Every time you hear Republicans mention the Mueller Russian investigation as a "witch hunt", someone needs to remind the public that Mueller left the decision of obstruction of the investigation to congress, who has every right to investigate and impeach
Some "Witch Hunt"
Mueller's team has charged 8 Americans affiliated with Trump, 13 Russian nationals, 12 Russian intelligence officers, 3 Russian companies, and two other people with federal crimes.
Roger Stone, long time Trump political consultant: five counts of obstruction of justice, one count of making false statements to Congress, and one count of witness tampering.
Trump long time personal lawyer Cohen- Cohen "acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1," an apparent reference to Trump that implicates him in campaign finance violation for payments to two women who said they had affairs with Trump that prosecutors said showed intention to influence the election.
Trump campaign manager Manafort: guilty -eight federal counts. Bank and tax fraud. Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice, conspiracy against the US. Additionally, separate indictment of counts of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent.
Manafort's "right-hand man" Konstantin Kilimnik
witness tampering, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.
That's just for starters
Do not limit the charges to Ukraine
Tax fraud, and obstruction of congress MUST be addressed
9
I think all republican senators should lose their seats, be fired, be sent home as they are not discharging their duties as elected officials to uphold the constitution when they are defending Trump’s actions publicly.
Politics has become the moving force, not love of country and upholding the rule of law.
Even so called moderate republican senators, while disagreeing with the president’s actions in interviews with the press, are not willing to grow a back bone and publicly denounce trump’s actions which are unconstitutional.
Shame on them!
8
Imagine if President Obama had committed this crime. The Republicans would be outside the Capital building with a cauldron of tar and bags of feathers.
10
It has been interesting to see all the discussion today on the "original intent" of the founders when drafting the Constitution as the legal scholars try to define "high crimes and misdemeanors." Perhaps this will result in some newfound respect for the actual words of the Constitution, rather than what some people would like it to say.
Trump has sucessfully obstructed the investigation and by doing so seriously weakened it's credibility among too many Americans.
Game over. Look to 2020.
Of course he did. And he will continue to do so. For the Republicans in Congress, this is not a bug, it’s a feature.
1
You all must really stop this!-get a good candidate and win the next election.
All of this is more disruptive to our system than Trump could ever be
This will go back and forth whatever group is in power, and the entire government will really stop functioning
7
@Labienus - Its the people like you who are truly frightening- to suggest that the outrageous corruption and criminal acts of this president are to be shirked off as nothing and too much trouble to bother with is why this country is in the dire state that it is in. Trump's acts are so much worse that even Nixon's. So sorry this seems such a bother to you, but not addressing this and bringing articles of impeachment against this guy would be the greatest travesty. If it's "inconvenient" so be it. It's shocking that so many of you can't understand this.
21
The article states that the White House has issued a directive forbidding potential witnesses from testifying. How is it not Obstruction of Justice for someone who is under investigation to forbid people from testifying? If I worked for a company that was under investigation and my boss said if I testified I would be fired, would this not be considered witness tampering or obstruction? I admit I did not attend law school, but even a law novice like myself can see that this should not be legal.
60
All of trump's crimes aside, wouldn't it feel good to have the entire trump clan gone from our lives? Imagine how our days would go if we could concentrate on the matters of our daily lives without feeling the embarrassment of the Oval Office occupant's behavior? Picture going about the challenges of our personal lives without having to keep an eye on our national treasure being siphoned off by trump family enterprises. I'll bet we could get back to making America greater than ever.
9
Our Constitution allows us to impeach any elected official. The founding fathers understood we the people have to have this right to counter any shenanigans from corrupt representatives. It is Paramount that we don't forget that our Democracy demands we have the rights to recall or impeach. In this way we avoid what other countries have to do, a violent revolution to take out these mad men. Let's be realistic that won't happen here because we are all too "busy" so this is the only way to send a message to others who want to make our country a third world nation run by criminals like Putin's Russia is. We must demand our representatives in Congress to do their duty which we elected them to do.
7
If Trump was is so serious about rooting out corruption he can start right here at home with his own family, move on to his cabinet, cronies, and "business associates". Ukraine? Don't make me laugh. Try Greenland next Don.
8
Of course this is what the report says. It was written by Schiff and the committee (Dems). I watched all the hearings and thought at the outset that Trump was busted. But after hours and days, all I can say is that most witnesses were very credible, but none actually had any first hand knowledge; impressions and opinions.
I don't care how much one hates Trump. Impeachment is very serious and should not be taken lightly or implemented out of political vengeance. I never thought Clinton should have been impeached, except that he foolishly lied to the committee; should have said none of your business!
1
What is ultimately the most criminal aspect o this doesn't stop with Ukraine or have anything to do with Russia. His quid pro quo is just one example among many or Trump misusing the presidency to pad his pockets. He is the ultimate grifter and the emoluments clause must be cited (and maybe the RICO statutes as well).
7
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is handy, too. It forbids Americans from illegal activities abroad, such as paying bribes to foreign officials in order to be allowed to build and operate a gambling casino in Macau. The moral of the story is you can buy your way out of any legal jam if you have too much money... until that fateful day when you can’t.
3
Dear NYT:
The House Intelligence Committee, demonstrating an arrogant disregard for the rules of evidence and logical inference, "concluded that President Trump tried to 'use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election.' ”
But this inference of presidential intent is not supported by any direct evidence. and the circumstantial case is at best muddy.
There is no evidence that President Trump explicitly asked Ukraine to interfere in any election whatsoever. Or that he was asking for help on behalf of his campaign -- as Clinton did of anonymous Russian spies recruited by Steele. Or that Trump's sole or predominant motive was to damage a political opponent, rather than stamp out interference and apparent conflicts of interest.
As the text itself reveals, President Trump simply asked Ukraine to assist in a formal US investigation into documented Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election (see https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/ukraine-sabotage-trump-backfire-233446), and to probe the circumstances of Vice President Biden's interference in the operation of the Ukrainian prosecutor's office, utilizing a threat to cut off US funds (see https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/us/politics/biden-son-ukraine.html.)
2
Everything you needed to know about Donald Trump was summed up to absolute perfection by psychiatrist Lance Dodes in his interview with MSNBC's Lawrence O’Donnell on Tuesday night. The interview can be found on YouTube, and should be viewed by everyone in the country.
3
Partisan impeachment inquiry has given a pass to the Bidens and is falsely accusing the president for doing the right thing of ensuring that the notoriously corrupt Ukraine does not squander the US tax payer supported military aid to Ukraine.
The game is not over and the congressional judiciary committee will be drafting the articles of impeachment. Then on to the senate where it will be dismissed and the ballot box in November will be the next destination as it should have been in the first place.
105
@Girish Kotwal
Falsehood #1: "Given a pass to the Bidens". They have been receiving plenty of mainstream media attention over the potential conflict of interest. Shame that Trump's kids aren't asked the same questions by Trump supporters. The hilarious part is Biden is the one who threatened to withhold aid in doing the right thing, a goal agreed upon by our allies in in Europe, to achieve a anti-corruption goal.
Falshood #2: “Falsely accusing the president of doing the right thing” Are you saying the accusations are false, or that the president did the right thing? In either case, you are wrong. There is substantial evidence and testimony suggesting the president did the wrong thing. If the president wants to go under oath to correct the record, he is welcome to do so. The house committees are following rule of law in alleging the president misused the powers of his office. All the 'truth' Republicans conjure is against the process.
Falsehood #3: "ensuring that the notoriously corrupt Ukraine does not squander the US tax payer supported military aid". The thing is, we have on record that the president did not care about investigating corruption, but just the statement an investigation would occur. In any case, the united states has plenty of methods of ensuring the aid was correctly used.
The question for you is, should the president be allowed to abuse his powers, subvert foreign policy, and promote corruption of his own design, and be unpunished in office?
628
And yet it appears that the president has not inquired about any other potential corruption in Ukraine, only about the Bidens. I wonder, if this is such a priority, why this would be?
428
@Girish Kotwal If you had actually paid attention to the impeachment proceedings, you'd know that it's a fact that Trump did not care about corruption in Ukraine - he cared about Biden, period. It's the only thing he asked about; at no point did he express concern over other aspects of corruption in Ukraine.
The only thing partisan about the impeachment inquiry is that the GOP partisanly refused to participate in it in good faith, and instead decided to conspire with our traitorous President in an attempt to cover up with many crimes.
533
People say an impeachment overturns an election, the will of the people, as it were.
Well of course it does. Why would there be an impeachment clause in the constitution if the Framers didn’t want to overturn an election?
3
@Oliver, I disagree. Our Fore-father's included impeachment in the U.S. Constitution to ensure the 3 executive branches of our government remain equal to each other in an effort to prevent and/or stop corruption by a sitting President. Impeachment is a punishment, not a "redo" of an election.
5
I am very disappointed in some of the comments here. I have seen many prosecutions from both sides of the aisle during my lifetime. There is more evidence against the President than in 85 to 90% of those cases, and there have been convictions in virtually all of them. Please, if you like the President’s policies, find someone else to support who espouses them. But please don’t devalue the rule of law. That is a slippery slope we cannot afford to negotiate if we care about our nation.
15
Donald Trump has spent his ENTIRE life putting his interests above everyone else's. The pundit class may not have necessarily thought it was presidential but they didn't think it was disqualifying. He got rewarded for this by the Electoral College. Was there any expectation that he was going to change? The people may not always get the best government but they do get the government they deserve.
6
“Facts don’t matter, make simple statements repeatedly and soon the public will believe you”
To paraphrase advice from Joseph Goebbels on how to twist a decent nation into an immoral one. Trump and his Republicans are using the same process for the same result: fake democracy for the masses, engorgement for the elites, terror for the minorities.
8
Just home from a family Thanksgiving in Massachusetts. Our family is 100+% disgusted with Trump and how far the Republican Party sunk to defend the indefensible Trump and his organized crime gang of Trump men and women who see, do, and speak evil at every opportunity.
We went to a holiday gathering attended by lots of assorted people, from wealthy business investors to what our daughter calls the "side-eyed," ready-for-a-fight locals who support Trump. Why? Here is what I heard:
The mildest form of Trump support: The opposition is perceived as weak--Trump is Trump. Sure he is a jerk and a con artist, but, hey, where is the opposition? Who in the Democratic Party is going take down Trump? Warren? Biden?
Medium support: The economy is great! Every time a Democrat gets in, taxes go up, the government regulates, and the economy is worse. Big plus, Trump is a strong man, just what this country needs. Trump is really giving it to China and those socialist European countries. Yeah, Trump made some mistakes, but overall, this country is much stronger with him as president. Impeachment is a Democratic coup. (mostly Fox News talking points)
High support: Who cares how Trump behaves! The PC crowd! Trump is a can-do guy who gets the job done, and he is taking back our country from the globalists and the welfare and anything-goes crowd.
Bottom line: Trump gives these people what they want, and that is all they care about. By any means necessary? Sure, fine, whatever..
2
He will not be impeached and he will get re-elected. This is one of history's biggest canary-in-a-coal-mine moments, a sure sign that our Nation is doomed. "The bugs are taking over."
2
I have read the whole Democratic Majority report on Impeachment and have started to read the whole Minority Report.
The differences in tone are like night and day.
Real testimony in one report, fact free rants and misleading comments in the other. For example, the Minority report states that FACT witnesses were asked whether Trump's actions rose to the level of a crime. That report says that the witnesses all said, "No" That, of course is a lie. In the actual testimony, which I witnessed, they didn't say "no". They said that they were fact witnesses and without qualifications to determine legality of the behavior.
This doesn't rise to the level of a "report". It is a political harangue.
The biggest weakness of the Majority Report arises because there wasn't a You Tube video of the President demanding support for his political campaign in explicit wording. We must remember that many successful criminal convictions are obtained by piecing together snippets of information to create a clear picture, rather than a damning video.
In fairness, I'll finish reading the minority report, but based on what I've read so far, it will be more like entertainment from Mad Magazine than a serious discussion of facts and their interpretation.
6
Bringing back Russian interference may be a strategic mistake by Nadler. It lets Trump’s defenders bring back the intent to impeach Trump from 2016, and the Mueller report that already fell short of finding Trump conspiring with the Russians. Dems should be executing the Ukraine case, period. Otherwise, it presents itself as politically motivated. The case that Democrats never had a place in their minds, ever, that Trump could or should become President is an easy case. Dems should have avoided that.
@Alberto Abrizzi: The Mueller report did not exeronerate the president. It simply handed the task of prosecuting him over to Congress, because Mueller, the good Republican, refused to indict, citing as his reason the Justice Department's memo that a sitting president cannot be indicted. He never said that the president was innocent, nor did he suggest that the matter be dropped. His report did say that only Congress has the legal authority to deal with presidential crimes and misdemeanors. He laid the matter firmly in Congress's lap. That is a very good reason for not forgetting the Mueller report, and those who don't have the attention span of a toddler will understand that the Mueller report and Russian election interference are probably linked to the Ukraine affair.
1
The case for impeachment is very strong, based on facts and corroborating circumstantial evidence. Trump and Republicans are banking on the stupidity of the American people. An innocent, patriotic defendant should welcome his staff's defensive testimony under oath. If the call was "perfect" and there was no semblance of a quid pro quo, why won't even one administration official who was actually on the call, defend Trump in front of the American public? Get out there, Bolton, Mulvaney, Pompeo, Pence! Be straight with the American people. Clinton, who was accused of lying about having sex, an extremely minor political offense, if a terrible, embarrassing moral transgression for his family, agreed to private testimony before a grand jury. This will be the lowest point in our political history if Trump and his team do not testify under oath and Republican senators do not uphold their civic duties.
54
But still, what did Hunter Biden do for $50,000 a month with no prior experience? “Debunked” is a word of tired of reading, I just want to hear a plausible explanation. Until then all of Adam Schiff’s deep emotional Constitutional angst means nothing to me.
2
@John Doe
But still, what does Hunter Biden have to do with Trump withholding congressional approved aide as a bribe?
6
@John Doe: First of all, Hunter Biden did not have "no experience." He specialized in international law at Yale. He was hired to sit on the board of directors to give advice about international legal affairs. He had a firm with two other men who also had political backgrounds, and this firm specialized in international law. Second, Viktor Shokin, the Ukranian prosecutor who was fired and later fled to Russia, had shelved the Burisima investigation in 2014, when he got into office, and it sat inactive for two years, until Joe Biden demanded in 2016 that Shokin be fired. In other words, Biden indirectly demanded that Shokin reopen the Burisima investigation, because it had been sitting on the shelf for two years, along with the other investigations that Shokin was slow-walking or ignoring. Shokin's deputy released documents to Bloomberg News proving that Shokin was allowing the Burisma and other corruption cases to languish. Shokin's firing, as demanded by Biden, should have led to the reopening of the case against Burisma, not the other way around, as Republicans are claiming. Fact checking sites are all reporting this information, and it's readily available on line.
2
He lies. He does anything and everything to win. The man is devoid of any moral base. He was so terrified of Biden ans a candidate he committed impeachable acts and tried t bribe a foreign leader.
Trump has betrayed his office, betrayed his own loyal voters, Trump has betrayed all Americans. All this to verify the fears of his conspiracy driven mind.
Mr Trump is outfit for the presidency because hi has n interest in owning the job, just the title.
Trump is truly unfit for the position of President. The American voters said so in 2016 by a margin of over 2.5 million votes. Trump has brought shame, chaos and carnage to the White House. Impeach him now, Even if it is only Democrats and the GOP remains a solid wall of Trump quislings, someone must take a stand against this amoral man and his antics.
5
@Dan Micklos: Calm down bro, we've had one Civil War already, and Trump wouldn't want his New York properties be seized anyway by the New York State government. Which might happen with or without a war if it turns out he was laundering money for the Russian Mafia with them.
2
It took over 3 years to publicly address and exposed Trump's intentions.
2
Corrupt intent: "Impeachment Report Says Trump Solicited Foreign Election Interference"
Legal intent: Pres. Trump believed the Hunter/Joe Biden story, having been recently exposed to the public, was a horrific example of what he pledged he would clean up during his campaign and was elected to office to do.
Since Donald Trump is not below the law, he wears the cloak of innocence until removed by the preponderance of the evidence. But more importantly, he is also the chief executive officer of a co-equal branch of government and must be treated equally, fairly, which he has not been in the House impeachment process, and is unconstitutional.
@batazoid: Trump's aides have been invited to testify multiple times, and Trump himself has refused to let them do so, claiming that Congress has no right to investigate him, and that the impeachment proceedings themselves are illegitimate. However, the U.S. Constitution quite clearly gives Congress oversight responsibilities over the executive branch, including the right to impeach the president, and to make its own rules as to how impeachment can be conducted. Anyone who was paying attention in a high school U.S. government class would be aware of these things. Congress has the right to impeach the president. Trump does not have a legal leg to stand on, unless the Supreme Court is willing to ignore the Constitution, in which case there will be a real crisis in this country, between those who support and believe in the rule of law, and those who support demagoguery. If you are interested in hearing the president's side of the story, you have to at least ask yourself why an innocent president would refuse to allow his aides to testify and exonerate him. HRC spent eleven hours testifying in person in front of a hostile investigative committee, and never once complained that the committee itself, or its right to investigate, was illegitimate!
1
And when the dust settles, Trump will serve four more years, and the House and Senate will be Republican-controlled. The Democrats who over-played their hand will have only themselves to blame. Kamala Harris will have her very own morning talk show; Mayor Pete will go on a speaking tour; Joe and Hunter and Hillary and Brennan, Clapper, and Comey will be indicted, and Adam Schiff will complete his screenplay.
2
The sad part is that his families will be forever be shame by him. I used to drive pass his hotel and building and see respect, but now all I see is hate and no one will go to Trump brands facilities because most of it's in liberals area. The peoples that voted for him are in red states, they don't have money. Trump should stay out of politics because their families name is done.
2
If "what's his name" wants to prove he did nothing impeachable, why prevent testimony from anyone who has evidence of relevance? Moreover, why use the legal system at the SCOTUS level to prevent access to his tax returns?
4
I wouldn't say that Trump "placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States." At most he possibly tried to package a little bit of political interest into a deal that was of great importance to the United States...namely rooting out corruption in the Ukraine and making sure American taxpayer dollars are not going into the pockets of corrupt individuals such as Hunter Biden and his associates.
1
I am so sick of these hearing that I can't stand to read it anymore. It is everywhere. I have no way to stop it. I am so fed up that I am going for Trump just because of it.
1
If President Trump is re-elected, the Supreme Court probably goes 7-2 Conservative after his 8 years.
That is why Liberals have been trying to frame and impeach him since day one.
3
The Republicans have an Achilles heel. Democrats need to find it and use it.
1
This is hardly breaking news. From the beginning, it has been a one sided Democratic effort to remove a constitutionally elected president.
2
The Trump presidency is the most corrupt and shameful episode our country has been through in my lifetime--and I'm old enough to remember Vietnam, Nixon, and the first wave of civil rights struggles. Someday we will look back and remember this like that time the whole country had the chicken pox at once. If we survive.
2
Reasons for impeachment are similar to reasons for divorce. Yes adultery is a reason,but in most of the cases the couple maintain the union.
In general the main subject is money and some times children custody.
In this case is power. The worse part is that the people (the children) will not have a real role in the result.
Wow! Putting his own interests first - I've never heard of a politician doing that before.
No doubt every single senator, including Republicans, will vote to remove him from the Presidency, because he has besmirched the hither to glorious occupation of politician.
And then, Adam Schiff will go after Pence, because he was associated with Trump; since he was the Vice- President, he can't deny that.
Finally, following down this chain of logic, the government will bust you, because of an error you made on your tax return 18 years ago. What a great democracy Adam Schiff is building for us!
2
By continuing to not participate, Trump and Republicans are/have been attempting to put themselves above the laws ALL previous presidents and WH administration have followed. Each time they demean and denounce Congress and the witnesses concerning these proceedings, they not only demean and denounce themselves, they demean, denounce and divide America. And as more incriminating information is provided to the public, Republican attacks on the procedures are obvious attempts to deflect from Trump's abuse of power and his obstructive actions. Such actions should be unacceptable to all Americans regardless of political party preferences. NO ONE is above the law including a sitting president!
60
@A Disgusted Independent American
I would say that especially a sitting president is not above the law. Of all citizens, the president should be the most law-abiding.
3
you don’t need a report from Congress yo see that, is it not obvious from day 1?
6
Trump is revolting. Full of self loathing, he will continue anti-social behavior for the rest of his life. It's who he is. Sadly, we have Americans who admire his grotesque stance and are willing to hurt other Americans to defend him. Divide and conquer is a concept that group cannot understand. They have been duped and conned and will be too embarrassed to ever admit to it. Meanwhile, trump, family and friends live in obscene luxury on the tax dollar while family farms go out of business as trump manipulates the stock market with tweets. The subject of this impeachment is but a sliver of his crimes and it saddens me that this bright land has been cast into darkness by this non man.
24
Trump is the most exonerated President is US history.
6
@Dr John
And he is also a better president than Lincoln.
1
Trump is a grand manipulator and law breaker. Just look at the history of the Trump Foundation. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/469462-trump-ordered-to-pay-2m-in-settlement-over-trump-foundation-lawsuit
I'm also beginning to get the feeling that he is trying to manipulate the stock market with his on-again, off-again comments about the trade negotiations with China. It would interesting to look at the investments he and his buddies are making when he says 'the deal is off." The market seems to react downward only to have him turn around and say the next day or a few days later, that a deal is almost imminent. The markets slumped on Monday in reaction to the news and now today, with the announcement that the first phase of the deal is nearing completion, futures are up. I am only commenting on the very limited knowledge I have and the reports in the news.
10
@SS: US economic policy creates conditions more favorable to speculators than investors. The Federal Reserve Bank can't keep the time value of money steady while adjusting interest rates to affect employment levels. Congress needs to take up employment slack with fiscal policy, taxation and spending.
3
We are flat out in a Constitutional crisis spearheaded by Trump and his Republican co-conspirators. Never in the history of the United States has the Executive Branch treated the Legislative and Judicial Branches as servile and to be ignored, ridiculed and decimated at every turn. Supporting a corrupt administration that does nothing but lie and cheat American citizens should be great cause for alarm. We are losing democracy and along with it our freedoms. The big question now is will the United States remain free with a Constitution that is meaningful?
18
It wasn't much of a democracy to begin with thanks to the electoral college.
6
@Monsp: That doesn't mean we should throw it all away.
3
The obstruction part of the report is crucial as it eliminates the excuse that trump, like his family, is too stupid to know what he is doing.
13
And that's just the beginning of our illegitimate president's corruption investigation.He's been doing this for all his miserable life.Just a soupçon...he inherits 415 million from his father and pays 50 million in taxes by creating a supply company to run $$ through.Isn't this tax fraud writ large??See David Farenhold's [NYTimes] thorough investigation.
11
What happened to the charge of bribery? Just a few weeks ago that was floated as a likely charge. In law, criminal or civil, there must be specific statutes that are broken or discernible damages. Authorities, meaning legal decisions that have been rendered, must be cited in arguing your case. There is not one federal statute, rule or code cited in this entire report that was violated, thus the Times' empty headline. The report instead is just a reiteration of the testimony given combined with Shifty Schiff's excessive and dramatic rhetoric. But much of the testimony was hearsay that can't be presented at a Senate trial under federal rules of evidence because it doesn't meet the standards for one of the exceptions that exist in law. Serving one's personal political interests is what politicians do. This is nothing new and nothing about it is criminal. Democrats are so obsessed by this circus that they can't see the forest for the trees.
5
@Peter The emoluments clause in the constitution prevents the President from receiving gifts. He can engage in a quid pro quo with another country if there is a benefit for the nation but he cannot do so under the constitution if the benefit is to himself.
1
@Peter, you're talking about a report. The impeachment counts have not been written yet. Whether to include Trump's obvious bribery is a tactical decision for the appropriate committee.
To say that there must be a specific statute that is broken or discernible damages in an impeachment is flat-out false. Try reading the Constitution again.
Shocking that Mr Trump's interests supersede the country's interests. Simply shocking.
9
If you cannot see the impeachable offenses in the report, you are simply not reading it. It is clear that Donald Trump committed illegal acts and continues to do so through today. The Senate may not agree, as the impeachment jury pool is badly tainted. It is critical that the impeachment charges be publicly presented and debated. That is what the Constitution mandates, and the House of Representatives must follow through.
13
Was there any question as to whether the Democrat controlled House committee would recommend impeachment? I don't think so. He is said to have asked about the events in 2015. There seems to be plenty of information that there was a belief that the Ukrainian government and its prosecutors were corrupt. Biden, in a interview, told what he had done. He said he told the Ukrainian president he had six hours to fire a specific prosecutor or they would get no aid. That prosecutor was the very one who was bringing criminal charges against a company that Biden's son sat on their board. He was fired, A new prosecutor dropped all charges and they got the aid. Trump is said to have asked them to investigate what happened. He didn't ask for anyone to be thrown in jail or to be prosecuted. There were a lot of people, mostly from the State Department, who testified they didn't like how he ran foreign relations. Soundland was the one person who talked with Trump directly. He said he never heard Trump ask for quid quo pro and when he asked Trump directly, Trump told he wanted nothing. The rest of the committee hearings were dig up as much dirt as they can against him at the taxpayers expense. Their motive are political. One NYT contributor wrote, that the only way for Trump should be removed is by an overwhelming vote next November. These hearings are meant to avoid that process.
5
@Ron
"He said he told the Ukrainian president he had six hours to fire a specific prosecutor or they would get no aid. "
Said prosecutor who wasn't doing any investigating, like he should have been and was beholden to the Russians.
2
@Ron: Repeating a discredited Tweet is not really ethical, IMHO. Biden represented the U.S. government's official position when he told Ukranians that they would not get aid if they did not fire Shokin -- who had actually shelved the Burisma/Zlochevsky investigation, and then later lied about shelving it. Here's what Politifact -- a reliable source of fact checking, which rates the gossip about Biden as only "half-true"-- says:
"But Vitaliy Kasko, who had been Shokin’s deputy overseeing international cooperation, produced documents to Bloomberg that under Shokin, the investigation into Burisma had been dormant. Kasko resigned in February 2016 citing corruption in the office.
'There was no pressure from anyone from the U.S. to close cases against Zlochevsky," Kasko told Bloomberg. 'It was shelved by Ukrainian prosecutors in 2014 and through 2015.'"
The truth about the Biden gossip is that Hunter Biden showed poor judgment by accepting a directorship with Burisma when his father was vice-president. Joe Biden's advisors told him it would bring trouble, just because of the optics. Both Joe and Hunter Biden maintain that they never spoke to each other about the latter's business. Here is where people split along party lines: Democrats believe Joe Biden is honest. His long record tends to speak for his general honesty as a public servant. Republicans, defending a man with a track record of 14,000 lies in office, want us to believe that Biden is dishonest.
1
@Ron, which facts of Trump's activities make them not an abuse of power? That is what you should be focusing on, not distraction and whattaboutism.
1
I'd like to see Adam Schiff emerge as a Democratic presidential candidate. He obviously presides very competently, and he will rattle Trump like no other.
9
@Steve Bolger we need people like Adam to protect us from rogue presidents.
1
Before the draft report was released, the Republican president attacked the Democrat-led investigation as "very unpatriotic".
Apparently donnie, like his supporters is ignorant of what it means to be a “patriot” of our country.
A patriot is someone who swears on a bible and takes an oath to “preserve, protect and defend our US constitution.
Instead, donnie asked a foreign leader “for a a favor though,” while freezing money allocated by a bipartisan congress to the very ally the favor was requested from as leverage to get that favor.
When caught, in his own words, the freeze was lifted and the funds released.
That behavior is NOT preserving protecting or defending OUR us constitution. It’s not patriotic. No one is above the laws of the constitution.
If he is allowed to be above those laws then democratic republic is over as the founders declared after we won our freedom from a British monarchy.
All those who spoke truth to power and testified during the hearings are true patriots as well, some of whom are immigrants, a population the bigot in the WhiteHouse hates, unless he marries and has children with them.
8
Um, yeah. It was obvious Trump was a criminal all along. This isn't news. News would be if the GOP grew a backbone and stood up for the rule of law rather than the rule of King Trump.
12
After so many lies, abuse of power, heavy suspects of collusion with the enemy, obscure businesses, left alone his demonstrated incompetence there are still people around DOUBTING about Trump’s lack of integrity? It’s absolutely incredible.
8
Trump put his own interests ahead of the country's? Are you sure? Unbelievable! Holy Toledo!
6
@Marc A all the European leaders are whispering to each other pst pst Trump put his interests selfishly before the country and the republicans slurped it riding on his coat tails! Let’s hope trump rides the republicans all the way to the ditch of shame.
