As an aside, I think that the Republicans already know for sure that Trump colluded, is colluding, and continues to collude, with the Russians, and they are convinced that hacking and other malfeasance from the Russians will assure their, and Trump's victory in future election(s). I have been thinking this for quite some time. Why do the Republicans continually reject election reform bills, (and paper ballot transparency), for 2020 and beyond? Why do they keep suggesting that Trump will win by a landslide in 2020, (and with such confidence--falsely claiming the Democrats will have caused support for this man to simply explode due their so-called "sham" proceedings?) Because they, and Trump, compliments of the Russians, already have a firmly entrenched plan in place to continue their corruption.
67
Jim Jordan, ex-wrestling coach from Ohio State who ignored reports of athletes’ being groped and molested by the staff physician, now wants is to take him seriously.
It doesn’t work that way, Jim. Integrity or lack of it crosses all arenas. Your loud but out of your depth.
60
For me this all boils down to this; if withholding the aid was perfectly legitimate and his reasons were in congruence with the national interest why in the world did he release it??
42
Denial unplugged in action. At this point, Trump has brainwashed the Republicans.
20
I see the prob...it’s not on the “washed,” but the “brain,” part. I mean, Louie gohmert?
15
I adore the part where Jim Jordan becomes the GOP’s brain trust.
Apparently nobody could get some rust, some dust, and some cans.
It’s a direct reference. Figure out where from, and you’ll know just how much trouble we’re in.
10
Dershowitz is a great choice for the Trump defense team! In fact the whole defense team should be made up of guys who hung out at Jeffrey Epstein's party houses. And while it is unclear if Rudy was an attendee he could function in the Gunga Din role bringing Perrier water and lady fingers to the team during the trial.
35
Nice on the ladyfingers and perrier, but I was thinking Dershowitz could have good old Klaus von come in and handle Trump’s various meds.
15
@Robert. He took a job with Getty, a real billionaire...
3
Why do the antics of the house Republican men remind me of a frat house in a panic because they were being kicked off campus.
53
I’ve never voted for a Republican in my life, but these Dems have a death wish. Good lord, shut up. Give us—give yourselves—a break.
2
"My friend Jim, who is TOTALLY a Democratic Democrat, thinks the Democrats aren't doing their job"
Yeah sure buddy, and my best friend's the King of France.
This shouldn't even be happening. There shouldn't be ANY debate. Not because Trump did or didn't do something impeachable, but because it's literally not the House's job to do anything but say "I think the president shouldn't be president". No debate, just show evidence and let people vote. It's the Senate's job to hold the trial, but all of these Reps on both sides are acting like they're on the jury.
10
The republicans are offering no defence. We can only assume that the republicans agree with the damage to our nation and our constitutions. Yes we the people! It is not we the trump.
Do the republicans fully grasp what they are fighting for and the implications on this nation if they win. The republicans want to support trump no matter what it could cost this nation. Shame on you. The republican congress and senate should think of their children and the nation they will leave behind. How do they sleep at night. These people are selfish. They are looking out for their political career and not the good of the nation.
How did we arrive here. The hearing is very disappointing. The extent the republicans are willing to give up our hard fought for institutions is very disappointing to watch on screen. People died for this nation. Why are they so willingly to disregard the constitution. Who are the people that blindly follow?
I have turned off the impeachment trial. I can no longer watch this shameful display.
History will not be kind to trump and the republican supports. Hopefully our nation will survive the damage.
34
Republicans are following Putin’s agenda.
46
If Ford had not pardoned Nixon for his crimes, we wouldn’t be here.
22
While the Republicans cry and wail that the "president" is being unfairly judged they meanwhile are more than happy to claim that Hunter Biden is corrupt, apparently because THEY say so. Apparently Burisma hired Biden [a famous name] in an effort to help 'cleanup' their image. So that's the ENTIRE thing. Biden was NEVER part of ANY criminal investigations that targeted Burisma. Sure maybe Biden doesn't know anything about the actually business. So what? That's totally NOT illegal, otherwise Trump and his whole family would be painted with the same brush.
The GOP can't claim Trump was only asking about corruption when his own sanitized (5mins of a 34min call?) "transcript" doesn't even contain the word ANYWHERE at all.
Nixon had recordings. "Like a genius" Trump thinks by not having actual recordings he can do what he wants and just edit whatever notes happen to be taken. Just like erasing history. There's NO legitimate reason that Trump doesn't have an actual recording AND a stenographer at all of his meetings, big and small.
41
Very good points on the Hunter Biden background.
11
Putting Epstein's buddy, Dershowitz, on the team would guarantee the media would remember his repeated arguments to actually LOWER the age of sexual consent.
I sure hope the GOP bring him aboard.
