let the subpoenas be answered, let the inquiry proceed. But unfortunately, the president has so much to hide!
6
Even Fox news is showing that a majority of people want Trump impeached. Of course, Trump is having a Twitter fit over Fox's polling. It's easy to rage on Twitter when you have nothing else to do... like the president.
9
It is impossible to credibly argue that Trump’s illegal requests to investigate the Bidens were about “fighting corruption“ and are unrelated to the 2020 election. When he was asked what other requests he had made to investigate corruption, anywhere, that didn’t relate to the Bidens, he couldn’t name a single example. When the Ukrainians proposed releasing a statement affirming their plans to fight corruption, US officials rejected it and insisted the statement specifically mention Burisma and the 2016 election. Trump isn’t interested in a real investigation, which would find nothing. That’s why he didn’t go through any US agencies or follow the proper channels. All he wants is the appearance of fault, some rumor and innuendo he can use to smear Biden. “You know they’re investigating Biden, right? Just wait until they release their findings. People are saying it’ll be horrible!” It’s the exact same thing he’s doing with Barr’s phony “investigation” of the origins of the Russia investigation — trying to sow doubt and confusion to discredit his opposition. It’s the same strategy he deployed against Hillary Clinton: “Wait’ll you see what’s in those emails!” Unfortunately, it worked then, too.
9
Another thing Trump's actions will test is whether or not the Republican party will set up a Vichy like government in service of the autocrat.
7
Don’t worry, the planet will not survive long enough to feel the damage the short fingered vulgarian and his republican supporters have brought upon our democracy.
They also have brought their rathe upon the environment.
Either way, if you are under 20...you won’t make it to 65 breathing clean safe air and drinking clear safe water.
CNN just reported on the amount of birds species we are losing as we speak.
11
maybe all defense attorneys sound the same...but Trump has been a defiant bully his whole life, intimidating banks when he faced bankruptcies.
Impeachment is like a bankruptcy for America and the prospects of 2020 Democrats; is it worth it to go to the mats with an obvious con artist? Banks did not want to lose all their loans so they allowed Trump to stay in business; holding him accountable was too costly despite his unequivocal crime.
Now the functioning of US democracy seems to face a similar 'blackmail'- is it worth it to chase Trump's obvious malfeasance up through the Supreme Court ? How much can be rationalized, avoided, deferred to the presidential election- despite gross and grotesque abuse of office ?
6
Trump plays hard ball and whines that Democrats are unfair by daring to investigate his crooked dealings. Negotiating in good faith with Trump and his pseudo-legal defenders is a waste of time, because Trump is utterly untrustworthy.
Democrats should go by the book: investigate what they can, expose to the public what they find out, and add obstruction of justice and witness intimidation to the list of impeachment articles. To manage the overwhelming work load, they should engage the help of top legal scholars who have an interest in upholding the constitution and the rule of law. The danger is clear: Trump aspires to be a dictator who is above the law. Inch by inch he moves his Republican base closer to letting him have his way -- something I would have thought impossible a couple of years ago.
8
Where are all the conservative voices who always take the police’s side when there is a video of them beating on or killing an unarmed black person, saying, “If you did not do anything wrong, why are you resisting? Let them find out the truth and you will be exonerated.” This is essentially the same scenario (except that the President’s life is not in danger). If DJT is so innocent, why all the resistance from the White House?
5
Honestly, I don’t see why the WH’s cooperation is even necessary. We all read the transcript with Zelensky and saw the words “do us a favor.” How much does a gun need to smoke to know it’s been fired?
7
Technically, nobody has seen the full transcript. We just viewed notes taken by some of those listening to the call.
Release the full audio recording. Or release the verbatim transcript.
5
@Richard, why even the need to see that, after all we have Adam Schiff’s own dramatic reconstruction which pretty much completely removes the need for even judge, jury and hangman. Adam’s sarcasm pretty much proves the WH’s case of what this impeachment investigation is really all about.
By his logic no one can ever be impeached.
6
Audacious or conniving?
1
“@FoxNews doesn’t deliver for US anymore,” he wrote. “It is so different than it used to be. Oh well, I’m President!”
Look! An 8-year-old has hijacked Trump's Twitter feed.
2
NYT readers do realize they're in a ideological echo chamber, don't they?
Everyone else recognized this is purely partisan.
3
@David, by “everyone else,” I’m assuming you mean the minority who oppose impeachment, as opposed to the 60% nationwide who support the inquiry, or the 52% who now favor impeachment AND removal.
8
The public - via reelection - is Trump's last of chance of avoiding jail. The courts (if he loses in 2020) are not.
1
Yes, the Trump administration is defying the constitution, and therefore threatening the rule of law in the U.S., with its rejection of the impeachment.
What Mr. Baker doesn't note, however, is that at the same time it is openly pursuing an illegal international project to corrupt the 2020 election. Trump hasn't just absolved himself from impeachment. He has in effect declared himself above the law altogether. And so far he has the full support of the Republican party.
I think ringing the alarm a wee bit louder than Mr. Baker does here might be justified.
4
Courts enforce subpoenas. Simple. The House needs to act now, or confirm the public's perception of the Democratic party as all talk no substance.
3
The last Democrats who had big ideas were JFK and LBJ.
JFK's pledge to fly man to the moon and bring him back safely spurred a beneficial race to space and spawned lots of technology we enjoy today.
LBJ's great society program began to remedy the civil rights failures of the past and opened up the American Dream for blacks and other non-whites living here.
Today we need a new group of Democrats to dream big. There are lots of opportunities - Climate Change and New Energy, AI, biotechnology and the health revolution, Women Equality, .... The list is long. What's missing is a uplifting vision that captures the potential for our country and the world.
Just pillorying Trump is not enough.
3
I guess you haven’t heard of the Green New Deal, or Warren’s and Sanders’ call for universal health care, student loan forgiveness and free public education?
3
@Rudran You missed Jimmy Carter's energy policy.
1
The talking point of "trying to overturn an election" is just enraging. Are they really arguing that impeachment will never be necessary ever again because we should always just wait until the next election? Forever and ever?
4
“While Democrats ponder going to court, Mr. Trump will take his case to the court of public opinion, or at least his base.”
Makes Trump look like the injured, righteous warrior while the Democratic majority in the House putters along deflected and maddeningly stonewalled at every turn. The courts will substantially add to the effectiveness of Trump’s dogged rear guard action.
Trump the consummate brawler may eventually face articles of impeachment, but the likelihood that that will result in the Senate trial removing him from office is infinitesimal.
2
The paradox of Trump's Schroeder's Cat presidency, where he exists as both admired and despised depending on the party of the observer, should resolve into its true state when weighed on the blind scales of justice.
@kel
That is what the 2020 election is for.
I do not understand why Republican lawmakers are so wedded to Trump when they have a ready replacement in Pence whose views are far more aligned with the mainstream Republican Party. Trump’s biggest fear should be that Republicans will soon figure out the cost keeping him in place is far higher than removing him.
2
It is my understanding that a president cannot be indicted by any public body nor be tried by a jury and/or judge; in either circumstance the low ratio of jurors-to-a president could lead to unfairness and unjustness. But the founding pols understood that a president could become a suspect in a criminal or civil matter (such as colluding extra-legally with a foreign state). Their plan to cover the latter would mean the House of Representatives could deliberate and vote on an impeachment 'indictment' and then the Senate would convene a trial. My bafflement with the White House's refusal to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry is that I've never heard of a instance when, in civilian law, an indicted person refuses to be tried! Since there is no legal precedent for dealing with this refusal I think the House and the Senate should debate trying the president in absentia. (Odd too that with a Senate majority of 2/3rds needed to convict, a verdict of guilty would not take place because of the GOP senatorial plurality.)
1
Reading some of the pro trump comments I notice none of them refer to trump actually delaying the delivery of weapons as he’s making his request about the Bidens. That none of them attempt to quantify or explain what for many amount to political as well as moral blackmail as well as call into question just how serious does the admin take the Russian bludgeoning of Ukraine. That some repubs in Congress have even come to object to what they see as turning our back and abandoning our pledge seems to mean nothing. This weeks actions concerning the Kurds is just another instance of what is becoming a common occurrence of this admin just backing out of in some cases signed agreements that trump just doesn’t like. Alongside the Climate Accords, their is also the Iranian Nuclear accords, the lies about North Korea giving up nuclear weapons, the fawning over Saudi Arabia after the murder of the journalist. This admin has rewritten the way the world looks at this country and trusts this country’s word and not for the better.
4
Anyone can google "High crimes & misdemeanors" to see what is meant by it. It originated in 1386 in England's parliament. Founders were quite familiar with it. It's a long list of impeachable offenses. Also, the word "High" is in reference to the position held, not the level of crime. Even if Trump were given 'slack' for every other outrageous thing he's done, Benjamin Franklin's impeachment advisory cannot be so easily defended. "He asserted that the power of impeachment & removal was necessary for those times when the Executive "rendered himself obnoxious," and the Constitution should provide for the "regular punishment of the Executive when his conduct should deserve it, and for his honorable acquittal when he should be unjustly accused."
2
Democrats consistently assume the public understands simple, basic things they actually don't, and until they drop the elitist periscope, they're going to leave our democracy floundering.
First, loud and clear: Trump is an EMPLOYEE, not the boss, of the US. He's answerable to a "board of directors" - Congress, who are empowered to fire him.
Their power to do so comes from the Constitution. It's like the NFL rule book, except more permanent.
Trump came into office by playing a fictional character on TV who was supposedly the smartest, bestest, richest, most executive guy in the room. He obviously believes he still is.
It's time Trump and America were reminded - daily - that he's a temporary employee, we care about the rules and having them followed, and our founders were smart enough to have enshrined the process for saying: you're fired.
2
"he considers the impeachment effort unfair and the Democrats who initiated it biased against him, an argument that channeled his anger even as it failed to pass muster with many scholars on Wednesday."
This is all true. No sane person believes that the Congress is about anything else but Trump's head here, chasing it for almost three years now.
As for scholars, who cares? Is this a matter for scholars? They are all liberals anyway. Just like the media, more or less.
2
"Audacious"? Do you admire this move? Audacity is usually considered an admirable quality.
I would suggest "unlikely", "outrageous", "norm-defying" as alternatives. There is nothing admirable about Trump's decision to fail to cooperate with a Constitutional impeachment inquiry.
3
The strategy is not convincing the public, as it's simply another knee-jerk to events rather thana strategy. The electorate is weary of Trump's ad hoc chaos, where a phone call from a third-rate strongman can prompt Trump to abandon an ally that has fought alongside our troops in the Middle East for decades. Any threats to the stability of our Constitutional order will shrink Trump's support down to the hardcore xeonphobes and misogynists, and the spineless Republicans on Capitol Hill will abandon the Party of Trump ship en masse.
1
Democrats thought the Clinton impeachment inquiry was a sham, but Republicans at least put it up to a floor vote in the House before moving forward with an official inquiry while allowing Clinton to have his attorney present during witness interviews; and allowing Democrats equal opportunity to ask questions of witnesses and issue their own subpoena's for evidence.
Sounds like it was a fair process vs. what Nancy Pelosi has cooked up with the least trusted man in Washington.
Adam Shiff.
2
Republicans in committees have their 5 mins to ask questions. Most just talk and do not ask questions, but they get that right. Every day, after each tweet, after each talk in front of a helicopter, after each folding to another dictator, Trump adds more to his own impeachment.
1
Trump is secure for 5 more years, unless he pops a blood vessel in one of his daily rages. Why? Because he will defy the House and get impeached, but Mitch McConnelll will avoid even bringing the impeachment to trial.
Then fast forward to November 2020. If Trump wins, then he will be even crazier than in the last three years. If he loses, he will still stay in office. Who will remove him? He controls the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense. And, as necessary he will claim election fraud and/or start a war.
1
Trump’s attitude is similar to the right- wing, anti-government movement that was popular a few years ago whose followers simply refused to recognize the federal government’s right to tax them. Accordingly, they simply refused to pay their taxes. It’s also similar to the view of cattle ranchers who refuse to recognize the government’s right to charge them fees for allowing them to graze their cattle on publicly-owned land and so refused to pay their fees, brazenly daring the government to do anything about it. It’s no wonder that Trump appeals to those who have contempt for the rule of law and for our system of constitutional democracy: Trump has amply demonstrated his own contempt for the rule of law and for the constitution as well. This anarchic and nihilistic worldview is what Trump’s base espouses and what the Republican Party now tacitly and even overtly supports. It’s not for nothing that we who oppose Trumpism recognize in it the greatest threat to our democracy and system of constitutional governance that our nation has ever faced.
2
The house has not voted to impeach. Why should anyone cooperate if they haven’t voted for impeachment. This is all a charade. Most likely brought on by Trump looking into the rampant corruption and nepotism that’s seems to be between Democrats family members and Ukraine.
2
Audacious? Try illegal and antithetical to our constitutional democracy. We cease to exist as a democracy if we no longer have checks and balances in our government and when the executive branch disregards our constitution and laws.
1
Status quo would mean that future presidents can resist administration oversight by insisting they would only answer questions or provide witnesses for Congressional Hearings if the President was being impeached.
1
Trump's argument is utterly without merit, and it is shameful that the Times does not see fit to state this clearly.
16
Maggie Haberman's "access" depends on her bosses' willingness to pull punches and engage in bothsidesism.
The clear indication that Trump would rather cause an actual civil war—and literally incite his followers to violent action—is the most quintessential and irrefutable evidence that this President is not a patriot.
16
In most jurisdictions property owners have the right to keep a dangerous dog to secure their property against trespass.
But, as with most rights, it is charged with responsibility; the owners must protect the community and its commons beyond their property line from the hazards posed by that animal.
The GOP and its flock were thrilled to choose such a beast for its mindless compulsion to assault any and all efforts to resist their pursuit of power. In their enthusiasm for the creatures' baring of tooth and claw, they have only belatedly begun to realize that untrained, untrainable critter knows no master, no scruples beyond its own lust for dominance over all perceived opposition.
The instabilities produced by the GOP choice to appoint that weaponized personality to rule the Executive Branch have now swollen to the threat of clear and present danger to the credibility, integrity and survival of the GOP and the nation at large.
It is past time for wiser minds in the GOP camp to sound the alarm and join the call for animal control to take charge.
Dear God, wake up you fools; it is all our children at risk!!!
15
Trump pulled US troops out of Syria not to appease Turkey but to help Russia secure a naval port on the Mediterranean. Wake up America. Russia is winning the war thanks to the traitor in the White House.
11
Trump: "The constitution is unconstitutional!"
8
"In effect, President Trump is making the sweeping assertion that he can ignore Congress as it weighs his fate because he considers the impeachment effort unfair and the Democrats who initiated it biased against him, an argument that channeled his anger even as it failed to pass muster with many scholars"
Hey NYT, can you just say the letter would not stand up under US law? "Many scholars" makes it seem like some might be reasonable to think this letter actually holds water in a legal sense.
trying to maintain a neutral tone and viewpoint is all well and good, but fact checking like this requires you to actually call the pitches as you see them. How do you see this letter?
5
Criminals such as Trump have no morals. They Scoff at any laws and willfully disregard them to benefit themselves while throwing everyone else under the bus. Their only allegiance is their own greed. He is the very definition of a criminal and must be treated as one. He must be removed.
5
Donald Trump assumes that the American people are uneducated and ignorant. While this may be true of many of the members of his base, the American public is not to be underestimated ; there are millions of us who know exactly who Donald Trump is. We’ve read our history, we’ve studied tyrants and dictators in Europe in the 30s and 40s, and we’re all too experienced with the knowledge of autocrats in Third World countries.
Arrogance can make a person blind, and can at times dull the senses. Arrogance combined with ignorance is the most lethal combination for a leader to possess. And arrogance at times can even promote stupidity in abundant quantities.
Donald Trump‘s greatest mistake will be that he underestimated the intelligence of the American people. And he’s going to learn his lesson.