9
I’m so tired of all the words... what did you expect that this horrible man would be a good president? Blah blah blah yes he did it and yes just like he is the lowest of the lows and always was and he brought America down with him...it is astounding to me that some are actually surprised.
7
If President Trump was truly trying to root out corruption by investigating the Bidens, they why did he dismiss Yovanovitch who was doing her job to root out corruption ?
14
Talk to Rudy. Subpoena Rudy. Disbar Rudy if he refuses to submit to the subpoena. In fact, it would be better to disbar him because he will conveniently site lawyer client privilege. Who pays Rudy and do they get a special discount rate on the exchange of rubles?
“The founding fathers prescribed a remedy for a chief executive who places his personal interests above those of the country: impeachment,”
Trump is the Founding Fathers’ worst nightmare. He is the perfect storm in the experiment of US democracy. Everything that could go wrong has happened.
A secon term of Trump will see a full blown dictatorship because there will be no Republican lawmakers with the courage to put the constitution and their country ahead of the president. They will see the Trump as the living embodiment of the constitution, and anyone who disagrees? well, they are “unpatriotic.”
It’s not that Republicans are in mass delusion. Yes, the MAGA hats are lost. But lawmakers are afraid of being excoriated by Trump via Twitter, Fox News and rallies.
They know deep down better than anyone else the Hobson’s choice that torments them: say no to Trump and lose your career or say yes and subvert the constitution.
A second term for Trump will mean a 6-3 conservative SCOTUS, goodbye 14th Amendment, an assault on the free press, and of course further shredding of the constitution.
Will Republicans care that a demagogic Democratic President can do the same thing? No, because they know that Democrats won’t let that happen.
So, if Trump is re elected, the Democrats must absolutely take the Senate ( and keep the House!). That is the only way to stop a demagogue in the WH from destroying our country.
12
"Trump Put His Interests Ahead of Country's"
It really is that simple.
12
None of this should be shocking. GOP has a very long history of circumventing official channels with an alternate foreign policy to benefit individuals and the party.
That in fact is their main defense in this case.
Sart with Nixon in 1968 negotiating with Vietnamese to circumvent LBJ's peace efforts, and then William Casey and Reagan circumventing Carter's negotiations with Iran in 1980, followed by Iran-Contra. After that we had PNAC and GOP operatives negotiating to overthrow Saddam before Bush Jr. took office while Clinton was President.
Not mentioned here is obvious hand of Russia in the GOP alternative facts of Ukraine meddling and interference in investigation of Manafort's connections in Ukraine. The combination of Giuliani and Nunez is beyond anything seen before as far as subversion of our intelligence agencies, special prosecutor and career diplomats.
The perversion of GOP members of Congress espousing Russian disinformation is absolute treason as defined in the Constitution:
"adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort."
Trump and the entire GOP delegation has become Russian assets unless proven otherwise.
8
The Democratic talking points should include the fact that military aid to Ukraine was voted by a bipartisan majority in the Senate, one of the few bills the Republicans in the Senate considered and voted on. This was an aid package deemed necessary in order to push back against Russian aggression, our Senate lawmakers authorized it in order to protect our country.
But Trump didn't care. He thinks the Republican Senate is a lap dog and he can do as he wants. He refused to spend the money as authorized, but instead tried to use it for his own benefit - to force Ukraine to spread false rumors in order to fool voters into voting for him. If the senators who voted for the aid to Ukraine do not vote for impeachment, then they apparently think it is okay for Trump to hold up that aid in order to rig the election. They will then certainly be shown to be Trump lap dogs who don't care what he does. If they do not vote to impeach, they are complicit. Then they should be impeached as well.
12
Well, Trump SIGNED the Ukraine aid bill. He didn’t hold it up because il he thought it was bad policy.
3
@Yeah
Nah, he had the aid frozen while he used it as leverage for his “favor though”...
1
@Yeah: Which begs the question of what motivated him to then secretly hold up the aid he originally approved of, thus subverting both the House and the Senate. I really wonder how Senators from any party can stand to allow the executive branch under Trump to undermine and denigrate the legislative branch.
20
He will not be removed and most likely zero Republicans will vote for impeachment, so then I ask, is this the end of the great American experiment? Are we witnessing the fall of the greatest nation to ever exist? I believe we might be. What a tragedy for our children.
5
I believe we are. The country will never recover from the republican reaction to Obama.
3
@stumpnugget
Yes. It’s over. We now have a king or dictatorship with one party in charge.
No more constitution.
No one is above the law.
Except Biden - and his son who somehow became multimillionaires while Joe was VP.
2
If there were any evidence of a crime by Biden, Trump could phone AG Barr and start an investigation. But there is no evidence. So Trump has to bribe a foreign nation to pretend an investigation. That simple.
11
@Dr. John Can you name the crime you think Joe Biden and his son committed?
11
@Curious
Abuse of office.
1
I cannot wait to finally hear the other half of the story. So far, all I have heard is the Democrats’ side. When the predetermined -pre-baked decision to impeach is finally rendered to fake breathless reporting of “breaking” news “bombshells”, the real action will begin in the Senate.
2
@Scott K
Schiff tried to get the other side to testify, and to produce documents, for weeks; they refused. Nadler also invited the other side to make their case; they refused. Although we did get to hear second-hand from the other side in the form of Nunes. Ranting about Biden, Clinton and "Ukrainian election interference." Merely unhinged or covering his own tracks in Ukraine. Probably both.
3
@Scott K, try reading the testimony of the various Trump appointees and the rough transcript of his phone call. Trump's unconstitutional self-dealing will shine through.
1
@Scott K: You could try writing to Republican representatives and asking them to urge the president to let his aides testify. If they're innocent, why aren't they testifying in a legitimate impeachment hearing? The Republicans' refusal to testify simply makes me wonder what they're hiding or whom they're trying to protect. They complain about second-hand testimony, yet offer no first-hand testimony themselves, while relying upon Nunes and Johnson to make insinuations without any evidence to back them up. The hearsay coming out of the mouths of Nunes and Johnson would be hilarious, if it weren't so viciously hypocritical.
1
The entire process created by the Democratic majority in the House, and executed by Congressman Schiff is so blatantly, embarrassingly flawed that any credibility the party and those running the hearings may have once had has evaporated. It is my hope that through the misguided and inept handling of the entire process the current Democratic leadership in the House has finally revealed for all to see their inability to do the people's work and that they do not deserve the positions of responsibility they hold.
3
I just watched The Irishman. The soulless, self righteousness of the Republic Party in response to simple, powerful evidence of they president's wrongdoing is like a page out of organized crime re-inventing reality in whatever way best suits them.
For the press secretary to say of Mr. Schiff "ramblings of a basement blogger" is an embarrassment to the office. Adam Schiff is not the force behind this inquiry. The Constitution is. Partisan politics aside, this is fascism in the making.
10
It hurts me to think what I’m about write, and I wish to heaven it were a false premise.
The Senate will shortly put an American traitor on trial and constitutional governance will likely suffer irreparable damage should two thirds of the jurors fail to vote conviction.
10
So the facts are laid out - and in reality, nowhere near all of them which could result in charges of impeachment, but enough - and still, not one single Republican refuses to acknowledge reality, stop being voluntarily blind, and put country before unswerving loyalty to the questionably sane occupant of the White House. Yet, we hear that privately there is much backstage worrying among them. All it will take is one influential Republican to break ranks and acknowledge the truth: that this corrupt excuse for a leader does not belong in his position because of high crimes and misdemeanors he has committed against his country. He must be removed, and the rest of his corrupt posse has to go with him. This should be an American issue, not a partisan one. Can the words "Republican" and "American" still exist in the same thought?
12
Schiff should be jailed for lying to Congress.
He stood there making a case for this by giving his own version of what happened and his own rendition of the phone call.
That should be used in a court of law to dismiss this farce.
4
Trump bragged in 2016 that not paying income taxes would make him "smart." Supporting the infrastructure of the country he wants to "make great again"? - Forgeddaboutit! We should be appalled by the allegations that our president puts his personal interests above our national interests, but not surprised.
5
What the new materials (released) suggest is that Nunes, and perhaps half the key Cabinet appointments, along with Pence, are essentially Riussian assets. In Nunes' case, it seems to be an active and willing role. They've not only covered up the Guiliani-Trump "announcement of a Biden investigation" stunt, but helped blackmail Zelensky, based on the held-back aid. Furthermore, they've continued to accredit the Putin-based, fake Ukrainian-conspiracy of 2016. Not only to "get Donald re-elected" but to bend America fatally to Putin's will. This is an attack, not on Democrats, but on all of America.
8
Extortion..... keep it simple.... it is way past Quid Pro Quo & Bribery.... this is pure strongarming with blood on his hands because he witheld the funds ....
10
The online headline reads “Trump Puts His Interests Ahead of Country’s, Impeachment Report Finds.” I thoroughly expect to see additional headlines: “Scientists Report That Sun Is Hot” and “Shakespeare May Be Hard To Understand At First, Confirm Academics.”
5
Hillary Clinton used a private server for emails. This is something other members of government do routinely including pretty much Trump's entire family.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/us/politics/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-private-emails.html
You know what Trump said about this? "Bigger than Watergate". You know what the Republicans did about this? They spent countless hours and dollars pursuing this.
I don't condone Hillary's misuse of government data. It was careless and sloppy. But are Republicans really going to try and minimize our President using foreign aid to help him win an election? We are really going to do that? Because if so, the Democrats are IDIOTS if they don't spend the next ten years brining that up, exploiting it an amplifying it.
This is not a game. There are things in our Democracy that are sacrosanct--much more than Hillary's emails. Our position in the world has been forever compromised by many actions, but none so egregious as the idea that our foreign policy is open for hijacking. Our national elections are the Crown Jewels of our system but now we have normalized cheating, gerrymandering and smearing with false propaganda. Our Presidency used to mean highest honors--now it is a cheap office full of cheap people sitting their souls bodies on gilded chairs like the devils they are...
This GOP con job will run out of steam and then what will you do, conservatives? Start a new party?
Better start planning for one.
12
I only read the section of the report about Trump’s intimidation of witnesses.
What a sickening person he is.
9
What a telling exercise in the ethical or is it moral or patriotic corruption of the legal profession.........i.e. Trump's attorneys will protect him at the potential expense of our constitutional government.........
Sure, according to the lawyers, "everybody" deserves legal representation...........
BUT,
Do they?.........
AND,
At what damage to the rest of us, our government and our Constitution?.......
Collateral Damage 101 -- Donald Trump or our Constitutional Democracy.......
That choice doesn't seem too difficult, now does it?
3
I saw this headline when I opened NYT, and immediately thought to check what conservative outlets are saying about the story. So I opened FoxNews.com, and the headline there is "Video from NATO summit appears to catch Trudeau, world leaders laughing behind Trump’s back".
One of the first stories below that in half sized font is "Hannity blasts Dem impeachment report as diatribe of conspiracies".
They literally put a topic that others "might, but not definitely have laughed about Trump" over the impeachment report.
This is absurd. Of course hard-core conservatives won't budge from support of Trump. The narrative they're fed, and the way it's fed to them falls right into their views that everyone's conspiring against them... How do we get past this wedge that our media outlets are propagating? Can we get past this?
7
What a complete sham and waste of taxpayer money. Our President did nothing wrong.
4
@BC:
He didn’t say that. And if he said that, he didn’t mean it. And if he meant it, you didn’t understand it. And if you did understand it, it’s not a big deal. And if it is a big deal, then others have said worse. And if it is worse, then what about “Benghazi”, “Hilary’s emails”, “Freeloading Europe”, “Dirty Hunter Biden” and “Crooked Ukraine”?
6
Here is today's wish. Prayer.
That some of the players in this drama had the foresight to record conversations and will leverage them for sentence reductions, and that we get to hear them. .
5
How anyone defends Trump or his party is incomprehensible at this point. And yet, the comments are there. If the SCOTUS rules in Trump’s favor, it’s pretty much over for our Constitution.
VOTE against the GOP. It’s our only hope of restoring our democracy, our shattered environmental laws, our shredded civil rights laws, our standing internationally around the world, and most of all, our humanity and decency.
11
The extreme partisanship in evidence here is what's particularly disheartening. Some Republican senators have announced that they won't even read the report or consider the evidence at all. This head-in-the-sand avoidance does the whole country a disservice, and goes against the Senate's constitutional duty to consider evidence, hear witnesses, and only then to vote to acquit or convict. Some senators announced, even before one witness had testified, that they would not vote against the president. Republicans have also tried to discredit the entire process, as if our constitution were meaningless. Many years ago, I was a republican, but that was when the Party still stood for morality and honor. Now, the party just stands for Trump. It's a very sad downfall of a once Grand Old Party.
9
@Ms. Pea, we’ve all had to endure listening to three years worth of purely partisan highfalutin legalistic gobbledegook wrangling, can you really blame anyone for shutting down their language brains and just switching to purely instinctive knee jerk autopilot?
As long as the US has people, many in senior positions in the White House and Republican party, who believe that God sent Trump to be President there is no chance of Trump being removed from office by the Senate. You will see the collision between hard facts and unfounded belief at play. But Republicans have got to give Hunter Biden a break as he may well have been sent by God to serve on the board of Burisma. Is that any less likely?
3
Representative John Jacob Rhodes, a Republican Nixon loyalist who served as the minority leader in the House, stated it most directly: “Cover-up of criminal activity and misuse of federal agencies can neither be condoned nor tolerated.”
Donald Trump is the master of diversionary tactics. Every day through tweets and press statements, he spreads falsehoods, attacks his opponents on made-up grounds and sometimes even gives congressional committees new avenues of illegality to follow for impeachment or prosecution. Each of these new story lines must be ignored. The best story line is the simple one: Mr. Trump tried to bribe a foreign official with American government dollars to announce an investigation of unfounded charges against a domestic political rival. There is more, much more. But that’s enough.
4
Liberals appear ready to again ignore the payola schemes of their leading politicians.
They cannot be investigated because they are candidates.
After all, that worked out just great for them in 2016.
Worked out nicely for the Republicans and the Supreme Court also.
3
@Dr. John, none of these scattered thoughts seems to be relevant to the abuse of power now being investigated.
Here is the one question that Republicans cannot answer:
If Trump was withholding Congressional aid from the Ukraine because of corruption, then why did Trump release the money without a promise of investigation of corruption?
4
Here’s the critical difference.
Trump made his billions before becoming a politician.
Biden (and his son) made their millions while Joe was a politician.
3
As a factual matter, it's not clear that Trump was ever a billionaire. On the other hand, he's been milking a loss of nearly a billion dollars for about a decade now on his income taxes. When he first booked the loss, he was just about the biggest money-loser in America.
Senator McConnell stated that he's read up on Impeachment and that he knows how to run an impeachment trial. More likely he knows how derail one. All ready groups of Republican Senators, the jury in an impeachment trial have been attending 'fact' sessions at the White House to be schooled in Trump talking points.
If there is to be a trial, then fair trial rules should be in place. Discovery finally allowed on all denied documents, witnesses who ignored House subpoenas compelled to testify. The real "sham" in the Inquiry has been how Republicans have behaved unethically to this point. The country should demand a completely fair process, nothing less.
3
@Andy You should explain to me why those like you who cry about 'fairness' didn't mind Trump refusing the legal requirement to allow witness and evidence. If in the future Republicans are in the same position as the Democrats you'd be calling foul louder than we do.
I would say it all began from day one, when he was sworn in, but it started earlier when we learned he would violate emoluments clause by not divesting himself of his businesses. Trump is the biggest trumper, always putting himself/family first, his new position didn’t change anything. In 2018 the voters returned the House back over to the Democrats so there could be over sight of the White House. I don’t care that the Senate will not convict trump, as the American voters will take care of removing trump in November 2020, but I am glad that the House will most likely vote for his Impeachment. I believe his behavior over the past 3 years would warrant a couple more if it were possible. Thank you to those brave witnesses for your testimony, and Thank you House members for doing your jobs regarding checks and balances from a train wreck White House.
3
When loyalty Trumps integrity, corruption reigns.
7
Congress, now do something about it. Impeach Trump for the good of this country. No excuses.
7
I can add nothing to the many articulate reactions of those who already responded to their reading of the preface of this report except to say that it was so eloquent and convincing that it brought tears to my eyes. As unhappy as I am with the election and presidency of Donald Trump, I am still saddened by the fact that an impeachment of this president is necessary because he did not and still does not recognize the honor and responsibility he was given when he assumed office.
18
Soon enough Republicans McConnell and Graham will be in charge.
They will have unlimited subpoena powers.
Schiff, his staff, the whistleblower and those who wrote his overly-lawyered report will be required to testify under oath. Other bureaucrats who tried to frame Trump since he was nominated may also be required to testify under oath.
The truth will then be made known.
And the Democrats will pay a huge price in 2020.
4
If Dems behave and operate like Reps in this entire case, no suponea will be worth the paper it is written on. Be careful what you wish for.
2
"This is about our democracy." True. But Americans are indifferent to preserving it, fortunately for Trump and the Republican Party.
5
"No one is above the law"
Laws in this country are made by corrupt politicians, signed into law by corrupt Presidents and their Constitutionality is decided by courts packed by corrupt Presidents.
The law shouldn't give anyone comfort. We simply need to do the right thing and elect decent, honest people with unimpeachable ethics to represent us. As a country, we have failed miserably.
Our representatives are a reflection of our country and all of us. Collectively we are a third rate country. We the people deserve exactly the representation we have gotten.
Trump isn't fit to represent a decent, honest country. He is clearly fit to represent the USA in 2019. I say no to impeachment and I'm hopeful that every voting American will take their duty to the law and country seriously when they vote.
4
Yet another Republican House representative spouts "We've only heard one side....." blah, blah, blah, blah on the Fox news channel. It is as if the Republicans don't understand that the committee is researching evidence of the President's misdeed, if there were any. All of the Republicans continue to deflect the clear stonewalling the President has elected to do. He has not released any documents to the house committees. He will not allow any of his core advisors to go in front of the committees. He refuses to allow any White House staff to answer subpoenas. Given that the President won't allow his people to produce a defense for his actions, what are these Republican law makers talking about? What "defense" have they not been allowed to produce? It makes no sense.
10
@Patrick Stevens Oh, the Repubs know; and but they also know their voters will believe whatever lies they tell. It's evident in the minority comments here flipping the story, predicting doom & apocalypse for the Dems. But a bit of mud always sticks; seems the impeachment polls are looking up.
2
The myths that the Republicans cling to is sad commentary of our times. The one in which it was Hilary's people who hired a company to get dirt on Trump shows how certain facts could be ignored. Originally it was a group of GOP people who were in the "Anyone But Trump" camp who hired that company. Since the data was there and that group lost interest once Trump nailed the nomination why not use it? Then the one about Biden "bragging about getting rid of a Ukrainian prosecutor" also ignores the facts. That prosecutor refused to investigate corruption. He was a holdover from the past President of the Ukraine who was supportive to Russia. There was bipartisan and European Union support to send Biden over to the Ukraine to unseat this man. Then the GOP members of Congress who ignore the massive testimony against Trump. It will end up at the ballot box. Hopefully the American public (those not in the 40% Trump tribe) will wise up and re-elect Trump.
2
If what trump's defenders are writing is true, why doesn't trump allow EVERYONE to testify?
9
Get all the facts out there...let the public decide the fate of those who feel their personal interests are more important than the country's.
In my eighth grade social studies class, we held a mock impeachment and trump was found guilty on all counts. I went outside the standards for awhile.
I love eighth graders. Just doing my part.
7
The Republicans seem to be in for all or nothing. Since the winners write history, if they pull this off and our democracy crumbles, they will spin it so that they look like the saviors.
5
Simply put, Trump represents, symbolizes the self-centered meaness that people are capable of.
8
The corruption of the Republican party is shocking. As well as the named four leading members of the administration who facilitated Trump's conduct it appears the ranking member of the house intelligence committee was also a party to this attempt to undermine US security. What is truly astounding is that large numbers of their house and senate representation are willing to ignore this and in many cases act as stooges for Putin and the Russians who are increasingly becoming objects of admiration on the far right and at its mouthpieces like Fox News.
9
“Trump placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States.”
This is true of every single politician. Those that attempt to impeach their colleagues and not themselves are hypocrites.
In 2020 every incumbent should be voted out.
4
@Craig: Politics is to get elected, but it is the number one obstacle to competent government between elections.
1
Thanks for the citations to the evidence for the claim that "every single politician" puts his own interests over those of the U.S.
Trump figures that he can't be indicted while in office. Even if he commits a state crime the statute of limitations will most likely run out if he's reelected. More reason to abuse his power. He also has a recalcitrant base impervious to facts. And Republican politicians who are scared of their own shadows. With that combination going for him he got nothing to lose but to pretend everything he is accused of is nothing but a sham. And his press secretary who never held a press conference might as well be titled press secretary of propaganda.
6
The Whitehouse made it a “one-sided sham process” by NOT ALLOWING any staff members to testify before the hearing committee, and by DEFYING ALL subpoenas.
If donnie could have been exonerated, why didn’t anyone come forth???
27
Trump never requested the Ukraine to " dig up dirt on his political opponents." He requested a review of what plainly appears as a corrupt use of power for personal monetary gain by a sitting Vice President of the US. The Biden affair smells to high heaven and almost demands an investigation. The guy appears to be an inept influence peddler. Makes Agnew look small by comparison. How the Democrats and the Media have turned this into an impeachable offense is masterful. Are you blind. Biden is the creepy age challenged office holder. Is he really your choice for President?
11
Eddie: What's masterful is how firmly the GOP and trump have pulled the wool over your eyes.
8
Thank you for standing up to the NYT. There are few of us left as most have stopped reading the foolishness in these pages. I stay with the Times largely for the crossword puzzle and the nonpolitical articles, reading other articles only to stay informed about how Trump is beating Democrats at their own game!
2
@Eddie
Biden is creepy? Then how would you describe Trump who stated to Howard Stern that he walked in on teenage girls who were undressed at his beauty pageant? Im sure they don't bother to report that on Fox "news".
3
It seems to me the House should have made it more clear that what Donald Trump wanted was an announcement of an investigation, not an actual investigation.
10
Sadly, as is apparently true of most of our elected officials. Fortunately, presidents are limited to two terms. I would like to see similar limits for the members of Congress.
5
@T Smith
Term limits won't work. You'd have Koch Broz money lining up the next done deal every two-six years.
AGE limits are the way to go. That way we'd be rid of Trump, McConnell, warren, bloomberg and all the rest of them by now.
1
@T Smith We have term limits-it is called the ballot box, yet we, the voting public, are easily hoodwinked by the candidate and Trump is a prime example of how badly many were hoodwinked.
1
The revelations of the Mueller report, including ten instances of obstruction of justice, the extortion/bribery of Ukraine to personally benefit the president, including some of the most powerful people in and out of government who aided and abetted him apparently will not convince the Republican controlled Senate that removal is justified. If Mr.Trump survives these processes and wins re-election, we have lost our republic.
27
@Regards, LC
If the constitutionally elected President Trump survives these processes and wins rel-election, it shows elections still matter and we still have a republic. It shows that elections can not be erased by twisting of the law and deceptions.
The fact that the Mueller report was to find Trump Election Collusion apparently based on a corrupt FISA process and unverifiable dossier from a fired foreign spy and found none, that the last last Administration investigated the candidate from the incommoding admin for apparently little reason, that none of the crimes Mueller came up with were Trump Election Collusion with Russia but process crimes and other crimes, that the Ukraine aid was giving with no investigation or meeting, that the witnesses did not have first hand knowledge of any quid pro quo and a key witness was going on "presumption", that the Ukraine president might show House Democrats are trying to remove the President any way they can without regard to the Constitution's intent. The fact that his impeachment was called for within an hour after his election and the the reason for removal from office keeps changing and has even included the 25'th amendment further supports this along with the evidence in plain site that was claimed by Schiff but never found by Mueller also supports the remove Trump at any cost.
4
Throughout his life trump was never liked, and has spent his whole life proving that he is popular and successful (his definitions). So of course all of the shenanigans that jeopardized the well-being of others were sidelined for his benefit. Who would think anything else?
10
Why is this investigation of the Bidens considered by the left to be only in Trumps interest? Half the country feels the investigation of Hunter Biden's actions is in the in the best interest of whole U.S..
Perspectives of the losers cannot remove an elected US President.
16
@Robert
Because it is.
Half the country can demand a suspension bridge to Cuba. Doesn't mean it's feasible, relevant, or going to happen.
We all know who the losers really are, and they're not the more than three million more who didn't vote for the charlatan Trump.
14
The difference is that for Democrats actual actions of Trump have made them angry whereas for Republicans they 'feel' as they do because those who script their Good va Evil narrative of the week has created that feeling in them. It is not based on anything either Biden did, only the creativiy of the Trumps and Hannitys of the right. That is why those Republicans that are not tethered to the angry mobs who gobble up the Republican story line admit that the Biden and Crowdstrike stories are are phony. But everyone has take their sides so now it's just a battle of truth vs. imagination.
4
Well, sure. Some think it’s in the best interest of the US because they think re-electing Trump is the best interest of the US. Trump it’s clear this is all about his re-election. Why else would he demand that they announce they are beginning the investigation? That’s what was most important to him, to have the public know that the Bidens were being investigated. He doesn’t care about corruption in Ukraine. He doesn’t care about Ukraine at all. He cares about winning.
4
If John Bolton publishes a book that in any way describes Trump’s treachery he should be jailed for obstruction of justice. The roles that Trump’s henchmen have played in this disgraceful saga need to be scrutinized too. His enablers are just as guilty.
27
@Rmski77 it’s hard to believe today in America white powerful men can get away with anything. George W Bush made that happen to this day we never asked him why he invaded Iraq!
“House Democrats on Tuesday asserted that President Trump abused his power”
No. This was not the “House Democrats’” report. It was the official report of the House Intelligence committee. It was not based on partisan political opinion. It was not the product of political animus. It was conceived from the concerns of a whistle blower, forwarded by an IG appointed by Trump, and based on facts supplied by career nonpartisan government employees and the EU Ambassador appointed by Trump.
The last thing this country needs is for the NYT to play into the hands of partisans by spinning the report as partisan. It is not regardless of the fact that the real partisans refused to sign on to it. Words matter, facts matter. I expect better of the NYT.
29
Just because you hate Trump, and just because Joe Biden is running for president, does not mean that Joe Biden's actions should not be investigated.
Trump was absolutely justified to investigate Joe Biden's withheld $1 Billion aid package and forced firing of Ukraine prosecutor Victor Shokin, who was investigating corruption in Hunter Biden's gas company.
Now that Biden's presidential aspirations seem defunct, and the supposed conflict no longer an issue, Biden's actions should have a full-on Mueller-esque investigation.
17
@99percent
You said the same things above under a different name.
Are you paid by the hour, or by post?
Trump is in NO way justified to investigate anyone. It's the FBI who does the investigating, and they were only not interested, but it wasn't even in their radar. Rest assured, if there was SOMETHING there beyond a reactionary regressive pipe dream, they would have been on it like white on rice.
19
And Trump could use the Justice Department to immediately launch an investigation. But Trump has no desire for an honest conclusion prior to the election, only an investigation. Why else has his Justice Department not been energized?
5
Except, Shokin was NOT investigating the company. Shokin was a big fan of corrpution. The new prosecutor did. So, Joe actually increased the chances of scrutiny on his son.
3
Based upon the lack of direct fact and innuendo/ he said she said, I heard it on the grape vine assertions countered by fact this entire report was/is a waste of time and money. Any critical thinking unbiased American can see through the fog of the Democrat's wickedness. If anyone should be impeached it is the Democratic Congressmen who took part and initiated this waste.
11
@The SGM
If donnie could have been exonerated, why didn’t anyone come forth???
Why were ALL subpoenas DEFYED?
3
Read the facts. It’s all there.
3
Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, denounced the Democratic report moments after it was released. She called it the conclusion of a “one-sided sham process.”
“Chairman Schiff and the Democrats utterly failed to produce any evidence of wrongdoing by President Trump,” Ms. Grisham said in a statement. “Chairman Schiff’s report reads like the ramblings of a basement blogger straining to prove something when there is evidence of nothing.”
The only problem with this claim of one-sided unfairness, is that the whiteHouse failed to produce any testimony from any member of his staff by defying ALL subpoenas.
The Whitehouse could have exonerated donnie, if they would have allowed his staff to participate in the hearings.
BUT HE DIDN’T.
He made it a “one-sided sham process” by not allowing his staff to testify before Congress.
34
The Headline: 'Trump Put His Interests Ahead of Country’s, Impeachment Report -Finds-' is the writers' assertion under the pretense of fact-finding. The only thing found in Schiff's batcave were a collection of self-important bureaucrats with no direct connection to a phone call. Prima-donnas who were paraded out in front of the country to whine and pout about not being considered important enough. The same Schiff who was recorded breathlessly seeking nude Trump photos as he was punked by two second-rate Russian shock jocks. Pelosi, Schiff and Nadler have become the Moe, Larry and Curly of the imploding Democrat party.