3
Just impeach him! You’re giving into his bullying and craziness. Really, it’s a disaster you haven’t responded. Meanwhile, he’s going off and creating more destruction (Turkey). You must take quick action to remove him from office.
2
Bill Clinton faced his impeachment like man and followed the rules. Donald Trump is incapable of doing the same.
6
@C.L.S., daring Trump to prove his manhood now will hardly help this situation, especially up against Bill Clinton’s, you’re forgetting Trump still has the red button and nobody wants to hear those two bragging about their sexual conquests.
Here is the bottom line that is NOT being pursued anywhere in the Mainstream Media. What Trump did is a felony crime; his actions were against federal law. Period.
The action taken by the House of Representatives is not some sort of politically-based theater, as many of the Breitbart-reading, Fox News-watching, 4Chan and QAnon conspiracy theorists infesting the GOP believe. Rather, the House is pursuring its Constitutional duty to serve as a check on the actions of the Executive Branch.
To put it flatly, Trump and his cohorts broke THIS law:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/52/30121
“(a) Prohibition It shall be unlawful for— . . .
(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national."
"Quid Pro Quo" is not mentioned. Simply ASKING is a FELONY.
Here is the Presidential Oath of Office:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
By breaking any law of the government of the United States of America, this Oath is abdicated and broken. Trump simply cannot be allowed to be a President who disregards all of the laws that he swore to defend, preserve and protect.
THIS is the story that the MSM is failing to tell the American People. This is about LAWBREAKING—not politics.
7
Enough already! Trump is unfit.
3
Honestly, this is Trump's only smart play. Certainly a letter interpretation of the law is not on his side. He's a con man who convinced millions that there was something redeeming about his character; this is pretty objectively false, but maintaining the illusion is the only way he and his enablers stay in power. This is why he doubles down and insists that he's never doing anything wrong and his transgressions are justified; the moment he demonstrates an ounce of contrition the whole flimflammery collapses.
There's no cut-and-run strategy for Trump with the presidency when the act sours, such as declaring bankruptcy to stiff your creditors.
Impeachment is a political act. The public at large has to be behind it for it to work. Trump's only hope of survival is to keep the majority of his converts at least reticent regarding the idea.
When does the Constitution underpin laws and regulations for ALL diverse Americans
in divided America, and when is it little more than a tool mantraed by personally unaccountable policymakers?
This analysis makes a glaring error that ignores the most important precedent and reduces the “analysis” to a tiresome diatribe. Nixon blocked release of the White House tapes and when the Court compelled disclosure he resigned. Trump, by contrast, released a transcript of the critical phone call. In the most important way, Trump has cooperated. Where Nixon obstructed, Trump complied. Failure to acknowledge the huge difference between the two cases reveals that the three “analysts” don’t know how to analyze.
5
Trump White House issued a letter stating unequivocally that they will not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry. Doesn’t sound like cooperation to me.
2
@michjas The White House did not release a transcript of the phone call between Trump and Zelensky. They produced a summary of the call, which was redacted. Failure to acknowledge the huge difference between a transcript and a summary reveals the depth of understanding of the public.
4
@Kevin Brock. You should be an analyst. Read the transcript, published by CNN;\:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/25/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-transcript-call/index.html
1
Yes, I am ok with impeaching trump. But for pity sake, let the house vote for it and get on down the road. Once the house votes, get it on. Lets stop dilly dallying here. Pelosi should get on the highway and not be parked at the curb.
3
A major distasteful problem with the impeachment process is how flat, mediocre, and dull it becomes after the sun sets for a few days. No confusion in my mind that Trump would be in jail today if it weren't for the cumbersome process of impeachment Congress must follow. A driver going 65 in a school zone and he's in jail in 30 minutes. Which reminds me, who goes to jail if an EV is pulled over? So my point is "Pelosi and Team" needs to keep America up there on a high level as crawl slowly through this process. She needs to put someone in jail, she needs to place a spark under Trump to remind him and he nation this is not a Sunday outing, this is about Trump's disregard for America's honor, for disregard of citizens health, for fairness of business and individual taxes, for the cheat and liar Trump was and is. The spark also is to ignite the GOP in the Senate that upholding the Constitution, our democracy, is why they are a member of the Senate. Those are not principles the GOP is known for, and it is the responsibility of each Senator to remind M McConnell of that, and not to think for one moment they will automatically vote for the GOP party during the trial.
1
The Constitution says the House has the sole power of impeachment. The only way “the House” can act is to take a vote of the full House (i.e., neither Nancy Pelosi nor any of the Committees of the House equal “the House”). So, only by taking a vote of the full House can “the House” move toward impeaching the President. The problem here is that the Democrat members of the House are too afraid to hold a full vote. Nevertheless, that’s the right thing to do, afraid or not.
3
This really needs a graphic meme: my suggestion.
The Kraken (from the 2010 movie) with Orange Hair arising out of the reflecting pool
Liberty (as portrayed on American Gold Eagle coin) tied to the portico columns of the Captol building.
LeningradLindsey kneeling, his arms raised wide in greeting with a crowd of Senators behind.
While MoscowMitch and Coverup-General Barr feed a fire, with the Constitution and evidence of obstruction in the background.
1
Trump and Republicans turn every value of democracy upside down and have been doing so since the 2000 Election and Gore v. Bush. They have no grounds, no logic to stand on so they throw the same smoke that Trump throws.
McConnell is like Voldemort’s shadow in the Senate — protecting Trump and throwing McConnell’s own voters under the Trump bus. He even imitates Trump’s catch me if you can reasoning for a Senate impeachment trial. Do they care? Perhaps not. Perhaps they continue to hold resentments and grudges from the loss of the Civil War? How happy will they be to see the federal government fall prey to King Trump, where every worker is hired and owes their employment to Trump alone. How happy will they be to see the chaos that results from the lawlessness and lying of a President without ethics whose every whim is activated through the federal government.
You have to wonder what their Evangelical religion is killing in them while it supports an AG and a President who spit on them and their rights every day. Apparently they think that because they are white and Christian that Trump won’t turn on them. Guess again, fellas. Trump eventually turns on everyone who supports him.
2
It is not just impeachment we need, it is the imprisonment of those who worked with Putin to ruin our Democracy.
3
When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set. -Lin Yutang
250
@David
Trump is clearly in frantic meltdown mode.
In his prepared speech on Wednesday:
"No American should ever face such persecution from their own government," Trump said, reading from a script, before looking up from his paper: "Except, perhaps, your President."
Ok...you said it Mr. President!
17
@JM Honest Question for you.
If you were accused of being a Russian spy for 3 years by 50% of America and could not defend yourself from these ridiculous charges without being charged with Obstruction (by merely protesting the claim)...how would you feel?
Would you just take it lying down?
Would you feel compelled to find a way to be made whole?
This is a political fight of epic proportions. If Trump doesn't fight and win..that means Nancy Pelosi wins...and we as a nation cannot allow that to happen unless you want to see an IMPeachment inquiry open up on day 1 against Joe Biden..and any other Democrat who thinks they can avoid this caustic stew.
2
@Erica Smythe / I feel it's completely appropriate to let a Kangaroo court decide the destiny of the animal in the WH.
9
"In effect, President Trump is making the sweeping assertion that he can ignore Congress as it weighs his fate because he considers the impeachment effort unfair and the Democrats who initiated it biased against him,..."
But, we've seen this episode of the Trump Reality TV Show before. Isn't his defense against obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation basically "the charges are bogus, the Democrats are on a witch hunt because I beat them in 2016, so I shouldn't have to put up with being investigated by them"?
Trump's whole life is "I don't have to follow the rules because they're inconvenient", and he learned that from dear ol' Dad. It might be an ancestral family theme.
9
And Putin is pulling his strings every day. What a rare find, what a rich reward this compromised stooge has been to Russia. For the sake of our nation he and his entire administration must be removed from office and jailed for treason.
10
The House - "Just do it!" Impeach.
3
At some point people need to be held accountable for their stupidity. Tired of folks labeling everyone a "liberal" when someone calls out the continued and blatant corruption of this administration.
The GOP should be ashamed that they have sold out America - the republican party does not exist anymore.
9
Then maybe you can stop referring to it as a GRAND OLD PARTY, yes?
Don't build their brand.
Don't give them cover.
Don't be complicit.
1
This is like Al Capone saying he won’t cooperate with Elliot Ness and the AFT. Time for some soul-lost Republicans to put on white hats and come to the aid of their country.
4
If the Times has trouble discerning the motives behind Republicans, who felt so strongly that a president should be removed from office for an affair with an intern and now have no qualms with a president, who had an affair with a porn star and then paid her hush money before his election, and Democrats, who now believe that using the office of the presidency to extort personal and partisan political support from foreign counties, Mr Trump may be right when he decries the press as enemies of the people, or at least, enemies of the plain and simple truth.
2
There is no way I could say it better than L.A. Times columnist Virginia Heffernan today, and I hope NYT doesn't mind me sharing this...
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-10-10/trump-impeachment-stonewall-gordon-sondland-turkey-kurds
4
Who can challenge Trump for continous Unbecoming Conduct as the President of the United States? His verbal attacks on those who disagree with him are sufficient enough for impeachment. He needs to be held to the highest expectation of all elected officials. Hi vulgarity is reprehensible for even an unelected official.
6
@Ken Wood
I elected him because of his vulgarity not in spite of it. Who are you to say that being vulgar (free speech) is an impeachable offense.
1
@KR Sorry, this is not about free speech. And, you are certainly free to vote your choice. Vulgarity that is inciteful is not and should not be protected under free speech.
It's more than a strategy or better said, less than a strategy. It's a primal imperative at its base. No proper egomaniac, narcissist, self-appointed deity believes subconsciously (where most cognition is) but also consciously that he or she is bound by or can be held to universal or specific norms and protocols on anything. That means law, ethics, morality, manners or any other social construct meant to promote societal order and functioning. The reaction to attempts to have enforced any established rules can be read about in psychology literature on narcissistic wounds.
1
Trump will learn about checks and balances when he is checkmated and the game is finally over.
2
Trump does not (perhaps cannot) understand or care about laws, ethics, and human decency. He has operated as a self-serving, self-absorbed hack all his life. At age 73, his life adds up to mostly failures and wreckage in his marriages, business dealings, and now in his presidency.
Most of the people Trump hired who tried to give him solid advice and reign him in have quit or were fired, until Trump surrounded himself with yes-people and assorted others without a conscience, or feelings of shame and guilt, like himself.
For sure, Trump has had an impact on the norms and values of our country--managing to convert about one third of our citizens to his way to thinking, or disgusting and turning away many others from any interest in politics and civic, or generally angering and outraging many Americans who care about their country, the environment, and how politics is conducted.
Amid all the Trump drama, chaos and confusion, this is why Peter Baker's thoughtful, well-written article today is a must-read to grasp the significance (moral, legal, ethical, constitutional) of Trump's misdeeds, his flagrant disregard for the Constitution that structured our government as a democracy, and his misuse and abuse of presidential power.
The opening sentence framed it beautifully:
"Breathtaking in scope, defiant in tone, the White House’s refusal to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry amounts to an unabashed challenge to America’s longstanding constitutional order."
3
I can't help but wonder if this is all in the grand scheme of some autocrat somewhere to topple America. Tearing us apart from the inside is one of the few effective ways to destroy a country with such geographical and military advantage as ours.
1
There is no comparison. Clinton was impeached for lying about having an affair. Trump has put the country at risk and his personal goals above the country's. He has also done other acts in violation of the Constitution. Comparing should be made, but the ridiculousness of the comparison should be made clear.
4
Americans will now be treated to a three-city presidential rally tour that is certain to be more like a three-ring circus. It's like watching a charade that everyone recognizes except for the person trying to pull it off. In order to pull off a successful con, you have to be believed, at least for a moment. With every passing day there is less and less chance of that happening with this so-called "president."
3
I have yet to see the NYT publish anything about the House rules, which were changed by the GOP in 2014 when they were in control and wanted oversight of Obama without consulting with the minority members. At that time the House Democrats were not allowed any opinions, or subpoena powers, or questioning of witnesses. The GOP hoarded all the power in the House.
Fast forward to 2019 when the Democrats now control the House. The House makes its own rules, by law. They inherited those made by the GOP in 2014. So why should they change them? It's called "playing hard ball", which the GOP understands only too well. So let's get on with the impeachment investigation and forget the quibbling. Read some history.
3
I count four unironic references to a "Grand Old Party."
As long as they own you, they have no reason to change.
Good, give Trump all the rights in the world. Bring in all to testify in front of the people. Let’s see everything in the open. That includes taxes, emoluments, obstructing justice, bribery. Let Trump face his accusers. Let him call Congress (We the People) kangaroos to their face.
2
At what point do we start using the term “authoritarian”?
2
Its clear Trump wants to be a dictator and he wants the USA to be his dictatorship-- he is well on his way to achieving that-- unless the elected congress, which supposedly make this country a bit of a democracy, stand up and act to stop him and remove him from office and then work hard at repairing his destructive acts.
As congress drags its feet to hold criminals whom it alone can hold accountable, the farther it pulls the country into anarchy.
Throughout his entire life, Donald Trump has exemplified the win-at-all-costs mentality. In his binary worldview, it's either dominate others or be dominated by them. He has never allowed truth, justice, fairness, ethics, morality, and the law get in his way. This is the one thing he's learned from others and he learned it from his mentor, Roy Cohn.
Donald Trump is the definition of a predator. Trump’s pattern has been to make people vulnerable by making them dependent and then taking advantage of them. It’s how he’s repeatedly left workers unpaid for the work they performed for him. It’s how predators operate. Trump’s our Predator-In-Chief.
1
"It argued that “this purported ‘impeachment inquiry’” was not valid because the House did not vote to authorize it, as it...."
why did not the house vote to authorize it?
3
The failure of the media to challenge Trump's lies and insults during the 2016 elections abetted his victory. This article, under the auspices of the NYT, is a continuation of the same thoughtless glorification of his unprecedented malicious and anti-constitutional behavior with accolades such as "audacious", "breathtaking", etc. This article compares his impeachment to Clinton's without contrasting the pathetic nature of Clinton's "misdemeanor" with Trump's breaching the constitution he was sworn to protect. Despite his journalistic expertise, Mr. Baker is no different from the multitudes who thought nothing of voting for a person who is threatening the core values on which this country was built.
1
Is a bank robber with a phony alibi a "challenge" the rule of law?
Is the primitive tactic of fabrication and refusal "an unabashed challenge to America’s longstanding constitutional order"?
Desperation tactics are used by the desperate.
1
The Republican Party will stand with Trump as he attempts to destroy our Constitutional government and turn our nation into his own personal dictatorship or they will stand with the American people and back the House effort to enforce its legal rights. There is no middle ground.
101
LOL no they won’t because they are complicit.
7
Yes. Where are the true patriots that put country before self? Even if they prefer a different Republican, no one can honestly say Trump is beneficial for our country.
6
@Jefflz
Great. It will make the lot of them in the Hse and a 3d in the Senate even more vulnerable in 2020.
2
Well, those cities should count on Trump not paying his bills for security, safety and other costs of his rallies, which are little more than calls for insurrection.
1
Trump has declared himself above the law and beyond all oversight by Congress. And because McConnell runs the Senate, Trump has succeeded in declaring complete dictatorship subject only to McConnell, who is in turn the marionette of Trump’s billionaire backers.
2
Voters are already letting Trump and the Republicans know what they think about Trump’s political strategy. Fox News’ own poll shows that more than half the voters now favor impeachment and removal of Trump from office. I guess that leaves Cartoon Network as the only channel that Trump will still be willing to watch.
4
Everything Trump does is audacious. That could well be his middle name. His base was more audacious when they voted for him. This country is owned a big debt by Trump and his voters. Let's hope there is time for that debt to be repaid. If there's a 2020 election repay by not placing an X next to Trump's name. You owe it to the United States of American and not the countries Trump has aligned himself with.
1
President Trump's crime, whatever that may be, by any reasonable estimation fails to rise to the level of clearly defined war crimes that were insufficient to get impeachment on the table against George W. Bush (by the same House Speaker, no less), therefore reasonably condemnable as unfair.
1
"aimed less at convincing a judge than convincing the public, or at least a portion of it"
Impeachment on both sides is a political act, now aimed at the election a year from now.
Trump could not possibly have defeated a good Democrat.
Instead, we see pushed on us the worst of the Democrats backed by a political game that may backfire. It trades a sure win for a chancy thing.
Why do that? Because it is the only way to get a really bad Democrat into office. Otherwise, we were about to get some real reforms. Can't have that, can we?
Trump is trying to frame this as an effort to overturn the 2016 election. He and the Republican senators who are poised to protect him in a shameless expression of party loyalty, should remember that he is widely despised for good reason. He campaigned for 2018 telling voters to vote as if he himself were on the ballot. If that election was a referendum on Trump then, when there was doubt about his willingness to enlist the help of foreign powers to corrupt our democracy, things will go very poorly for him now that there is no doubt. Is there any question now about collusion?
The idea that no man is above the law is a powerful one in American culture. Maybe Murdoch and Sinclair and Rush Limbaugh, and the thousands of conservative editorialists around the country who shill for our oligarchs, with help from Putin's hardworking IRA troll army, can confuse or brainwash enough voters to give Trump a victory in 2020, but I doubt it. I think we have seen enough.
It is no accident that the most corrupt administration in our history is in power now. Our electoral process is broken, and gives too much power to the wealthy. If we don't do something now, and change the structural problems that gave us Trump, we may not have another chance.
1
To call trump's shenanigans a "strategy" implies he's capable of thoughtful reasoning. And evidence abounds that he isn't.
No way Trump should be allowed to sit beneath that painting of Theodore Roosevelt —the last good Republican—on horseback, unless it’s a metaphor for the political trampling Trump is about to endure.
I’m really weary of hearing members of Congress say, “we’ve never been here before”. The other collection of words, “no man is above the law”, also grates. So, we’ve never been here before. That’s the excuse for inaction? Really, in an environment of talk, talk, talk, that’s your best excuse for inaction? Most people with cancer have, “never been there before”. A young mother delivering twins, “has never been there before”. Commander Armstrong, “had never been there before”. My veteran friends and I”, have never been here before”, either. Trump seems to be doing just fine having, “never been there before”. Those struggling most seem to be the people we are relying on the most to do their job’s.
1
I am a life long Democrat and support the impeachment AND CONVICTION of that man in the White House. However, I think the Democrats are doing a very ineffective job of explaining the the impeachment process to the American people. Aren't there any Social Studies teachers out there who can explain the impeachment process, as set forth in the Constitution, to those who missed it in high school Civics?
I am a member of the public.
I am not convinced.
How can any person who consistently and repeatedly lies and manipulates while in a position of authority expect to be heard, much less believed or trusted?
I am convinced only that he is and has not been fit for the office he fraudulently holds.
It is far past time for his removal.
1
The longstanding constitutional order, Mr Baker, as evidenced by the three Impeachments in our history, is to open this Inquiry to a vote of the full House, which would include the participation of Republican members. Otherwise, it's coming off as what it is - another "unabashed" Democrat attempt to reverse a failed election victory. If you've got the goods, why the shenanigans?
We know Donald Trump's approach to politics: when challenged, kick a cloud of dirt into the other guy's face and leave the field while everyone else argues about it. The tactic has been deployed regularly (most recently directed at Joe Biden, Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi). It's not surprising then that Trump has enlisted an attorney to write an argument aimed at undercutting the rule of law. By confusing Constitutional standards, they make it difficult to measure how deeply Trump has failed his oath of office.
1
What could really get interesting is if Trump manages to get SCOTUS to side with him. He could then march into Congress and shut it down as being in violation of the Constitution. Nothing to stop him as long as the troops would obey the orders.
It still boils down to an innocent man has nothing to hide so we can only conclude that trump is guilty.
3
Has anyone made a formal complaint to the relevant Bar Association about Mr Cipollone's extraordinarily dubious legal reasoning and demonstrably false legal assertions made in that letter which he put his signature on?
Now Trump is trying to lock down Senate commitments. He’s determined to bring everyone to jail with him.
Then Pelosi and the Democrats must push forward and constantly remind the public that the Constitution makes the rules here, and is very clear about them.
Congressmen take an oath to uphold the Constitution, not blindly support the President.
124
@Joe
Who is the 'public' that needs reminding?
Donald Trump won 58% of the white voting majority.
Hillary Clinton won 92 % of the black voting minority.
Miss Nancy Pelosi has been focused on mocking and marginalizing the Squad while offering a bevy of excuses for not investigating nor impeaching Donald Trump.
The Constitution is not clear about much of anything.
1
The impeachment of Richard Nixon was for real.
The impeachment of Bill Clinton was a political stunt.
Donald Trump is the duly elected president of the United States. He continues to have an approval rating of about 42% based on the average of half a dozen or more polls. There is reasonable doubt that any of the Democratic candidates for president could defeat him in the 2020 election. The senate is controlled by Republicans. Trump's conduct is an abuse of power that could justify impeachment, but it seems clear that he will not be impeached on the basis of facts known today.
Impeachment is a political process, the motivations for commencing the proceedings are political, Trump is entitled to respond politically. If he stonewalls and delays the proceedings until the 2020 election, then wins the election, he wins. If the Democrats can get their proceedings rolling they may force the disclosure of evidence the hurts Trump in his reelection effort, although he might win anyway.
The game continues, we will see what happens.
5
Trump is counting on GOP Senators during Impeachment Trial. But are they going to stay with 45th? Time will tell.
4
He’s never respected any rules, did not pay his bills, why start now when he has the ultimate power ? He’s always got away with as much as he could.
19
@kagni
Yup and this roll of the dice should cost his entire family their entire fortune.
Trump is the last person to be screaming about rules.
Indeed, he is testing the political order, as he has been all along.
The stakes keep getting higher and it would appear that we have reached the tipping point.
He might just get away with it, somehow. He might even get reelected in November of 2019. If so, then the political order as we knew it will have been crushed, The alt-right, the Trump toadies, the “base,” will have created a new order.
65
@MH you mean 3/11/20. Be there then, not this year (unless you live in one of the odd year states).
@MH
Yes, and just imagine all the things President Trump and his cronies intend to do in his second term that are now delayed due to the election.
5
@MH
Hardly likely
pay attention
The smell of fear from that ‘ side is now a lingering stench
Not a hopeful sign for the wanna be King of the United States
1
It is a fruitless exercise to throw the rule book at someone who does not play by the rules. Think outside the box. Mass rallies, protests and demonstrations across the country will get the attention this issue deserves. And that should bring about a swifter resolution than all the rulings from the courts including the Supreme Court will ever achieve . We the people : it is time to defend our Constitution ourselves. This state of affairs supersedes all the other causes that we have marched in : abortion, women's rights, LGBT,and the list goes on and on.
13
“Audacious” as used in one of the headlines on this subject is absolutely the wrong word. It suggests daring and perhaps innovation, at least to me. What we have here is a dishonest coward surrounded by same blatantly abusing the norms, balances and honor of our democracy.
20
Trump's real concern is the polls.
He'll lose his GOP support in the Senate when they hit about 60 % for impeachment.
9
Peter, to use the words “breathtaking” “defiant” and an “unabashed challenge” in the lead paragraph to describe Trump’s obstruction of justice does the President’s work for him. Anyone who stopped reading after the 2 lead paragraphs may find Trump a hero. Our press needs to be tougher and more honest. The legal argument in the White House letter, to put it mildly, was and is insane. It was not breathtaking. It was lawles and an obstruction of justice. The press needs to tell it like it is. Not make arguments for the White House.
19
This should not be about Democrat vs Republican. Trump has also been a registered Democrat for 8 yrs as well as being an independent. He is an egocentric populist that is destroying the country and eventually the Republican party if Republican senators don't grow a collective spine to call him out for what he really is.
Trump out - Pence in
and let the people give their verdict at the next election and elect a person with integrity who is qualified for the job: Republican or Democrat.
9
All the president's men.
It is not possible for a single person to wreck our democracy. He needs a strong supporting cast. He has systematically placed his stooges for these roles.
Where are the republicans. It's time they change their party symbol from elephant to an ostrich.
14
Lindsay Graham once said that the president's failure to comply with subpoenas for documents and witnesses constitutes articles of impeachment of and by themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=Zw2ZHDdxVUk
9
Politicians are similar to chameleons. They constantly change colours to blend in with the background. Fact of life.
This letter was written by Gaetz, Jordan, Meadows, Stephen Miller, and Sean Hannity (302s! 302s! 302s!).
If they done comply with a subpoena, throw them in jail. That will get the attention of everyone in the country.
5
@Thomas Penn in Seattle - I'm in agreement, but do you really believe the Democrats possess the will to charge contempt and throw anyone in jail? You can bet, if everything were reversed, the Republicans would have jailed at least a half-dozen Democrats by now. They bring a gun to a knife fight and the Dems bring a casserole. It's beyond frustrating - it's deeply and darkly worrying.
NYT Please Advise: Given the trajectory our country is on, at what point does the NYT call for Trump’s resignation?
Thank you.
11
Trump is no different than many defendants in legal proceedings. A lot of them try to create dramatic distractions, crying that they have been persecuted and victimized by the "system", by biased prosecutors, by tainted evidence. The jails are full of such "innocent" people. Trump is no different than any other criminal who's been caught because of his own stupidity. He's like the burglar who leaves his driver's license in the jewelry store he's robbing, and then tries to claim the cops must have put it there.
6
Trump is about to take away school lunches frim 500,000 children to distract us from his impeachment troubles and cover part of his huge trillion dollar deficit! Lower taxes for millionaires but no school lunch for your kids. Cruelest most criminal President ever. This is what evil dictators do!
20
Lock him up. The USA does not need a dictator.
11
@Sang Ze - Trump supporters evidently relish the idea of life under a dictatorship. They of course fail to understand that dictators don't pick sides - they care about nothing but themselves and their own fortune. He'll turn on anyone, as we'll soon see.
Last nights remarks from Trump about !)Dover Air Base and 2) Kurds at Normand show what a sick puppy this man? is!
4
Oops! Giuliani’s and Trump’s criminal henchmen just got arrested. Pretty sure this will put Giuliani in jail too! This is soooo like Watergate it’s amazing!!
5
Trump doesn't have audacity so much as criminality.
When you have no ethics or morals, being "audacious" like this is easy.
10
Putin could never have envisioned that such a small investment to elect Trump would pay the high dividends Russia has received. So much evil visited on the entire world by putting that man in office. No wonder Putin is usually shown smirking.
9
Impeachment was foreseen by the founding fathers of the US Constitution 240+ years ago. The process is legitimate and should be allowed to progress. The executive branch does not have the right or authority to disregard the process. The House and then the Senate and if need be the Supreme Court will progress as appropriate.
1
".....Trump said he could change his mind and cooperate if the House voted to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry......"
.....just as he said he could change his mind about disclosing his taxes? If audit were a real issue (which it isn't), it would seem that any audit from 3 or more years ago would have been completed long since.
10:30 EDT, 10/10
2
America is learning what happens when the Federal Government is run like a Trump casino.
The upside? Glitter. Everything appears (at long last) golden. You're seemingly free to engage and indulge nurtured fantasies concerning your "God given" preternatural status as a "lucky person" (mostly white, mostly aging, mostly disappointed men).
The downside? You may feel like you're now on a "streak" where life's grievances are finally being "set straight", but... the empty wallet and swinging doors await you as surely as death and taxes. You're now out in the cold with less than nothing to show for the fact that you've been played like a sucker.
Welcome to Trump's World.
6
A minor point compared to thumbing your nose at the co-equal role of the legislative branch, but I wish NYT headline writers had not gone with the word “audacious,” which implies brave risk-taking rather than reckless destruction of democracy - e.g. “The Audacity of Hope.”
Hope - something I rarely feel for our county and our world these days.
4
Time for hardball. Impeach a Trump now.
4
If the public is willing to accept this lawless behavior from Trump, then it doesn't deserve the republic the founding fathers left for them
6
The presumptive king of the USA is now the de facto king, American democracy, the rule of law, and the will of the majority are now dead, buried with the Constitution which has been abolished. What remains? A vast emptiness, best described by Eliot or Joyce- complete with the alienation of the individual from Nature, others, and the self. Television is better than reality.
3
Remember when the Republicans claimed their party to be home to "constitutional conservatism"?
They don't.
But to be fair to them, it was a very long time ago.
Three years, at least.
7
Impeachment is a constitutional remedy, an obligation to protect the nation from an out-of-control executive, or in the eyes of some, a "political hit." Whatever else it may be, the impeachment process is a rich and fertile medium for Trump to react, which is to say, inevitably over-react and make mistakes, BIG mistakes. Trump is wired to helplessly escalate without effective calculation.
Xi in China recognized it and used it and now Trump is stuck in a trade war he can't hope to win. It may well cost him the election. While Trump kept escalating, Xi narrowed his focus to hurt states Trump needed. Thus, guaranteeing Trump would have to cave or lose the election. Trump is all set now to do a repeat with Speaker Pelosi.
The great negotiator, the "stable genius" can be relied on to not see the one very obvious thing that looks back at him every day from the mirror.
3
The House is conducting an impeachment inquiry
No, it's not.
Its various committees are on renegade missions.
The House is one body. It has never authorized anything to do with impeachment.
5
@AACNY
The people have demanded this impeachment inquiry. It is about truth and justice and democracy and holding Trump accountable to our laws and his oath of office to our country - not a mere democratic PR campaign.
5
Guilty is as guilty does. This is what the American voter understands. Trump’s “strategy” will show him to be above the law and I don’t know a single person who thinks the POTUS has the right.
3
To the readers how are more knowledgeable in US legal procedures I have 3 questions:
-Is there a way for Congress to fast forward any dispute with the WH to the Supreme Court?
-What is a reasonable time for the Supreme Court to take up a case of this importance?
-What would a reasonable period of time for the Supreme Court to deliberate a matter of this import (i.e. how long did it take for Nixon)?
1
@Chris The House has to impeach first. That's its only mechanism for handling a "dispute." The House is a body, not a person or a committee. The House Majority Leader represents her district, not the country. Talking about impeachment is not impeachment.
Sure the House has the power to impeach says the constitution.
However all it takes is an anonymous source with second hand knowledge to start an impeachment of the president? And the house doesn’t even have to vote on it? And the majority party can run the show and exclude the minority? And the president can’t question the witness? That is in the constitution?
1
@Jim As an independent, I am trying to figure how the Constitution empowers the Speaker of the House to begin impeachment. Is this the new Executive order, so even less is voted on?
Midway through this article the relevant authority from the Constitution is quoted, "the House of Representatives shall have the sole Power of Impeachment." That is clear, the House, not the Speaker of the House, not certain Committee chairmen.
The House should hold a public roll call Vote, authorizing this Inquiry, as provided for in the Constitution!
3
With Trump Democrats must make the GOP own this, war, warts and all. For tax cuts and extreme judges Republicans can't just pick and choose from a menu-they own it all with their leader. Pro-Russia unforgivably and unwaveringly? Dems just don't lose this opening for a clear message.
3
One has to give the founding fathers credit in understanding that some day, someone in public office might violate the constitution by committing treason, bribery or other high crimes or misdemeanors.
You would think that they would have believed that anyone running for public service had only good intentions and wanted to serve to help others, both domestic and foreign.
However they were smart enough to see the day when someone like Trump took public office and only wanted to help himself, and set rules up to investigate and remove them from office if needed.
They were also smart enough to understand that politics has nothing to do with the process and only the nation’s laws and security mattered in determining judgement.
2
Trump will be indicted on criminal charges as soon as he doesn't have the protection of being a sitting President. New York is just patiently waiting. Re-election means he'll keep his freedom for a few more years. If he's not re-elected, he's going to go from the White house to the big house. He's not going to go quietly, but he still has to go.