6
What are your facts to support your claim? Up is down, down is up?
The view you expressed is not patriotic or sound, it’s the rambling of a man manipulated terribly by a fake president.
28
@Lulu
It appears that none of these fox and friends red hatters, understand what the US constitution is, why we have it or anything about American history.
We are a nation of laws, no person is above them.
Comments like the above defames, discredits and denounces our very own nation.
The republicans and the so-called president took an oath the preserve, protect and defend OUR constitution.
What are our troops fighting and dying for if it isn’t to preserve US democracy?
This is a very bad precedent to set where we no longer have 3 equal branches of government, and only one person has the highest rule.
We fought Great Britain in the 1700s to win freedom form a king.
Democracy is may be dead after this.
4
@Lulu A 'finding' is something which has been ascertained, i.e. proven. Schiff's report contains nothing more than accusations, i.e. unproven assertions. To present them as a 'finding' is at a minimum, misleading. It presumes guilt, which is the opposite of any fair legal proceeding. The presumption of innocence is at the core of our legal system. It is highly unpatriotic to smear the elected President of the United States with mere assertions by reporting them as already proven.
3
I am getting so tired of this. The Democrats I’ve been trying to impeach the president within minutes of his inauguration, need to just get this over and impeach him on a 100% party line vote, which of course miss Pelosi said she would never do. Expect four or five defections on the Democrat side. He will then be acquitted of the Senate and the Democrats will get 48 or maybe 49 votes when 67 is needed. And let’s go on and do the work of our country.
12
Trump had the ability to work for the country from the start. Instead he chose to use the immense power of his position in office for his own benefit.
29
@Kristin , he’s done great work for our citizens with a great economy, border security and no new wars That is what he ran on and he has fulfilled those promises. He has been harassed and investigated from day one.
8
@Mitchell myrin
Why didn’t anyone from his staff come before the hearing and testify to exonerate him?
Why did they defy ALL subpoenas?
Why didn’t we hear from their side?
6
Exactly how did Trump abuse his power? He didn’t pressure anyone to put his son on a natural gas company board like Biden, Pelosi, or Kerry? The Ukraine President said he wasn’t uncomfortable and there was no quid pro quo. The Russian hoax was dismissed by the Mueller Report. How could you be accused of obstruction of justice for a crime that was never committed? Hostile towards a witness that zero first hand information and couldn’t name a law the president broke? Democrats are caught in a very bad place. If they don’t push forward the progressive base will crucify them, but if they do it will hurt them in 2020 battleground states as well as democrats in red states. Get the popcorn out, it’s going to be a big laugh either way!
11
@JOSEPH, Trump used his office to seek a personal favor from a foreign head of state. And obstruction of justice is a crime that Trump committed, irrespective of how much he was shown to have conspired with the Russian government.
Trump endangers the safety of every American citizen when he endangers the security of the country.
Every senator who votes to protect him commits collusion.
29
Every time Trump does something traitorous, I ask myself how does Trump's actions benefit Trump?
And more importantly how do Trumps actions benefit Russia?
Pelosi was right. All roads from Trump lead to Putin.
Deeply disturbing. On so many levels.
23
Republican will pay a big price for their part in this outrageous cover up of clearly impeachable acts from this rogue president.
21
This report is additional evidence of Trump’s failure in presidential self-control.
14
I just watched Scorsese’s latest mafia movie, “The Irishman,” and it occurs to me that the Republican Party has essentially become a gang. Republicans aren’t operating by the rules that form the basis of any civil society. Instead, they have decided to cling to power through tribal collaboration and adherence to the code of Omertà. It’s stunning to witness! Who could ever have foreseen that such mob tactics would take over almost an entire political party? How will government and all of us ever recover from this? If a few key individuals don’t step up and counter this phenomenon, I’m afraid we’re destined to become as corrupt as Russia or any Banana Republic.
34
I had the same thought as I watched The Irishman. And also that corruption has a long history in US politics.
13
One thing I don't think Trump and Friends realize is that it's not OK to do something wrong just a little. Nobody handed him a rulebook, but that's why it takes at least a little government experience and common sense to be President. It's not folly for egomaniacs.
He needs to be impeached because it's the right thing to do.
25
@Rick Don't give them any credit. They know. They don't care.
14
As if anyone is surprised that Trump puts his interests before that of the Nation.
18
As the Democrats go about their sworn duty to protect and defend the Constitution from a president who has no concept of his own duty I am wondering...what are the Russians doing? As Trump is cheered at his rallies, as his GOP sycophants refuse to accept the reality of his behavior, what are the Russians doing? They've had years to improve their manipulative psy-war techniques. How are they using social media to bolster Trump's political standing? Whatever they did in 2016, they're better at it today. There is chaos in Washington, and laughter in the Kremlin.
15
I didn't read this article or the committee report and don't plan to. It's time to "move on," to coin a phrase.
6
@Douglas: Not yet. The impeachment first, hopefully by the end of December. Net there are dozens of House bills gathering dust on McConnell's desk. We can only move on if after the November 2020 elections the House, Senate and President have turned Democratic, so those bills can be voted on in the Senate and signed by the new president.
14
Tip of the iceberg of corruption with this regime.
25
Republicans have gone to great lengths to have you believe that it was a grievous sin for Ukraine to meddle in 2016 on Clinton's behalf, but it is totally OK for Ukraine to meddle in 2020 on Trump's behalf.
I guess if you can say red is green and up is down, you can also have your cake and eat it too. That is Trumpworld.
17
Let’s just move this on to the Senate, shall we?
That’s the only place where the full extent of Democrat malfeasance will see the light of day.
7
@EGD: Nope, the Schiff report is based on facts and the Republicans don't dispute the facts, because they can't. They can only argue that breaking the law and violating the Constitution is okay as long as a Republican president and his flunkies do it. Lock then all up!
9
The report seems a little thin Mr. Schiff. Questionable Abuse of power, no bribery charges in report, and witness intimidation for a tweet. I don’t know if you’ll get one Republican vote with that line up. The Democrats had one shot at impeachment and I think they blew it.
8
@Dori Sorry Dori. It ‘s time to tune into/read any number of news organizations that are reporting the same facts—FOX is not doing so...The abuse of power is far from questionable—it’s abhorrent and disgusting.
15
You will read it the way you see it, with liverishly jaundiced eyes! How can you see the facts when you ignore it altogether? Be dispassionate and unbiased. Take it line by line! I’ve spent four hours studying this report & all I can say is that my heart cries for America!
9
What are you talking about, Dori? This was a report. The impeachment counts haven't been written yet.
Giuliani says, "I am expert on so many things ..." Sadly, he's not an expert on remembering what exactly he talked about during his more than a dozen phone calls this year with the Budget Office, the United States President and top officials in Ukraine.
12
among the greatest presidents, washington freed america from britain; lincoln freed the slaves; FDR freed us from the threat of fascism; and trump freed the truth and reality from facts.
18
All Americans owe a great deal of thanks to the work of those who have risked so much to help protect and preserve our democracy against the cynicism and criminality of trump and his minions who believe that their interests go before those of us and our country. During the Revolution there were many colonists who didn’t sympathize with the rebellion against the British. They put themselves ahead of the efforts to oppose the unjust actions of the government led by George III. Some went so far as to inform on the rebels and abandon their homes here in favor of returning to England. It was a fight that our forefathers undertook to create a new nation based upon laws and governed by people trying to uphold the rule of law so that every American could have a chance to be free. When Washington and his army had been chased out of NY and across NJ to take refuge in PA against the vastly superior forces of the British back in December of 1776, I am certain that many American Tories and their supporters said Washington was finished. But they were very wrong. On Christmas Eve, 1776, WASHINGTON and his army of 2300 men crossed the Delaware at night and attacked the British garrison and their Hessian mercenaries in Trenton thusly, achieving a major psychological and military victory for our country. The same fight goes on today against the lawlessness of trump; and know this: we will beat him just as we beat the British in 1776 on that fateful night so long ago.
9
And yet 38 percent of the country will continue to support him because he’s a ‘businessman’ and ‘makes deals’. Unfortunately, those 38 percent have the power to win the election based on where they live.
20
That’s correct. American democracy is a joke and a lie all at the same time and that is a fact.
1
Those that think that Trump is a ZERO are wrong! He is actually -1.
21
If 45th is Impeached and removed from office, he will end up with his former attorney Michael Cohen in jail. Feds in SDNY are waiting for 45th for Campaign Finance Violations of 2016 election for which Michael Cohen serving time.
20
@Trevor Diaz
You should lay off the gummies.
First, 45 won't be impeached. Second, Michael Cohen is in jail for tax evasion, among other charges wholly unrelated to Trump. The prosecutors got him to plead guilty to campaign finance violations that they never proved. And even if they did, it is not at all clear whether Trump is guilty of same charges.
P.S. Cohen also lied to Congress, which is a crime.
This farce could not get more ridiculous by design. As Trump bawls about lack of representation on the impeachment panel, his co-conspirator Devin Nunes co-chairs the inquiry. Bring on the clowns!
28
Trump is a criminal who used his office and taxpayer dollars approved by Congress as aid to the Ukraine to try to bludgeon the president of the Ukraine to dig up dirt on his presidential rival in order to benefit himself. It's a high crime to do what Trump did and he needs to be dumped from office.
Plain and simple -- nothing complex at all about a criminal who attempts to blackmail/extort someone else. If it were you or me who did that -- we'd be fired from our jobs and stripped of all benefits and we'd be felons. Trump deserves the same sentence.
23
The new GOP war cry is, "OK so what, whatever he did it is not an impeachable offense."
And yet the Republicans thought that Clinton lying about having sex in the Oval Office WAS impeachable.
The Devil himself is doubling up with laughter.
26
@ernieh1
Poor analogy
Clinton perjured himself (a crime) in a civil suit brought against him by Paula Jones for sexual harassment. He didn't just lie in a press conference or an interview.
2
@Wondering It is not at all a bad analogy. I makes perfect sense.
Bill Clinton did not compromise national security by lying about a sexual affair.
Trump compromised national security by holding back military aid to an ally in return for a political favor that would benefit his re-election.
For Trump "all roads lead to Putin."
The President was setting up similar conditions in the 2020 elections that enabled him to win in the 2016 election. Now his administration is engaging in obstruction and a coverup that makes Watergate pale in comparison.
21
@Gary Ward: Yes, Trump probably conspired with Giuliani in forcing Comey's hand to anounce the reopening of the Clinton email investigation due to (planted?) emails found on Weiner's laptop. Eerily similar to forcing Zelensky to announce an investigation into the Bidens...
2
I agree with the Report and the comments here regarding the severity of Trump's actions vis-a-vis the Ukraine. That said, I think it is a mistake to include references in the Report to Trump benefiting from Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Did he benefit? Maybe . . . or did his opposition run a lousy campaign? Or, did the Russians succeed in stirring up partisan rancor in the U.S. (which has been understood to have been their main objective)? Including references to the Russians only muddies the waters as making the Report look that much partisan. I think it's an overstep. Also, I have a problem with the "Obstruction of Congress" finding. I understand the basis of the finding, but people are going to have problems with it in terms of "isn't Trump allowed to defend himself?" And, where does one draw the line here? Trump is allowed to defend himself to "some extent" . . . right?
The main thing about this Impeachment effort is that, as a practical matter, Trump WILL BE "acquitted" by the Senate. The result is only going to give him the ammunition to argue that the whole Impeachment effort is/was a strictly partisan show . . . out "to get him" . . . "to throw out the results of the 2016 election."
I think the Democrats should CENSURE Trump. That avenue takes away the impact of a Senate acquittal. And, it gives the Democrats (and like minded people, like me) a way of expressing what is wrong with Trump and his Presidency.
6
@Joanna Whitmire: It's a fact that the Russians meddled, confirmed by almost twenty national and foreign intelligence agencies. It's important because Trump denies it happened and Republicans in the Senate won't take sufficient measures to prevent it from happening again. Trump clearly benefitted from the meddling. Trump committed numerous actions of obstruction of Congress and obstruction of Justice, clearly spelled out in the Mueller and Schiff reports. Trump will be able to defend himself where that is appropriate, in the Senate trial led by Chief Justice Roberts following impeachment by the House. Trump can bloviate whatever he wants, but in that case he is ranting against the Constitution he has sworn to uphold.
2
@Joanna Whitmire
Trump has had ample opportunity to defend himself. He prevented those who would defend him from testifying before the hearing committee. If he's so determined to prove that all accusations against him amount to a hoax, he could make a personal appearance and speak on his own behalf.
2
This should be the headline for the next 11 months.
6
I applaud Schiff for taking a hint from the visual display[s] that the reactionary and (in some cases) fascist Republicans mounted on their side of the dias during the hearings.
Its kind of shake-your-head embarrassing though that the Dems are so slow on the uptake on the use of these kinds of things.
3
Trump unerstands the trappings of the presidency but not the role of the office. As Howard Stern recently told Anderson Cooper : "This idea of running for president was a publicity stunt." And some people thought this was all real. It is - a real nightmare.
16
@Thomas
Trump himself once described his candidacy as "the greatest infomercial ever." He never intended or expected to win the election. All he ever really wanted was to become more famous so he could make more money by having his name attached to more real estate projects worldwide. When he awoke to the reality of having to function as POTUS, he was totally unprepared, & eager to farm out to adults the annoying business of actually governing.
12
It's really simple, folks. Donald Trump is a traitor to the United States of America.
If you understand this, you are on the right side of history. If you disagree, you are on the wrong side of history. What will your grandchildren think of you?
21
Who made you the arbitrator of who is and isn’t on “the right side of history” (a particularly odious phrase, by the way)?
9
... of COURSE it says that, the Democrats wrote it.
14
The facts are real. Of COURSE the Republicans deny them.
16
'the wheels of justice grind slow, but grind exceedingly fine' - all trump's and his 'friends' should be examined. get out the gibbets.
2
The choice before the nation is pretty simple, impeachment or appeasement. We know which path the Republikaaners have chosen.
6
I guess the Republicans believe Communism or better red than out of office. My relatives who fought in Vietnam and WW II know a traitor and enemy. Sadly we have communist collaborators in charge of the senate , the courts, and the Outhouse(formerly the White house built by slaves and now full of Trump garbage).I never thought I would wish we had Sen. McCarthy back to find the communists in our government.
7
Trump should be charged with treason and punished accordingly. The president betrayed 330 million American for a few coins. All the people who followed him should be treated the same way. Our protectors became our worst predators. What a nightmare !
8
Spoken the truth I wish it could happen but not in this USA where democracy is a lie and sham
It's plain to see that our 'little experiment' has survived on a forgotten premise: good will. Our democratic republic has been standing on the bulwark of good will, and the GOP has been methodically and corruptly destroying that bulwark and without them it is crumbling.
7
“Even President Richard M. Nixon, whom the Judiciary Committee charged with contempt of Congress during the Watergate inquiry, produced voluminous records and allowed aides to testify voluntarily, the report noted.”
This is how far we’ve fallen: Richard Nixon is being held up as a model of good behavior.
12
@ERT
Yes, Trump makes Nixon look like Mother Theresa.
8
There needs to be a 'Manhattan Project-style' effort by the remaining non-cult members and believers of actual fact to overcome the stranglehold that Mitch McConnell has on the future of this country. He's done much more damage to our country than trump. The power of the people is real and is the only way to get ourselves out of this crisis, especially given the fact that almost 50% does not vote. The republicans rely on gerrymandering and the Electoral College. That needs to change. Rich people like Steyer and Bloomberg need to channel their resources to cover the costs of getting the people to the polls, monitoring every polling station and voting booth, providing resources to help states battle software hacking, etc.. It's possible to flip the Senate if done with the effort this crisis deserves. Starting an effort such as this, immediately, has two benefits- engaged voters who believe in truth and facts will start to push their cultish senators to break from this family of grifters and consider a vote to remove and start the process of voting out any senator that follows trump instead the best interests of their constituents.
6
Partisan lines?
Why bother then. Just censure all the traitors.
Voters we are being hedged out again by the billionaires and kleptocrats.
2
This inane and disrespectful response by the president's press secretary to the Intelligence Committee's report says everything you need to know about the C-team running the White House. One would expect they would deny wrongdoing by the president. But the tenor of this response is at the level of a grade school taunt.
I ask every Republican if this level of documented illegality, obstruction, and malfeasance had been committed by Obama, Clinton, or Carter what would be their response? They would not only impeach, they would overwhelmingly vote to convict.
20
Do you know why people (the most republicans, half of the independents and some democrat) don't care more about Trump and his call with Zelensky?
Because in their hearth they know that Trump is right: what the Bidens did was not right and did very strong smell after self serving. This was really bad, and the thinking that for democrats that is completely ok, is really unbelievable.
If Trump asked to look into it and as a consequence that could create a personal advantage for him, this is secondary.
Do you understand the difference had he asked for creating, faking, dirty on Biden ?
Trump only pulled on the surface something democrats had put under the carpet
8
@Mary nice distraction...
Biden is a private citizen, Trump is the President.
5
Yeah, but Biden may or may not become the candidate. Trump, on the other hand, is in a position of power (quite possibly stolen) and commits crimes EVERY DAY. See the difference? Of course you don’t. You never will.
4
Harvard Constitutional scholar Laurence H. Tribe:
“The evidence of those suspicious Giuliani phone calls with Putin-linked thugs reinforces the overwhelming case that the American president was directing a criminal conspiracy to conscript US military aid and the august powers of his office to benefit himself and his own reelection at the expense of the national security.”
“If this isn’t impeachable and removable conduct, we’re done as a constitutional republic.”
21
@Deb
Tribe has turned into a partisan hack. You can see it in his choice of words.
1
Republicans know this is wrong but they are so afraid of a constituant backlash that they wont be actual leaders.
And I used to think Democrats were the spinless ones.
10
Whenever an accused has no case they attack the accusers. Mr. Trump calls Mr. Schiff sick and deranged. He writes scathing, intimidating tweets while witnesses testify, which is their constitutional duty. He denigrates patriots (Mr. Vindman) and questions their integrity. He refuses to hand over documents because they would incriminate him. All because Trump has no legal leg to stand on. His guilt is glaring to anyone with half a brain. But does it matter?
The president will surely be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors. But it won't matter because the Senate will vote along party lines for acquittal. The best Democrats can hope for is censure, which likely won't happen based on a vote count. So there leaves only one way to remove the president--by voting him out of office.
4
Until there is a president that rules by the power of absolute terror, we are likely to go nowhere. That is what Trump is doing: Republicans forced into their loyalty are going to be so lest they will be put to shame before the entire world, and likely to lose their job. So expect the same being subservient, spineless in the Senate; because Trump controls it, he is going to terrorize each and everyone that dares contradict him. Don't the ones that have a modicum of backbone going to show their mettle, and act as true patriots instead of backing someone behaving like a dictator, something the American Constitution at its core has always fought against, being originally implemented to be so and the reason of independence from kings and dictatorships? I cannot believe these core values are so trampled upon and ignored by pusillanimous Republicans having now a golden opportunity to dethrone a nefarious tyrant once the impeachment process gets to the Senate.
4
Many fellow Americans will agree with everything reported in this story. They’ll also agree with what Trump has done 100%.
The impeachment hearings will go nowhere.
The Republicans won’t allow it
Prepare yourself.
He’s getting re-elected
7
Trump Country to selling out nation: shrug and smirk
5
Why are we using the word bribery? The word treason seems more correct.
5
@Jon
Well, the word "bribery" is in the Constitution, as well as the word "treason." They are both. in there, right before the words "high crimes and misdemeanors." It's right there in the part about "impeachment."
Impeach Trump and remove him from office. If the Senate does not do this, they don't deserve to call themselves Americans, much less Senators or Patriots.
3
The President of the Ukraine has stated repeatedly that there was no quid pro quo.
As to Hunter Biden he should have been investigated. A known cocain user (expelled by the US Navy for drug use) he was hired by an Ukrainian Oligarch and member of the former corrupt Government at $ 600 000 per year in a blatant attempt to influence the foreign policy of the US through his father VP Biden, in charge of the US Ukrainian policy
That Obama permitted it is astounding
13
Trump his allowing $400 million dollar contracts to be awarded to unqualified vendors to build his wall and you think he is worried about $600,000 to Biden.
Besides that, the whole Trump enterprise is built around Trump branding his name for buildings and products and it continues to do so.
Do you believe the patents and licenses being awarded to Ivanka Trump by China are for products that she created? Do you believe that the Trump enterprises are not trying to borrow or get investments off the Trump name from foreign countries?
Ivanka and Jared Kushner can ignore the pittance that is a White House salary because they are going to reap millions more from the information and associations that they get from working there.
3
This is all going to implode, fail spectacularly, energize his base and assure us 4 more years of gloating braggadocio and ineptitude. God help the United States of America. The dream dies hard.
3
The great tragedy is the total capitulation of the Republicans to Trump’s lies, treason, corruption and godless morality. They put the entire security of the nation at risk! I fear for the children of America.
12
Trump is utterly guilty. but Republicans have decided to support his criminal behavior. I am sick to death at how they have undermined our democracy. They are greater criminals than trump. One can make the case that he can't help himself, but the GOP members know precisely what they are doing, and they know it is wrong, but they do it anyway.
17
Nunes appears to be Trump's spy/mole in the Intelligence Committee.
How many more are there?
Quelle surprise.
8
So we'll finally get to hear in the Senate from Hunter Biden who is now trying to hide his finances in divorce court, on the money from Ukraine and China?
And the "we'll have a coup" whistleblower?
And from Joe "C'mon folks, China is no danger to us!" Biden?
And from Adam "I don't know who the whistleblower, whose letter was drafted by my staff, is, other than that he's the second person with whom Vinman told me he talked" Schiff?
That would make for riveting TV ahead...
8
The role of Nunes should not be ignored. He should have recused himself from house intelligence committee impeachment hearings yet he was right there repeating nonsense each time he opened his mouth. Are we fools? Can’t we spot a mole planted by the WH? Are we citizens of the US so helpless we simply watch a rogue president take down our constitution?
15
The “impeachment” charade and sitcom continues. If this is abuse of power, the entire Congress needs to be impeached. To ask about corruption in other nations and in our own government is now Impeachable? What a ridiculous premise. The real reason blue states are upset with Trump is the 2017 tax law that hit them hard in the pocketbook—the new SALT deduction limit of $10K hurts, doesn’t it? They could care less about Ukraine.
7
It is called Omerta. The White House is run like a mafia family, and all that is done by all who are complicit must stay within. James Comey has desribed the scheme early on, and all facts discovered so far fit this story. Every one knows, few tell. But the end is nearing is when the first go on record to save their fates. Michael Cohen is by far the most important so far, others will follow. Keep the pressure on.
7
Perhaps the report should have been written in invisible ink since none of his fact-denying defenders ever read anything of substance anyway.
4
If Trump gets away with this, it means that our government is too corrupt to be saved.
RIP America
11
Is there any worse "human" than Trump with the possible exception of mass murderers?
I don't think so.
7
@David Macauley
Mitch McConnell, Grover Norquist, Gowdy,Gingrich,Toomey,Paul Ryan,Scalise,Koch Brothers, Cruz,Pompei,Bolton,Mulvaney, Dick and Liz Cheney. The list goes on and on.
4
We know how this goes; Trump, being quoted by the enemy of the people in March of 2020, (the free press), says "Sad about Giuliani; I never met him."
5
Well, I’m not sure. I think we should bring back the monarchy with Donald 1st as, the first. Disney studios could help with that. Ivanka could definitely be a duchess of something. Duchess of Walmart? And Baron? Well, the mind boggles. He could marry a Saudi Princess at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade , and they should all pay no taxes. Because I hate taxes.
6
The records show a clear and unmistakable pattern of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . phone calls.
So glad that Super Sleuth Schiff has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to uncover this!
10
In the light of this overwhelming evidence (and more to come, I'm sure) of abuse of power, if the Republican Congress lets this president off the hook, the USA would be seen as no different from a third world country...I actually left Nigeria and adopted the USA, not because I was looking for a greener pasture, but because I couldn't abide the endemic corruption of the Nigerian governments. Now, I'm wondering if it's not "the same ten & ten pence." Impeach & remove President Trump, please!
5
The Dems have flubbed this whole thing up royally... Trump and a Republican Senate and House in a landslide in 2020, guaranteed. Seriously.
11
Have you seen Hunter's baby? She is so cute. Please don't let the Republicans upset this happy home. It's not nice. Hunter needs to be with his baby mama and his new baby during the holidays. He doesn't need to be bothered, right now. Family comes first.
7
Wow. Knock me over with a feather. This is the report issued by Adam Schiff? Who thought that could happen. Ridiculous, guy wrote the report before he ever called a “witness”. Shameful partisan use of a congressional committee to attack a president of the US.
Will the Democrat House ever attempt to pass legislation that actually benefits the American people?
10
It's obvious from the hearings alone that the trump and his gang of incompetent thugs, led by consigliere giuliani and including Devin Nunes, brazenly engaged in extortion of a desperate foreign ally solely in order for the trump crime family to subvert US elections in 2020, and quite possibly with the tacit approval if not direction of the Kremlin. Well, I've got news for you: "We do this sort of thing all the time. Get over it."
If a democrat had been involved in this, imagine the howls of indignation that would be coming from the republican Senate. Lock them up!
6
Trump’s impeachment must include Treason.
Having conspired with Putin, Trump is following Putin’s orders to denounce the findings of the Mueller investigation that were beyond doubt: Russia interfered in 2016.
Further, Trump falsely blames Ukraine for 2016, knowing it’s not true but following Putin’s orders.
Worse, Trump uses this “Ukraine did it, not Russia” pretext as a reason to weaken Ukraine, by withholding Ukraine’s military aid to defend itself against Russia.
Weakening Ukraine weakens Europe— Russia is breathing down their necks.
Trump is a Russian agent.
This is the way Europe ends
This is the way America ends.
6
If this process allows Democrats to get it out of their system and finally get back to business then it might be a good thing. I just wish they would hurry up as it's getting boring and no one really cares. Adam Schiff needs to get back to Alhambra and try doing something for his constituents. What the Democrats don't get is that they are trying to impeach him for the exact reason everyone voted for him. He gets things done and as long as he doesn't kill any Americans that's just fine by me. I think 70% of Americans couldn't tell you where the Ukraine is.
6
@joe
Don't you mean 100% of trump supporters?
4
Good lord this comment is depressing. You’re bored by our constitutional process, you don’t care about possible presidential corruption, and you have zero interest in, or understanding of, how global geopolitics affects millions of people, including US citizens. Meanwhile a line of brilliant, committed, and incredibly knowledgeable people in the state department are coming forward to try to save our country and repair of the damage that has already been done. And to explain to people like you why it matters.
3
@joe Just ask Rudy. He knows where it is.
Now we know (from those phone records). Nunes was not just doing the House politicking and circulating lies; looks like he was part of the Ukraine shakedown in the first place.
In other words, Trump has corrupted everything, from the SC to Congress to the Valet parking unit.
7
300 pages and they still didn't find any evidence that the Ukrainian President knew anything at all about the aid suspension on July 25, when he talked to Trump. That would be a start in calling it an extortion.
Maybe they stopped too early. Why not go back, and work towards a 3,000 or, why not, a 30,000 pager? They have another year in the House, after all.
6
When Trump lies about knowing Prince Andrew, the Trumpistas must start to understand that he is not just lying to liberals; he is lying to his supporters too.
However, Donald does not really have supporters- he has defenders.
5
Trump cheated on all his wives. Trump cheated all the students at his “university.” Trump cheated on his “charitable foundation.” Trump cheated those poor Eastern European construction workers out of the hard earned pay. It’s no surprise that Trump, as president, is now cheating against America. Remember Trump’s insistence to hold G7 at his Doral resort so that he could make millions off the backs of taxpayers? All these real life examples goes to prove that Trump will always cheat for his own benefit.
6
The headline understates the real import of the report: Trump's conduct amounts to criminal bribery, one of three express grounds for impeachment and removal.
4
Despite his bloviating, gavel smacking , self-aggrandizing, uber-partisan grandstanding, it seems - from his intelligence committee's report – that Adam Schiff has virtually no leg to stand on. The entire circus is a mockery of integrity, a waste of taxpayer money, a gross dereliction of duty and, despite the cheerleading from the Times and its fellow media travelers, as transparent as a pane of glass. Indeed this entire witch hunt is proof that the Democrats know they do not stand a prayer come 2020 and will stop at nothing to end run a foregone electoral conclusion.