5
@Pam He will be pardoned.
@Mickela Pardoned for state crimes? I don't think so.
1
Unless the Democratic leadership can effectively answer the questions put forth by Mr. Cipollone, the American public will not support impeachment. Due process is the Constitutional bedrock upon which our justice system is built and will not be compromised. Unfortunately the Democrats have ventured too far on out on the impeachment limb without incurring political repercussions as they crawl back.
1
The Republicans obviously don’t believe in the Constitution of the United States if they do not allow the inquiry to proceed and continue with obstruction of justice.
6
Pardon me but the false equivalences are once again rising up in the media. Comparing the Clinton impeachment with the ongoing investigation of Trump is like comparing apples and oranges. One was about a consensual affair that was made into public spectacle because of political calculation. This one is about grave and dangerous actions undertaken by the Executive branch that threatens the foundations of our Republic.
12
just about anything he or GOP said is propaganda, one thing about that is no truth and facts behind it.
keep press him to prove what he claim , the best he can answer is : don't be rude.
1
While the Democrats focus on the phone call with the president of Ukraine for political reasons, their drive to impeach implicitly references a larger issue, Trump’s willingness to betray his country to a hostile foreign power, Russia, for his own political advantage. His pullback of troops in Syria is yet another example, giving his pal, Putin a free hand in the area at the expense of American security interests. In my book, there is only one word for Trump’s behavior, TREASON.
6
Anonymous, 'whistle-blower' complaint and no Impeachment Vote is the reason Trump is resisting this way. Democrats think the voters have just forgotten what happened to Justice Kavanaugh. We haven't. We were and are disgusted by the whole thing and now we see the same tactic being used against the President. Voters and the Senate only ones that matter and none of this face will influence either in the way Democrats are hoping. Say by to the House though. Hope you had and have fun while you were in charge won't be back for a long long time.
2
irrespective of the 2020 election fear by democrats they cannot let this state go without the right check and balance. president should never be allowed to ignore the congress because it is democratic majority. Trump is bold because he thinks majority democrats or its leaders are coward and ineffective. show him some muscle and Trump will yield. Arrests of Gulliane's associates and proper punishment is one such step.
1
"Mr. Trump, who on Tuesday denounced the “kangaroo court,” told reporters on Wednesday that he could change his mind and cooperate if the House voted to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry."
And if you believe that...
6
The majority of the public has already been convinced, the train has left the station and DJT will be impeached. Each Congress has the right to set how they handle an impeachment and Trumps arguments are meant for a very few number those who will never leave him.
6
This is Trump's first step in ignoring the Constitution to set up a basis for his claims that he should be president for at least 2 more terms - if not for life!
1
Yes, maybe Trump watched Vice - the semi-fictional film about Dick Cheney - and decided to kick it up a notch regarding article II interpretation giving President absolute executive authority. And maybe it also gave him the idea that tue removal of the Reagan fairness doctrine meant all media including good journalism is up for a pummeling and does not deserve the truth - and therefore is a propaganda instrument.
America has what it always wanted embodied in a President: the world’s most powerful schoolyard bully, President Biff.
Off the rails man. Off the rails. From passive aggressive treatment of the emigrant crisis causing real death and desperation of real human beings unlucky enough by birth to be located in a war zone to a real war now between Turkey and the Kurds. The bully goads and taunts and incites but never takes responsibility.
Not to mention then global economic uncertainty leading to a kind of pillage economy of opportunism.
5
Trump’s flailing is reminiscent of a fly caught in a spider web. The end is near. Desiccation is right around the corner.
5
Trump knows he has no legal basis for obstructing this legitimate investigation. His letter of defiance is pure political theater. Democrats should seek an expedited review by the Supreme Court in order to minimize Trump's delaying tactics which are intended only to forestall the inevitable.
Donald can run, but he can't hide forever. They've got the goods on him. They're closing in on him rapidly. He knows he is in serious trouble. So, in desperation, he does the only thing he knows how to do- try to distract everyone's attention from his misconduct by making inflammatory partisan attacks on his enemies.
4
Right.... he’ll cooperate w the inquiry if the House holds a vote .. just like he assured us he’d release his tax returns.
8
Trump’s presidency has been illegitimate from day one, given the anti-democratic nature of the electoral college, the proven interference of Russia to install him in the White House, his blatant self dealing, and his criminal incompetence. The GOP and conservative media have been fully complicit. This latest move merely doubles down on what has been happening since even before Trump took the oath of office.
The choice of the House to pursue impeachment has been long overdue. It is to be hoped it is not too late.
What is still a mystery is why The NY Times and what’s left of the increasingly consolidated traditional media has failed to call for Trump’s resignation or given full-fledged support to impeachment.
Media silence plays into the GOP talking points that this is a partisan attack, when instead it is only the Democrats trying to uphold the rule of law. Increasing support for impeachment among Americans of all stripes shows this is not merely partisan.
Media silence is enabling Trump and the GOP to proceed with their assault on democracy. The founders expected a free press to be one more check on tyranny. The press is now one more institution that is failing us.
4
Forget about them, just for a minute. Let's talk about you.
What do you enable by continuing to refer to Republicans, completely without irony, as a "Grand Old Party"?
And when do you intend to stop?
Just like he'll try to delegitimize the election if he's not impeached. What has the GOP wrought upon us?
5
Trump's ferocity will only increase as the impeachment moves from its current comparatively serene state of multi-committee investigations into an "out-over-the-warming-waters" phase of formal indictment and pursuit.
And as it does, Pelosi's astute guidance will become both ever more needed and ever more clear as she patiently stays her course of data-driven and fact-based prosecution....the calm deliberation of which will infuriate Trump all the more, sending him into blind public rage.
There is NOTHING more maddening to a narcissist than being ignored and publicly dismissed as irrelevant, let alone being outed as the humbug he is, and such is precisely what Pelosi is accomplishing here.
Stay with it, Nancy! Trump's reaching critical mass will seal the deal.
Ever see the movie "Inherit the Wind" wherein Frederick March (aka: Mathew Harrison Brady) implodes on the stand under Spencer Tracy's (Henry Drummond) withering examination? Yep....just like that!
4
You have to hand it to the Republicans. They have learned over 40 years of double dealing how to manipulate the public and the press. I remember watching the development of Watergate. All the administration efforts were made to discredit Nixon’s potential adversaries so Nixon could run against someone he could beat in 1972. He was successful.
Investigation into the Biden’s is right out of the same playbook. Scandals accusing political rivals of “whatever” is a time tested way of getting rid of competitors considered a threat to their power. History is littered with possible Presidential candidates brought down by innuendo, suggestion and, oh yes, dirty tricks, by political operatives Giuliani is just one in a long line of such actors. Think Eagleton, Gary Hart, John Kerry, to name a few.
Everyone knows Trump is corrupt. It’s a given. His behavior is accepted as the bargain made by Republicans to keep themselves in power. Cast dispersions on Biden, paint Bernie a Socialist, and that puts Warren in front. Republicans are betting Trump willl be able to stalk her the way he did with Hillary, and the country will never elect a smart woman. Trump prevails in 2020 and the grand bargain holds.
That is all this is about. History repeating itself. Will we ever learn?
7
Well, he didn’t actually. Again, this article seems to be coming from a position of bending over backwards to appear “objective”. Clinton tried to squirm out of subpoena’s issued by Starr, not Congress - as it says here, the House relied on the Starr report and didn’t do their own investigation, and Clinton never questioned the right of Congress to impeach him. And by the way- can we acknowledge that the Clinton impeachment was a partisan witch-hunt? It does not therefore follow that the current situation is a partisan witch-hunt. Clinton never tried to dismantle the Constitution, as Trump and his minions are now doing.
7
@Elizabeth, exactly. Clinton was technically wrong to lie and try to obstruct an investigation, but that doesn't change the fact that the investigation had little merit. He was trying to save his presidency, as admitting to the affair would have affected his re-election chances. But he wasn't trying to undermine the election itself by soliciting help from foreign countries. The Democrats didn't dig around for this, Trump forced it on them!
4
Congress might want to do their Constitutional Duties.
4
For the 3-branches of government to function as the U.S. Constitution prescribes, there must be 100% cooperation 100% of the time between the 3-branches. What Trump & Republicans have shown us is when one branch refuses to cooperate with another, the system collapses.
6
@Alabama: Parliamentary systems don't pit the branches of government against each other.
1
@Steve Bolger The constitution assumes that there is/will be cooperation among the three branches. Cooperation among them does not "pit them" against one another.
1
The Democrat’a need to proceed with an impeachment inquiry vote, not because it’s constitutionally require, but because it will remove one of the core argument’s of the White House to resist.
They have the votes, and they need their argument to be air-tight when it eventually reaches the Supreme Court.
2
Trump is a "winner". He cannot lose and will risk anything, including democratic institutions, to keep running and remain a winner. He will destroy any context in any way possible that is in a position to judge him as a loser. As he has learned from the Russian's decades long propaganda campaign, chaos and distraction are essential tools for destroying context. But Trump will even risk going to war to in some way remain a winner. Our cultist Republicans identify with this approach to power, but it is good that some, at least, are balking at his striking another match in the Middle East.
3
It's simple in the Trump White House. If there is no valid legal argument, make something up. For their base, it is like giving a bottle of cheap whiskey (or maybe vodka?) to a hopeless drunk - they will down it quickly and self-righteously rage how they have been wronged.
Not that Washington has ever been particularly believable, and even in the post truth era, this one takes the cake!
4
Long ago Trump told us that he is above the law, that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it.
And in effect, he has done that: blatantly broken the law again and again and gotten away with it.
This is no surprise.
7
Just a couple of things that Trump never tried to hide:
1—He has not read the Constitution
2—He does not know the words to The Star Spangled Banner
So Republican logic dictates that he should be their standard bearer.
After all, they would rather be Russians than Democrats.
And so here we are. A POTUS that does not even try to hide the fact that he is a Russian asset.
12
Happily for America, but too late for the Kurds, Trump’s stonewalling is failing utterly with the American people. Trump and the Republican Senators who keep him in office will be destroyed in 2020.
8
The same man who claims the Kurds don’t deserve our support because they didn’t fight with us on the beaches of Normandy now argues that his impeachment is unconstitutional? I hope the electorate will never again think it’s a good idea to put an uneducated—and uneducable—person behind the Resolute Desk.
10
Trump uses chaos to disrupt government. Duh. This is exactly what his base loves about him. Now it's up to voters to decide. Do we want checks and balances as our Founders designed? Or, are we to join Russia and China in one man rule?
14
What next, 22nd Amendment to go ? sounds like the GOP would roll over on that one.
2
Every crook says they are innocent and that laws are unfair and against them.
No one will forget these four years of learning that there’s a giant hole in our “firewall” and we need to upgrade our antivirus.
8
Sinclair Lewis’ quote rings in my ears daily in this catastrophe of a presidency.
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Republicans’ commitment to our democracy and Constitution seems, at best, situational these days.
22
Patriotism is a kind of ideal that is ripe for extortionists.
3
Three words that Trump will never follow notwithstanding his oath of office.
'OBEY THE LAW'
5
While we all our gnashing our teeth at the cowardice of the GOP, the public does control this situation. If the percentage favoring impeachment rises to 70 or 80 percent, you can bet the rats will jump ship.
9
Who didn’t see this coming during the cold, dark wee hours of Nov 9, 2016?
15
Notice the painting in the photo. From TR to Trump, reverse evolution.
Sad.
9
This is what happens when a place like Trump University is allowed to expand nationwide and worldwide.
A complete, unmitigated, fraudulent epic disaster.
Republistan needs to wake up and withdraw from this unaccredited, law-breaking scam of a Presidency.
29
Most of the Trump supporters in my Upstate NY community I’ve met speak and act like graduates of Trump University. They believe everything the Con-man in Chief says, just like the folks who spent $thousands at Trump U. And just like them, these supporters are being cheated and fleeced.
I say that because they are not rich, they cannot afford to join or play at Trump golf-clubs and they got nothing from the Trump tax cuts that benefitted the wealthy - many lost money. But Trump tells them it’s all the fault of immigrants, Democrats, Europeans, China - everyone but themselves. And they are happy to believe and parrot his lies and irresponsible conspiracy theories. “How do YOU know it’s not true,” they ask? I say nothing - there is no point but I think “I know because I follow real news, I read, I think, I pay attention.”
Trump wasn’t kidding when he said he loved the uneducated OR that he could kill someone on 5th Ave and his supporters wouldn’t leave him. One feeds the other.
7
@Socrates
Trump University... now? For this article? I'd use the "broken record" analogy here, but it's so dated I'd be acting like a broken record.
All the while the Kurds are fighting and dying live on tv, Trump
rages and rants without ceasing. He is a talking machine set on
maximum volume.
There are more and more wildfires emerging everyday around
Trump. He completely ignores the realities that he is being
overwhelmed with fires he will not be able to control.
More re-election rallys? More endless babbling incoherent
speeches? How utterly pathetic.
16
He has to create chaos because he is and has created. MESS. Republicans should care about their country enough to stop this. Soon!!!!
3
I was confused by your headline. Is "audacious move" to "test the political order" an appropriate expression for breaking the law and causing a constitutional crisis.
17
“Audacious”? “Unabashed?” It is illegal and unconstitutional, and the New York Times should be calling it that. Once again, even the “liberal” media normalize his actions.
28
Proves his guilt and disrespect for the presidency and constitution. Impeach.
13
Deflect, project, distract...the jig is up, man.
8
Oh it’s a coup all right.... let’s just be clear on who leading the coup. Mr Trump
14
Trump is a traitor. He is on the cusp of being brought to justice and that is why he and his co-conspirators are throwing everything on the wall hoping something will stick. But they are all going DOWN!
13
Just take a vote in te house and get this impeachment going
6
I think Don Jr. expressed his family's sentiments best when he said that "the Democrats aren't even people, to me."
10
One way or another, Trump will eventually be gone. But let’s never forget the near universal cowardice and complacency of the Republican Party.
47
Trump is right not to play along. This has all the hallmarks of a political takedown; Transcript dramatically taken out of context in Schiffs reading of it, anonymous and supposedly biased whistle blowers without first hand knowledge of the conversation, who also had prior contact with the Democrats on the committee, that was lied about initially. And more and more this is looking like another complete nothing burger. Again!
2
Whistleblowers are supposed to be anonymous. That’s the point. It is codified in law to be such. Being anonymous as a whistleblower is not a pejorative. I just received whistleblower training at my new job. It is encouraged and protected by my employer and by any honest employer.
7
@Hjb, how is it taken out of context? Trump already admitted he asked for dirt on Biden. Then he asked China too. Why were multiple aids concerned by the conversation? Why was the transcript placed on a server where it didn't belong? Why did Trump hold up the aid for Ukraine without giving a reason?
Why do you think it's OK for a politician to ask a foreign country to help them in a US election? Should they be beholden to foreign interests above American voters?
4
@Leonard I think Trump said that he was asking them to investigate to make sure that there was no corruption vis a vis the Bidens, just as Biden, as our VP dangle 1 BN Dollars in aid and had the prosecutor (investigating his sons firm) fired, so as to make sure that there was, you know, no ummmm corruption going on there.
So you can see why Trump had to ask, you can see how it looked?
Every attorney working on behalf of Donald Trump in these proceedings needs to have their actions monitored very, very closely to make sure they are carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the proper character and fitness required of them to hold their law licenses. From what I see they are treating Mr. Trump as if he was a king and not as an elected official accountable to the entire United States. Donald Trump is certainly entitled to defend himself and plan his legal strategy accordingly. Just make sure it is all done within the parameters of established law and procedure. The President and the attorneys representing him do not get to bend or ignore established law and procedure because it is politically expedient and keeps the President's supporters happy. Law licenses are not issued as if they were party favors. They stand for something and there are consequences for misusing them.
24
@Howard Herman, I would hope to see you one or perhaps many more disbarments after this chaos settles down. It could start with court jester Giuliani.
2
I read the stories and the comments and I've come to the conclusion that many American parents have failed at teaching their children right from wrong. Some, I think, never even tried.
38
The Democrats now driving the political process of impeachment just one year before the democratic process of a presidential election need to understand that THEY will be in part responsible if Trump comes unglued in Macbethian fashion.
They can now also blame Trump for 'using his temperament to blackmail' or maybe 'weaponizing his instability' or whatever. But the reality of this (and nearly all) intensely adversarial relationships is that BOTH parties share responsibility for the consequences as it devolves. In this case, responsibility on the Democrats is especially high because THEY are choosing to ratchet things up unnecessarily for self-interested gain (in addition to selfless justifications) and that conflict could likely be avoided by simply allowing the highly regarded process of DEMOCRACY to do exactly what it's meant to do.
4
That’s a new one! Jeez.
8
Sure. Let’s just ignore a lawless president. If trump is behaving this way now, we can only imagine what will happen if he gets away with it. Or worse, if he gets away with it and gets another 4 years. This man must be stopped.
5
Are you saying – If Trump does something wrong... it’ll be the fault of the Democrats? Are you suggesting people should just leave Trump alone, so he can rule and dictate without restraint? Just asking for a friend.
6
The speed and force at which the Republicans condemned Trump for his actions against the Kurds is striking. One after another talked about the repercussions for our national security after Trump's impetuous decision. How is it that they are unable to muster an ounce of outrage for the multitude of actions Trump has taken to threaten not only national security, but democracy itself?
39
Your article states: “But Mr. Clinton likewise felt outrage about the effort to impeach him, convinced that it was a partisan witch hunt, and he set about discrediting it with the public.” The important difference is that that was in fact a partisan witch hunt, the product of a years-long fishing expedition that failed to turn up any evidence of wrongdoing until Clinton lied about an extramarital affair, which while not admirable was hardly of earthshaking or constitutional importance.
Here, Trump has clearly abused the powers of his office for personal and political gain, has violated laws in the process, and has done so repeatedly. It is high time and highly appropriate that Congress is pursuing an impeachment inquiry.
44
@Thomas McClendon if Clinton’s extramarital affair was not earth shaking, why lie to, of all institutions, the Congress of the United States? To his wife? Got it. To his pastor? Sure. But if you want to damage democracy, then lie to Congress.
1
@skyfiber, did he lie to Congress or to Starr?
The reason he lied is obvious. He risked losing the election if he admitted to the affair-- the Republicans had him either way, which is part of the reason the original investigation was simply partisan. I don't know of it started that way, but it sure ended that way.
Democrats need to stop"pondering" going to court and go to court, while pushing for the courts to explain why this case that goes to the heart of our democracy is not being expedited.
11
@rich going to court is the last thing Democrat’s want because in court the other side gets equal footing. Conducting secret investigations through committee ensures that can’t happen.
1
The Republican Senate is his firewall. It will take 14 Republican votes flipped to conviction to remove Trump. Long before any Senate Trial comes the Supreme Court ruling on the authority of Congress to Subpoena the Executive.
This has an eerie similarity to 1998-99, and no way a similarity to 1973-74.
1
@Burton Leed
It is far worse than 1973-1974, and is actually in no way similar to 1998-1999. Facts are important in this process.
Actually, it will take 20 senators from the Republican side to convict if all Democrats vote to do so.
1
@Burton Leed, are there 14 Republicans patriotic enough to stand aside from their party and with the majority of America? This will be the telling question. I have limited faith that they will. I hope they prove me wrong.
1
Good luck selling "obstruction of Congress" to the American public as a just cause to impeach. I want Trump gone yesterday, but unless Dems make an abuse of power case, based on incontrovertible quid quo pro evidence, then this will all play in Trump's favor, even with Independents. If Pelosi sees this running into January because of slow response from Courts then she should cut bait and focus on Nov.
3
Trump can’t comply because Trump is guilty of many crimes. He’s already admitted this, his own words. I don’t know if the Republicans have the courage to act. No big deal if Pence becomes President, and although I don’t agree with a great deal of his positions; at least the Trump Show would be over......
4
As pointed out in a 'Times' article from yesterday, Speaker Pelosi is trying to shield her swing district Representatives by not having the House vote to authorize the impeachment inquiry, a mostly unremarked upon display of political cowardice. The games are not solely on one side here.
7
Never the less there is no requirement that the House vote at the onset of the inquiry, they vote on impeachment AFTER the inquiry.
1
Trump has begun the process of "gaslighting" his base as well as those whom might the slightest inkling of supporting him. (Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity. Using persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilize the victim and de legitimize the victim's belief.) Sound familiar? Trump has many platforms available to him to do the gaslighting. including twitter, campaign rallies, the electronic and print news media thrusting microphones in his face, and the close in members of his team: Giuliani, Stephen Miller, Kellyanne Conway, Rep. Jim Jordan, among others. It's an effective strategy and usually best carried out by a narcissistic personality (Again, sounf familiar?). Will it work on impeachment? For the base "within" the base, yes. It's already working. But, educated, thinking, well informed voters, are another story. Trump's strategy is a delaying tactic as much as it is an attempt to neutralize Pelosi's and Schiff's power . But in so doing, he thumbs his nose at the Constitution and assumes more power than allotted to the other branches of government as set forth in the Constitution. And our Constitution will be relied upon as the courts as these issues are resolved. The courts aren't uninformed.
14
@Harley Leiber, the courts may not be uninformed, but thanks to almost 200 new arch-conservative federal appointments, they will see things through a far more partisan lens than previously, which will be Trump's lasting and disgraceful legacy.
2
He is not trying to convince the GOP legislators.
He is trying to convince the white conservative evangelicals who elected him and who elect the GOP legislators.
And so far he has done so.
He is making what amounts to a kind of "divine right" of presidents argument, at least Republican presidents.
Ralph Reed, noted evangelical leader, is about to publish a book arguing that evangelicals have a divine obligation to vote for Trump in 2020.
Divine right meets divine obligation.
Trump's megalomania is the perfect match for evangelical idolatry.
My own view is that evangelicalism has become a Christian heresy. But regardless, an informed public needs to recognize the true nature of the church struggle that stands behind this election.
As citizens are fighting for the soul of the nation, so, in a different way, mainstream Christians are fighting for the soul of the church.
19
The House is conducting an impeachment inquiry; it is in the initial phase of evidence gathering. So far, the evidence supporting the inquiry’s legitimacy is Mr. Trump’s words in the Zelensky call, his actions in withholding aid from Ukraine prior to that call, the whistle blower complaint that the administration attempted to suppress, the ongoing coverup of Mr. Trump’s willful malfeasance by abusing his office to promote his personal interests and White House counsel Pat Cipollones letter that establishes grounds for a charge of contempt of Congress.
The President’s powers and duties are spelled out in Article 2 of the Constitution. If Mr. Cipollones had read Article 2, he would not have made arguments that amount to legal gibberish.
Republican hypocrisy is blatant. Mr. Clinton lied to Congress about having an affair with an attractive young woman; they impeached him. Mr. Trump lies to everyone about everything and ignores the Constitution; republicans defend him. Republicans have become political enemies of the Constitution on Mr. Trump’s behalf. I’ll remember that in 2020.
17
I will not be surprised if US history (not non-US history) will look back at Trump as truly the greatest President of the USA, eclipsing even Reagan. This is just how the USA works.
The greatest tax cuts for the rich in US history. The great wealth and hyper-employment that followed was trickle down economics. Before Trump leaves office he must do a tsunami down economics by completely abolishing tax for all earning above a million. After that the US will be unstoppable.
4
Impeachment is the exact same act when a local prosecutor indicts a person with a grand jury. No different at all.
The suspect (in this case the President) does NOT get to see the evidence or know the witnesses. In fact under many circumstances the suspect not only is not questioned by the grand jury, but may not even KNOW it’s happening.
Once charged are brought by a grand jury (house) vote... THEN the evidence is shared and at trial witnesses can be cross examined.
This is how our system works. And by-and-large it DOES work.
41
@EAE a grand jury is made up of impartial members, not folks foaming at the mouth with resentment and hatred for the subject suspected of an actual underlying crime. I think THAT is how our system ACTUALLY works.
2
Grand Jury’s are in fact different then trial jury’s. They are not voir dired by the defendant or their lawyer ( or anyone) so they can, in fact, be partial.
Further, no witness (including the suspect themselves) is allowed a lawyer present while being questioned by a grand jury.
The trial is meant to be impartial.
So in that regard, would you like to have the Senate’s trial follow the same procedures as a criminal court?
Ok. Then let’s randomly pick 33 Senators from a hat. Then the prosecution (which is the House and any legal people they want to bring on) and the defendant (the president and his lawyers) voir dire the potential jurors. Each will get unlimited ‘for cause’ removals and 5 ‘just because’ removals. Seat a senate jury of 11.
I’d take that. Would you?
1
@skyfiber To use your metaphor against you, there are many crimes and criminals that make even a random grand jury "foam at the mouth". Trump defenders console themselves with the delusion that we hate Trump because he won the election. I'm a native New Yorker, I have hated Trump since I was old enough to read a newspaper. Because of who he is, what he does, and how he does it. The fact that you can blind yourself to what is right in front of you is tragic.
1
So, once you pass the bar exam, you can forget everything you learned in Constitutional Law class? The silence of the American Bar Association is almost as bad as the silence of Republicans serving in Congress. The "if you see something, say something" is appropriate to prevent mass shootings, it should also apply to the slaughter of our Constitution.
56
Speaker Pelosi: Was not the obstruction of justice in the Russian hacking case as well as any number of Trumps associates going to jail not enough to launch an impeachment inquiry? You miscalculated the nefarious nature of the man and he would have taken the same obstructionist position six months ago. Now, you are racing against the clock and we are fast approaching election season. The courts will not decide in time. There is something off sbout Democratic politicsl culture ( what would the Rs have done if the roles were reversed?) And we will all pay the price because.of your ineffectiveness.
3
What is missing here is the acknowledgement that we are dealing with a child who is uneducated, does nor read, has no empathy, and therefore when threatened with punishment and the end of his dream to rob the US treasury before building Trump Tower Moscow, is using his enablers to destroy everything in his path.
25
Donald Trump claiming that he doesn't have to comply with the House's subpoenas because the whole impeachment process is tainted is no different than the many whacko pro se parties in criminal and civil court who claim that they are not obligated to comply with court orders because they believe the entire judicial system is unconstitutional. They don't get very far with that argument and neither will Trump.
21
@Jay Orchard He's a couple of days from complaining about gold fringe on the flag.
3
Trump will be uncooperative with Congress under any and all circumstances. He will not run out of ways to stonewall the House because, as we all know, he’ll just resort to increasingly nonsensical reasons for doing so. The White House Counsel merely has cut and pasted Trump’s arguments into a more legalistically written document for public consumption. For the House to have to deal with a completely shameless and amoral president will, hopefully, be a learning experience. Just pray they learn before it’s too late.
13
I’m praying the WE learn and remember in subsequent elections.
3
"“It looks like a pathetic attempt to make a legal argument when the president is really expressing rage at the Congress for trying to stop him,” said Corey Brettschneider, an impeachment expert at Brown University. "
It is a pathetic attempt to sway public opinion. This will not change public opinion except to the negative. However, his hard core base will stay behind him no matter how corrupt, dishonest, destructive and treasonous Trump is.
We sent representatives to Congress partly to control Trump and hold him accountable. Now the majority are asking our representatives to impeach Trump.
This is not a jury trial or even a Grand Jury investigation. Impeachment is a quasi-judicial political investigation with political outcomes.
This is deja vu all over again with Trump courting a hostile foreign power known to have the goals of destroying our democracy and world peace, cooperation and stability, to interfere in our election on his behalf. In other words, treason to our country.
This time he is trying to extort a country vulnerable to Russian aggression and manufacture dirt on a political opponent in order to get re-elected.
Pelosi was quite prescient when she said Trump would impeach himself. There is concrete evidence.
Play hard ball. Don't let this deeply corrupt individual and his henchmen trample our constitution and destroy our democracy and democratic institutions.
Trump is a danger to our country and the world.
23
If Pelosi or the House cave to Trump's demands for a vote, they're playing Trump's game. Dems have to have a simple message to sway public opinion against Trump's strategy, that the GOP impeached Clinton really for the underlying "crime" of cheating (not for lying about it), like Trump did with porn stars and actresses, while Trump's indiscretions do rise to the level of a high crime. Force the GOP Senate to vote non guilty in a trial. When more information is revealed about what Trump did, the Senators who vote to absolve Trump will look like traitors to America, and it will cost them. That's what they're really worried about, not Trump.
8
If this is a political strategy, it is bound to fail. Trump more and more seems like a petulant child having a temper tantrum. The public,by and large,is embarrassed by such manifest unpresidential behavior in their president. Shame that Republicans in House and Senate are accepting of behavior not acceptable in a five year old.
10
A president can be impeached for treason, high crimes and misdemeanors and then tried in court for his corruption and crimes after he is out of office - right?
So if what Trump wants is a real trial, we can do that for him after impeachment. There may be some already in the works.
5
It is time to teach the 45th POTUS the US constitution, before it’s too late.
20
I am sickened by this man and his manipulation of his base. We are a country and house divided. We are polluted daily by his lies. Draining the swamp? We are drowning in it. 2020 cannot come soon enough.
28
Stunnning if it weren’t so typical: ignoring the constitution AND talking about the president’s rights.
10
I have faith that the majority of non partisan American citizens will make a fair assessment of the process and share those feelings with their elected representatives prior to any Senate trial. Removing a President is no easy task, nor should it be because of politics and that's why the bar is set as high as it is in our constitution.
7
“But her emails.”
“Lock her up!”
“Crooked Hillary”
“What did she say behind closed doors when giving talks to the big banks?”
“But what about Benghazi?”
“We haven’t seen President Obama’s birth certificate.”
These unacceptable offenses were all generated by the current occupant in the WH. It’s even more unacceptable that he’s far surpassed all of these previous exaggerations or unsettling untruths with his own repulsive, cravenly selfish ongoing reality.
And still, complete impotence from his side of the aisle, all as a genocide is about to take place abroad and unchecked obstruction of justice and corruption continues to happen at home. When will we consider possibly locking him and others who’ve done his bidding up? Before it’s too late I hope.
42
Another piece of entertainment for the Trump base.
13
Impeach him quickly, let the Senate dismiss the case then move on to removing him in the best way possible. VOTE 2020!
16
Are you not outraged by his brazen and vapid propaganda machine which is crippling our democracy? By using adjectives like ‘sweeping’ and ‘defiant’ to describe this malignant misinformation, you legitimize or even glamorize it’s awful bad faith...The administration’s campaign of distortion, hatred, and fog thrives on your complicity. Why not state the factual inaccuracy of the claim that these proceedings are illegal in the headline and lede.
We need to defend language and truth at these points of dissemination. You are in effect collaborating with the evisceration of critical decision making...please help stop this runaway train...please.
56
I agree- more normalizing of his behavior, see my comment below.
3
@andthen : Well-said. I'm glad somebody understands this issue. This piece by Mr. Baker is fine, if it were in the opinion section. In my house growing up, the NYT was regarded as the last word. I am so saddened that a piece written in the news section so obviously has a slant.
1
Skip the inquiry just impeach him, let him live with that stigma.
23
He’s breaking the law. Period. Why does the headline and the article not state this?
128
What laws has he broken?
1
Working to advance Russian goals in Ukraine is providing aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States of America. It’s treason, as defined in the Constitution.
9
@Jason soliciting aid in a political campaign from a foreign government.
10
Let Trump rile up his "base" (what a perfect word to describe his supporters!) all he wants. Recent polls show them to be in the minority, and Trump continuing to lose support from the undecided. The "base" can howl and chant all they want. Trump will lose anyway.