6
The Impeachment process report show so far that foreign interests have divided our domestic national unity as never before. Congressional Democratic leaders Schiff, Pelosi and Nadler form the Clinton-Obama faction of the Democratic Congress, and seek to impeach Pres. Trump on his style of speaking and administration, not his actual deeds.Their report still indicates no evidence that Pres. Trump committed acts of treason, misdemeanors and high crimes for or with Russia or Ukraine. Previous Presidents have withheld or temporarily suspended American military arms to Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, among others. Yet other countries — Britain and Israel come to mind — interfere in our domestic politics far more than Russia ever has, and yet the Democratic Committee report fails to consider the Mueller Report conclusion about interference of “other countries.“
But without detailing how those other countries interfere in our elections the Committee reports are not only partisan and just politically biased against Trump, they reflect the extent of foreign interests dividing our Congress, with Russian financial interests alleged to guide the White House and the “other countries” perhaps directing the Democrats against the Russian faction. Both party leaders ought to address the role of foreign interests in our domestic politics.
3
Even if he’s not removed, this impeachment will further put a huge dark stain on Trumps legacy. As is most certainly deserved, history will forever accurately show what a crook and complete and total disgrace the chump is and will single him out as the worst President ever. The only thing that could save complete and total ruination of his legacy is if he resigns. But he’ll never do that and it would still only move him up as tied for last with Nixon as the worst President in history. I’m just glad it’s been made of permanent record for those who come after us in the centuries ahead, so he will be remembered this way but certainly he will mostly be just forgotten. Only those true statesmen are recognized decades after their service. The crooks are skipped over as periods of history we chose to forget.
7
jpduffy3
You write: "The Democrats obviously believe they are the only right thinking people in the country. They may come to regret this attitude."
Is that last line a threat?
2
House Democrats used the impeachment report to vent their displeasure over the president’s behavior, but they did not not allege he committed an impeachable offense. Instead, they noted: “Alexander Hamilton explained that impeachment was not designed to cover only criminal violations, but also crimes against the American people."
Unfortunately for Democrats, Hamilton was only one of 55 delegates who signed the Constitution, and the Constitution says, the president "shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” It does not say presidents can be impeach for incurring the wrath of members of a political party.
Republicans wish President Trump did not ask President Zelensky to investigate allegations that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 presidential election and the Bidens dealing with Burisma during phone call with dozens of people listening in, but they think the allegations should be investigated. So do the Ukrainians. On Nov. 20, newly appointed Ukrainian General Prosecutor Ryaboshapka fired the prosecutor who had been handling the Burisma investigation and expanded the investigation to include suspicion of embezzling state funds. Ryaboshapka also ordered his staff to review all investigations shutdown under the previous administrations to see to see if they were shutdown to protect corrupt officials and oligarchs.
5
Yawn, really. Let's get Lois Lerner back in front of Congress and see how cooperative she is. How soon everyone forgets.
4
It takes a brave, morally strong person to admit their own team cheated to win the game. Republicans are not brave or morally strong.
7
Sorry, but it just takes a morally sound and decent person to admit that. And both morality and decency seem to be at an all times low currently.
3
The House Intelligence Committee has done a very thorough and laudable report on the matter they were charged with investigating -- the attempt by Donald Trump and others in or associated with his administration to solicit foreign assistance to help his political campaign for re-election.
The evidence exposed, and timelines presented, are both factual and unassailable. The president and his associates are guilty. Republicans have no basis other than self-deception (at best) or outright dishonesty (at worst) to defend Mr. Trump and his actions and words.
Republicans led the impeachment charges against Bill Clinton who indulged in sex play with a White House intern and lied about it. Donald Trump has disregarded the Constitution of the United States, broken his oath of office, flouted the laws of our nation, tried to use his leverage as executive to bribe the leader of a foreign country, lied about it, attempted to obstruct investigations into the matter, and maintained that all this was "perfect."
How on earth can Republicans maintain the innocence of this miserable and dishonest man?
7
This reckless boycotting and brazen ignoring of congressional subpoenas by this administration is very disturbing. It smacks of anarchy gone terribly awry. Why aren’t these people in jail? Nixon tried it but was discouraged off that idea pretty quickly when congress threatened to start jailing people.
7
Well, Trump puts his financial interests first, probably true, I think GB2 invaded Iraq to settle a quarrel. Why wasn't he impeached for that?
1
@Jay
Stay on topic; we are not going to deflect from Trump to the Iraq war for oil under Bush/Cheney. The Iraq war was for oil resources, not to settle a quarrel.
2
Sadly, it seems most Republicans these days are putting their interests above the country’s.
In Congress, they willfully ignore evidence and distort facts for short-term political expedience, to keep Trump from tweet-smearing them as he did public servants testifying against him.
Seems like cowardice and self-interest dressed up as self-righteous indignation.
Just like Trump, who I am sure is thrilled to have loyal emulators in Congress.
No wonder Trump says he is looking forward to a Senate trial. He’ll get to watch the Republicans do backflips and lie for him.
7
The House Intelligence Committee concluded that President Trump tried to “use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election.”
Once a sleaze, always a sleaze.
6
Adam Schiff is emerging as the greatest person of this whole malevolent era.
8
Two words: Nothing Burger.
Nobody aside from staunch blues will buy any of this in a years time. The Democrats have spent an entire presidential term caught up in this hot tizzy when they would have been better served actually coming up with policies that ordinary people could get behind. And they will pay, oh yes they will pay, come next November.
4
This will be a test of the American constitution and how it stands up to its intended purpose. A lady asked Dr. Benjamin Franklin, “Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy. “ A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it.”
It’s now up to the republicans but I fear they are not up to the task of protecting your republic.
158
@James Lee
I would suggest that it is a test not of the Constitution as much as it is a test of the GOP.
And the GOP, from all appearances so far, will fail spectacularly.
12
@James Lee Since the entire Republican Party is devoted to taking and keeping Power, No Matter What, How or Who in the Party does wrong, they all protect the wrongdoer because they share the Party and that appears to matter above all.
Above being American, even.
The Republican Party has become the Epitome of why the RICO Laws were established in the first place: Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Officials covers the entire Republican Congress and many Judges positions recently handed out.
The Republicans CANNOT do an effective job of Governing when they are ALL too busy with their bribes, lies and conspiracy to commit crimes of treason against the US of A and it's Standing Constitution.
They cannot be expected to realistically investigate one of their own criminal cabal, now can they? After all this time since McCarthy, and he would be spinning in his grave now with the way the Republicans have all turned to Russian Money thru back channels, like the NRA and Real Estate Deals.
Follow the money, the trail is wide and deep.
5
Trump is untouchable, invulnerable. Why? It is not because he is protected, shielded by the Republican cult and their representatives, but rather the confusion and apathy of the American public who have been successfully gaslighted.
I did not know its definition till I googled it yesterday.
After reading its several properties I was terrified and still am.
2
Millions of us have know about his gaslighting since day one. I’m glad you have awakened. We need all people to wake up to what is going on.
4
That Trump illegally held up military aid to Ukraine in order to bribe that nation into announcing that it was launching an investigation into the Bidens is not a matter of factual dispute at this point. It has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt by overwhelming sworn testimony and evidence from multiple sources.
Stubborn and conflicting Republican denials should be treated as perverse distractions, obvious lies and violations of the sacred oaths Republicans swore to defend the Constitution.
6
So what? What politician does not put his reelection first? DEMS will need more than slime to have any hope of bringing Trump down by impeachment. I'm afraid it will be up to We The People to outvote the Trumpers and restore US to sanity.
1
It's a dangerous game you authorities play waiting for irrefutable proof of a Coup. Will you act now to prevent one or sacrifice lives to assure your case in the public view? Do you think you would spark a revolt? Not if you can substantiate your independence. It's better to send the legions of traitors to prison than to endure our nation's final destruction.This is a job for a reputably independent force being non military but lawful in government.
It was reported yesterday, by the WSJ, that Trump hates when others make money off of his presidency. In this case, it referred to Rudy Giuliano’s alleged double dealings - supposedly representing Trump in Ukraine while tapping into new client retainers.
Pretty ironic - here we have Trump extorting Ukraine and attempting to bribe its new president *for Trump’s personal benefit* - but he resents Rudy for his own twisted side hustles. More likely, being the erstwhile crime boss he is, Trump resents not being given his cut of Rudy’s peccadilloes.
Words truly fail to adequately describe the depth of Trump’s moral depravities. He is one very sick puppy followed closely by a GOP and political base unable, and unwilling, to think for itself.
7
But it was such a beautiful call !!
3
No no, it was a perfect one...
2
Let's face it, for the GOP, bribery and extortion just don't rise to the same level as lying about an affair...
8
Several died in the wool republicans that I know recently told me that they really would like to see a return to normalcy (with Trump defeated) whatever that means these days. Republican leaders need to develop a spine, go to the white house and channel the words of the 17th century English statesman Oliver Cromwell who dissolved the 'rump parliament' and told its members "In the name of God...just go".
3
No question trump is intentionally manipulating the Stock Market in order for his cronies to sell short, or buy. There is just too much corruption to investigate all of it. But this manipulation will come out eventually.
3
I shudder to think what would be happening right now if the Dems hadn't won the house in 2018.
7
Trump will not be impeaches, nonetheless, given the seesaw actions of the stable genius, the inquiry is needed to sort of keep him in line. and keep American voters in line. OTOh when will the Constitution be changed and the electoral college banished? It's more dangerous than people suppose. Trump could win the popular vote; Warren come in second and Bloomberg be elected legally I believe. (Buy the election buddy) If a Democrat does win the election will Trump vacate the position?? or will he sue to remain in office. That's what worries me. The guy loves his free lifestyle -- who wouldn't want to live like the president! I hope the inquiry continues for a good while yet. Boredom can be a good thing.
1
Watching this matter unfold gives one a profound sense of cynicism.
On one hand, the evidence of gross misconduct, endangering our national security, is overwhelming. This surely dwarfs the offenses which led to impeachments of Nixon and Clinton. If all that mattered were integrity and respect for the Constitution and the rule of law, there would have been a nearly unanimous consensus that Trump must be impeached and removed from office.
So, why are we facing the prospect of acquittal in a Senate trial? Pure politics. Today's GOP has lost any semblance of principles. They shamelessly put party ahead of country. Their political fortunes appear to rest on how well they can convince their base that they unconditionally support Trump. Hence, all of his gross misconduct is defended, no matter how dire the consequences for the nation.
5
Overall it’s mostly selfishness, as we see corruption in the hands of the President. There are many examples where corruption has taken place such as Trump simply violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause. This just shows how he uses his “powers” of his office, but there would be only one simple answer to get rid of Trump. Not so easy though since Trump gets away with almost anything. Most republicans are technically blind, how can they not see what Trumps trying to do… He’s trying to get re-elected any way he can. Overall, Congress has to vote for impeachment. They might not want to, but realistically speaking isn’t it the right thing to do? So Trump is just benefiting off of his Presidency for himself.
4
The fact that not a single Republican voted to proceed with impeachment demonstrates that they are all complicit in Trump's crimes. The revelations about Devin Nunes in particular show that he was actively aiding and abetting the efforts of Trump and Giuliani to coerce Ukraine into interfering with the election and trumping up a scandal about the Bidens.
That only Trump is facing impeachment is a real problem at this point. The entire Republican Party needs to be driven into the wilderness at this point. This is how democracies die.
4
A partisan report from a partisan investigating committee yielding the predicted partisan result.
2
Both Trump & Giuliani should be tried in a court of law, and I am hoping the investigation of Trump's taxes continues. They basically are making fun of him here...but it is sad that the biggest distraction from Climate Change unity & NATO unity is Trump. I may agree that Europe should be paying for their defence, Germany being the worst offender not France not Canada, but it is in the interest of the US to have allies as well and for NATO to be strong and unified. The cracks such as Trump's nasty goading and name calling just makes the business at hand less credible.
3
I have followed the nuances of this for 2 years, and I am very familiar with every single detail in this, but to drop a 300-page report to be voted on the next day is somewhat problematic. Might we be rushing this???
3
How is Trump and the Republican Party able to get away with this stonewalling by having all these challenges to our checks and balances tied up in the courts?
The conservative Supreme Court was more than ready to speed up the process in Bush v. Gore when an election was at stake.
These cases, that Trump has consistently been losing in the lower courts, need to be expedited and judged upon by the Supreme Court.
Assuming Robert still wants to combat the view that the Supreme Court has become a partisan sham, the relevant documents would be released for the congressional investigations and the relevant witnesses/criminals would be made to testify before Congress. Such hard evidence is what needed to get even the willfully ignorant to open their eyes to the crimes Trump committed.
3
The evidence is overwhelming.All the Trump lies and claims of a "witch hunt" doesn't change that.
Republican trumpsters are in full on lie and distract mode - They know what trump did was wrong and damaging to our democracy, yet they continue to perpetuate lies and debunked conspiracy theories. The founding fathers of this country are turning over in their graves.
Good to see some Republicans with a sense of morals speaking out about trump's blatant violation of our constitution. I hope more of them come out, and stand up for our country.
4
I wonder if the self-proclaimed corruption fighters in the Republican Party, whose defense of this grifter is that he withheld military aid to Ukraine only because he was so concerned about their corruption, will now ask the President of China to open an investigation into how the daughter of a U S President receives unbelievable numbers of trade deals and patents in that country, to the furtherance of her business interests there.
3
Having read significant parts of both the republican preemptive "response" and the committee's report, I was struck at the contrast in the language used. The report was factual, concise, non-inflammatory, directly to the point. The republican 'presponse' was written at a junior high school level, crammed full of juvenile adjectives, emotionally driven and continually depended on false narrative and cherry picking words and testimony. No evidence at all. This cannot be a coincidence and despite my disagreement with the R's points and eye-rolling reaction to them, I know these republican members are NOT themselves functioning at a middle school level mentally. They have been coached to dumb down the language to Fox News listeners' sound bite gut punch level. Incredible.
4
1. Representative Adam B. Schiff, stands next to his poster
"Was there a quid pro quo ? The Answer us Yes"
2. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has stated repeatedly that there was No quid pro in his negotiations
with Donald Trump
Whom to believe, that is the question.
In such cases the correct conclusion is "In dubio pro reo"
1
The conclusion says more about the party which controls the House than about any facts on the matter.
If I accuse Trump, it is for pulling out of the Paris accord and out of the nuclear treaty with Iran. These are much bigger things.
When the Democrats huff and puff, no one who is not a Democrat is impressed.
2
American democracy can challenge a president.
Issues of morality and sovereign law are ancient and rooted in your US constitution.
Bravo!
Messrs Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Duterte, MBS and other despots might hear the message.
No one is above the law.
Australians have an aversion to war but we have a history of fighting in warfare for democracy.
The Impeachment Report from the House Intelligence Committee was concise.
America is worthy of praise for being open and direct.
Nixon's demise made America a nation more respected.
Republicans well just don't get it.
3
My parents, as my wife’s parents, fled their homeland as children to escape a totalitarian government. The United States and the opportunity provided by its ideals of personal liberty were their haven. As a first generation American, now living abroad for 10 years and dutifully paying my taxes to Trump’s government, I am ashamed of what was become of the American system of government. If Donald Trump cannot be removed from office for the crimes he has committed against the citizens of the United States while in office, our system has failed perhaps irreparably.
4
This is what I've been saying for a long time, and it does not only apply to Trump, but also many other politicians. Politics these days isn't about doing whats best for the country but to use your power for selfinterest.
“The founding fathers prescribed a remedy for a chief executive who places his personal interests above those of the country: impeachment,”
Trump is guilty of this, and everyone who is trying to protect him is probably also guilty of this. There is no room for argument here.
That alone is tru
4
Trump’s life reminds me of Orson Wells character in The Third Man - self motivated profit at all costs. Trump’s life has no music though.
3
The Republicans are right. None of this matters. To the contrary, evidence that their leader can be so influential and also get away with it will energize the masses. 10,000 years ago such leaders lived to have 250 children, 100 wives, and they led big army to vanquish the others. A leader who can lie convincingly and get away with it is the type that humanity wants. Trump will win the next elections by a landslide.
We need an impeachment report to tell is that? This has been clear since before his inauguration. Until his base and the Republican party -- which, for some unbeknownst reason is more beholden to Trump than to our nation -- wake up and realize this man is doing more harm than good then we are in dire straits.
2
Why does every comment regarding impeachment sound exactly the same? Because Dems have their favorite news sources and talking points and so do the GOP.
Both sides believe they are the intelligent, truthful, patriotic and compassionate side and don't understand why the other side doesn't see what's obvious to them. I'm assuming most if not all people believe they are on the right side of most issues.
So, why don't we start writing comments about things we could do to help each group understand that most people are well intentioned and want what's best for their families and fellow citizens.
I'll start. How about we state something we like about the other side's policies that we wish "our side" would consider.
I'm an independent that leans right. I wish the GOP would get serious about doing something significant about health care. Stop running from it. Study the proposals being offered by Dem presidential candidates. Remember that all people want good, affordable health care, and it's the right thing to do.
I wish the Dems understood the GOP welcomes legal immigration in large numbers. But we want comprehensive immigration reform that's fair to all and works for our country's benefit. Please work with the GOP to make this happen because it's the right thing to do.
3
Whether the Republicans feel embarrassed or not Trump's Ukraine pressure campaign to achieve electoral gain over the political rival is so embarrassing as to make it difficult to defend the US as a law governed sovereign democratic nation with a proud heritage of constitutional governance and respect for the international law.
3
My abiding hope in all this is Trump debacle is two-fold, first that the electorate will reject him next year and secondly that the rest of the Western World will distinguish between Trump and the country that has him as its President. The former is an example of the worst of the USA and the majority of the people of America are the best.
3
What an incredible waste of time where the ultimate outcome is already clear. Devote the time and effort to dealing with prescription drug prices and surprise medical billing, something that really matters.
3
Some takeaways from reading a good deal of the report....
The House Intelligence Committee has done a terrific job assembling a confirmable account of what happened in a complex set of interrelated events.
Rudy was the go-to guy.
The evidence that aid and a meeting were withheld at the direction of Donald Trump while awaiting a public commitment into investigations of Trump’s political opponents is overwhelming.
The whole effort depended upon a significant bending of law and officials’ time to achieve ends that had nothing to do with government policy.
Ukrainian officials eventually privately knew the aid was being withheld, and they were tremendously concerned about the Ukrainian domestic repercussions if the hold on aid became public knowledge. They thus badly needed the hold to end.
In short, this was a substantial and ongoing bending of US state power to personal use. It could only have happened, given all the players involved, at the central direction of Donald Trump. This is grounds for impeachment.
Spin all you want, obfuscate ad nauseum , but facts are stubborn things.
3
Please be sure the evidence is announced in a loud and clear voice to the American public. If some Americans are uncertain about their President and his motives and subsequent actions, this report will be important evidence.
7
During the democrats investigation more information continues to surface. The republican senate probably will not impeach; their extreme partisanship has been obvious a long time, increasing drastically after the election of Obama. Since then, in the face of Trump's 'appeal' they have no choice. They are 'all in'.
But the evidence is overwhelming, in both it's volume and specificity.
Regardless of the republican response, the democrats will expose in detail everything they have found for the simple reason that, if nothing else, their work will be documented and available for future generations. I believe there will be an immediate, serious result.
Trump has not damaged our democracy to the extent that many fear. However, he has exposed the vulnerability of our system of government.
We have assumed a level of honor and loyalty to the country among those in government. Obviously, that assumption is incorrect.
We need to alter some of our rules:
Term limits for congress and federal judges.
Electoral votes awarded in proportion to the popular vote.
Vastly decreased role of lobbyists in government.
Federal funding for elections.
Election day a national holiday.
More; this is a beginning.
Trump may avoid impeachment and remain president until 2020, but no longer. He will be vulnerable to numerous fed, state, and local charges and possibly end up in prison.
23
Why is this document - like the Mueller Report - not available in a pdf form so the people can read and absorb it at our own leisure?
14
There are numerous apps you can use to create a free PDF of the report on any device you may own. We’ve become too used to being catered to - but less than five minutes effort to obtain, download and deploy such an app should address your ....concern.
Now, how about an app that can read it to you too? Yep, that’s out there too.
2
The painful loss of American respect, prestige and soft power around the world has everything to do with the cringeworthy collapse of decency within the Republican Party - deliberately self-misinformed and truth-denying voters and Congress hacks. This party pushes forward and supports an ignoble human being who is an apalling American presence on the world scene. The country is paying dearly now, and more, much more so in the future. Nov 2020 will be one of the most crucial moments in modern US history.
37
For the record, I have to say what a terrific job Chairman Adam Schiff did with the inquiry and the hearings! Looking forward to reading the report.
31
This ‘whistle-blowing’ matter drew attention to the deliberate trump slow-walking of Congressional funding support of the Ukraine in confronting Putin’s territorial aggression. It is also a reminder of trump slow-walking sanctions imposed by Congress for Russian meddling in US elections for over three years now. Incredibly, prominent GOP senators McConnell, Graham, Cruz, Cornyn, Burr, Johnson, and Thune are all in lock-step support of trump’s ceding to Putin’s demands for US sanctions relief on Russian oligarchs and their business interests. They voted for such relief as recently as early this year. Romney was among them. It shows how deeply and all pervasively trump’s obstruction in plain sight has seriously jeopardized national security. Under normal circumstances this kind of blatant political meddling would sound alarms all over the place. But a kind of public malaise about these developments seems to have settled in, emboldening these GOP senators to sense that they can turn a blind eye to presidential malfeasance definitely within the realm of outright treason with impunity.
9
I wonder whether Republican senators would still defend Trump if their benefactors were suffering financial losses.
18
I’m glad my vote and those of my fellow Americans that a Democratic House majority led to this outstanding impeachment indictment. Our votes DO make a difference!
30
Everything that the framers did was not exemplary. Allowing slavery in the Constitution was their worst mistake.
The design of the electoral college allowing an election for someone like Trump was another mistake.
Requiring a two thirds majority in the Senate to convict the president of wrong doing was too large a percentage as opposed to a simple majority.
The weaknesses of our American republic are a strong argument for many people around the world to have an authoritarian government instead.
3
False. The Framers did not anticipate a two party monopoly of political parties, but they did anticipate the possibility of corruption of at least one political party, which is why they insisted on separation of powers with checks and balances. Americans clearly asserted their preference for the latter in the 2018 midterm elections, and thus we are living proof that you can’t keep a good constitution down! Onward and upward!
3
Thankfully the electoral college was in place to keep someone like hillary clinton from taking office. The Framers of Our Constitution clearly foresaw the need for that in 2016.
1
This is the bitter end of the age of selfishness. I wrote a screenplay once I called "Selfie" when the selfie photo stuff was first getting really popular. The culture has had its vicissitudes, but since inequality began to get really bad, it became one of vanity, vanity, vanity. Now we see what such such egocentrism brings: corruption, incompetence and when multiplied by the million and placed in dangerous positions, national tragedy.
8
Trump gets away with this approach to government because it is a direct result of McConnell's value system.
14
Don't most politicians put their own interests ahead of the nation's? (just not to DJT's degree)
5
@george eliot
The particular act in question is not one that any other US President has committed - this isn't just about putting his own interest ahead of the nation's - it's about doing it in this specific manner - a line that is clear and that was crossed
And yeah, degree matters:
A lot of people drive 5 miles an hour over the speed limit
Not many of them drive 120 miles an hour over the speed limit
Big difference
15
@george eliot No, they don't. Attempts to normalize Trump's criminal behavior are not helpful to the preservation of our republic.
3
If you ever wanted to see, in plain language, how corruption at the highest level of our country happens here's your chance.
Our country has been taken over by a criminal enterprise. Impeachment and removal of Trump from office is the least that needs to happen. Those who assisted him, and continue to assist him must also be punished or our system of government has been severely damaged and exposed as incapable of defending itself.
30
The main title here was so funny, “Trump puts his interests ahead of the country’s.” I did an uncontrollable barking laugh on that one!
As he has the penultimate type-a personality, one would have to search long and hard for any serving of any interests anywhere away from his! The only thing he’s doing right for America is the hard stance on China, everything else is a glob of disappointment. Even his climate change policy is awful! He has access to tons of refuting raw data to back him up but only states that he is smart, really smart, unbelievably smart! That’s not inspiring for anyone with any interest in validated science.
7
@William Perrigo
What hard stance is he taking on China ?
They are growing 3 times as fast as we are and buying up our debt and land by the billion
He's blowing a ton of smoke but accomplishing NOTHING
2
Republicans will always choose giving up our Democracy vs giving up power.
20
I was physically ill for days after this man was elected. He’s a New Yorker as am I and he paid actors to populate a crowd as he and his wife came down the escalator to announce his candidacy.
I’ve lost friends over our political views of him. He does not treat women well nor respect them. He disparaged Obama. 
He did nothing for the city of New York, a city where one in ten children is homeless.
We are better than this. We have to be. Having been an activist all my life, I grief this national crisis and the national respect we have lost due to his greed and his lack of intelligence.
34
Shocking. The president with the narcissistic personality disorder put himself first?! Over the interest of our country? With our tax dollars? Over half the country knew this is exactly how this presidency would be. The rest either aren't paying attention or simply don't care about corruption that is breaking our Democracy. That is not an exaggeration. If we can't trust in fair elections, equal branches of government and oversight...we have no Democracy. Putin wins.
28
The Democrats have had poor timing with these hearings. With Thanksgiving and now Christmas, most people outside of news junkies are not even paying attention.
6
I, for one, am tired of pundits pushing leaders to lower the bar to include the least engaged and the least informed among us. Perhaps the onus to change should be on those not performing their civic duty to be informed. This is not the time to let those too disengaged to care to set the agenda.
13
I really hope some Republican Senators find their backbone and make a stand for some accountability here. I can get behind a settlement of “censure and let the voters be the jury.” Is an entire political party going to just crank up the fog machine and try to ride it out?
7
@mcmiljr
If that's true shame on them. This country better serious or we'll wind up like Russia, with a fake democracy and a real dictator.
1
"the president “placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States.” ?
Is that any surprise? Or really news at this point?
Trump has placed his own personal, financial, and political interests above those of the United States since he make a devil's pact with Putin to steal the 2016 election. And probably before that.
He's a caner on democracy and the world order.
14
The Ukrainian President denies he was pressured. Repeatedly. No statement was made by the Ukraine about investigations. The funds were released. There are zero witnesses directly testifying to any of this.
This is an abomination. It will haunt the next election and deepen the divide in this country.
7
Zero witnesses directly testifying to any of this? Try 12 including the presidents own appointees in direct contact with him (Sondland) and witnesses who listened firsthand to the July 25 phone call (Vindman).
2
The funds were released because the president was caught. A bank robber doesn't get off the hook because he lacked the skill and intelligence to succeed in leaving with the vault's cash.
1
@Kevin McKague There is no evidence to support this theory. Had the Democrats proceeded at a more normal pace. it MIGHT have been developed. We will never know.
1
I worry about the use of the term ‘election interference’ and perceived scope creep. Call it corruption and abuse of power and keep it nice and tight.
6
Nothing new here. Now for the final act in the House. And who is in charge? Jerold Nadler, head of the Judiciary Committee. From NYC's tony West Side. In his seventies. And who will he consult? Multi millionaire Nancy Pelosi, also in her seventies.
Not right. No decisions without input from the young and from minorities and from those who are not wealthy. This is the Democratic Party after all. Ocasio-Cortez for the Progressives and Buttigieg for the moderates get an equal say. Or I'm going home.
2
@michjas I don't understand what you mean by "No decisions without input from the young, etc. ..." If you're saying that members of Congress--the people who were elected to vote on impeachment--are too old and too homogeneous, I agree with you. But "I'm going home" sounds like something a petulant child would say. Organize. Educate yourself. Vote. It's the only way to change your representatives in Congress.
3
@michjas
They are the committee heads! Do you really expect AOC to run the Judiciary Committee after a year in office? Or what?
For pete's sake.
3
Lots of Republicans using the “but Hillary” or “but Biden” defense. They don’t even try to defend Trump directly. Besides, Hillary was a Republican. As a leftist, I don’t support any of them.
3
He’ll get away with it. And he’ll be re-elected. I’m afraid Trump will be President for the rest of my life.
7
"... the president “placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States.”
FLASH! In other breaking news, the sun is rather hot, and water freezes at 32 degrees.
12
Every time you say "impeachment report" or "impeachment findings," you of course should preface this with "the Democrats' impeachment report/findings," since not a single Republican believes that they have the goods on Trump -- not that he is innocent, only that he is not guilty. I have to reluctantly agree with this, and I wish this venerated paper would show some objectivity here, instead of leading the charge to have Trump found guilty come what may.
7
@Christopher This "venerated newspaper" long ago gave up objectivity in favor of partisanship. They are extremely slanted and they have got a lot of people bamboozled.
What we need is action on climate change, health care costs and coverage and a sensible policy on immigration.
But for the Democrats, that phone call to Zelensky is all that matters.
Why deal with the big issues when you can whip up hysteria on a small one?