34
The White House’s position about Presidential misconduct amounts to the following:
1. If an investigation uncovers evidence of wrong doing, the President cannot be indicted. Impeachment is the only remedy!
2. If impeachment is broached, the President cannot be further investigated! Now return to step 1.
26
The president’s foolish premise that the House impeachment inquiry is “re-litigating the ‘16 election” is merely a ruse designed to buck up his base, particularly those who may have taken fright at the prospect (however remote) of his removal from office in an election year. What American citizens truly need to decide—once and for all—is what kind of government they want in place.
Pat Cipollone’s extraordinary broadside against the Constitution should signal to citizens that the president has very much to hide. This letter is nothing more than an attempt to shield Donald Trump from getting wet in the downpour that is soaking everyone around him. Now the Republican majority in the Senate is getting splashed. It’s becoming more difficult for them to maintain stoical silence or to mount an aggressive defense of his conduct when all evidence points to his culpability in transgressions against his oath and of good order. These only seem to matter when the president is a Democrat. The excuses on his behalf become less tenable by the hour.
Legal experts are well-nigh unanimous in their opinions that Cipollone’s incendiary declaration of war cannot stand even the most elementary scrutiny before any tribunal. For if the president should prevail at the John Roberts Court, then all is lost; the Constitution and the separation of powers strength of our government will dissolve and we’ll not be able to put it back together.
Once an egg is broken—that’s it. Some things can’t be fixed.
77
In short, the President’s defense is that he did nothing wrong even though he acts like he did everyone knows he did. BUT he is king and therefore above the law and immune from responsibility and prosecution. It’s good to be the king... just don’t buy a new hat.
2
One thing is clear - does anyone cares what this is doing to this country?
7
The evangelical Christians don’t mind that Trump obviously is no Christian. The Tea Party looks the other way at the deficit. The Republican lawmakers avoid looking at the Ukraine transcript situation for what it really is. And the MAGA hats love all of this. All these supporters feel the impeachment inquiry is illegitimate.
This is why Trump could call all of his supporters “deplorables” and they would still vote for him.
22
Pretty sure If the shoe was on the other foot and Obama was under impeachment threat this Newspaper and its group think disciples would be applauding his standing up to the thugs In the House, preservation of executive privilege, and saving the constitutional republic.
8
Pretty sure Obama never commited any impeachable offenses. That's rather significant, wouldn't you say? Further, what you incorrectly label as "group think" is far better than no think at all. I don't recall Obama ever being accused of thuggery. Then there's president scofflaw. He supports the preservation of nothing but himself.
25
Not at all- this newspaper supported the Clinton impeachment. Enough with the “both sides” argument. You are as much as admitting that Trump’s defense has no legal justification.
6
Pure speculation with no basis in fact.
3
"Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill"
[sown into a pillow lying next to Malcolm Forbes who is sitting on a couch inside "The Highlander" in a photo accompanying an article about superyachts in today's NYT]
6
So, with such a campaign heavy blitz coming up, are any of you people in the press going to determine if the Trump Campaign or RNC are paying for them? Do you know if the Trump Campaign or RNC have paid for any of his campaign events since he filed for re-election in January 2017?
Trump's also got $800,000 in local police security charges from all over the country from the last 2+ years.
I don't recall Obama getting the kind of non-coverage of what he or DNC were paying for campaign events. But, then, you always let Republicans lead you around by the nose & if they aren't telling you what to cover, it doesn't get covered.
13
Let us never forget a key fact when comparing the reactions of Presidents Clinton and Trump to Congressional attempts to gather information in their impeachment inquiries: Clinton was targeted because he had an affair with a White House intern; Trump is being targeted because he pressured a foreign leader to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. House Republicans who were gung ho to impeach Clinton for a purely personal transgression are dead-set against even an inquiry into one of the most egregious abuses of presidential powers ever to come to light.
956
@DbB
To add, many of Clinton's accusers on the other side of the aisle were committing the very same transgressions while cross examining him during the impeachment trial about an affair between two Consenting Adults.
149
@DbB
That is it in a nutshell.
Republicans operate on a system of do as I say not as I do.
Ever notice how Trump exaggerates everything so he can brag on it? But provable things like his tax returns and school records he sues to keep hidden.
Things that make you go hmmm.
56
@DbB "Clinton was targeted because he had an affair with a White House intern." Can we rephrase that to eliminate irrelevant details? ie, "Clinton was targeted because he had an affair." Doesn't that sound ridiculous? That a powerful married man had an affair with a woman legally and morally able to give consent, then and now, is a matter of concern to 3 parties. The woman's job is not relevant. That leaves us with "Clinton was targeted."
48
Trump's a consummate bad faith actor and a liar. His corruption is only exceeded by his cowardice. His advisers are trying to get control of the House process, so they can quash it.
The Democrats need to proceed on their own terms, since they have the Constitution and the law on their side, whereas Trump only has delusions of "regicide" and autocratic hubris driving this effort (along with whatever foreign assistance he's receiving from autocrats).
459
@Daibhidh Trump has no clue about Civics 101.
He is totally ignorant of Constitutional procedures and norms.
His history is one of lying, cheating, distorting information.
We elected this man and now we pay the price: possibly another war in the Middle east, confusion among U.S. citizens, confusion among allies around the world in monetary affairs, and all sorts of stability issues.
Where are the GOP leaders of the once revered Moral Majority? The GOP has no leaders.
12
@Daibhidh
And 63 million Americans including 58% of the white voting majority went with Trump in 2016.
Trump didn't run a covert stealthy subtle campaign. Every American knew who Donald Trump was and was not and voted accordingly.
The Democrats don't have Fox News nor Benjamin Netanyahu nor Kim Jong Un nor Vladimir Putin nor Mohammed bin Salman on their side.
7
Impeachment has nothing to do with polls or popularity contests. It is the duty of congress to impeach the man (the masterbaker). Don't drag this thing out. Look what is happening to the Kurds. Who is going to turn on next?
it's a shame the United States is not part of the world court. He may be your leader,but his crazed actions affect the whole planet.
497
@Tom
Poland perhaps?
Then again, Trump has a love affair with Central and East European slavic peoples. But we all know that in Trumplandia none of that matters.
6
The letter from Trump’s legal team only goes to prove what we already knew; they think he is a king, not a president. That is why his defenders are calling his impeachment “regicide.”
696
@wildwest Trump’s legal team doesn’t think “he is a king”; they know he is guilty. They know that his minions, including Mike Pence, the Secretary of State and the attorney general, could not testify truthfully before Congress without providing even more credible, incriminating evidence for impeachment. Therefore, the only remaining strategy is to refuse to cooperate, while discrediting the inquiry and impeachment process.
This is a political strategy but, at base, also a legal one - politics is where you go, when there is no legal defense. Also where you go when the witnesses could not serve your goals without committing perjury.
The political strategy, in other words, is a smokescreen for the legal one. If you have good law, argue the law. If you have bad law, argue the facts. If you have both bad law and bad facts, attach the process and blame the prosecutor.
The White House counsel’s memo actually says, “he’s guilty.”
166
@wildwest
Right.
"Regicide" = a) king + b) killing.
"Impeachment" involves neither a) nor b).
25
@RCT
Mitch McConnell, Trump's prime enabler could stop him with one phone call.
Mitch does NOTHING to protect our country as he watches Trump repeatedly abuse his power, obstruct justice, defy congressional subpoenas, collude with Russia, destroy longtime alliances and order the immediate slaughter of our Kurdish allies who just helped us defeat ISIS.
Forget Trump, he is a lost cause.
Focus on Mitch McConnell.
McConnell has all the power to stop Donald Trump today but he instead enables and actively encourages Trump to create chaos, divide our nation and destroy our democracy.
17
A president who is innocent needs to be an example for young people being taught to obey laws. Standing up for himself before the House in an impeachment inquiry would demonstrate faith in the law. If he is innocent, he needn't dodge the Constitutional crisis he's creating.
Abraham Lincoln stressed how a house divided against itself cannot stand.
467
@Michael shenk
American prisons are full of people who are presumed innocent but locked up because they can't afford to pay bail.
The 4th and 5th and 6th Amendments are essential if you are innocent and poor while black and brown in America.
Abraham Lincoln was talking about a violent civil war. Partisan politics inherently divides our limited power constitutional republic of united states.
2
@Michael shenk
Constituitional law says the House can configure the Impeachment any way it wants, and is not required to have a vote to begin any inquiry. That is the law that Trump must follow to set an example for young people. Read the Constitution.
3
Reading Mr Baker’s article makes clear how astonishing it was that Mr Clinton could remain president after the Lewinsky matter became public. My heavens.
1
Why on earth would anyone expect trump to follow the law when he’s been skirting it his entire life? This man has no regard for our laws or our constitution, and his GOP minions are actually defending his lawlessness and corruption. The GOP has willingly lowered itself into the trump abyss of depravity.
64
Mirror the Clinton rules. Take the argument away. Why not?
1
Trump’s strategy is that of the authoritarian, corrupt politician and two-bit crook: accuse your victims: “I had to do it, they were going to kill/hurt/steal from me.” Yeah, right.
33
Steve Bannon wants to “destroy the administrative state.” Now you know what that looks like.
32
https://www.justsecurity.org/66534/white-house-letter-distorts-both-law-and-history-on-impeachment/. from another constitutional legal scholar
4
Donald Trump claims he cannot be impeached because he is Donald Trump. Clearly that does not stand as a legal argument. Should it stand politically we still will be damaged. Law and politics are not separate entities. They are two mirrors facing each other. You cannot break one without changing the other.
25
@Harry Finch
You can't break one without losing the reflection in the other.
1
The headline is definitely President Trump positive as is the case for due process. Impeachment by Speaker of the House fiat is a precedent that needs to be fought tooth and nail. Just think if the Republicans had launched an impeachment hearing against President Obama around Fast & Furious or the targeting of conservative for tax audits
1
You forget that those were bogus scandals cooked up in the fevered imagination of the right wing propaganda machine. Nice try but Obama and his administration were the most incorrupt in modern history. How about comparing how the GOP impeached Clinton for lying about sex with an intern?
1
This article doesn't dig into why the House won't take up the vote. It would provide for a more well-rounded story.
6
@KD
1. FIRST THERE'S AN INQUIRY.
2. THEN THERE'S A "VOTE" TO START IMPEACHMENT
3. THEN THERE'S A VOTE ON THE ARTICLE(S) OF IMPEACHMENT.
Understand the process now?
4
@KD They don’t have to. Republicans changed the House rules to give the majority subpoena power. The minority is playing games for political advantage. Democrats are rightly telling them to go scratch. Trump can obstruct all he wants but he can’t stop his impeachment.
2
@KD
Pelosi doesn’t want vulnerable Dems on record.
1
Does Trump really have a choice---to preserve what is left of his terrible administration he must stonewall Congress. There are so many smoking guns out in the public right now, if he were to cooperate we would have a virtual mushroom cloud of evidence to remove him from office.
7
Let's see: flaunting the rule of law AND The Constitution. Yep, that sounds like EXACTLY the recipe for getting the public to your side.
7
Deny. Distract. Discredit. Same old strategy, different self-inflicted crisis. - C
8
Some strong , positive precedents had better be set right now. If not, the next wannabe tinpot who comes along will push the limits even further.
If that happens , all of the fine things we learned about our government will be fond memories. All of the men and women who died for concepts like republic, democracy, patriotism, etc. will have died for nothing. Can you imagine anyone dying for the likes of Donald J. Trump or Moscow Mitch McConnell?
29
@Patrick alexander Yes, the Kurds.
4
Trump is a proven liar and a cheater, he can't stand in the court of law. He will always loose there.. so he is preparing his own militia to threaten the social fabirc of the USA for his personal power and gain.. and off-course GOP is enabling him.
But GOP & Trump don't realize that their share of bad actions is finally catching up and they have been caught.. now it's up to the sane people of patriot Americans to put them in jail..
Let's start with Giuliani.
12
Amazing, they're the "if they have nothing to hide crowd." So hypocritical...Obviously he has lots to hide.
8
I like and agree with your comment. Trump supporters always claim that they have no problem with a surveillance state because they have nothing to hide. On the other hand, they support President Trump hiding information about himself. You can’t have it both ways. Unless of course, Trump indeed has something to hide.
1
"impeachment is an unconstitutional effort to overturn the 2016 presidential election..." Impeachment is every bit as Constitutional as the Electoral College that put in place a President who received almost 3 million fewer votes than his opponent.
As for Trump's "base" anybody who would vote for him will vote for him. His cultish followers are at 100% capacity behind him. The only people he's motivating with these behaviors are those who against him who might have sat this one out.
His childish victimology and constant whining are as bad or worse than the incessant lying. Meanwhile, Kurds are being massacred while Trump's Republicans do absolutely nothing.
27
Every impeachment overturns an election.
Best of all is the outrage about impeaching a “sitting president”, as though there were ever impeachments of ex-presidents. Not a bad idea though. I’m looking at you, George Bush.
3
Trump supporters argue that impeachment overturns the results of a democratically elected president. In other words, they want to protect democracy. But they also support a president who is a grave threat to that democracy.
In examining efforts by Mr. Cippolone and Mr. Sekulow establish Mr Trumps supremacy over the rule of law, it is instructive to consider the rise and fall of Hans Frank, personal attorney to Adolf Hitler.
Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Party, the precursor of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). He took part in the failed Beer Hall Putsch, and later became Adolf Hitler's personal legal adviser as well as the lawyer of the NSDAP. In 1933, Frank joined the Hitler Cabinet as Reich Minister without portfolio.
After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Frank was appointed Governor-General of the occupied Polish territories. During his tenure, he instituted a reign of terror against the civilian population and became directly involved in the mass murder of Jews.[1] He engaged in the use of forced labour and oversaw four of the extermination camps; the policies of enslavement and extermination would later be used extensively in conquered territories of the Soviet Union. By 1942 Frank had lost Hitler's favour, but remained head of the General Government until its collapse in early 1945.
After the war, Frank was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials. He was sentenced to death and executed by hanging in October 1946. -Wikipedia
Men like these, completely devoid of morality and principle, who serve as the architects of their master’s policies of destruction and cruelty—are sooner or later held to account for their crimes.
14
@DoTheMath Yes, sometimes. But it's my observation that those times are rare, and entirely dependent upon the prevailing, but very fickle winds. - C
2
We hear over and over that Impeachment is a political, not a legal process. President Trump is simply far better at politics than the Democrats and the Media. That's why he will win this fight.
1
@Dan Lorey
Regressives don't understand the difference.
Impeachment is WRITTEN into the constitution, therefore, it is a LEGAL process, and it's "constritutionality" is without question, that is, to anyone other than Trump and his cohorts.
1
@Dan Lorey He’s going to be impeached.
1
Regardless ones' opinion of Trump, good, bad, or indifferent, one has to admire his clearly innate ability to flumox and hinder, if not entirely stop, all attempts to undo his Presidency.
Now, that said, know that I personally believe he is unfit to be President and the sooner he is gone the sooner we will be able to get back to some standard of normalcy here in our fraught nation.
I predict that if the House continues with the impeachment inquiry, and succeeds, the Senate will not convict, as occurred with Bill Clinton, and regrettably this ill-advised attempt to impeach will be the main driver behind Trump winning his second term.
Sometimes, in my wildest imaginings, I can't help but feel that in truth our Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer democrats, aka the Democratic Party, are all silent partners with Trump and his Republican partners, and together they are on a mission to annihilate our Democracy and complete this several decades long drive to authoritarian rule.
3
@Mel Farrell So all attempts to hold him accountable should cease and THAT will lead to his reelection? Better to do the right thing and let the votes call where they may.
4
@Mel Farrell Nice Trump talking point. Trump’s base is not getting any bigger, impeachment or not.
3
The House had to start impeachment, Trump’s violation of the constitution was just too blatant. If the Senate refuses to convict, it may still seriously damage Trump and the Republican Party.
3
Legal proceedings have rules and procedures to ensure fairness to all parties and to protect the rights of the accused. Because the House has refused to abide by such protocols, the impeachment inquiry is not a bona fide legal proceeding. Therefore the White House has no obligation to cooperate.