1
@Christopher If a Republican did "believe" the Democrats had "the goods" on Trump, they wouldn't admit it if they intended to pursue a career as a Republican, or as another right wing propagandist on Fox News, Trump TV. Trump owns the Republican Party, he's your GOP Stalin. Trump has even suggested those who don't applaud his speeches are "traitors."
1
Trump isn't getting convicted in the Senate. This is such a waste of time. He's getting stronger out here in flyover country. Thank you Democrats for not having a platform outside of hate.
1
Congressional Democrats must follow their star where it leads. They must vote to Impeach. Yes, it will fail in the Senate, but they have done and will do what they must. If a President and the Senate can simply ignore a Congressional investigation and its results, there is no check, no three branch system. If it fails in the Senate so be it. If public opinion swings against the Democrats costing them 2020, so be it. There comes a time when you must stand up principle no matter what it costs you. And this is one of them.
God Save America. Because it seems, not enough Americans will.
21
The partisan line towing is at an all time high, and that says a lot. Republicans, it is illegal and impeachable for a President to commit bribery, and it's already proven he was caught doing just that. It matters not that he released the military aid after being caught and it matters not that Democrats wanted to win the 2016 election. There's nothing more to argue. I'm not a party line person because, well, I'm a real human being instead of a programmed parrot, and the facts are the facts, the law is the law, morality and accountability do matter. When you throw your two cents into political discussion you represent America, do so with dignity.
18
it is sign of our times that non-ethical or immoral acts are not punished only the clearly illegal ones are.
6
Trump’s own words: Lock Him Up. Will be interesting to see the distortion field that the Republicans abetted by Bart create. Donald, this may be getting to the end of the Show.
4
I see it now. I wasn't sure but now I know. Schiff is one of three Wise Men. He has come back to us and helped to deliver this wonderful Impeachment.
First the House then the Senate. It's the way. Do you feel it? I do.
I spoke to my astrologer, last week. She said all the stars in the sky are aligned for Trump's impeachment. It's coming.
It really is. This is so wonderful.
I knew God was looking over us and was going to deliver an this Impeachment to us. It's His way. It is fate.
1
The congress was elected by the voters, sometimes at great numbers to outweigh the effect of gerrymandering. People seem to forget that with the focus of 'along partisan lines'. I'm in agreement with putting checks and balances on this president.
6
The majority Republican Senate will never remove Trump, but I want each Senator's vote on the record.
Important for future elections and important for posterity.
26
@Jules
I hold out hope that GOP Senators will do their duty and honor their vows. I am waiting, perhaps in vain, for GOP Senators to collapse like the house of cards that it is. To flee en masse from the sinking ship just like rats do.
1
This Congress, led by Nancy Pelosi, is doing their jobs that they were elected todo and swore to do, uphold the Constitution. If only our other elected officials felt the same obligation to honor all of our citizens, not just the ones who elected them, maybe, just maybe, the "Draining of the Swamp" could actually commence.
19
Trump's actions – which are documented and are not "hearsay – are a clear violation of his oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States".
Impeachment is the answer for his failure to honor his commitment to his oath of office.
23
When a person is elected to serve in public office, above all as President, they are agreeing to lay day the tools of business for personal gain and serve the country with selflessness and integrity. These are not the only characteristics they will need, but the they are at the core, upon which all of their actions must be based.
If a public servant ignores this mandate, he or she should be impeached and removed from office. Actions like these were not a mistake, they were a deliberate choice to put personal gain above oath of office.
23
The Republicans can't declare that "there's not enough evidence to impeach" and simultaneously insist on withholding evidence by hiding documents and preventing administration officials and staff from giving testimony.
They also pursue the patently ludicrous position that "the president was not seeking personal political advantage when he pressed Ukraine’s leaders to investigate his rivals, but was instead urging the country to address corruption." Are we to seriously believe that the self-declared "good friend" of thugs and oligarchs like Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdoğan is really interested, at all, in fighting corruption in Ukraine and that his dismissal of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was part of his "noble crusade"?
The GOP should be ashamed for promoting such complete hogwash. Trump most go and many of the gutless Senators that participate in this nonsense effort will find themselves unemployed in early 2021. Good riddance.
46
Too bad the Democrats seem intent on handing the election to Trump.
8
@Michael Collins
Why? For following the Constitution? I it disadvantages them at least they did the right thing and upheld the Constitution.
30
@michael Collins. We’re going to hand him several articles of impeachment. And we will, um, handily win the 2020 election. Denial is not going to help you at this point.
2
When do we get to see Schiff’s phone records and his communications with the “whistleblower?”
6
Somewhere around the time they would matter or be relevant.
Given the complaints of the whistleblower have been borne out, I'd say that relevance will become prominent at roughly never.
42
@JQGALT
When we get to see trump's tax records.
9
Republicans cannot see the harm in what Trump was doing because it was related to his chances of being re-elected by any means necessary.
That is how divided our country has become. Republicans are less concerned about foreign involvement with our elections than whether they win and keep control of the Presidency.
38
This whole scandal seems calculated. I wouldn’t be surprised if trump has been urging favors from other countries as well.
20
The part of this report that astonished me most was the involvement in the Ukraine matter by Devin Nunes. He shouldn't get off so lightly by recusing himself. Congress should launch an ethics inquiry into his dealings with foreign agents for gain. If he has violated the ethical code of the House, he should be expelled from Congress and be tried criminally for failure to register as a foreign agent himself.
61
Several previous replies have asserted that this is not a legal proceeding or a court, and that legal analysis is therefore inappropriate. It is indeed not a court, and as everyone's favorite law professor Allan Dershowitz pointed out, Hamilton's Federalist 75 makes precisely that point: a judiciary is the umpire between the executive and the legislature. The legislature is not superior or supreme as in the UK for example. No executive member has to comply with a House subpoena for example, and can cite executive privilege (a favorite right invoked by Clinton and Obama, by the way). A court can make such a demand, but has not. This is just another small example of the media utterly misquoting facts in government proceedings, and in the legal bases of our government system. It is a terrible example of public misinformation, second only to Schiff who causally bends all legal interpretation to serve his agenda. This is sending the Democrats into a terrible predicament of legitimacy. Moreover, even of one were to accept the Report, it makes no survivable or coherent assertion in law concerning impeachable offense. Not one: none of its claims are impeachable by definition. It is fascinating that congressmen trained in law, holding law degrees and many even licensed as lawyers under state bar, as well as taking legally binding oaths of office, can take such unfortunate liberties, apparently with immunity.
3
@Matt Andersson
Talk about "bending" interpretation.
The issue at hand is quite simple: is it an abuse of power for the president to withhold congressionally approved aide to a foreign nation, in order to coerce that foreign leader to announce an investigation into the president's election rival?
You can talk about lawyers and courts, but impeachment is interpretative -- just like Lindsey Graham crowed during Bill Clinton's inquiry.
8
@Matt Andersson
Federalist 75 neither states nor implies any immunity of executive branch officials from congressional subpoenas. Are Trump's defenders now just making stuff up in the hopes of gaslighting the whole country into confusion? And as far as no claims against Trump are impeachable by definition, the constitution specially enumerates bribery as an impeachable offense.
6
The Congress must vote for impeachment.
We know the Senate won't remove him from office. Regardless, Congress must impeach Donald Trump. It is the right thing to do.
18
Chairman Adam Schiff delivers a compellingly convincingly report substantiating the cause for impeachment and presenting independent, corroboratively predicated evidence rationally justifying conviction by the Senate. In a nutshell, Schiff has masterfully arrayed a comprehensively extensive amount of substantive evidence that incontrovertibly establishes the impeachment and the removal of the Vietnam War draft dodger. The House Intelligent report essentially presets a logical roadmap for impeach similar to a federal grand jury indictment. The draft dodger is engaged i conduct tantamount to that Don Corleone of "The Godfather," skillfully interposing third parties acting at his whim and caprice. The WH is a RICO enterprise that the draft dodger, and his confederates, operate, manage, and act upon by and through engaging in a RICO pattern of racketeering activity: witness tampering, extortion, witness retaliation, mail fraud, wire fraud, racketeering, obstruction of justice, money laundering, and conspiracy and aiding and abetting to accomplish those federal offenses. Attempting to immunize and insulate himself from liability exposure is to no avail. The effective instrumentality to reach the draft dodger and terminate his command with extreme prejudice is by and through the RICO conspiracy law, applying the Pinkerton Doctrine. Ascribing blame and deflecting attention elsewhere does not suffice to preserve his precarious posture. And, when it is all said and done. Race matters.
15
I've asked multiple Republican friends/family members why Trump was not interested in investigating Biden and did not withhold aide to Ukraine in 2017 and 2018, but then all of a sudden decided to in mid 2019 after Biden became his chief electoral threat, plus decided not to tell anyone he was pursuing this, especially after bragging about his other political investigations with the whole (phony) FISA investigations of Obama, Comey, Hillary, and the FBI.
The reaction from all of them is a blank face...speechless. They can't explain it.
46
You mean to tell me that Trump put his own interests before those of the American people? I’m shocked — SHOCKED — to learn this news. How long has this been going on? Is this a recent development? Was there even an inkling that this might be the case? Boy, it’ll take a while to process this news. Who’da thunk it???
27
Quelle surpris! Is anyone really surprised by this info.? If you are paying attention, then NO! Impeach Mafia-Don (House and Senate) and then try him for treason. That would be justice! (I won't hold my breath).
25
With the Supreme Court heavily weighted to the right the American people will need to vote out the GOP at every level of government just to accord with any semblance of the will of the people.
29
Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell seem ready to create a bipartisan trial for this possible Trump impeachment in the Senate. With this it is possible that this action will receive a fair hearing in that body and this is a positive sign that Republicans will not reject it out of hand as many have feared. A full Trump trial in the Senate will show that Senators are taking the charges seriously even if Republicans reject them in the end. Trump must know that he can not get away with his shennanigans and that we continue to have a constitution based on the rule of law.
11
While people argue over whether Trump is guilty of using his office for political advantage, Trump continues to use the Presidency for personal financial gain. How much money have U.S. taxpayers given to Trump properties at this point? How much money have foreign governments and business entities given to Trump businesses in an attempt to gain his favor?
39
@Larry: Trump uses our office of the Presidency for personal gain? Au contraire, mon ami. Trump owes Vladimir Putin (among others) big time and human self-preservation seems to imply that Trump will stop at nothing to repay his debt. Even, my good friend, at the expense of our Constitution.
6
As the focus continues about the personal unaccountability and accusations of criminality of the President, whatever its implications and outcomes, little is indicated about what are, can be, the implications and consequences of the challenges faced by a divided nation in which masses of Americans who have supported Trump’s harmful words and deeds continue to empower a toxic WE-THEY culture which violates created, selected and targeted “the other(s).” People whose complacency and complicities, remaining after Trump, disempowers democracy’s basic foundations, principles, values and norms.
People, whose dehumanized mantras weaken menschlichkeit; threatening mutual trust. Mutual respect. Mutual caring and help.
To what extent, for example, are their expressed beliefs and behaviors a threat, potential or actual, to the nation’s security ?
6
The cable pundits continue to presume impeachment will not result in removal from office due to the Senate GOP majority. They cite the polls which do not overwhelmingly show support for removal.
This matter is far from over. Just as we have just learned about the phone records there will be more revelations. The Democrats are building a methodical case., and they may be able to compel documents and testimony on an expedited basis as the proceedings progress.
The evidence is closing in on the ultimate evidentiary smoking gun... aid was withheld until Zelensky provided “the deliverables “.
Public interest will increase as an impeachment vote nears. In reality the support at this time exceeds opposition. An historic Senate trial will attract a large audience.
The pundits should not be evaluating current poll numbers. The question is what is the tipping point which will cause Mitch and co. to visit the Oval Office and suggest that Trump start his Florida residency during the winter golf season. If support ticks up will the GOP risk a Senate trial that exposes Trump’s abuse of power and their disingenuous defense? If they acquit the label “coward” will fit.
29
It is naive for us to continue to cling to the idealistic belief that America is a democracy. Our "democracy" brought us the Trump swamp. As long as we continue to allow the electoral college, gerrymandering, and foreign election interference, all of which directly contributed to Trump's 1st election, we don't truly have a democracy.
30
What's funny in all this is that a) Trump didn't think he could beat Biden on his own -- without Ukraine's help -- and b) Biden is no longer the Democratic frontrunner, anyway.
16
“ 'Devin Nunes has a right to talk to anybody,' Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the top Republican in the House, told reporters."
An interesting defense. If that is an acceptable defense, then I suspect next time FBI arrests a terrorist based on receiving phone calls from other terrorists, the terrorist lawyer would ask the court to acquit his/her client based on Mr. McCarthy's rational.
17
The Art of the Deal. If Trump's intention was doing due-diligence to get details on national security infringements on the Biden's Ukraine "deals", why didn't he approach it from that standpoint... instead of asking for an implied "favor"? If there were legitimate concerns, they should have been investigated legitimately ... no "favors" , no "Deals" necessary. The obvious intent (QPQ) clearly reveals the obvious, self-dealing motive. The Art of the (AC) Deal.
5
Trump extorted and he bribed and he lied to the American people and there was a quid pro quo that was even admitted by Mulvaney, and confirmed by the testimony of multiple credible individuals. Additionally, Trump obstructed justice. There is no universe in which this doesn’t rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. But we have a rogue AG who gives speeches that sound like they were written by Breitbart, and a complicit GOP who is pandering to the voters who in a poll ranked Trump above Lincoln. Whether it’s keeping anyone from testifying that has firsthand knowledge of Trump’s machinations, or denying reality with word salad, the Republicans have gone so far to put party over democracy that the fact that we’re witnessing a Constitutional crises is no longer hyperbole.
29
LB
Seriously? Weapons aid to Ukraine is not some charitable donation. It is a US national security goal to help Ukraine’s fledgling democracy as
Ukraine is the buffer between Russia and Europe. That buffer challenges Russian aggression in Europe too. It would not be in the interest of US national security should a war break out in Europe- where NATO members would invoke Article 5 - basically, “an attack on one NATO member is considered an attack on all NATO members”. Your country is a member of NATO. The US is the only member to have ever invoked Article 5 (after 9/11). Since a war declared against any NATO member puts America at war too, it is firmly in your nations national security interest to “discourage” such Russian aggression.
This is but one example of why it’s solidly in US security interest to aid Ukraine. It is the bipartisan consensus of the House and Senate. Which is why they appropriated the $400 million to Ukraine. Part of the process of appropriation involves Defense Dept looking into corruption in the recipients country and it was, again, the consensus that Ukraine was fit to receive that weapons aid. Trump was bound by law to send the aid and instead he used it as a bribe and then tried to retroactively search for a lawful excuse for why he withheld it. Like “looking into corruption”.
If Trump cared about corruption why remove the anti-corruption Ambassador Yanavitch ?
This is your country-why don’t you know these things? So irresponsible.
20
None of the report is surprising. I appreciate the Cmte's methodical time and attention to pulling the information together and making it public.
9
With his holier, than Jesus attitude, his perfect understanding and interpretation of the Constitution and his unwavering support for all the right things, Schiff would make an excellent candidate and a formidable contender for the presidency.
What about that Adam? Will you take the challenge?
2
What I don't understand is why I on my job as a customer service rep every second at work is reviewed and judged as acceptable or not and can be fired at any moment for the slightest mistake. Meanwhile Trump does what he does and so many who, like me could lose their livelihoods in a heartbeat stand by a man so obviously, blatantly guilty of breaking the rules. stand by him no questions asked. If I did anything even remotely close to what Trump has done I would find myself at the business end of multiple legal suits. Why is Trump allowed to skate by so many subject to the same circumstances I have at work. What in heck is wrong with people who live under such tight restrictions and let this man get away with for all intensive purposes, shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue?
21
We already know how the next few scenes of this movie will unfold: the House will impeach, the Senate will acquit (after a circus, and with nary a single Republican voting to convict), and Trump and his goons will sing hosannas from the housetops about “total exoneration” ad nauseam.
But what happens after that? If, true to form, he shows his gratitude for this gift as he did for the gift of the Mueller report, he will commit another impeachable offense before the sun sets on the day of his acquittal. And another, and another, all the way through his second term.
Do not think for a moment he will not win a second term. Whoever the Democrats nominate, come election day tens of millions of “voters” will find some excuse to stay home -- the most common being that the Dem candidate is (1) too liberal or (2) not liberal enough. Count on it.
6
Republicans like to chant that Democrats wanted this President impeached all along. Each and everyday in office this President has committed inappropriate, unethical behavior. The instances are well documented. Impeachment was always going to be this guy's destiny.
16
Well, my representative declared she would vote for impeachment before this even started... shameful to see a political bias being set in the search for justification.
1
An elaborate conspiracy to solicit the leader of Ukraine using tax payer money to extort for personal gain. But that's not all really. Obstruction of justice. Financial gains while in office.
The tax records, Trump businesses, Trump Charity, Trump Modeling agency, ties to Epstein. Sexual abuse, rape accusations. Porn star payoffs. Russian interference, Russian meetings, convicted associates or under investigation.
I feel like we are at the hands of a sociopath and his grifter family. The Republicans have morphed into strange aliens who can't understand the abundance of evidence placed before them. Despite their oath of office they refuse to put the Constitution before this strange new allegiance. During hearings they ask no questions but rant juvenile speeches. They seem not to care what misdeeds the President has done. The Senate trial will be more of the same. What kind of alternative reality are we living in? Does anyone else find this episode of American history maddening?
20
This impeachment is truly needed to put forth an alternative narrative, but we need a vision, and I'm not sure Democracy and Rule of Law, or Health Care Policy builds enthusiasm.
This is all good but might not be enough
3
If this president gets away with everything he has done then how can we go on believing that we still have a working democracy? And, if he gets re-elected, how long can this continue?
30
The revelations about Nunes make his childish grandstanding during the hearings even more understandable. How many more of those Republicans have something to hide.....
41
Wrong message. Trump was caught trying to cheat on the election. He used the power of the presidency to try to rig the election. That's why we have to remove him though impeachment, not through an election. His attack on our democracy is primarily what makes him a threat to national security. This is about American democracy, not the geopolitics of Eastern Europe.
36
Which raises a paradox.
Long before Freud, Jung and other mental health theorists and experts, a hard working group of people representing a range of Identities, and Behaviors, underpinned by norms, values and ethics, created-wrote, and passed,?a Constitution which didn’t consider that a necessary basic criteria for being the President of this political experiment would be the ability to know, understand, and differentiate the differenceS between “RIGHT” from “WRONG.”
Given what Trump demonstrates, by words- written and voiced- and done deeds, daily, can he legitimately stand trial, disabled as he behaves?
Everyone should be looking further into the future following the final outcome of the growing Impeachment process. It could spark violence, predictably from Trump whose strategy since the beginning of his campaign and now during this heated process seems to be focused first on preparing for martial law, second, attempting to instigate Democrats to act in a way they would declare as just cause for that martial law to gain absolute power, and third, as a means of rallying a pumped up nation to violence. Take note of Trump's reverse wired brain that projects his strategy. He has been drawing his road map all along.
There is widespread Treason afoot and everyone is not understanding that. The "Coup" Trump has accused the Democrats of attempting is in fact, his projection of a three year undertaking by him and his players. They secured the friendship of Russia and sabotaged our nation's alliances to prevent us from being helped by other nations.
America is entering dire straights, it's right there in front of you and you all fail to recognize their long term strategy.
As an old Boy Scout, I recommend you all "Be Prepared". It involves impossible to survive military capabilities so my advice is to always be prepared to leave our nation.
13
What we must all understand in order to fathom why the Republicans are still defending Trump is simply that the party of Lincoln and Reagan no longer exists. It has been supplanted by the party of Trump and to coin a phrase, all that support him can now be referred to as ..."Trumpists". And, like their namesake have sold their proverbial birthrights and morals for a mess of god knows what.
The Republican Party that I remember and respected even though I am a Democrat, stood for fiscal responsibility, strong defense and a muscular foreign policy that regarded Russia as an adversary that must be contained and confronted with its post-Soviet Union imperialistic designs.
We can only hope that Americans who listen even a little to the findings of the impeachment report, understand just how devastating a picture it paints of Trump and his minions who act more like a crime family than servants of this country. Given the overwhelming evidence that has been amassed, had this been a federal indictment, the entire top tier of the Trump administration including Trump, Pence, Pompeo, Perry and others would be looking at lengthy jail sentences.
Let us hope that there may be some modicum of probity in the Senate that will do what is necessary though painful and messy, i.e., remove Trump from office.
14
NEWS FLASH: Trump puts his interests above the country's and anyone else who is of no use to him. Memo to future voters - do not vote for anyone with multiple bankruptcies, reality TV, or fraud charities on their resume.
51
@John Reynolds - And that goes for Republicans and Democrats alike.
1
@John Reynolds and self admitted sexual assaults should be a flashing red light to all as well!
2
I still can't get over the fact that we are even having this discussion in the first place. It's baffling to me how so many individuals can comment and with great articulation, yet that isn't a reflection of our society as a whole, at least currently from a global perspective. Let us recap: 52% of men and 39% of women voted for Trump in 2016. Of that: 54% were white and of that 54% white majority, 62% were white men and 47% white women. Additionally, both 28% of hispanic men and women also voted for Trump. How this nation managed to let the most obviously unqualified person run this country and then YEARS later suddenly have an epiphany that yet ANOTHER historical mistake has been made, is beyond me. I really truly hope that all of this sudden "enlightenment" many of you have found, that you disperse it to your friends, family, etc who voted for this man. I truly hope you all MEAN what you say regarding upholding JUSTICE and EQUALITY for EVERYONE in this country. I hope you all SHOW UP in 2020 at the polls and vote for someone who will be a great LEADER and who represents the values of a progressive, inclusive, diverse, and great country, because overall it is. Forget your traditional party, truly look at the WHOLE picture and not just what may effect your immediate family. WE, THE PEOPLE, have to do better. Hopefully this mistake can be fixed, but it will NEVER be erased from history.
21
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the country is unmoved. Most are not open minded and the rest are apathetic. Odds are even Trump will prevail though I predict he will do something so self destructive and that will
decisive.
This country is very sick. We are ruled by a conglomerate of large corporations. Democracy is a delusion.
Trump is very dangerous as is well documented in a book by 27 prominent mental health professionals.
5
Last time I checked rooting out corruption, especially when it happens to be opponents who could potentially be elected, is in the national interest.
11
@Nana But _announcing_ probes of presidential candidates isn't: Comey was faulted for doing just that by the DOJ Inspector General and by Rosenstein. Trump even cited that as his reason for firing Comey.
How is it in the national interest for incumbents to secretly coerce such announcements, then cite them as independent proof that opponents are corrupt?
7
You miss the point. There are regular channels for dealing with Americans suspected of wrongdoing overseas. Such a probe however, would be confidential until charges were filed. Trump could have activated that thoroughly legal process. My guess is that he didn’t because a) he wanted the public announcement of an investigation, and/or b) he knew that any legitimate investigation would turn up nothing that merited any charges.
6
Then he should have used the proper channels at his disposal to investigate Ukraine. But that’s not what he did, is it? No, instead he concocted a hair brain scheme with Giuliani to utilize the state department in his machinations. If he were really so concerned why weren’t all of our intelligence agencies looking into this in an official way?
1
In an 1866 ruling SCOTUS gave a prescient warning about leaders like Trump -
“This nation, as experience has proved, cannot always remain at peace, and has no right to expect that it will always have wise and humane rulers, sincerely attached to the principles of the Constitution. Wicked men, ambitious of power, with hatred of liberty and contempt of law, may fill the place once occupied by Washington and Lincoln; and if this right is conceded, and the calamities of war again befall us, the dangers to human liberty are frightful to contemplate.”
30
I used to think Trump was a New York guy who just had rough edges. But when I hear him at rallies I get very scared. He seems quite dangerous when he wants to be. That should be in the articles -- inciting hatred and distrust of the government. It's bad stuff and it's not normal politics.
44
@Rich I absolutely agree. I think the worst example for me was a rally where he was getting his crowd of baying thugs worked up over abortion. He described a scenario of a baby being born, wrapped in a blanket and held whilst the mother and doctor decided whether or not to kill it. Either Trump genuinely believes this happens, and therefore is not fit for office, or he knows it doesn't happen, but also knows that his supporters do believe it, and therefore he says it to get them going. Either option is truly terrifying.
17
@BenB His grotesque acting out of a named private female citizen's presumed coitus breathlessness, is enough reason to ban him from society's living rooms. And yes his salivating frenzied rants are terrifying. He is still pointing to the press area and making incendiary remarks.
1
All one needs to do is listen to the hyperbolic responses from the Administration every time Schiff comes to a conclusion and makes a public announcement, to gauge whom is telling the truth. The responses contain zero substance, are usually malicious in tone and are delivered in a highly defensive manner. They are counter attacks and not an objective, well thought out explanation of the President’s actions. They were, once upon a time, quite entertaining. But these responses have grown into something much more serious and quite disconcerting. I am still amazed there are senators and representatives still willing to tow the line and maintain a compact with the Administration. Reason, truth and justice are all thrown out of the door. You can’t help but wonder, what will this cabal do if the Democrats win the presidential election, particularly if they win by a razor-thin margin or an inverted curve as Trump did in 2016? These people are simply dangerous.
21
As alarming as this report is- it will go nowhere because the constituents of the spineless senate republicans see nothing wrong with the president breaking the law.
Until these folks understand that a transactional leader has no moral compass and will turn on a dime when it suits him--- This could mean raising their taxes, limiting their healthcare, ending their employment options, cutting back their social security, or through pure ignorance causing a recession/depression. Eventually when their vital interests are affected-djt will go down.
9
Findings by the house are irreverent.
Mr Trumps benefactors at Google, at Apple, at Amazon, at Facebook, with all businesses he and a republican majority in congress of houses will override law and the constitution.
Those tax breaks given to business didn't come cheaply.
It has cost democracy, and turned citizens in to subjects of autocratic despotic rulers
10
Yes, you have affirmed my perseveration...corporations rule. Democracy is a sham. It doesn’t exist in the US except in some states and many small towns. The federal government is a “ friendly fascist dictatorship. This is defined as government and big business calling the shots.
You are aware that lobbyists write the laws.
1
I don't understand why the Republicans don't just impeach Trump and put a suitable candidate up for election in 2020? I highly doubt they would lose any Trump voters to the Democrats, and they would probably retain some remaining sane Republicans who understand that Trump is a terrible President. I would love if people could see that these Republicans who are still supporting Trump are cowards who should be voted out of office.
16
@Jessie Paul
"I don't understand....": each of them, representatives and senators, would have to admit, and admit publicly, that he/she was wrong all the time when they supported Trump or chose to look the other way.
6
@Jessie Paul I think they know that whilst Trump's base will never vote for a democratic presidential candidate, they might well vote for a more right wing candidate for Senate or Congress and that will leave them unemployed.
@Fran
You're very right about this! The psychological act of having to admit to themselves (and the public) that they were wrong is just too much cognitive dissonance for their psyches to bear.
1
After everything we now know about Trump, the question is how can the Republican Party still support this obviously corrupt man?
The Republican Party can survive this by removing Trump with a guilty verdict by the Senate, and then selecting a moderate Republican such as Mitt Romney to run against the Democrats. Come on, save the GOP! Dump Trump!
13
Now we find out that Nunes was making calls to Giuliani and the White House re: the Ukraine mess, while at the same time embarrassing himself in front of the impeachment hearings. The corruption and coverup is unreal. Will Barr, Pompeo, Pence, Giuliani, Nunes, and Mulvaney ever be held accountable?
23
@Lake
So what if he called? Do we have Schiff's phone records yet? Was he coordinating with the "whistleblower?"
4
@Jorge That is a Republican talking point. Please fact check and you will find that Schiff never talked to or met the whistleblower.
Do we not interfere in the election of other countries? For example, Israel, Canada, Britain, Ukraine, Russia, etc.?
10
@Alex E That's a red-herring argument. If "we" do it as a country for the good of the country, that's not a crime. But if one person does it for their own political/personal gain, then it's a crime.
Big difference!
8
You either love this country or love Trump. You can't love both. No way.
43
Honest Don put his own personal interests in front of the country's interests?! Gee, nobody saw that coming in 2016, did they?
30
At the very least, it is time for the Government to resume it’s fundamental obligations to improve the quality of life of all Americans, and improve the education, medical, financial and career circumstances of our citizens.
It’s doesn’t matter what Trump has done or might do.
He is simply incapable of managing a Country!
Next!
20
Seems to me he is doing a pretty good job of beating the Democrats at there own game. It’s about time!
1
Rep. Brian Mast, R-Stuart Fl.:
"The bottom line is that House Democrats have made it clear time and time again that they’re more interested in putting politics and hatred for the President ahead of our country’s best interest. It’s time to end this sham."
So THAT is the payoff Giuliani's associates Lev and Igor secured when they gave maximum money to Mast's campaign fund. (Mast recently returned the money - after he was outed by reporters.)
11
Won't matter. All the way up to and including treason. His supporters are 100% oblivious to facts.
Without exception, every Drumpfh supporter I know is angry and miserable, easily triggered, and thrills to the pain suffered by the poor, immigrants, and anybody else better off.
IF/EVER something mind-boggling comes to light, most of them will stick with him.
The phrase "the short but happy history of the United States" comes to mind.
24
I have no interest in "understanding" a "base" that won't face facts.
I have no interest in feeling sorry for the pickle Republican congressmen are in.
I have no interest in finding a "middle ground" with people whose values are so corrupt.
Trump, his family, his associates, and Congressional Republicans are corrupt to the core, and will never value America over their own greedy hides.
They knew Trump was corrupt, and they loved him for it.
Throw the book at 'em all and get the orange jumpsuits ready.
36
@SLB
I feel the same.
3
“...a man raised from the station of a private citizen to the rank of chief magistrate, possessed of a moderate or slender fortune, and looking forward to a period not very remote when he may probably be obliged to return to the station from which he was taken, might sometimes be under temptations to sacrifice his duty to his interest, which it would require superlative virtue to withstand. An avaricious man might be tempted to betray the interests of the state to the acquisition of wealth. An ambitious man might make his own aggrandizement, by the aid of a foreign power, the price of his treachery to his constituents. The history of human conduct does not warrant that exalted opinion of human virtue which would make it wise in a nation to commit interests of so delicate and momentous a kind, as those which concern its intercourse with the rest of the world, to the sole disposal of a magistrate created and circumstanced as would be a President of the United States.” A. Ham. Do you think Trump is a man of “superlative virtue” or “avaricious?” Enough said. Mic drop.
9
What is astonishing to me is that people were angry that their jobs were being dealt away and outsourced to other countries but instead of blaming the capitalist system for that, they were persuaded to blame the government; specifically Democrats rather than the biggest cheerleaders and enablers, Republicans.
So they elected Trump who true to his childish strategy of calling out others for having his own rebarbative qualities, proclaimed that they were "the swamp"
Yet there he is not only willingly dealing away jobs but going further and dealing away our electoral and foreign policy to Russia and outsourcing our justice system to Ukraine and China.
Woe betide any Trump supporter who is seen as an impediment to this international cabal of plutocrats, Don't expect American due process of law; expect to be lied about, evidence fabricated and being investigated and charged with crimes in foreign countries.
America First with Trump? What a joke!
20
Obituary of The United States of America.
Once the Light of The World
Disgraced, laid low.
Its constitution and laws ignored and mocked by a "Con artist" who was appointed by the electoral college, after he lost the election by 3,000,000 ballots..
Is THAT all we were?
51
hey chicken little, weve survived a revolution, civil war, 2 world wars, Vietnam, and 18 years of the war on terror. We'll be ok.
2
It seems it is.
1
I think there is some truth to the fact that the Democrats have always wanted this man out of the White House. If he so much as came for dinner at my house I would also want him OUT, OUT,OUT!!!
21
And there are plenty of independents and former GOPers who want him gone too. It’s really just this ghastly base who is holding everyone else hostage.
4
Trump putting his interests first... imagine that.
Trump is temperamentally, ethically and mentally inept. It says a lot about America that this man got anywhere near the Oval Office.
37
I wouldn't trust Trump with my dog.
27
Dear @GOP,
We tried to tell y'all.
Sincerely,
The Rest of The World
49
“Statesman” is a long lost term. But, for those so entrenched in the insular republican sphere that they are without perspective (or soul), people like CT’s Senator Lowell Weicker are why America was able to recognize and move on from Nixon’s crimes. Sadly, today’s assemblage of partisan sludge are more interested in being reelected by their uneducated and hate filled base.
11
The Democrats have their own haters, this partusan argument is the one that got Trump elected and if it doesn't change, it may get him reelected.
We've known this for weeks. The Republicans simply don't care.
27
It's astonishing how far the GOP has allowed itself to sink in defence of the indefensible. They claim that the democrats have "utterly failed to present evidence of wrongdoing” and insult Adam Schiff as "the ramblings of a basement blogger" . And the Democrats? They simply have a 300 page report detailing 100 hours of testimony from 17 witnesses and 30 hours of public hearings.
I must be listening to the wrong basement bloggers.
21
Anybody want to bet Individual 1 has the phone number -1?
15
An open letter to Justice Roberts:
You will hold many critical "cards" at this most dangerous point in our 243 year history that will likely determine if we continue as a republic. Please, for the sake of all American children that love this country: Find it in your Heart and Soul to preserve the union. You KNOW this man is a criminal. You know he is a domestic enemy.
27
@Matthew
Balls & Strikes Roberts is on the Republic team and he has no control over the process in any case. His Right Wing extremist positions would always lean towards whatever McConnell wants in the Senate trial.
Charge #1: conduct unbecoming, bringing dishonor to the military as commander in chief.
25
Trying the House charges in front of a jury of Trump's peers in the senate is akin a mafiosi don being judged by his fellow capos and lieutenants.
18
We are at a fork in the road:
To the right, Fascism
To the left, Democracy.
Senators:
Choose our route wisely.
The world is watching.
28
Democracy has been ended. Of what danger do some now speak? The impotent House is the only thing left and it is a laughing stock. This was a well worn playbook and you, the American people, have been played. Fini.
1. Senate check
2. Courts check
3. Justice Department check
4. Military check
5. Elections check
6. The people check
7. Science and technology check
8. Regulations check
9. Education check
10. Emoluments check
11. Propaganda check
12. Presidency check
13. Cabinet check
14 Norms check
15. Ethics check
16. Institutions check and mate.
11
I want to see what the supreme court rules on trump's tax returns, if they decide to rule at all.
A ruling for trump means they think he is above the law, our king.
A ruling against him will do him in.
19
Impeaching for placing "personal and political interests above the national interests" is slippery slope. "National interest" isn't well-defined; the president has a mandate to decide what it is, even if all advisors disagree.
Rather, impeach for making elections unfair. If incumbents can secretly coerce Comey-like announcements of investigations, then cite them as independent proof that challengers are corrupt, incumbents will always win.
4
I find it frightening that Republicans can say with a serious face that trying to get a foreign government to open inquiries on political rivals isn't a crime or that they don't see it as one.
Were the places reversed, they would be the first on the impeachment bandwagon.
908
Maybe you could elaborate a bit about the secrecy and the coverup that was used by Mr.Trump and his administration to get the investigations announced. Why was it necessary to use unofficial channels to initiate investigations that are supposingly about legal issues? It simply doesn’t add up on the most basic level.
48
@99percent
Here's the problem with your argument-
It was the US, WTO, EU and UK that withheld the aid back then. It wasn't just US money. And the prosecutor sought to be expelled was, despite his job being to investigate and remove corruption, refusing to do so. Indeed, one of the problems was he would not investigate that gas company.
All of this was laid out, in excruciating detail, in the WSJ this past September.
54
@99percent There is a huge difference you might not be aware of: the entire EU did exactly the same thing at the same time as Biden and they did it openly - because the prosecutor was known for being in the center of numerous corruption scandals. Mr. Trump tried to hide his conduct and would have been successful - if there wouldn’t had been a whistleblower.
52
This is really important. We need to make clear that NO ONE is above our laws.
1160
@George Orwell: Please refer us to the ace in the US Penal Code that criminalizes carelessness, which I believe is what Comey said.
And please provide a link to, "The Comey report." I missed that one, Igor.
33
@George Orwell
"Comey said Hillary committed crimes."
Your name is apropos as Comey literally said the opposite --
"In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts."
Also, neither Comey nor Mueller (I assume you meant Mueller) ever declared Trump "innocent" of anything. Not finding evidence of collusion does not automatically mean that Trump is "innocent." And, as to obstruction, the report literally says "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a
crime, it also does not exonerate him."
68
@citizen
Comey said Hillary committed crimes. She is above the law. Apparently.
Trump is innocent of everything. The Comey report proves it.
3
The Republicans who cannot see any wrongdoing on the part of Trump have no conception of how a totalitarian regime comes to power and then maintains it. Of course no dictator secured power without complicity from sycophants -- who see nothing, know nothing, and hear nothing -- who willingly go on repeating the talking points they were coached on at the White House meeting. We should not forget that they too pose a threat to our democracy. I will be keeping my eyes and ears open for any democrat who runs against these people and will send every spare dollar I have to defeat them. Impeach Trump but don't forget to defeat his enablers.
15
Of course the Senate Republicans know how authoritarian regimes come to power and they are facilitating that as quickly as possible.
6
This administration is one of the most corrupt in the history of this nation, if not the the most corrupt ever.
From day one trump and his cronies have engaged in an astounding number of little scams and self enrichment schemes that it’s become almost impossible to keep up with it.
I’m confident that decades from now we will continue to dig up new schemes nobody was even aware of.
One can only imagine what they buried on that classified server, which mostly likely holds evidence of far more brazen criminal acts by trump and his crew.
15
If Obama did this, McConnell would have zero concern for even the appearance of fairness--and would have impeached Obama two years ago.
13
Back in 1994 associates of figure skater Tonya Harding accosted rival skater Nancy Kerrigan in an arena hallway and bashed her on the knee. Although it was never proven that Harding knew of the attack beforehand, the US Figure Skating Association banned her for life from competitive skating.
In political terms, this is exactly what Trump tried to do to Joe Biden. Moreover, Trump was caught red-handed trying to extort Ukraine into doing the hit. Unfortunately, I suspect that the US Senate is not as committed to the principle of fair competition as is the USFSA.
19
What I find truly disheartening is that credible individuals with so much integrity and character came forward to tell the world what they witnessed and how alarmed they were and yet, their testimony will probably not change one single aspect of anything.
The original lone wolf, the whistle blower, thought what he or she heard was so alarming, action needed to occur to address and confront such abuse. And yet the Republicans remain as blinded as ever, screaming that the entire inquiry was a waste of time because no wrong doing had been committed.
I have always found it truly amazing how so many individuals who have nothing to gain by coming forward except to tell the truth, can all be wrong, can all be lying, can all be traitors to this country. Everyone was wrong but the person who is at the center of this entire scenario.
The only way to resolve and solve this nightmare once and for all is to VOTE TRUMP OUT in 2020. That may be the only satisfaction much of this country will ever see.
14
43 million imagine he put their interests first.
6
I think one thing we all agree is that if a Trump impeachment did not occur regarding this topic, it would have occurred on another topic. Everybody agrees an impeachment would have come either way. The only question has been what to scribble on the papers to make it seem reasonable, so we can take power back from the swing voters who defied our divine will.
1
The impeachment report was just quoting what Trump said in the transcript of his call to President Zelensky. The transcript of the call is evidence provided by Trump that he violated campaign laws and tried to bribe Zelensky.
By withholding military aid Trump also undermined our national security.
The fact that not one House Republican voted for articles impeachment is testimony to their undemocratic behavior. They are ignoring, even lying about evidence of Trump's crimes so the Republican Party can stay in power.
American voters will have to let them know that we want a democracy.
8
Apparently no one has sat Trump down and explained to him that if Articles of Impeachment are filed and even if the Senate doesn't remove him from office, he will still forever be recorded in history as the third president to be impeached. If Trump fully grasped that, it seems a certainty that his Hindenburg sized ego wouldn't be able handle it, and hopefully he'd do his country and the world a favor and resign first.
8
@Verlaine Do the world a favour (though?) How is Rimbaud these days?
Hmmnn...apparently no one has sat you down to explain that our President will be acquitted of impeachment, will not be removed from office and will be reelected in 2020.
Resign? Not a chance. I'm sure the Dems love that delusion if only no to face the embarrassment of losing to Trump...AGAIN!!!
1
Meanwhile thousands and thousands of people the world over suffer from so many things Trump's mob does. Here is one example right here at home from Bloomberg; "The Trump administration will announce a plan Wednesday to end food stamps benefits for about 750,000 Americans, issuing a new regulation that makes it harder for states to gain waivers from a requirement that beneficiaries work or participate in a vocational training program, according to people familiar with the matter."
We really, really need to drive them out now.
7
Here's one for the conspiracy theorists on the right side... What exactly was David Nunes's role in all of this? What "business" did he conduct on his hush trip to the Ukraine during the time of Trump's and Guliani's machinations? And isn't it convenient that he ended up being the lead (disinformation) opposition voice in Congress during this investigation? Hmmm... We haven't heard much of a peep from him since. I wonder why.
6
The clear winner in this is Adam Schiff. He has calmly questioned as many people as he could and arrived at a clear case for impeachment, all while establishing himself as a serious contender for leadership in the party and a likely successor to Pelosi if he doesn't run for president first.
The contrast between his remarkable competence and that of the current clown act in the White House is dramatic. Could a draft movement at the convention be in order?
6
It was “perfect “ until the whistle blower showed up.
11
"The report does indicate that Democrats collected.. call records produced by AT&T and Verizon showing a series of phone calls between Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and his associates and allies of the president at high levels of government."
There are career politicians and functionaries who, after happily taking up residence in Trump's bubble, are about to discover themselves rendered homeless because they can no longer afford the rent.
27
Remember when JFK sent his brother (family member in govt.) to make a secret deal with USSR to remove our missiles from Turkey in exchange for Russia's removal of missiles from Cuba (quid pro quo), so JFK could maintain his tough image in the approaching Congressional elections of 1962 (personal political gain). It happens.
1
@NJ Keith
At this time JFK acts in the interest of the nation. Because no one with understanding wanted to have nuclear weapons in Cuba.
Trump acted in his own selfish interest and thus not only harmed in national security, but also called for direct interference in democratic elections.
9
@NJ Keith
That was not for personal advantage. Maintaining an image is not the same as telling a foreign government to investigate an American citizen in order to damage a domestic opponent. As Barr has an extensive concept of executive privilege you have a very expansive and expedient notion of personal advantage. And even if your left field example were not a classic false equivalence, what's it got to do with selling out to Russian talking points over 50 years later?
10
Yes, negotiating to remove Soviet nuclear weapons from being parked 100 miles from our shores was most certainly driven by a purely political image campaign, by one of the nation's most popular presidents, desperate to get reelected. Good one.
13
What will Justice Roberts role be? In a normal trial I would imagine that failure to respond to prosecution's subpoenas would weigh heavily on proceedings. Of course Justice Roberts role will be diminished given the nature of the trial, but surely it can't be so diminished as to be entirely devoid of commentary? Won't it be legitimate for Schiff to argue to Roberts that executive privilege is inapplicable? Will Roberts then insist on executing the subpoenas to move forward with the trial?
11
@Someone: Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over the whole procedure. Conducting a trial is quite different than reviewing appeals.
2
I believe the OP's point is still valid, though. Fair, just, and timely discovery is in the purview of a judge.
That said, we can already see that the courts are expeditiously acting to get themselves mostly out of the way in advance of this. The one issue that Roberts will likely have to decide is how to force the Sec of State, Justice Dept etc to disclose the relevant documents. This won't be an option anymore.
3
Living in America. A country that is perpetually at war and is in incessant election mode.
Meanwhile
We vote every four years.
After the election, we revert to our apathetic ways during another four years of political in fighting. Naturally, nothing is accomplished for the common good. Maybe a tax cut for the wealthy, a raise for congress and a change of venue for continual war.
And on it goes.
23
@Fausto Alarcón the unending wars we started were never punished for it, how will our children know right from wrong! They marched paraded protested during the Vietnam war but still zero lessons learned. What’s the use of historians! No one listens.
The Democrats have done their work. Now, a good result of this accomplishment of categorical insight into Trump’s corruption of the Constitution; rule of law; and our liberal democracy goes to the Senate eventually. What will they do?
13
Cmon now...you know exactly what the Senate will do.
They will rightfully uphold the ideals of the constitution by determining that these impeachment proceedings are false and do not rise to "treason, bribery or high crimes or misdemeanors" and acquit our President.
And then our President will be reelected in 2020.
1
Our democratic republic founded on 18th century enlightenment principles of individualism, liberty, and egalitarianism has served in many ways as a model for the rest of the world. If true, certainly one of our nation’s major strengths has been its constitutional system of checks and balances, and its capacity to learn from mistakes, to make adjustments, to change and improve. No one is above the law.
Faced with the prospect that President Trump has directly participated in bribery or other high crimes or misdemeanors, what should be done?
1. The US House of Representatives should continue formal impeachment investigation including subpoena of all relevant individuals and documentary evidence.
2. If met with continued obstruction from the President, Executive Branch and DOJ, the House should proceed through our judicial system to seek a timely remedy.
3. Then once all legitimate evidence has been reviewed, the House can vote on impeachment and the Senate consider conviction before the 2020 election.
4. If evidence-based investigation cannot be concluded before the 2020 election because of obstruction and collusion, the President should be censured by the House.
5. After the 2020 election if the previously obstructed testimony and evidence is received, and the President is re-elected, a decision can be made on impeachment and conviction.
6. If the President is not re-elected and evidence warrants, he may then be indicted, tried, and convicted in our court system.
16
There is way enough evidence to back the charges in a court of law but no amount of evidence will be enough to sway Republicans in a political trial. They have already made up their minds. One can only hope that the ballot box will neutralize this miscarriage of justice come Nov 2020.
18
Reading the transcript trump released of the phone call told me that. I'm just shocked that some people will read the exact actions he said he took and can't figure what he did.
13
If the trial in the Senate ensues, does that imply that all those key witnesses, including Mr Trump himself, who have hitherto declined to testify be compelled to speak for themselves without the protective cloak of lawyers and Republican spin doctors?
Everyone on the planet knows that if Mr Trump has the guts to speak for himself, his defence will move swiftly from denial to minimisation to "The law don't apply to me nohow."
13
law school profs not going to cut it at judiciary cmte -- though the constitutional issues are profound (and clear).
need some foreign policy/national security heavyweights -- from BOTH sides of the aisle -- preferably former US senators or State Dept/NSC with gravitas -- to rub the Republican Senators noses in it if they don't come to their senses (or frame the issue for the American citizenry.
the national interest (that Ukraine as a fledgling democracy be bolstered against Russia) and the institution of Congress itself was sacrificed on the altar of Trump's ego and paranoia and fixer mentality.
amazing how those GOP Senators talk for YEARS about promoting democracy and then cave to our own home-grown [fake] [mini] oligarch out of fear that their daddy will punish them.
12
Obama refused to sell them arms in our national interest. He was right.
I just read the report from the House Intelligence Committee, if that is not enough evidence to impeach Trump, then I am a donkey aviator.
32
As the article says:
"Traveling with Mr. Trump in London for a meeting of NATO leaders, Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, denounced the Democratic report moments after it was released." Moments after it was released? She is either a speed reader or she is lying.
48
People like Trump are best simply shunned.
24
After we impeach him
6
@Steve Bolger
"jailed", not "shunned"...
4
bland? Let us not forget the everyday occurrence of lies and disassembly. He is entangled with Russian oligarchs. He has encouraged his party not to serve the American people and played to right wing supremacists. This is just a drop in the bucket to his machinations with foreign dictators and American progressives.
19
Exactly. Imagine how far he will go after office, with his brand tarnished or not, the parade of mafia-style, quid pro quo, and sham-businesses established for personal gain in the geo-political arena will provide endless fodder for FBI and CIA surveillance teams, I imagine, until and perhaps beyond the point that we "lock him up!"
2
How many Ukrainians died in battle while Trump demonstrably held up the US military aid designed to repel the Russian advance into Ukraine? How did this delay serve to both undermine Ukraine sovereignty AND give aid to our foremost military and geopolitical adversary, Russia?
Just on these obvious misdeeds constituting "misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust (Hamilton, Federalist Papers 65), this bogus POTUS must be impeached--and removed.
17
The House laid an egg.
3
If Hillary or Obama had done anything like this, every elected GOP official in the country would be clamoring for a public hanging. With Trump, it is nothing more than business as usual.
34
@James The Republicans went after Bill Clinton concerning a lie about a stain on a dress and what could be considered sex..while a few elected officials in that camp were conducting their own sexual trysts.
Yet those same hypocrites are in fact silent about actions by Trump that are more egregious than Clinton’s encounter with an intern.
1
"Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday said he's "1,000 percent confident" Russia was responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC) as part of an effort to interfere in the 2016 election, dismissing the theory that Ukraine played a role in the breach. The comments from Graham come amid a House impeachment inquiry into President Trump's dealings with Ukraine and whether he conditioned military aid on the country opening investigations that benefited him politically."
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/472879-graham-says-hes-1000-percent-confident-russia-hacked-dnc-it-wasnt-ukraine
The Trump front crumbles when even Graham jumps off and rejects the previously favored GOP "Everything Is Conspiracy" defense. It's going to be exciting weeks
17
Graham has done a disservice to Trump with this interview which deviated from the GOP's main defense strategy.
Without this "the Ukraine also has nonsense" and "finds the server" namely Trumps and the entire GOP justification collapses why Donald has established a shadow diplomacy in Ukraine.
4
Graham's statements mean nothing. in 24 hours he will take everything back and claim the opposite. He is the most spineless Republican right after Paul Ryan.
The GOP needs to be voted our of all offices!
3
So that means that if the Senate votes not to impeach Trump, he will go free without paying any of the consequences of his despicable acts...
If that happens, my friends Evangelicals, I will believe that HE is the real devil and the Senate his advocates.... How else can you explain that?
20
It's not just trump. The whole bunch of them are involved. But as long you're content to be led by a bunch of mob type figures, then good luck to you.
19
Wouldn't it be interesting if the House were to hold a secret nonbinding vote on whether to hold a secret vote on hte actual Impeachment Vote?
7
Post 1 of 2 (Senator Tillis' condescending letter was too long to post in one NYT Comment.) I received the following tripe from Senator Tillis (nothing from Senator Burr) when I reminded them it was their duty to impeach a president who broke the law:
Let me be clear – I firmly oppose Speaker Pelosi’s effort to impeach President Trump for political purposes. This is nothing more than a political exercise to distract the American people from President Trump’s record of results and from the real issues that North Carolinians care about.
This current rush to impeachment was prompted by a complaint, based on second-hand information, which outlined concerns about a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Speaker Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry before she had read the transcript of this phone call, and before either the complaint or the transcript were made available to the House or the public.
In the interest of transparency, President Trump declassified both the transcript of his call with President Zelensky and the complaint which was filed. After reviewing the transcript and the complaint, I am convinced that this rush to impeachment was unfounded, and yet another attempt by Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Adam Schiff to play partisan politics at the expense of the American people.
4
Kindly define this so called record of results.
4
@May Archer
Today he lied to you and everybody else that he did not know Prince Andrew. Do you think he might lie to you about other things? He is Putin's patsy, a loose tongue about security and is a national security hazard; he repeats Kremlin talking points, grovels to Vladimir. and does his bidding constantly. How plain does it have to be? Pelosi tried to avoid it but the Constitution (remember that?) demands action. Catastrophic DEFEAT similar to 2018 was going to happen anyway. The Dems have little to gain but have a duty to impeach. Of course it is political. It has to be. Are you suggesting Impeachment should never be used? It's in the Constitution May.
2
@May Archer: Sounds like the same pack of lies being peddled by Senators Cornyn and Cruz. Would be interesting if we would all write to our Republican senators about impeachment and then compare answers in the Times' comment sections.
1
But, but, but Trump has legal scholars reading the transcripts saying that the call was perfect.
Probably these were the same people whom Trump has sent into Hawaii to look at Obama’s birth certificate and boy, they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Trump, once a liar, always a liar.
(Today is only Tuesday. And with the court ordering DB to release Trump’s financials, a distraction is being hatched. I’m hoping for Trump to divorce Melania and marry Ivanka. Or declare the US a state of Russia. Stay tuned.)
12
@Opinioned! Or Russia annexing this country and naming it Trumplandia.
There is OMB, Bolton, Nunes, Giuliani, Parnas and Fruman all implicated in calls coming from the White House sanctioned by Graham, Kennedy and others involved in what would be a RICO case under any other circumstances; everyone touting the Putin Playbook.
I have been saying for months that this is president is running a criminal enterprise out of the White House and now everyone knows that this is the truth. In fact, Mulvaney inadvertently admittied to this fact on camera.
The country and our votes are not for sale yet, but we are dangerously close to that line. Trump has corrupted both his senior cabinet officials and our Republican party. This is the tip of what we do not yet know about. What happened with Iran and Turkey and now China? What phone calls to Putin was Trump talking about today from London?
If the public stays crouched in their silos, unwilling to take a hard look at facts from all angles, we will lose our democracy. His children think they will be the next generation of the Republican party and they run their business like thugs. This is the real swamp and we should all reject it, united. And the media needs to be held accountable for spreading the sick and outrageous propaganda heard on FOX in particular.
28
While the Ukraine scandal makes a strong article of impeachment demonstrating Trump’s abuse of power, additional articles should be included in the impeachment trial. His offenses are unprecedented, sweeping and extensive, and he should be charged accordingly. He makes Richard Nixon look like Mr. Rogers. Yes, Republican portrayal of the Ukraine scandal as part of Trump’s ongoing anti-corruption crusade is laughable. But Senate Republicans likely wouldn’t convict their Dear Leader even if he shot someone on Fifth avenue in broad daylight. And that defense could gain enough traction to get Trump off the hook with minimal political risk for Senate Republicans. Instead, confront Trump and his toadies with articles of impeachment that also include 1) Obstruction of justice and contempt of Congress: the 10 counts documented in the Mueller report, along with the many instances of the stonewalling Congress, and intimidating witnesses; 2) Emolument clause violations; and 3) Racism: inciting and abetting racial violence, and inhumane treatment of immigrants, including infants and children. There may be better categorizations, but the point is to be comprehensive and true to the Constitution. If Senate Republicans reject all the articles of impeachment and their overwhelming evidence, they do so at their own peril of living in infamy in history books.
8
This is all dandy, but I would also be looking into how Trump is manipulating the trade war, which has already cost taxpayers billions (lost business, lost investment, higher prices, farmer "aid" etc), to his ends.
While the stock market is a shorter term reflection of the president's inconsistent and flawed approach to trade disputes/agreements (some of which are valid) we have begun to see direct affects on the economy at large.
There's a real question, beyond his personal longstanding grievances on trade, about the nature of his comments regarding waiting until after the election to work out a "deal" with China. I guess we will see how that plays out in terms of the economy and polls in the lead up to the vote on 2020...
268
@Aspen
Manipulating is `spot on'.
Several of us have noted the consistent stock market response to Trump's positive announcements on China trade talks, followed shortly by a negative announcement.
It would not surprise me if someone is following (or creating) this pattern and making a killing on each move, because the moves are non-trivial (+/- percentage points).
Hopefully the SEC is watching as well.
73
@Sabre You just read my mind. I've always thought that Trump has been trying to manipulate the markets to benefit all his billionaire buddies. I'm curious to know if there were larger than normal "put" option transactions right before Trump says or tweets something that tanks the Dow. And I'm sure with the large holdings that those billionaires have invested that those large swings in the Dow would net them millions.
31
@Aspen
Here’s how he’s manipulating it. Farmers in Alabama get $50 an acre in welfare for growing cotton and sorghum, which are utterly unaffected by Trump’s trade war with China. (Prices for their crops have actually risen.) Farmers in Washington get $15 an acre—if they’re lucky—for growing crops like apples that have been crushed by the trade war.
Nationally, 184 of the 193 farm counties—95%—that will get $100 or more per acre are in Southern states.
Everything Trump touches is corrupt and rife with graft.
26
Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee refute the committee’s report’s chief allegation by pointing not a single witness testified that a quid pro quo was attached to Ukrainian military aid. This assertion is accurate, but comments reveal many readers think it is inaccurate. They assert that Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified a quid pro quo was attached to military aid, but this is untrue.
Sondland testified, “To the best of my recollection, I do not recall any discussion with the Whites House on withholding U.S. security assistance from Ukraine in return for assistance worth the president’s reelection campaign.” However, Sondland did testify that a quid pro quo was attached to a presidential meeting, But under questioning, he admitted this was a presumption based on a conversation with Rudy Giuliani. Sondland admitted that no one told him there was a quid pro quo. He said the president told him explicitly that there no quid pro quo.
Those who contend a witness testified a quid pro quo was attached to military aid, should name the witness.
4
@William Case I would agree that this seems to be a common misconception about readers here, but it also seems that there is a common misconception among Republicans that quid pro quo is necessary to the findings here. The two primary findings are soliciting foreign election interference and obstruction. "Quid pro quo" isn't mentioned once in this article. No quid pro quo is necessary for soliciting foreign election interference to be a crime worthy of removal from office.
14
The Justice Department invested the whistleblower’s complaint and determine Trump’s request for investigation against soliciting something of value from a foreign source.