If an impeachment ends up before the Senate, I expect that the Republicans will ensure that the President will be afforded all of the rights of any criminal defendant. This would include broad discovery to support his defenses. Furthermore, the Senate would be likely to consider only properly authenticated, admissible evidence. A pretrial motion might even persuade Justice Roberts to throw out the impeachment.
It would behoove the Democrats to take all of this into consideration before moving forward. The political blowback of an impeachment could be extraordinary.
2
@Fred Dorbsky Roberts doesn’t have the power to stop the process.
1
You are confused- the House has not violated any legal protocols. There is no requirement that they have to vote to start an inquiry, they vote on impeachment after the inquiry is over. The President however, by defying the constitutional authority of the House to investigate, is in violation of the constitution and his oath of office.
1
As stated in the article, the House of Representatives..."shall have sole Power of Impeachment" (Article 1, Section 2). And that's it. There really are no rules. For either side. You could argue that there is precedent. But does that always have to be followed? And there really isn't a lot to go on with regards to impeachments. Impeachment is a political process. That, apparently, was the Framer's intent. And a large part of that, in today's world, is the campaign, or campaigning. I guess that's what makes it all so fascinating.
2
@CC
But we have not heard from the House of Representatives, 435 members, Democrats and Republicans. Only Ms. Pelosi spoke, without a vote backing her decision. Perhaps there is a reason to follow the precedents.
1
Still- there is no requirement that a vote be held to start an inquiry. You can bet that master vote counter Pelosi knew she had the majority before she announced the inquiry.
1
I thought Bill C. was a great President and, I abhor Trump, so it is interesting and illuminating for me to learn Clinton, essentially reacted the same way as Trump during his impeachment.
2
@michael
A well raised person will have learned to win and lose with class and dignity. There's nothing more ugly than a poor loser.
2
The article states, “Mr. Trump, who on Tuesday denounced the ‘kangaroo court,’ told reporters on Wednesday that he could change his mind and cooperate if the House voted to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry.”
Based on Trump’s past behavior, I do not believe for a moment that Trump will ever cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, regardless of whether the inquiry has been “formalized.” Based on Trump’s past behavior, I believe that Trump will continue to resist any attempts at oversight or accountability.
Remember, for example, after the drubbing taken by the GOP in the 2018 midterm elections, Trump stated categorically that neither he nor anyone under his authority would comply with *any* House subpoena, regardless of merit. Remember too the long, litigious, and widely documented business history of Trump and the Trump Organization, in which their primary tactic in the over *4,000* lawsuits to which they have been party, has been to stonewall, and to withhold, redact, alter or destroy legally requested documents and evidence.
So, no, this article states just another one of Trump’s red herrings. I do not believe that he will ever voluntarily cooperate with an impeachment inquiry. Moreover, if he is painted into a legal corner, I believe that he will take as many people with him and destroy as much as possible in his way down.
7
In their efforts to impeach,
Trumps says the Dems have overreached.
He claims the process is unfair,
While weaving falsehoods from thin air.
Our nation's fate is being tested;
It's clear Trump's power must be wrested.
5
What Trump has always wanted. The ability to sue everyone and everything with someone else shouldering the cost. The American people.
2
This is it, make no mistake about it. We're talking about whether or not the Constitution will remain intact as our over-arching principle of democracy. The consequences of it not doing so are unimaginable. It is sickening that anyone would support Trump's position of non-cooperation with Congress (with the exception of Trump himself, of course - he would do anything to save himself).
I strongly suggest that everyone read David Leonhardt's column today that provides a roadmap for all concerned parties on how to react to this challenge. That includes the courts, lawmakers and we the people.
1
While it is highly unlikely that Trump would actually cooperate with the House requests for documents and subpoenas to testify if a vote to authorize the inquiry were held, I wonder if a voice vote on the issue were held in which the measure is passed without revealing the vote of any particular House member would suffice to meet his request and reveal that it is merely a delaying tactic. Leader Pelosi, call his bluff!
1
@Bob Parker Why not a standard vote?
2
@Buster Dee Because Trump wants each Dem who won a "red" district to go on record as favoring the investigation, and he thinks that will work against them. However, it will also require each Republican to go on record against (or for) which may also hurt them. Not sure if a formal vote will really matter. However, I don't think Trump will ever willingly cooperate with an investigation.
Only the guilty stonewall! And, the polling results show that public is understanding that.
3
I’m having a hard time seeing how Trump’s letter made things any different than they were last week. Trump has fought every inquiry and investigation and has generally negotiated in bad faith with Congress continually. Yet because he put it in writing and had a lawyer sign it now we’re in the constitutional crisis!
President Donald Trump and those who enable him are con artists and liars, and they’ve declared themselves above Congressional oversight. They need to be treated by Congress appropriately. Lewandowski’s arrogance during his testimony was effectively deflated by Barry Berke and Democrats need to use that as their model. And committee members need to remind Trump’s enablers that the Capitol Police do have a jail.
Trump won the presidency with active help from a foreign government, obstructed the investigation into it, and immediately, openly engaged another foreign government for help in the 2020 election as Mueller was winding down. Trump has always thought that he’s above the law. (And you can see how he might because he gets away with everything.) Congress needs to stop him. After decades of Donald Trump there is literally no one else left.
2
The plain fact is that we all have to obey the law, or we find ourselves arrested and jailed. Trump is a citizen-president. He is not above the law because he lives in the White House. By letting him declare himself outside the law he weakens our entire judicial system. Why should any of us have to obey any law? Why do we believe Trump is untouchable, while the rest of us are at the mercy of police and prosecutors? Rather than defend his contempt for the law, I would think regular Americans would resent his elitist and privileged attitude.
4
Long past time to treat these who defy the law as would we any others: levy fines and put individuals behind bars for contempt until they comply.
“Law and order” republics need to have their feet held to the fire. We cannot have two systems of justice, one for the White House (and all who ever associated with it, by their own caveat) and one for everyone else.
All those complicit with contempt are guilty of obstruction. This needs to be made clear with teeth.
2
The refusal of the House to hold a public vote on impeachment is a horrible tactical mistake by the House. As the public comes to understand this thinly-veiled political device to avoid accountability on this most important Constitutional power, it will turn against the House.
Vote now to authorize impeachment; failure to do so will doom the effort!
6
“Trump’s sweeping case against impeachment is a political strategy.” How
about the art of chicanery to achieve political gains. This best describes Trump.
2
So now we have the situation of letting the Kurds try and defend itself against the second largest army in NATO. Republicans lawmakers are furious but still afraid of Trump and his base.
Pelosi was right. Just get out of the way and let Trump implode and then just take notes for articles of impeachment.
5
Democrats left themselves open for this by 1.) Calling for impeachment since the day he was elected 2.) Not bringing a vote to floor of the House to authorize and provide order to the impeachment inquiry.
4
Maybe Trump is right when he says people have been trying to get rid of him as president since he took the oath of office.
He tries to make it a plea, that he is a victim. But in reality, he makes a point. Yes, in order to save our country from this reckless, inept man, there has been an effort to get him out of the White House.
What he doesn’t get is that there is reason. He knows nothing about government, never did. He’s created utter chaos in every direction - even his wife warned about that, with supposed humor. People knew he’d endanger our country and put us at risk in many ways. He’s made his family our top country’s advisors - mainly because that’s all he knew and that’s all he’s trusted.
He made a man who graduated from college with a degree in animal science our leader of energy, Rick Perry. And he made a woman with absolutely no college degree in education Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVoS. In addition, so many bad choices - and the revolving door of those who trusted him and thought they could better our country? They got a whiff of him and the door is still going round and round.
The Women’s March has pretty much been dismantled and dispersed in so many directions. But I’m proud to say I was there in DC on that January, 2017 day. We protested Donald Trump. We knew what we were doing and what would lie ahead.
And yes, we joined the ranks of millions across the world that wanted Donald Trump gone from our White House.
Correct, Donald.
7
Congress does need to move forward as steadily and deliberatley as need be to insure that all of the facts, and all of the counts are complete, viable and undeniable (to reasonable people) in this Impeachment inquiry.
Mr Trump fully realizes that not only is he fighting for his political life, he is fighting to stay out of jail, keep his "empire" no matter how great or small it really is and to salvage something for his family who he presumably has some loyalty to live on. He is a gutter fighter and the Dems need to realize this and proceed accordingly. This fight is going to get uglier and we need to brace ourselves for the worst and then fight for the best outcome for this country.
3
What we seem to be in the midst of is effectively a coup. Republican's refusal to hold the President accountable has led to a flagrant, constitutionally abhorrent disregard for Congressional subpoenas. The Justice Department has been corrupted to do the President's bidding, further eroding the rule of law. And, tragically the level of foreign influence in the Administration has risen to the point that we have destroyed the Kurds and re-opened Syria to ISIS activity that will not only threaten the Middle East but the US and our allies as well.
The President now commits treason in full view and his cronies have made the legal case that he is immune from investigation- not only indictment and conviction.
This is a plea to Republicans in the Senate. This may be the last juncture in US history to stop an authoritarian leader from effecting a coup. Impeachment is now imperative. We are now racing against the clock and the longer Trump is allowed to remain in office, the more likely he will trigger a "Reichstag fire" and the further use of emergency powers- completing what he set out to do.
In the early days of the Administration few believed that in just 4 years the institutions of democracy could be so manipulated by one man and his henchman - to so subvert the Constitution as to effectively execute a coup. By now, I hope that the President's intent is clear. What is not clear is the patriotism of Republicans in the Senate.
7
Trump isn’t trying to “convince” anyone of anything. He knows that his base will literally excuse anything. Literally.
This is about hiding evidence of a crime/impeachable offense. And it’s really as simple as that. They all know what he did was wrong. That’s why they hid the conversation in a highly classified “locked down” system. That’s called consciousness of guilt.
2
This is yet another Trump scam to bait the Congress. His last ditch will be to negotiate an exit from the White House with full immunity. Congress should not make a deal, proceed with impeachment proceedings and add a provision, that if found guilty by the Senate, he is removed from office and stripped of all benefits, fiduciary pensions, security details and medical benefits!
5
Trump, Giuliani, Pompeo and the entire white house has been using gaslighting to convince the public that this is a witch hunt or politically motivated investigation into his actions as president.
Even if it were true, if he has done nothing wrong then that would come out, however it's more likely that he has acted against the office he holds and the investigation will prove that, which is what he fears.
His use of his office to obstruct the investigation also shows that he is afraid of it and it's consequences.
4
The only thing Donald Trump and friends have accomplished is to build a wall between the left and the right. Can't fly without both wings.
4
It’s sickening to see trump rewriting the constitution to fit his situation.
We are living in a de facto dictatorship and his cabinet members and republicans in congress are abetting the crime by ignoring their oaths of office.
Now is the time for patriots to stand up and take action. This lawlessness doesn’t suit either party but sets the stage for others to act in a similar manner. Congress can’t be dissolved the way the British can make changes in Parliament. It’s disgraceful to see the actions of our congress where little is being enacted and even less is being enforced.
5
Two thirds of the atrociously malapportioned senators don’t even stand for election in 2020.
1
"Mr. Trump, who on Tuesday denounced the “kangaroo court,” told reporters on Wednesday that he could change his mind and cooperate if the House voted to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry. “Yeah, that sounds O.K.,” he said. “We would if they give us our rights. It depends.”"
Presidents who abuse the law don't get "rights" or any say over how he's investigated for his abuses.
Moreover, by now Donald Trump's traps are so obvious that anyone would be an abject fool to believe him.
Leave it to this corrupt president to try to dictate the terms of his impeachment to Congress--yes, the branch of government that supercedes the executive.
The jury is still out if this democratic republic will still be standing once this president finally leaves office.
25
The complete Impeachment rules in the US Constitution for the House of Representatives Article 1, Section 2: "The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."
6
Trump has brought his business “acumen” to the Presidency. In a word: bankrupt.
7
I will say it again, people who have nothing to hide--cooperate. People who have something to hide--obstruct! It is that simple..
34
I love the irony of the photo accompanying this article: Trump posed carefully in front of a painting of Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy would not only despise Trump thoroughly, but take a horsewhip to his sorry hide.
131
@Michael Willhoite I would pay to see that.
2
Considering. every egregeious statement Trump has made on film to the public there are more than enough reasons for impeachment. It's is frightening to think of the evil committed under the radar. Republicans propelled an unfit human in all respects into the highest office in the country. Just the statements made yesterday....the Kurds weren't in Normandy....allies have been taking advantage of us ...,and ISIS prisoners can go to Europe. He is a National Security risk and those who were fired or left on their own volition need to speak up. Hear that Muellar from your nice new comfortable office? You had the opportunity to put the brakes on this disaster, as a former Marine, put yourself in the position the Kurds face.
8
“Mr. Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he could change his mind and cooperate. ‘Yeah, that sounds O.K.,’ he said. ‘We would if they give us our rights. It depends.’”
“It depends”, if the House votes for impeachment then Trump could change his mind and not cooperate. “It depends” on Trump’s stable genius, which is not stable most of the time. “It depends” on his 12,019 lies!
11
Of course this nonsense is intended to divert Trump’s base with “baseless” disinformation and distraction. Based on some of the comments here, it is working.
So be it. Let the process work. Let the truth be revealed. To anyone with their own eyes, ears and a touch of objectivity can see that the truth is far worse for Trump than obstruction.
Obstruction is a legal concept he can twist like a partisan driven pretzel before the Senate impeachment trial.
His crimes, possible treason and malfeasance, well .... it’s best we talk about something else.
7
@Lars What you think using the power of the Presidency for personal gain is a problem? You think Trump may insist the Kurds turn over the arms we provided them to Turkey, because Trump needed a distraction?
You think the current Republicans may actually care about America before reelection?
Yeah maybe hope for the Supreme Court to actually allow the process to work. IF Trump allows them to.
2
Trump to America; "Not Me".
His Emergency Declaration of the 5th Amendment Right to not incriminate himself with facts.
What stops the House from impeaching Trump numerous times?
Why not impeach for obstruction right now, including and of his impeachable underlings who aided the obstruction; then impeach again over the Ukraine call.
Make impeachment trials the cornerstone of the 2020 campaign, make the GOP have to campaign on Trump's abject failures.
3
The letter has no legal merit. We all knew that as soon as it was published. The Ukraine manipulation was a campaign finance issue and was the President failing to uphold the duties of his office by placing his own interests above those of US citizens. There have been years and years worth of actions where his benefit is priority over the laws and interests of the country. To say the need to remove this President is political or partisan or overreach is completely ridiculous. Even Tucker Carlson is turning against Trump now. Give it up, conservatives made a poor choice. Move on and make better decisions in the future, but you have to live with this choice who resides as 1600 Penn Ave right now. And judge his performance on its merit. How many conservative principles has he turned on their heads? How many times does black need to become white? How many times does the US need to look foolish and unhinged on the international stage? How many allies should we betray before we stop supporting his leadership...or lack there of.
7
Pelosi and all patriotic members of the House should counsel the leading Constitutional law experts from all over our country but particularly the Midwest. If all impeachment inquiry efforts proceed perfectly within the bounds of clear Constitutional law, then Trump will be pinned on the mat to be either Constitutional or “above the law”. A White House Counsel willing to send letters like this, will only send him to the mat sooner.
1
Trump is attempting something outrageous in a far more modern era than Nixon even thought of attempting. His selfishness knows no bounds. Hopefully those Republican Senators who he has verbally assaulted will not allow him to do the same to the Office he tenuously holds and our Constitution.
Someone more knowledgeable than I please answer: I thought the White House counsel’s job is to protect the institution of the Executive, not the individual who holds the job. That role is a personal attorney, ie Giuliani. Should not the White House counsel be the one telling Trump he’s in jeopardy for violating the terms of the Executive, rather than writing this misleading and nonsensical letter?
51
In a normal administration, yes.