Ok. So, is this the end of Trump, or the end of the Rule of Law? Not much middle-ground from where a few of us are sitting, here in the Midwest.
13
It's sad that Nancy Pelosi elected to not throttle Schiff to prevent this fiasco. She alone could have prevented this situation. Now, barring a minor miracle, Trump will be re-elected.
4
@B. T.
Why re-elected? Because extortion/racketeering is the new American way?
The evidence is there in black and white, corroborated by over a dozen witnesses. Republicans seem blind to the truth.
6
No, they just dont buy the nonsense served up by the Dems in their attempt to win in 2020 The Dems dont care a whit about Ukraine, "abuse of power" or any such nonsense....they only care about winning in 2020. THAT'S what all of this is about.
1
Just reading an article in the review of books, by Joseph O'Neill about the tactics of the Democrats, and he is not very hopeful about winning the next presidential election. Come on, Democrats, do something about it. Be smart and cunning, and don't be shy. Otherwise you will never save your country from the malicious and evil minded that are among you and call themselves republicans...
4
He must be removed. The man is a clear and present danger to the entire world.
11
Impeachment and removal of POTUS is not an option, it is a necessity. If not, the US is well on the way to a dictatorship, aided and abetted by the GOP. In the words of Winston Churchill, “If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”
7
Soliciting foreign interference in a US election. For the second time. This means it is not possible to have a free and fair election in 2020 as long as the criminal Republican president is in office. Think about it. Trump must resign. Or America will hit the streets to overthrow him due to unfair elections...
11
The Republicans have picked up and modified the line from “A Few Good Men.” Instead of “Unit, Corp, God, Country,” it’s “Trump, Party, Country, in that order.” And I’m not so sure about the last one.
5
Adam Schiff concluding that the President is a crooked person is little different from Galileo concluding that the Earth goes round the Sun and that it is not at the center of the Universe. The GOP (House or Senate) is unlikely to buy it just as the Church was unwilling to budge on a flat Earth or a geocentric Universe.
In the current political and social state of the country, it does not matter what the Democrats observe or state. For that matter, it does not even matter what the rest of us observe or know to be true. There is an ecosystem that is firmly in place - call it Fox News or the Alternate Media - that condemns all facts to the trash bin and elevates conspiracy theories to the level of public discourse.
So this inquiry by the Democrats amounts little more than a sermon being preached to the choir.
Ok, we know Trump is a dirty man - as if more proof was ever needed. But so what says the GOP? Haven't they already chosen loyalty to party over country and sycophancy to Trump over loyalty to party?
8
The minority of people known as Trump supporters could careless about this unequivocal evidence of crimes by Trump.
What will be important will be a higher voter turnout in the key states other than the historical 50%. We also have to deal with the Neanderthal Electoral College which was outdated 100 year ago. Add gerrymandering and Russian hacking that leaves us with a lot of work to change this around next election.
Get involved any way you can.
9
That the US President is a blatant criminal, at this point, seems beyond contention. At this point, it seems highly likely the House will impeach and then the Senate vote will split completely along partisan lines, with Trump remaining in Office. Do Republicans really ever hold Trump to account? There are barely any examples of his party meaningfully censuring his indefensible behaviour. So - the real question becomes: if the President can repeatedly violate the law, use the Presidency to enrich himself, blackmail, bully allies and not be held to account - does law and order actually matter in the United States?
7
Listen to Carson McCullers:
‘In the face of brutality I was prudent. Before injustice I held my peace. I sacrificed the things in hand for the good of the hypothetical whole. I believed in the tongue instead of the fist. As an armor against oppression I taught patience and faith in the human soul. I know now how wrong I was. I have been a traitor to myself and to my people. All that is rot. Now is the time to act and to act quickly. Fight cunning with cunning and might with might.’" (from "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers)
This seems a good citation for what is happening in your country.
7
Interesting that so many people who otherwise habitually peddle conspiracy theories are in complete denial about the one staring them right in the face.
12
The minute the public is asked to read a document of more than two pages, let alone 300, a sizeable majority, Trump-like, finds itself incapable or uninterested.
7
I have frequently struggled to grasp the lengths to which defenders of Donald Trump must disavow what their eyes, ears, and brains are telling them to continue to mount a defense of a man who has time and time again shown he is devoted to nobody but himself.
In order to accept their claim that Trump's pressure on Zelensky was not an illegal and abusive use of his power, you must accept that Trump's singling out of Hunter Biden had absolutely nothing to do with his father being Trump's likely rival. You have to believe that Trump explicitly tying the release of aid to a *public announcement* of the investigation - not just starting an investigation - would have nothing to do with trying to gain political advantage for himself. You have to believe that this investigation was of such legitimate importance that it was the *only* investigation Trump pressed for - yet somehow not important enough for Trump to pursue through the proper channels at the Department of Justice or other law-enforcement agencies. And you have to accept that Trump refusing to cooperate and provide evidence that he swears would exonerate him is proof of his innocence.
Congressional Republicans are pointing at the sky and screaming that it's green, and that Democrats are insane and evil to think it could be anything but. This is what fascism is - blind subservience to authority, unquestioning obedience even in the face of overwhelming reasons to question. I thought Orwell was hyperbolic. I was wrong.
14
This entire drama points to a severe need to curb the power of the president. A demagoge, of any party should not be in position to continue to bend the law, ignore the constitution and take advantage of the office of the presidency for personal gain. I do not see any change that can curb that. I could not join either party with what I have seen, but cannot imagine stating that I would be a republican with this president and the denial and continued corruption of the Republican Party and this president.
It can happen again.
4
As long as there is the prospect of nominating another Supreme Court Justice before President Trump leaves - or is removed from - office, Republicans are going to continue down their road to destruction.
7
Based on what is written in this article, the democrats will lose all credibility from independents. The claims have little substance. Trump clearly did not solicit foreign interference, although interestingly the wording by he democrats is the same as the whistle blower, who first contacted the democrats, did not impair national security and did not illegally obstruct. The democrat's report appears to have been written only toward the audience of its left winged base. (BTW what happened to "bribery," another ludicrous claim - that word was aimed at the other fraction of democrat's base that cant handle the phrase quid quo pro). Expect Trump's approval ratings to increase in the next few days and a significant reduction in the interest to impeach among independents.
1
I watched many of the hearings, but the report is still a page turner. Really, whoever wrote this deserves a prize for spelling it all out clearly, without jargon or that lawyerly throat clearing that marred the Mueller report. Even if people "skim" the subheads they will understand why this president deserves to be impeached. Thanks, Rep. Schiff and team, for restoring my faith in out system.
13
@Ann After reading some of the comments here, I'm not so sure many of these people would understand anything!
1
The Democrats have short-changing themselves and us by focussing solely on this one misdeed of Trump, when he has committed almost two many to count.
An accurate bill of impeachment would have a long list of why Trump has abused his power and is unfit to remain in office.
3
Thanks Congressman Schiff. This is about doing the right thing.
When a whistle blower raises concerns the Inspector General and he found the concerns were credible and a priority he did the right thing by referring the matter to the House.
When the House investigated and found some fire behind the smoke Nancy Pelosi did the right thing by charging several committees of the House of Representatives to investigate.
When the various Committees heard testimony and examined documents they did the right thing by sending an impeachment report to the House Judiciary Committee.
When the various GOP congressmen seek to discredit the whistle blower, the findings of the various committees, and march in lock step behind the president, they did not do the right thing.
History will deal harshly with the GOP members who act more as the president's defense counsel and ignore their oath of office. Shame. Shame. Shame.
8
The weird part of this situation is Team Trump's response.
You would have thought they had the forethought and resources for a sophisticated operation to cover up their plan.
Instead what they've done is go along with Donald the 8 year old: "I didn't do it. I didn't do anything wrong. Everyone is being mean to me."
Nixon is asking for a reappraisal.
17
It’s the part about the obstruction of the inquiry that is very hard to defend. The report says the law is clear and that the president has to turn over the documents that Congress has asked for.
End of story.
11
The report misses some key details:
- the actual call transcript
- actual parties of the call (both presidents) denying there was any pressure
- Sondland's text message saying Trump didn't want any quid-pro-quo
Minus that, it's hearsay, assumptions, and innuendo.
Good luck impeaching, much less censuring, with that.
I think the democrats know that too.
I think they are not trying to convince us American people that Trump needs to be impeached. They are trying to convince "the squad" that he cannot be and they tried their best.
2
@Bhaskar
You seem to have forgotten that during his testimony, Sondland clarified that his text must be understood in the context of lack of information at the time, and is now understood to have been wrong.
3
So, you have the person actually under investigation saying that there was no pressure. You accept that as part of your evidence? You would accept Zelensky's statement - as the leader of a country dependent on US aid to fight a literal war in which their country is being invaded, which Trump has already shown he would freeze. as being one not made under any duress? You would take a single text message from Gordon Sondland and cling to that as the "truth", ignoring his entire testimony under oath? And you do realize that the transcript as released does not exonerate the president, right?
I am sorry that you have been so fooled by this conman, who cares about America believing he is great than actually helping it to become so. I don't blame you - he's been doing this his whole life. I don't think history is going to see it your way, though.
3
@Bhaskar ,
Many of these missed details will be filled by Mulvaney, Pompeo and Bolton when they decide to testify.
Trump text saying no quid...was after he knew about the whistleblower complaint (carefully chosen words).
No Mafia don says he pressures anyone and no victim 'feels pressured' while the perp is still in power. That's the natural relationship between opressor and victim. Now that there is talk of Impeachment, Zelensky at least has the courage to opine in public that strategic partners 'shouldn't be blocking anything'.
There was a serious flaw with these hearing. The committee should have litigated the refusal of witnesses to appear, because they would have won, and the testimony would have been compelled from the recalcitrants. Not doing so was a big mistake. Yes, it would have taken longer, but the case against Trump would have been even stronger. I mean, it's very strong as it is...
7
@PeteH
No. The committee acted properly. It would have wound up in the courts for years.
1
As other commenters have noted, for the life of me I don’t see the logic behind not tying the ten cases of obstruction of justice Mueller found (and referred on to the House for action), and the numerous examples of obstruction that Trump executed to thwart the Intelligence Committee’s work! This collective body of obstruction evidence is overwhelming, and if that’s not grounds for impeachment, what would be? And not only impeachment of Trump, but of all of his enablers as well.
8
Bribery? What happened to bribery?
Actions taken to influence an election? And what action taken by any president would not qualify as an action to influence the next election? Troops withdrawals? Spending? Telling Putin to wait after the election for negotiations to start and deals to be made? Tax cuts? I am starting to believe this impeachment process is meant " for internal audiences only."
1
Republicans see nothing wrong with Trump using presidential powers to insure his re-election. They firmly believe it is in the best interest of the United States for Trump and the Republican Party to remain in power, and they are prepared to do anything necessary to achieve this goal.
497
@joshbarnes the best interest of the United States if what you mean is the 1%.
41
@David @David Yes, you're right that presidents have used their powers to ensure their re-election. And you're right that Democrats are seeking to remove Trump from the office of President. But there is a difference. Democrats are following procedures laid out in the Constitution. Their report shows that, on the other hand, Trump has directly violated the Constitution.
81
@David
No. What Trump has done is unprecedented in American politics. He is the most corrupt American politician in our history.
I see the stain of Rupert Murdoch still permeates Aussie media. I know it well as I used to live there.
48
It is very disappointing that the COMMITTEE did not issue the report, but that the Democrats issued one report and the Republicans another. Maybe the American people should FORCE them to work together to issue one report that reflects the facts of the matter, rather than their interpretation.
7
@Will Hogan Hint : the facts are in the Democrat's report, while the spin is in the Republican's report.
5
The majority of members, who, considering the clown-like, disruptive antics, posters bearing outright lies, and attempts to misuse parliamentary procedure by members, who happened to all be members of the GOP, voted to release a report.
Under the operational rule of The House, there is no “official minority report” called for - this is not the Supreme Court.
But failure to permit this repetition of insults, lies and misdirection would generate shouts of outrage - like the constant references to the closed-door committee hearings as occurring in a “dungeon” and implying every committee member was not there when matters of national security were discussed, all behavior the overly Honorable Chairman Schiff allowed during time dedicated for the QUESTIONING of witnesses.
Under normal procedure, a single report indeed should have been issued, and GOP members not interested in negotiating points they held in favor of Trump invited to either offer their reasoning or leave.
Which is indeed what happened.
Republican committee members, echoing Trump, say they do not know who the whistle blower is, but Schiff does because he met with WB’s lawyer, in an effort to have him(?) come forward.
Like Trump, they claim WB (subject to the Hatch Act forbidding federal civil servants from any political involvement) is a Democratic operative, even though they know him(?) not.
There is no right to a minority report, and this should have been policy.
2
It is disappointing. Maybe you Republicans can face the facts and have a bit of patriotism.
Fox News is full-on in its unequivocal support for this president. That, coupled with citizen fatigue regarding the whole impeachment matter, and not hearing from potential key witnesses such as John Bolton will make any conviction in the Senate a feat not unlike scaling Mt. Everest.
11
@Kiwi Kid Great! Because its relatively easy and VERY common to scale Mt Everest. All you have to do is listen to the experts and do what they say.
2
An act accomplished so often, licenses to make the climb have been limited.
Try a free-climb mapless no-piton/no-oxygen assault on K-2 - which is effectively suicide, if you are looking for an example.
@Ray I suppose I should've said to do it in sandals.
Do you know why we need an impeachment trial that is all-encompassing? To expose the depths of depravity this administation may have fallen to. To do otherwise will leave historians scratching their heads for centuries.
26
Very glad the Democrats are moving ahead with articles of impeachment regardless of the election implications for 2020. This president has violated his oath of office and needs to be called on it. Our forefathers would have demanded it.
41
Yeah. Who cares about winning next year or the Supreme Court. We’ll show them what a meaningless victory looks like.
2
"An avaricious man, who might happen to fill the office, looking forward to … yield[ing] up the emoluments he enjoyed … might not scruple to have recourse to the most corrupt expedients.
An ambitious man, too, when … seated on the summit of his country’s honors, … would be … violently tempted to embrace a favorable conjuncture for attempting the prolongation of his power, at every personal hazard."
Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 72
It's like he knew Trump was coming!
5
This leads me to conclude that there is a strong case to be made for bringing a RICO indictment against an operation run out of the White House. It seems like a great time to be a criminal lawyer in Washington.
36
The best summary I have read thus far was from The Bulwark:
He tried to meddle in the 2020 election. It's crazy to say that you have to let him participate in the 2020 election in order to render a verdict on his attempt to cheat in it.
29
Love that Bulwark. Sensible, considered, centre-Right commentary from institutional conservatives is very lacking in this current day.
We all saw the credible witnesses give evidence of Mr. Trump's guilt. He attempted to extort the Ukrainian government into a political investigation (really just an announcement of one) into Mr. Biden. The Republican defenses that Mr. Trump did nothing of the kind are laughable, on a par with the Chico Marx line, "Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"
14
DNC is blowing this! Candidates should be talking a LOT about impeachment; the reasons why. They are in front of thousands of voters. Talk about bad, bad Trump, what he did, the threat that posed. Educate. If Nancy Pelosi is saying don’t do it on the campaign trail, I think that wrong. We are the majority in this country (the Dems). Take that strength and shout to the rafters that he has to be Impeached so we can do all the things everyone needs done. And then it will make it ok for the House to continue the Investigations, throw in all the Muller things, the emolument abuses; everything. Meanwhile the candidates walk and chew Trump at the same time.
11
This is rather like indicting Al Capone for tax evasion. But I'll take it.
17
Joe Biden officially announced his entry into the 2020 race on 4/25/19. A review of the call logs in the Section I footnotes shows a flurry of call activity a week or so before this announcement between Rudy and a variety of "Ukrainian conspiracy supporters", as well as the mysterious "-1" phone number (who could that be?).
I don't think the report provided a good graphic of the overall timeline of both White House activity and also potentially related external events. A picture is worth a thousand words. Of course, there is hopefully much more to come.
11
Good add to the story
It helps to remember Donald's working definition for "United States of America" for the past 40 years:
- The return address, on the envelopes handed to him by process servers.
9
One hopes the Judiciary Committee issues a report incorporating the coordination and obstruction described in the Mueller report and that the eventual articles of impeachment include all of Donald Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors.
13
Except for the slackjawed and the clueless, who else can describe this moment as a time that generations of Americans would have given their lives for?
6
Going from 51% approval of impeachment to a broader
bipartisan consensus of its necessity requires testimony
under oath of the inner ring of players AND all pertinent
text messages. It even requires giulani's testimony (whenever that might occur...)
The current WH occupant is fully aware of this and will do
everything to prevent this from happening. The command is therefore out to throw as much sand as possible in the gears of the next stage of the process in order to convince the country that it's all just a big bag of chaotic partisan nonsense that you shouldn't have any faith in and don't have to pay attention to. As a result, the airing of this needed testimony will only occur in the Senate trial.
In the meantime the apparent trumpican position in the Judiciary committee is clearly contingent upon the country never seeing or hearing this essential testimony since
its argument starts with premises that can only be
contradicted by these inner ring witnesses.
The foundation of this country is that its system
of government is based upon the rule of law not asserted authority. If this is made a mockery of in the Senate trial by absurd chicanery of dubious legality that prevents such testimony from being given in public, then we are clearly in a very bad state, especially if the election is close, not to mention if trump is "reelected".
It is not possible at this point to predict what transpires in
the Senate. It's easier to predict what happens next.
12
The most important aspect of this situation is Trump’s obstruction of Congress.
It is the duty of the House of Representatives to provide oversight of the executive branch.
By law, the president must cooperate with that oversight.
That is the very protection that is essential to our system of government.
Trump is flouting the law and acting like he is above the law.
If he doesn’t have to follow the law, he is a dictator.
He must understand that he is not a king - he works for the People.
He is not a dictator.
His obstruction is criminal and strikes at the very foundation of our system of government, and is a serious abuse of power that can not be tolerated from Trump or anyone else in this administration.
25
Many see this the other way around: Congress obstructing the Executive Branch....
1
@MDCooks8
Here's a fact you really need to understand. Congress has oversight of the Executive branch.
4
What is most fascinating in this tempest in a teapot, is the legal deficiency. Any first year law student could pick it apart as a case study not only in flawed reasoning, but its deviations from very traditional standards of evidence, reasoning, and procedure. It is a partisan fantasy script, masquerading as a legal document. Even if one were willing to vouchsafe its bona fides, its strategic deficiencies make it all moot. Schiff may be unpleasantly surprised at the extent of Senate intervention, effective prosecution against him, and the overall negative effect on his party.
5
@Matt Andersson:
Cool talking points, Matt. Who'd you crib them from? Beside Fox, I mean.
5
Your comment the the Senate Republicans will force Schiff to testify is hilarious. All he would have to do is refuse to comply just like 12 people in the Trump administration have done. What reason is there for Schiff to even be part of Trump’s impeachment trial?
It might be helpful if you could produce proof on Schiff like the Dems have on Nunes regarding his $57000 taxpayer- funded visit to Vienna to meet just last December with the fired corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor to seek dirt on the Bidens.
The Republican reason for wanting to grill Schiff lacks any evidence. An aide to the Intelligence Committee was approached by a former colleague (now in CIA) and was asked generally about how to file a whistleblower report about Trump messing in the Ukraine for personal political gain. The aide gave advice on the way to proceed. At no time was Schiff involved with that exchange, did not meet the whistleblower, nor does he know the person’s identity. Trump has now threatened harm, even death, to the whistleblower, is demanding to confront him directly. Schiff’s job is to help protect the security of that person. Maybe you can explain how insuring the health of the WB makes Schiff, the House Intell Committee chairman. guilty of any crime.
7
@Matt Andersson
Impeachment is not a legal proceeding. It is a political one. Whatever a law student would or could do is irrelevant. That being said, you have testimony, under oath, from a lot of people who have a lot of credibility. You have NO rebuttals offered, under oath, by anybody. (Nothing Devin Nunes says means anything since it's not under oath.)
There are no surprises when it comes to this proceeding. We all know the Republican Party is filled with people who have ignored the proceedings and sworn allegiance to Trump no matter what he says or does.
To me, the election doesn't even matter anymore. This proceeding is for history. It is a matter of conscience. It is a matter of whether a person can go to their grave knowing that they stand for truth, honesty and integrity, or for corruption, greed and immorality. What's your choice?
7
Please pay attention. The release of this report does not mean that the Intelligence Committee is finished with its work.
Schiff has said again and again that their investigation will be ongoing, at least until they draw up the formal articles of impeachment, and maybe even after.
Schiff is playing the long game, while taking whatever points Trump allows him to score.
Just look at what is happening: It is Trump and his GOP minions who are whining and throwing fits, not Schiff or Pelosi.
21
I find it more than questionable the assumption I am hearing and reading that the public just isn't into removing trump from office. About 50% do - far more than Nixon or Clinton. Why would it take 70% when it never has before? Sounds more to me like the Russian plan is exceeding all expectations, including America's suicide.
15
The debate is not even about Trump and his crimes. It's about whether the Constitution even matters. If he is not removed from office, we become a kingdom.
25
The Republican's compliant that the Committee majority seeks to overturn the results of an election is particularly lame in view of the purpose of the Impeachment clause. Impeachment is not for the removal of an unpopular President who has committed crimes in office. The people can be trusted to do that. The founders' discussion and justification for the power of impeachment center around the figure of a corrupt and corrupting demagogue who is, by definition, a formidable candidate capable of winning the votes of the reactive mob, in possible alliance and with the support of foreign powers. Impeachment is the founders' fail-safe mechanism against the weakness of democracies to demagogues prepared to use the powers of office unscrupulously for self-gain. It was a weakness much before their eyes from the classical sources on which they drew to form a "republic" based on a balance of powers mutually checking each other. Impeachment of a President through the combined consent of the legislative houses, with the Chief Justice presiding, is the last and most dramatic of those checks, intended to save the rule of law and welfare of the nation from democracy itself. Trump fits the bill of the founders' fears to a T. Senators looking to polls for their decision will fundamentally fail their patriotic and Constitutional duty, for Trump's standing only reiterates the threat his corruption poses if his popular support holds firm. Overturning an election is what it is all about by design.
5
This article states that President Trump's main misdeed was to "pressure Ukraine for investigations of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other Democrats." But what has bugged me with the reporting of these events since the beginning is how they deemphasize or, as here, fail to mention at all the second thing that Trump wanted from the Ukrainians. This was to prove the wacky conspiracy theory that it was Ukrainians, not the Russians, who were behind the computer espionage in the 2016 election, and that the beneficiaries of this espionage were the Democrats, not the Republicans. Of course, kicking dirt in the air on this issue would be a big benefit to Trump's masters the Russians. To me, that he would try to do something so evil is even worse than pressuring a foreign power to investigate the Bidens. So it bothers me that it isn't even mentioned.
8
@Jerry Schulz . I would like to know who were the "other Democrats" that Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate. And what exactly did Devin Nunes do? Is he complicit too? Any other members of congress too? It all needs to come out.
2
Great job. Now publicize the report and let the American people, the ultimate voice, decide the issue at the November 2020 election.
4
@JS "Let the Election decide" Trump is using everything he can to meddle in the election; what you want is like the speeder deciding what the cop writes on the speeding ticket.
3
@JS whoa now hold on there! There is a LOT more investigating to be done, as Trump's corruption is wide AND deep.
Let's turn over EVERY stone, follow the money all the way to the end! After all, we did it for Benghazi (six congressional investigations), Hillary Clinton's emails (she sat for 12 hour questioning) and any number of other fake scandals drummed up by Republicans.
But THIS is a YUGE legitimate scandal involving high crimes of a very corrupt administration. (President Obama administration = zero indictments, zero convictions) .
We are just getting started!!!! Many, many. MANY more investigations to come.
3
Every member of Congress swore an oath to respect and defend the Constitution and Laws of the United States, about the only thing that makes this nation different from most others.
Members of Congress are required to provide oversight to prevent the Presidency from becoming a monarchy.
Failure to act is s crime, an impeachable act in itself.
2
The most powerful democracy on the face of this globe ever-facing the end of humanity through nuclear exchange, ever-growing hotter, impeaching a man who slipped on a few banana skins on his ego-trip to the White House. The most powerful democracy that could not even field a credible Opposition person or policy to thwart the Trump POTUS bid. The two biggest skins he slipped on was his 'fake-news' overtures and his Tweeting all the way to the oval office.No leader stays leader for long where his ego over-rides the need for consultation with advisors in the lead-up and through the continuum of a presidency. This impeachment process is exactly what the Enemies Of Democracy want. They watch eagerly, chuckling and musing on the outcome, sharpening their bayonets all the while. Harken unto Mr Tennyson who observed the excesses of governance in his epic poem Morte d'Arthur: "I perish by this people which I made". The Laureate also cited the despair of observers of a crumbling Camelot...'where shall I hide my forehead and mine eyes..."
2
@Paul Tapp Your false equivalencies aside, I noticed there is not a single fact in your post. Its nothing but opinion, an example: "that could not even field a credible Opposition person or policy "
2
The problem here is that trump has committed so many transgressions and illegal acts that this is just two items of many. It is logical that if trumps assertions are correct that he was "perfect", innocent and broke no laws that he would jump at the chance to present the documentation requested by Congress and at least have his attorney appear on his behalf. His refusal indicts him automatically. Trump needs to have communicated to him that he is head of the executive branch of a democracy, not the chosen one of God, not the king and not free to break whatever law he chooses. Failure by Republicans to impeach him only reflects badly upon the GOP, but maybe they are so far down the hole that they no longer care. The rest of us do however. It is time to raise a large protest march on Congress to SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY.
13
first, a hard rain's a gonna fall.
"All these squalls to which we have been subjected are signs that the weather will soon improve and things will go well for us, because it is not possible for the bad or the good to endure forever, and from this it follows that since the bad has lasted so long, the good is close at hand." Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
5
@Mark
"Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters"
I think it has already fallen in America thanks to Trump dismantling the EPA
2
Years from now people will ask how and why Republicans in the House and Senate enabled and defended criminal actions.
The answer is simple.... the current Republican party is not in office to govern.
The party has devolved to the point where it only serves it's masters .....donors and groups that can deliver votes in return for their special interest goals.
9
@Baba The "special interest goal" here is to stock the Federal bench with right-wing, religious ideologues who are ALL hand-picked by The Federalist Society.
If they had THEIR way there would be (christain) religion in schools, Ten Commandments in the courthouses, and capital punishment for abortion providers and patients.
2
What happens after the House votes to impeach and the Senate blows it off? Seriously. . .
We will have entered a paradigm of (not that we haven't already) baseless political "information" that Trump's government uses to forward policy.
188
@JC I agree that there is a problem to of happens when the Senate blows it off.
The answer may be to push the Senate for voting in PRIVATE or voting WITHOUT PUBLIC TALLY. If we push the Senate to vote their conscience, vote the law, and vote in PRIVATE, we might just get justice.
If we insist the Senate vote in PUBLIC, rather than in PRIVATE, Senators will have to worry about the political consequeces of a vote to impeach; the consequences of being a member of the Republican Party which would seek revenge against those Senators in the next re-election campaign.
Consideration of the Senate voting in PRIVATE might be the solution to justice.
45
@Laurie Do you know if we can influence the vote like that? Whom do we approach? Chief Justice Roberts who would preside over a hearing? Senate leadership? Our respective Senators?
9
@JC
If the Senate concludes the articles of impeachment does not allege impeachable offenses, it could reject the articles and not conduct a trial.
4
I wish the report also included findings related to Trump's obstruction of the Mueller Investigation. Aside from the fact that such obstruction is as much an impeachable offense as the obstruction of the Ukraine impeachment inquiry, including Trump's obstruction of the Russia investigation would give context to his more recent obstruction and would demonstrate that Trump's wrongdoing with respect to the Ukraine scandal was not a one-time aberration but is part of a pattern of unlawful conduct which likely will continue if left unchecked.
139
@jay orchard. Yes. Anyone who has read the mueller report —even the redacted version — can clearly see the players, timeline, and crimes committed. AG Bill Barr should also be charged for obstruction and lying to the American public. Lock them all up.
54
The House report is a long-overdue belaboring of the obvious. And it doesn't matter if the Republicans try to misdirect the actual story from the Russians toward Ukraine. Foreign interference is foreign interference is foreign interference.
168
@Robert Triptow Absolutely right. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
The Republicans can't deny the facts and what's obvious: President Trump abused his powers of office and obstructed justice.
Of course , they can try to do so, which they've gotten good at on a whole host of issues, like the facts underlying climate change.
Or they can deflect and obfuscate by basing their defense on the House Intelligence Committee process being unfair, illegitimate, unconstitutional, secret, a hoax, and a witchhunt, which are all untrue.
29
@Robert Triptow
I think that it serves Trump to muddy the waters here. Yes foreign corruption is foreign corruption. But we know ABSOLUTELY that it is Russia who is behind advancing the Ukraine theory. Anytime somebody draws them into this mess it validates the Russians and harms our security. Let's do our part to stop that talk and keep the focus on Russia, Ala Fiona Hill
25
The House Intelligence Committee report asserts that “the President Conditioned a White House Meeting and Military Aid to Ukraine on a Public Announcement of Investigations Beneficial to his Reelection Campaign.” However, a report released by Republican committee members points out, “the Democrats’ witnesses testified that U.S. security assistance to Ukraine was not conditioned on Ukrainian actions on investigations.”
Not a single witness testified during the impeachment inquiry hearings that military aid was linked to Ukrainian commitment to investigations.
19
@William Case
To the contrary, multiple witnesses gave testimony that it was their understanding that release of the military aid and the white house visit both required an announcement of investigations. I didn't have the chance to watch all the testimony, but I saw enough to hear that much at least.
79
@William Case. I suggest that you read in full the transcripts from the hearings. Only one who is willfully blind would fail to see that what the Committee majority report says is true and buttressed by both direct and circumstantial evidence. The concept of res ipsa loquitor, although a concept applied to torts, seems apt here as well. The thing speaks for itself.
56
@William Case I sure got the opposite impression watching the hearings. I think the Republicans are just going by the idea that if you repeat a lie enough, people will believe it.
75
Trump is a threat to national security.
This impeachment inquiry was necessary.
I believe that the House will do what's right, based on the evidence, and that the Senate will not.
Still, Trump will go down as one of three presidents impeached, no matter how he tries to spin it.
48
Panthers,
Trump is a danger to the entire free world. Extorting democracies to corruption. Violations of international law. Insisting on a sprint race to the precipice of climate catastrophe. A failure to reason with a dose of psychosis. Stockpiling ever more nuclear weapons. Pardoning war crimes. Destroying international treaties and agreements without any thought (never mind action) regarding what they should be replaced by. Giving comfort autocrats. Ignorance of international history and culture. Encouraging by example the demonisation of the free press. Attempting to buy whole countries. Damaging international security and trade through wounding of international institutions. Attempting to destroy the EU. Ratcheting up tensions between countries. Destroying the post WW2 partnerships. Destroying confidence in US commitments regarding trade. Exposing US allies to war and terrorism. Imposing tariffs haphazardly depending upon mood. Having personality disorders so extreme as to be a useful idiot to autocrats. Being so temperamentally unfit for office as to being incapable of admitting mistakes and correcting course. Being so intellectually lazy and ignorant as to cause diplomatic chaos in the elections of other US allied nations. Being so unfit to have deprived the free world of its traditional leader, thereby encouraging traditional allies to move closer to authoritarian governments. Being so recklessly hedonistic & unstable as to blunder into war
1
You don't need to go beyond the assertion that it's someone possible for the POTUS to "subvert the foreign policy of the US." The POTUS IS "the foreign policy of the US". Furthermore, requesting/demanding an investigation into potentially criminal activity is completely proper, no matter who the target of said probe might be.
Of course, haters gotta hate; the Dems have been pushing for impeachment since November, 2016. And they aren't going to let trivialities, like the utter absence of evidence of actual wrongdoing, to deter them from their preordained course.
4
@Michael:
"the utter absence of evidence of actual wrongdoing"?
Oh, so you mean like when Mick Mulvaney and Gordon Sondland stated on national television that there WAS a quid pro quo? You mean like that utter absence of actual wrongdoing?
5
You'd have to be painfully duped or agree with the criminal in the White House's conduct, OR both.
That pretty much encapsulates the GOP electorate and it's politicians.
34
At this point you can either be pro trump or pro American--you can't be both.
All you need to know is that trump sought to undermine American democracy and endangered national security by pursuing his own interests rather than our national interests
Our sacred institutions are being put to the test. The presidency, the Constitution, the Senate and the Rule of Law and reasoned debate based on facts rather than fiction.
Will we have a democracy left after trump? I remain doubtful.
758
@Deb I remember when George Bush said the same thing, either you're with us or you're un-American. We are all Americans here, sure I wish the Trump show would go off the air, but we are all Americans, differences and all. I personally think lots of people were duped and they will come around. We need to find middle ground here. Then there's always the election which can't come too soon for me.
20
@Missy No, we don't need to find middle ground with people who put party and Trump ahead of loyalty to the Country.
74
@Deb
"Will we have a democracy left after trump?"
Good question. One that should be put to the Republican party who are complicit with Trump at every turn.
To preserve our Democracy we, the people, must wake up and vote. Wake up and fight back.
35
The question remains as to how to convince 63 million voters who view Trump as a savior on one hand and a meal ticket on another that he is not worthy to be the president of our country. The task will require that we vote for someone who is above suspicion and right now I'm not sure that that person has presented herself or himself. The clock is ticking.
27
@romac. Not possible to convince these cultists. Sorry, the racism, bigotry, greed, and religious fanaticism run too deep.
20
Now, it's up to the House Judiciary Committee to perform it's constitutional responsibility and each and every committee member - Democrat and Republican - to abide by his or her oath of office to uphold our Constitution.
Our democracy and governmental institutions hang in the balance.
And let me remind those members: No person is above the law - not even the president of the United States.
241
Read the executive summary, but that wasn't necessary as i watched all the witnesses testify. Trump was clearly attempting to use the power of his office to interfere with the 2020 election, bribing the Ukraine government to dig up dirt on his perceived opposition.
The witnesses, all of them, did their duty. Unfortunately, many within the Administration did not. Secretary of State Pompeo in particular, was derelict in his duty.
550
“It’s done for purely political gain,” Mr. Trump continued. “They’re going to see whether or not they can do something in 2020, because otherwise they’re going to lose.”
Yeah, because unless he's removed from office, Trump will CHEAT again.
309
It's just out but it appears that the report is divided into two sections, Ukraine and obstruction. Fo my two cents, the obstruction charges are far more serious. By obstructing Congress, Trump is usurping the constitutionally mandated authority of Congress to check the power of the president. Doing so, is a direct and dangerous threat to our republic because it allows the president tyrannical powers. If this is allowed to happen, we no longer have a democratic republic.
More to the point, obstruction is much easier to prove because it all happened out in the open. Trump's obstruction is not a matter of anyone's opinion or testimony. Subpoenas were issued requesting documents and testimony and they were ignored, period. Trump's state of mind or reasons for ignoring these requests are of no consequence. He has a constitutionally mandated responsibility to honor them. His claims of unfairness are also bankrupt. He must comply. He did not and everyone knows it. In fact, he is proud of himself for not complying.
1691
@Bruce Rozenblit
I am still wondering why the 25th Amendment has
not been invoked.
Meanwhile, I don't quite understand why anyone
must, must respond to a Subpoena and give testimony
if they feel that they have a Constitutional Right
not to, or are the powers of Congress absolute in
this matter, and they have right to appeal to the
Courts for relief ?
18
@Bruce Rozenblit "He has a constitutionally mandated responsibility to honor them." Not only Trump but Republicans are also mandated by the constitution but that doesn't stop them from gaslighting the American people and obstructing justice. They appear to be above the law just as Trump.
128
@bruce rozenblit. Wish they’re throw in a few charges of witness intimidation for good measure. The twit’s tweets are typically terrible.
170
The speed and care that Schiff and the Intelligence Committee are applying to this process are admirable. The American people need to fully grasp that giving aid to Ukraine is not like giving out Hallowe'en candy to children: that aid we supply for Ukraine's defense bears directly on American security here at home and our commitments to our European allies to keep Russian aggression at bay. By prioritizing his own political power over the safety of the homeland, the President broke the law, betrayed his oath of office, and betrayed the trust of the American people. He must be impeached.
949
@me. Trump is a Russian stooge and a traitor. He needs to end his days in prison. At least when/if Melanoma comes to visit, no one will have to say “pity about the shoes.” But I don’t really care, do you?
49
@Me If only Trump supporters would think this through, they would see the danger to their own sons and daughters who would be the ones called up to risk their lives if our allies fell to Putin's aggression and war were to break out in Europe. A stitch in time saves nine - time being of the essence. Yet Trump withheld funds while Ukrainians were losing lives on the front lines. No stitch in time; now many more stitches required. All for Trump's own whims and needs. Trump is a traitor, plain and simple.
42
@Me
Thank you for your polite and well-written comment.
But what you (and I ) are really saying is that Mr. Trump is a traitor to the United States, and is guilty of treason.
8
"House Democrats on Tuesday released a 300-page impeachment report asserting that President Trump abused his power by trying to enlist Ukraine to help him in the 2020 presidential election. "
Because he did. And he told us so in his own words. Repeatedly.
The scariest measure of where we are is that we've been reduced to stating over and over again the literal truth as if it were controversial, debatable, shocking or all of the above when it's the opposite. He baldly states criminal intent every time he opens his mouth.
His strategy from day one was to muddy the waters continuously, often by stating his crimes so openly that it seems impossible he meant what he said ("Russia...if you're listening...") and then stirring the toxic sludge with a magic "I never said that" stick.
What terrifies is how totally effective it's been.
There is no controversy. No debate. No middle ground. He committed high crimes and misdemeanors and must be removed from the office he daily taints. If he is not, after this the deluge...because we will have literally said that a sitting president can commit any crimes he wants with complete impunity and immunity.
It remains to be seen...can he?
15
Wishing subpoenas were honored. They should be served and enforced. If Congress can't enforce the law, who can? Leaving laws to be interpreted as a last resort to Supreme court to wipe a baby's bottom is insulting for America.
7
So, let's hold the vote for impeachment tonight. The wheels of justice move too slow when it comes to holding rogue executives to account.
1
It’s incredible to read the comments here. As someone from another country who has the ability to look in on the process with limited partisanship, it is clear what has happened. The rest of the world can clearly see that the rule of the US constitution was broken and that Trump and his staff are guilty of corruption and obstruction.
Its frightening is that the GOP will likely vote to acquit Trump.
It’s frightening that the checks and balances of the greatest democracy in the world are in danger of being broken.
It’s frightening that Trump supporters are so blind to the truth.
Democracy may be about to be shot dead in plain sight on 5th Avenue.
23
Democrats are finally, finally!, bringing front and center the "We have to impeach him because he's going to mess up our elections AGAIN" argument.
What Democrats must now come to grips with is the reality that during the impeachment trial they will have to face off against a foreign adversary--Red America. Let's stop the charade that Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, Lindsey Graham, etc. have any allegiance to our constitution. They are bought and paid for by Vladimir Putin.
Red America will acquit Trump. It will be pathetic if Democrats actually believe that the 2020 elections will even be held. And if they do take place and Trump loses in a landslide, he will claim massive "voter fraud" and declare the results to be invalid. The Attorney General is in Trump's pocket. So is the Secretary of Defense. Trump just fired the Navy Secretary. By November 2020 there will be no one to challenge his orders to use the military to crush any opposition to his authoritarian rule.
Democrats are nice(r) guys, and Trump is going to stomp them. Forget about impeachment. Every day every Democrat must demand that our military declare its allegiance to our constitution, not to the commander-in-chief if he issues an illegal, unconstitutional order. It's our only chance. Democrats have to realize that they're bringing a subpoena to a sub-machine gun fight.
7
It needs to be emphasized by the NYT and the press, that this report is from the committee, which includes Republicans and Democrats. This is a very important point in this day and age.
6
To be fair, Republicans are correct on one count: Trump has an incredible record on corruption. His corrupt campaign staff are in jail, his corrupt attorney is in jail, his corrupt EPA chief was using taxpayer money for personal use and had to quit, as did several other corrupt cabinet members Trump hired for self-dealing. It's clear Trump himself corrupted his nonprofit "foundation" - he admitted it in court personally last month, as he was paying the fine. Trump lost another corruption trial on his University.
The list goes on and on and on. And that's before we have access to his bank and business records, all the transcripts of calls and meetings that are being hidden from public and government scrutiny, and all the testimony of witnesses.
Bottom line, Donald and his Putin-lobby Republicans have every right to claim, he is probably the most corrupt President, ever.
7
Follow the money! It seems to me that GOP support and defense of Trump’s obviously nefarious actions is based on self protection. I wonder how many GOP congresspersons are financially complicit, hence their desperation to squash further investigation.
4
What is the purpose? There will never be 67 votes to convict in the Senate.
Past impeachments (that did not result in conviction) accomplished nothing: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton finished out their terms. Two 18th Century English impeachments only strengthened the accused.
1
@Jonathan Katz - You’re not suggesting that a prosecutor should not bring a case unless a conviction is guaranteed, are you?
3
Trump has been anointed king by the GOP. And they are winning this battle but they will lose the war. His reign will be short and but the bitterness and memories of him long...
This will not end well for members of the GOP. They are going to pay a hefty price, and not the one they think they're going to have to pay... Nope. This one will take decades and will follow their names and their legacies for eons. Not a very good bargain if you ask me...but then again the Republican party is filled with myopic, greedy, charlatans who have proven themselves to be only interested in short term gains. Amazing really but not surprising.
8
Impeach and indict the ciminal president and all his co-conspirators. Foreign help with a political campaign ... sounds familiar. Barr cut short the Muller investigation of the heist of the century, the American presidency. Trump has been so sensitive to impications of illegitimacy. Trump knew all along his presidency IS illegitimate. He has always lied and cheated his way to the top so little wonder he repeats is actions when there are no consequences. How many of his co-conspirators have benefitted financially from foreign sources? The most fervent Trump defenders are getting more than mere presidential pat on the head.
4
The election interference going on right now is a 100% partisan witch hunt by Democrats seeking to worsen the President's chances of reelection. Why not trust the voters?
You know the answer.
2
@OldEngineer Let's abolish the electoral college and see if trump wins. Thinking not, The majority in this country DON'T support him.
2
@debra Let's have the sort of "democracy" that allows the 51% to vote to take the 49%'s fights and goods? Is that what you think fair?
Trump is guilty as charged: bribery, obstruction of justice, obstruction of congress. When he is impeached by the House and it goes to trial in the Senate and the vote comes to convict Trump, lets all remember the rules: To convict an accused, "the concurrence of two thirds of the [Senators] present and only one article is required”....
How many republican senators will be “present” is the question. All of us need to make it real and honest and need to make it a hard choice for these cowardly republican devotees of Trump to vote NO or to skip-out and not show-up to the trail at all. The GOP senators can claim that they didn’t show-up to the senate trial because it’s was a hoax and the remaining good senators present can create a quorum and convict the crook,
Trump.
5
No matter the outcome, it's important that the impeachment inquiry hearings were held and this report written and released. History needs to know that people of good faith and conscience were here, cared, and did their jobs. History will judge what happened in our time with this so-called president and the likes of Mitch McConnell. And I'm thinking neither of them nor their Vichy Republicans would like it.
18
@debra I certainly agree with you.
1
In an effort to muddy the waters, Trump accuses others of doing exactly what he has done wrong:
"Mr. Trump accused Democrats of trying to overturn the results of the 2016 elections..."
As we now know, Trump obstructed Mueller's investigation into whether his campaign supported Russian efforts to influence the results of the 2016 election.
Next, echoing his attempt to get Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and influence the 2020 election:
“It’s done for purely political gain,” Mr. Trump continued. “They’re going to see whether or not they can do something in 2020, because otherwise they’re going to lose.”
I hope his "base" can see through this and that Republican members of Congress can be persuaded that condoning election interference sets a horrible precedent for any party and will only invite more of the same.
6
As expected, this report covers only the scheme to extort Ukraine into interfering in our elections. The public testimony was more than clear. The scheme was illegal and unconstitutional. I have not yet read the report which looks to be an inch or two thick. I did listen to much of the public testimony. Important questions remain.
Should Schiff have waited for the Supreme Court to rule on the obstruction by the White House? Will the Judicial Committee do so? So that this issue does not sideline the Democratic candidates, the Congressional Democrats appear to want to finish this before the primaries begin. Is that the right decision? How can we even know? Should the report have included the many other impeachable wrongdoing, ranging from countless violations of the Emoluments Clause to the ten or so clear instances of obstruction of justice which were described by Mueller who explicitly asked Congress to take them up?
5
How can any elected Republican continue to support this President? Wish there was someone in that party with integrity and courage. They have great examples to follow, the numerous non partisan bureaucrats. They are only concerned about maintaining power. Very Sad!!!!
14
@Jean "They are only concerned about maintaining power. "
And whatever profit they can derive from it !
1
I hope Nadler decides to subpoena Bolton. It's necessary to hear from him. He even said he would testify if he were subpoenaed. Why ram this through on the narrow subject of Ukraine? Mueller found TEN COUNTS of obstruction! Make a bigger case than just the Ukraine saga. While there may be logic to extend some sort of criminal immunity to a sitting president, there is no American who believes anyone is above the Constitution itself. If the president cannot be indicted, he certainly cannot stonewall an impeachment inquiry! This is blatant abuse of power, abuse of democracy, abuse of the Constitution. I hope Nadler understands that this needs to be broader. He was very disturbed by the Mueller Report and if he were Speaker of the House, we may have started impeachment proceedings months ago, which I believe should have been the move. Subpoena Bolton and bring Mueller back.
4
As fulsome as this report is in detailing presidential misconduct, this is just the intelligence committee's report. Pelosi stated at the outset that there were simultaneous investigations occurring in other committees--including Oversight, Ways and Means, Financial Services and Judicial. All of these may ultimately make a recommendation toward Articles of Impeachment.
If the ruling on Trump's financial records stands, you can probably expect more hearings and reports before they call it a day.
1
@Progressive They will stick to the Ukraine thing. I tend to think you are right. The Mueller report did the opposite of what Barr said. I think it was badly written. It was almost as if the writer might have been a lifelong Republican whose instinct was to soften it and qualify everything so that every sentence started with a preamble and was bookcased with a softener; in this way Mueller- perhaps subconsciously- cotton-wooled this very snowflakey delicate draft dodger. Still it had the truth in each sentence. He wrote it as if he did not want people to read it.
1
No matter how soon Trump released the $400,000 to Ukraine he would have been criticized for not doing it sooner. Most Americans see a need for taxpayer dollars to be spent on the needy, homeless and underserved U.S. populace before spreading it around overseas to questionable nations with shady corrupt histories e.g. Ukraine. The concept of quid pro quo started with Adam and Eve and has been a part of international relations throughout history. In the case of the Bidens, Trump would be killing two birds with one stone by spreading some light on Ukraines corrupt role in the 2016 election and exposing Joe for the self dealing influence peddling career politician that he is by allowing or arranging for Hunter to receive massive amounts of money for the use of the Biden name. How convenient it was that Joe was point man for Obama in the Ukraine at the same time there was an opening on the Board of Burisma. China is a story for another day. It's time to start diverting some foreign money to domestic aid.
4
This does not arise to an impeachable offense.
Obstruction of justice and violation of Congress' war-making constitutional powers are impeachable.
Adam Schiff has constructed a PR distraction to facilitate a lose-lose for both parties going into 2020, hoping that centrist Democrats benefit by messaging without any substance.
Adam Schiff has betrayed and abused the American people. Adam Schiff should be removed from office.
@Louis Anthes
Asking a foreign government to interfere in our elections is not that important?
Why?
Doing so is an honest to goodness crime.
A crime designed to help him win election.
3
The constitution was specifically written to address the treasonous act of soliciting a foreign government to intervene in a Us election. It could not have been clearer that Trump violated his oath of office, the Democrats had no choice in the matter.
3
Uh,...the Articles of Impeachment will include Obstruction of Justice, exactly one of the impeachable acts you mention.
1
The democrats got what they wanted now maybe they can get back to work and pass some laws, lowering drug prices, immigration reform, prison reform. Probably not. They'll start another investigation.
3
@Julia I suspect it is a surprise to you that the democrats can walk and chew gum and have already done what they can to address your grievance list. Educate yourself and look at the legislation passed by congress and queued up for the senate. Unfortunately #Moscowmitch cannot do the same and is only able to execute his undemocratic exercise in stacking the courts filling appointments he obstructed during the previous administration.
14
@Julia They've passed a number of laws. McConnell won't bring them to a vote.
11
@Julia Actually, those laws you want passed may require Republican votes. Have you urged your GOP friends to get on with it?
4
The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence,
"our system of checks and balances, and to the balance of power within our three branches of government,"
This speaks to the wisdom of our forefathers to prevent our United States of America to ever return to a life Ruled by a Monarchy.
I applaud Our Congress for continuing to proceed to fulfill it's duty under the Constitutional Rule of Law and sending this to the Senate. A posse of people lead and held hostage by djt for God only knows why.
This president must be stopped, it is imperative . The choices, impeachment or We the People end this tyranny and vote him out.
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The bias for the left that is represented by this magazine along with the Washington Post and most media is astounding! New York, LA, and Chicago DO NOT represent this country alone, despite their personal view that everyone thinks like they do. I am so sick of the constant and consistent onslaught against a duly elected sitting president. Trump will win the next election in a landslide and the left can only thank themselves for it due to their petty attempts to remove a president they believe that they cannot beat at the ballot box.
3
They already beat Trump in 2016 by 3 million votes, hence the illegitimacy of this president. It will be a landslide win in 2020, just not for Trump.
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@Uncle Sugar The current house majority was also duly elected by a record 9 million votes to put a check on Putin's lapdog. I think he is slapping these weird tariffs on that are damaging the economy and his farmers at the behest of Putin who hates the west for putting sanctions on. There is no rational reason otherwise to do it.
There needs to be an onslaught on the quisling selling out America to adversarial interests. I believe that he will be defeated in the 2020 election just as he was hammered in 2018.
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@Uncle Sugar
Well most of us are sick of being governed by a minority of voters. In the last several elections, Democrats have won the plurality of votes.
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Trump's defense is to call the other guys losers and yell that they're fabricating all of this for political gain.
I often wonder when his supporters will tire of the fact that he considers them children and simpletons.
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@Dan Sadly, Dan, he does not consider them at all. He simply demands (and believes) that they exist to follow him.
1
Democrats are fighting Trump with the help of a very partisan press and in a very partisan way.
Another example just of today: you don't get to see a picture of our first lady at a reception with the Queen in England: why ??
You only get negative about Trumps.
How can you think that the people don't see you overpartisan mood ? That is why people don't bite the democrats' arguments in favor of impeachment.
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If you don’t like the coverage because you think it’s partisan than I would suggest that you and other supporters call the White House and let them know you want their side heard in front of Congress. Problem is your boy is afraid to let his voice heard because he is hiding something. If he has nothing to hide then let his side speak.
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@Mary
You don't see it because in light of what's been going on, its not news.
The sheer volume of her husband's misbehavior crowds out such "fluff pieces".
In the meantime, tell us why Trump doesn't deserve his negative press.
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@Mary Poor Mary is so surprised that the opposition party opposes him.
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Impeachment laws need to be changed.
This kind of process has to be done by a third part, not by a Republicans against a democratic President or viceversa, otherwise it is only too partisan !!!!
How can we the People be sure that the pro Impeachment Party is not pursuing its own agenda ?
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In addition, specific charges must be defined by Congress without any wording that is open ended.
@Mary:Impeachment takes place in the House, which represents the People, Democratic, Republican and independent. The Senate, representing the states, decides on conviction. Republicans are overrepresented in the Senate compared to the People at large, so in that sense, yes, it is partisan in favor of Republicans.
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Short answer: look at the evidence.
6
Have Americans become so numb to the powerful abusing their positions that the president doing so just fades into the background and is considered insignificant?
If all the powerful were terrified of Americans interested in self rule, we would not have the Jamie Dimons of this world weathering the financial crisis with his wealth intact. He would be in jail, ostracized, and his name would be curse. Americans are so buffeted by the powerful, that just another person taking advantage of their power is nothing unusual.
Trump skates.
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@Djt Got it. I just couldn't find the part about Jaime Dimon mentioned in this story. But I'm sure you meant well.
Ask me if I care...I just don't care. I think the impeachment inquiry is a total waste of time and money. Instead of reading about this silly stuff I decided to listen to music and as always, read books. Trump will win in 2020 anyway.
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Looking forward to Trump when he doesn’t have to face voters. Be careful what you wish for!
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If you don’t care, why waste the time and energy to post?
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@Carol
Why don't you care?
Why is it a waste of time and money?
And, why should we care about your deeply cynical opinions?
3
People should stop assuming Senate Republicans will acquit Trump.
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@Vickie
Sadly, I have no faith that they will do the right thing and honor their oaths by impeaching corrupt Trump. They are complicit.
The problem here is that vast numbers of Americans are so ignorant that they don’t know where or what Ukraine is, nor do they know the meaning of obstruction. All they know is that they love the guy — either out of greed or racism, or both — and that they’re content to take the rest of the nation down with them.
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@Mary Hey, that's cute. Anything to say about this story ?
1
What infuriates me about this scandal is that there is so much focus on the president putting pressure on a foreign leader for personal gain and withholding congressional approved aid to do so (egregious as that is) The fact that this was a FAKE INVESTIGATION into crimes that didn't happen is just glossed over.
Our president was manufacturing a big lie to deceive the american public and calling everyone else liars and fake news. Trump wanted to puke up "corrupt Biden" ten times a day and point to his "evidence." Treason deserves the ultimate penalty, and it is the only thing Trump AND his enablers have ever earned.
The Democrat that runs on bringing justice back to America will get my vote.
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This is the biggest scam I have ever witnessed in my seven decades. This is Democrat's that could not accept the vote and voice of the people. This is the liberal media represented by the Washington Post and NYT's that, not but a day after the election stated that this man would be impeached. They will witness in November of 2020 the voice of people fed up with the swamp in Washington. Fact is Trump has done more than any recent President to re-build this Country. Fact is we, the People see the disgusting waste of time by Democratic Members that have accomplished nothing in years. Fact is Trump has done nothing worthy of these fake charges. Hope these Dems will finally understand the voice of the People!
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Fact is a majority of the people voted for Clinton.
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So.. really? Scam? I implore you, it is NOT a scam. Did you read a little bit of the report.. such as this below? And you are ok w a potus using his/her power for personal rather than national interests??
The President engaged in this effort to intimidate these public servants to prevent them from cooperating with Congress’ impeachment inquiry. He issued threats, openly discussed possible retaliation, made insinuations about their character and patriotism, and subjected them to mockery and derision—when they deserved the opposite. The President’s attacks were broadcast to millions of Americans—including witnesses’ families, friends, and coworkers.
It is a federal crime to intimidate or seek to intimidate any witness appearing before Congress. This prohibition applies to anyone who knowingly “uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades” another person in order to “influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding.” Violations of this law can carry a criminal sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
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I have one question Bob, so every week trump blabbers on and on about this person or that party or that country being a problem. If trump has done so much for the country how come he keeps putting off “infrastructure” and if he’s winning so much how come he is giving checks to farmers instead of allowing them to sell their goods.
1
If convicted by the Senate, is eviction from office the only result? Could the Seate not convict but then impose censure as the punishment/result?
2
This sign behind Schiff reads like a billboard for dummies. Like advertising something with a simple 'Buy Me' tagline.
The fact that he thinks that the only way average Americans will buy anything he is selling is an insult.
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@waldo
He didn't put that sign there. Republicans did.
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@waldo Is that sign on the wall the only thing you noticed (or cared about) in this story?
2
So, by using the words ". . . President Trump [used] the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election . . . ," the House Intelligence Committee report says nothing less than Trump violated the election law he is sworn to uphold:
52 USC 30121: Contributions and donations by foreign nationals
§30121. Contributions and donations by foreign nationals
(a) Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for-
(1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make-
(A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election;
(B) a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or
(C) an expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication (within the meaning of section 30104(f)(3) of this title); or
(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.
Compounding this violation (investigation by Ukraine constitutes "a thing of value") was the fact that it directly damaged our national security. If this doesn't qualify as a "high crime," I don't know what does. And in my opinion, Republicans who support this behavior aid and abet it.
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22 or so allegations of sexual assault, 10 instances of obstruction of justice, numerous SDNY investigations open, but to keep it simple for the masses we needed to focus on just one case of bribery. Is it any wonder we're in this mess.
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Lindsay Graham's new approach is to censure but not impeach Trump. The republicans are running out of ammunition to defend a criminal President who sold out America's interest for personal gain.
25
My, my.
Imagine the power of the mafia - Sicilian or Russian - if they were able to openly obstruct all investigations into their workings. No documentation available, not a single tax return able to be perused, all bookkeeping under wraps, and all personnel in the organization shielded from testimony.
Yet they still get caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Not near as bright as they thought they were, are they?
9
The emphasis on foreign election interference is foolish. For some reason Schiff has pushed this framing from the start.
Call it self-dealing or bribery or abuse of power. But foreign election interference — most Americans don't care; it sounds like the Democrats are still talking about the Mueller fiasco; and Republicans will answer with their own complaints of "interference" (Steele dossier, Ukraine).
3