4
Remember Richard Nixon tried to obstruct Congress and lost in a precedent-setting case in the Supreme Court. It will be up to the high court once again to enforce the Constitution which under Article I grants the impeachment power to Congress and forces the Executive branch to comply. It would be shocking if Chief Justice John Roberts would defy the Nixon precedent and the "separation of powers" even if the other conservatives on the court would. Hopefully, Roberts will enforce the Constitution and bring along one or two conservatives when this reaches the court as it appears almost certain that it will.
20
@Paul Wortman our beloved country will crumble internally if they do not ...
4
Let’s not forget that Clinton was impeached over lying over something perfectly legal that had nothing to do with the subject of the investigation, while it is clip and clear that Trump stands to be impeached over pressuring a foreign country to find dirt on a political opponent (illegal), baselessly lying that his opponent is corrupt, and then hiding the evidence on a top secret server. Clinton had every right to be incensed, Trump is just being hypocritical and trying to bully the House Democrats with legalistic huffing and puffing and humbug.
62
The more the White House stonewalls the more articles of impeachment Congress can present. This is why Pelosi is concentrated on the Ukraine affair. That way the WH’s claim that this is all a continuation of the past three years doesn’t pass muster.
16
As far as I am concerned, Trump is a lifelong crook and those who support him are in deep denial about this very flawed man or willing to join forces with him for their own gain.
In the latest scandal, Trump asked a foreign leader, expecting aid from the US to defend against the Russians, to investigate his main 2020 political opponent. That is considered high crime per the constitution.
For this very serious transgression, Trump needs to be impeached, post haste, and he needs to be removed from office. Anything less is a sign of a weak and spineless America that is being run by a motley crew of crooks and bigots.
48
Sometimes it seems Republican lawmakers and voters are like an army of zombies. But this issue with Turkey and the Kurds seems to have waken them up. Let’s see what happens, though, when Trump tells them to sit down and shut up.
20
Trump has created this very unique situation in which his fans are going to support him no matter what. In this perspective, refusing to cooperate might be the best strategy.
The Senate is not going to vote for removing him, at least on the basis of what they have by now against him, so the less evidence comes out from the inquiry, the better it is for him.
4
Trump's strategy is failing. 51% of Fox viewers favor impeachment and removal from office.
42
It’s a Fox News Poll, not a poll of Fox News voters, unfortunately. The base won’t let up.
11
Can this be true? When was this poll conducted?
1
@Jake
The article seems to create the impression that Trump has a case because Peter Baker is a very objective and unbiased member of the mainstream media. For example, his reporting on WH stonewalling:
“At its core, it is born out of the cold calculation that Mr. Trump probably cannot stop the Democrat-led House from impeaching him, so the real goal is to delegitimize the process.”
That doesn’t sound like Mr. Baker thinks Trump has a case.
4
Like a cornered rat, Trump will do anything to avoid having to face the consequences of his actions or admit he is wrong. This is the culmination of a career built upon bullying self-interest. Be prepared. He will incite violence and armed rebellion. Sane minds must stand firm or we will witness the destruction of our country.
51
"Audacious" has an unavoidably complimentary meaning, not even a connotation: a denotation: bold. As in fortune favors the....
How about "reckless"?
It's amazing how badly these things are done. The one thing the Trump team knows how to do is manipulate the media, and you're all-too-willing to let him. Called enemies of the people; respond with complimentary headlines.
Yeah, that's "objective."
6
We do not need anymore evidence of a Spoiled Brat in the Presidency.We have sufficient. Trump does not know how to function in that office. Frankly he lacks the Brains and the Character.The fool has already started a needless war. He must be stopped.
4
Trump's superpower is that he's a criminal with no shame. Once you combine that with a contempt for law and nation, you will are officially a dictator.
7
Trump is a gaslighting lawbreaker who has happily hid behind his lawyers, accountants and his daddy's money for 70 years.
He has no business near elected office and never could have been President with FOX news, hate radio, fake-reality TV and massive Republican voter suppression conspiring to make him the greatest Presidential impostor in American history.
His amorality, immorality and unindicted criminality are inevitably coming into clear focus now and he has fully earned impeachment, conviction and criminal indictment for his reckless behavior.
"People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook." - Richard Nixon
We have another crooked Presidential 'winner' !
32
@Socrates Not amorality. That implies willful acceptance. Trump is immoral.
2
Does he qualify as a fascist yet? The suspense is killing me.
23
Trump is using death as a distraction in Syria. He is an extreme sociopath, incapable of shame or guilt with literal blood on his hands. There will be no limit to what he will do to save himself and this Kurd betrayal may just be a test of how the public reacts as a prelude for a war using American troops
5
So much time spent on attempting to validate an illegitimate president whose mind is ravaged by malignant narcissism personality disorder, an incurable disease, is destroying our Democracy. He should have been impeached and removed from office two years ago.
73
So, it’s going to come down to whether the Supreme Court supports the Congressional authority to issue subpoenas and conducting their constitutional duty of oversight of the executive branch (it is the majority of the House of Representatives that is conducting this inquiry) That’s why I voted for them. If they don’t get to investigate, then we are no longer a democracy.
130
The Executive Branch has powers under Article II of the Constitution EQUAL to those of Congress under Article I.
That’s why we call it the BALANCE of Powers.
3
Asking the Supreme Court to confirm Congressional authority is analogous to asking the Supreme Court for confirmation whether we should be still driving on the right side of the road.
4
So if all of this is political, let’s get down to it.
Will the fact of the impeachment effort persuade some independents to vote Democratic in the upcoming primaries and more importantly, the general?
And particularly, will these fence-sitters vote blue in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina?
Are we really reduced to this degree of political theater over 250,000 votes?
22
@Cousy: This is not political theater. Trump pressured a foreign head of state to investigate a political opponent on frivolous charges of corruption to benefit his own election, while withholding military aid to prevent a US foe from incursions into Ukraine. That’s illegal and an impeachable offense. Then his minions hid the evidence of Trump’s illegal actions on a top secret server not meant for storing “congratulary” presidential phone calls.
7
"President Trump is making the sweeping assertion that he can ignore Congress"? Which "Congress"? The Democrat "congress"? It is obvious from the facts that so far the "impeachment inquiry" (an invented notion that has no base in the U.S. Constitution) is a PARTISAN effort to unseat a duly elected president, and not a search for truth.
2
@Eduard C Hanganu
Sometime, I wonder why we even try.
The absurdity:
"It is obvious from the facts that so far the "impeachment inquiry" (an invented notion that has no base [sic] in the U.S. Constitution)..."
Reality:
"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
—Article II, Section 4
"The House of Representatives ... shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."
— Article I, Section 2, Clause 5
An easy read:
"Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist 65, described impeachable offenses as arising from "the misconduct of public men, or in other words from the abuse or violation of some public trust."
Such offenses were "political, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States#Constitutional_provisions
8
@Eduard C Hanganu: Impeachment is by definition about removing an elected president, no different from the impeachments of Nixon and Clinton, so what’s your point? Please read the Constitution.
5
@Eduard C Hanganu Trump ignores everyone but himself; oh, wait, he listens to other tyrants. He made public vows to uphold our Constitution and its process. The House has the authority to decide on impeachment procedures, not Trump. The GOP has been acting in a partisan manner since at least Obama's presidency by obstructing various efforts of his. Now they are being complicit in allowing this administration to hide the truth at every turn. Please wake up.
6
As is the House's impeachment move (a political strategy). One begat the other.
4
You do recall Mueller's position that per DOJ policy a President cannot be indicted and that the only remedy for crimes is impeachment? Don't you?
4
What Watergate had, but this crisis doesn't have (yet), is a Daniel Ellsberg moment. An episode which so crystallizes what is wrong with trump; that no amount of denial or fairy tales can mask what is going on.
It could be a singular event such as trump being caught "red handed" selling out America; or a culmination of events such as his supplication before Putin in Helsinki; his abandonment of allies [the Kurds for example]) to name a few.
52
@Phil Hurwitz
The crystalizing event might well be the phone call that triggered the investigation. We need to see more evidence regarding Trump's apparent withholding of military aid to Ukraine in exchange for investigating Biden. There's a reason Trump and his minions don't want us seeing the hidden transcript or text/email communications between his messengers. Why block witness testimony under oath unless he's afraid of what we'll find out?
Legally, he should be impeached based on what he has already admitted to saying. Politically, it will take evidence of the "quid pro quo" that the Republicans have been howling about for them to admit he's a crook.
3
@Phil Hurwitz I think the call "transcript" is exactly that smoking gun. Had it been a recording it would've brought Trump down. It is a matter of perception.
3
It is not true. In light of the Russian collusion farce and the Dem’s unrelenting attacks on him, the President is correct to fight the impeachment inquiry. That is what Courts are for, as the Dems know very well. If the Dems in the House don’t have the courage to take a vote to start a real impeachment process (as happened the last 3 times there was an impeachment) and if they are going to let Adam Schiff run the show—even after his “parody” of the transcript and his lack of candor about his office’s contacts with the whistleblower/leaker, then Trump is right to use all legal means to fight back. And if the Dems have the votes now to begin formal impeachment proceedings, why don’t they? Perhaps because they know that will allow House Republicans to be put on equal footing in their ability to investigate, call witnesses, and expose the things the Dems don’t want exposed.
8
@ehillesum "Farce?". He is dismantling the country piece by piece and partners w dictators. Democracy is not on the program.
8
@ehillesum: The suspect in a police investigation has no standing in telling the police how to conduct that investigation and ordering police to let his accomplices in on the investigation.
8
You’re inventing things. A vote confers no rights on house republicans. And the constitution grants impeachment power to the house, full stop.
Before you accuse the Democrats of partisanship, please consider Trump’s own partisanship, from “dumping” asylum seekers to eviscerating the clean air act in California to calling them socialists and saying they hate America.
I didn’t invent any of that. He did.
10
The reason that Trump has always admired authoritarian dictators has become clear. They are his role models.
If we want to preserve our democracy, Trump must be stopped.
236
While this analysis seems comprehensive, it's actually astonishing in its omission. Just like with the Mueller "investigation," Mr. Baker neglects the most salient aspect of the entire event. The letter that the President sent to the House, while certainly laced with political tones (how could it not be!), is of much less importance than the release of the transcript of his call to the Ukrainian president. In that long and far reaching call, it is obvious that no quid pro quo was in play, and those that have read the entire transcript who still insist that there is, are merely insisting against reality. The President is not cooperating because he knows, just like with the Mueller "investigation," that he did nothing wrong, and that this entire effort of the democrat controlled House is but another attempt to remove an honestly elected president. President Trump is once again being framed by lawmakers who staged the entire event, just like they did with the Mueller "investigation." When all the smoke clears and AG Barr's reports, including Mr. Dunham's, are out will Mr. Baker then be able to face the true?
6
It is impossible to read that transcript and miss the fact that the president of the USA is encouraging a foreign leader to get involved in smearing a domestic political rival.
To attempt to dismiss it is to sink to a moral low that all Americans should be ashamed of.
8
You do understand that the call itself was a crime and whether or not there was a quid pro quo or not is irrelevant? Don't you?
12
@Len: A quid pro quo is not needed for Trump’s request to Zelensky to be illegal and an impeachable offense, although I do think there was a quid pro quo Mafia style as is Trump’s MO - “Nice little country you have there, it would by a pity if something happened to it... “.
6
@ Jeff Bezos: please buy twitter and end this crazy person’s account. Trump is loud because we give him a microphone. He’s able to succeed because he yells louder than those around him. He’s making a mockery of this impeachment and we are all complicit in allowing it to happen.
220
@Foodie
Or maybe buy Fox News?
The sad thing is, it will be a whack-a-mole game until the U.S. electorate itself gets educated and evolves.
21
@Foodie Jeff Bezos is an oligarch who got exceptionally rich by only caring about making money, not the ethics of how he's made it. There are no oligarchs to 'save' us.
3
This impeachment reminds us of all other partisan Democrat attempts to harass Republicans including the Thomas and Kavanaugh hearings, the fake Russian Collusion investigations, and Trump's locker room tapes released by NBC (who we now learn were trying to shelter Harvey Weinstein along with Weinstein's collaborator Hillary Clinton).
We know enough not to trust anything that Adam Schiff and partisan Dems and Progressives bring to us.
We elected Trump to do exactly what he is doing - to defy and mock the endless partisan harassment from Dems.
6
@Dan
You elected a wannabe dictator. Hope you enjoy the fruits of your efforts when he turns on you or throws you under the bus. Did you read Mueller's report? I did.
14
You sure have a short memory.
12
@Dan
Oh please. I used to agree with some Republican policies. This type of empty trope only confirms that the Republican party stopped being the party of reason and Lincoln and is now just a corrupt theocracy.
You've lost the young vote. You are condemned to oblivion.
24
Correct me if I’m wrong; does this headline, or does it not, deliberately create the impression that Trump has a case against impeachment, and that it’s “sweeping”?
68
@Jake I don’t read it that way. Trump’s approach is “sweeping,” but there is no claim that his case valid, not in the headline, and certainly not in the article.
15
I would have written it differently, I agree.
“Trump’s case against impeachment, seemingly lacking a legal foundation, goes political”.
13
@unreceivedogma Drop the "seemingly" ...
1
Strategy? What strategy? Mr. Trump is stumped.
He has nothing real to offer in this impossible deal to get Congress off his back. Lies, trumped up quasi-legal arguments - these will not help him. Trump is the world's worst legal client. Doesn't listen to legal advice and doesn't pay. Only a fool for a lawyer would represent him.
Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schiff will run circles around him. He has done all of this to himself and yet, will cast blame everywhere else.
Time and the law will bring him up short, along with all those who have stood by and done nothing about him.
165
The inquiry is analogous to a grand jury which requires none of the process that this poorly-written letter suggests. If the President’s lawyers want to make a similar request for these processes during the Senate trial, then it MIGHT be persuasive. However, the Constitution does not contain a required process or format for impeachment.
112
Ironically, the chest beating, flag waving “patriots” helped elect a law breaking N.Y. conman bc ooooh “Hillary’s emails,” “ the Clinton’s are so corrupt,” “ we can’t have another Clinton circus” .....
Trump is not doing anything revolutionary per Trump’s standards. Just his regular M.O.: lawyer up, stall, stall, stall, play filthy, go as low as he must (taking everyone around him down with him), stop at nothing to “win” with NO regard for ANYthing but his survival, his “win.”
If even a single person here is naive enough to think that Trump gives one whit about our great nation, about our institutions, ideals, history, norms, heck, even about plain decency and respect, then dream on.
Mystifying is why so many people are willing to sacrifice themselves at the altar of this cruel, mean, malevolent, man who thinks nothing of disrespecting anyone & anything.
And he does it because at the end of the day, the person he respects least is himself. Therefore, the need to demolish others. Not to go all Oprah but he displays the traits of a severely damaged psyche.
We need to strap up Bc he will destroy our country, sell us off to Putin, anything, in order to win.
Ps: the damage the Australian immigrant Rupert Murdoch ( and his minions) have unleashed on this country is unspeakable.
577
@Cindy
Thank you, thank you, thank you for summing up what a charlatan we have in the Whitehouse. We are doomed if this wannabe dictator isn't stopped in his tracks. He will sell the country out for another Trump hotel.
52
@Cindy
Imagine what Republicans would be saying if Trump were still a Democrat.
Remember "rule of law", "family values", the "intent of the Founders", "the shining city on the hill"?
If a Democrat President acted remotely as crazy as Trump, had half of his conflicts of interest, and conducted foreign policy as erratically, they would have impeached and convicted him in the first two years.
46
Hear, hear! Our country is in crisis, because people saw who Trump was, and didn’t care. As for those friends and family continue to support and even defend him: when people show you who they are, believe them. Republicans in Congress have shown us their priorities. Vote them out. Donate to Dems, work the phones, go door to door, attend town halls, and rid us of this very real threat to our democracy and our freedom. I’m 78, and there has never before in my life been such a frightening time.
35