23
It’s interesting to watch things unfold in this impeachment hearing. I wish democrats would stop being so nice. Scream into the mic and accuse the republicans of working with Russia and just say people are saying.
22
Trump / Putin 2020
MAGA - Make America Grovel Again
18
Republicans are getting away with way too much lying as the debate nears the end. President Trump is just a poor little innocent lamb being brought down by hate? The man released a transcript of himself shaking down a vulnerable foreign leader, wanting dirt on a political rival in exchange for weapons. Leading up to that moment in time were several strategic moves to clear away or circumvent State Department staff and White House staff who stood in the way.
31
Reading these comments is like living in an alternate world.
But I am not worried. The farce will eventually be over.
The senate will either dismiss or acquit. And I and fellow Americans will celebrate. Those who hate America will shed some tears.
3
Wake up and turn off Fox.
69
Didn't Trump just say our Constitution was "archaic"? What do you and he know about America?
19
For the love of truth, completely blocking WH testimony and congressional subpoenas is “cooperation?“
‘The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power – pure power.’
-Orwell’s 1984
44
Jerry Nadler was commendable today having to deal with likes of Jordan, Sensebrenner, Gaetz, et al. targeting Hunter Biden alone as means of establishing legitimate focus. Nadler was captive audience to Republicans rearranging deck chairs on Titanic--a thankless job
37
So Trump wants to add Epstein pal Dershowitz to his "legal team." You would think one Giuliani would be enough.
29
When the history books are written of Trump's impeachment, the first sentence in every one will be something to the effect:
"Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the 2019 House of Representatives hearings to deliberate impeachment of President Donald J. Trump was not the wholly disparate consideration by Democrats and Republicans of the facts against Trump, or 'even the wholly disparate styles of debate -- the Democrats presenting the evidence objectively and articulately, the Republicans often literally shouting down the opposition's arguments -- but the Republicans' silence throughout in offering any defense (their own and witnesses') of the president's crimes."
346
Shouting so loudly in some instances that they slur their words. Perhaps these men should learn to control their emotions like they so frequently ask of their female counterparts.
105
NOTE: It would have been more "correct" for me to have written the last phrase of my comment above as: "offering any defense of the president"; however, I wrote that phrase intentionally, as it appears.
The reason: Most congressional Republicans aren't so much defending Trump's "actions", as they are Legitimizing his crimes.
64
@Mark -- Great point. These Republicans can no more control their emotions than their warped politics.
33
The sad truth is that when you have a country led by a president who consistently, repeatedly and publicly lies and whose fellow party members in the legislature endorse those lies and add their own, there is no other way to describe the leadership of that country as anything other than corrupt. This is what we have become.
320
Well, if Republicans want yo add Hunter Biden to the hearings, they should also add Eric Trump and Donald Trump Junior for their soliciting investors in the Trump businesses by promising easy access to dad. They should also add Ivanka and Jared for telling Chinese investors they would benefit in the real estate deals they proposed because dad was president. Maybe also add Devin “Leak Like a Sieve” Nunes to the mix for his back door meetings and his leaking of confidential Mueller report details to Trump while the investigation was still active.
There are dozens of other Trump appointees and family members of his who cashed in on Trump’s presidency. Their activities make Hunter look like a boy scout.
228
Do you have any evidence that Ivanka Trump is pocketing 80k a month from Ukraine or China?
1
@Bill Ross Go to the other coast to get the full deets: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-10-10/trumps-adult-children-do-business-overseas-as-president-slams-biden
22
@Bill Ross https://www.gq.com/story/trump-kids-profit-presidency
theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/14/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-revenue-income-2018
21
Trump couldn’t tarnished his political rival because he got caught. Today, his cronies right now have completed the job for him on the Bidens. Along with that, We all know he won’t be removed from office nor impeached.
2
How about impeachment for his 13,000 lies?
5
It would be hilarious if after trying so hard to get Hunter Biden smeared and through him his father, that Joe Biden doesn't even become the Democratic nominee.
Especially since Biden is Republican lite, and wants to work in a bipartisanship manner and "forgive and forget" (looking forward, not backwoods), and may well have been the driving force for Obama not to prosecute anyone in the Bush administration or Wall Street for their crimes.
So he's their best bet for a post Trump world, they won't get investigative committees looking at their collusion/corruption with Russia and other criminal acts. And they get a repeat of Obama where they can demand concessions and then still block everything (Merrick Garland…) as Biden has a delusion that the GOP will suddenly become reasonable unlike they were with Obama - unless he thinks they'll work with HIM because he's white?
So from a self interest perspective they should be trying to prop up and save Biden's bid, as he's the only one that'll let them do "business as usual".
Suddenly the Republicans are concerned that someone might have a job they are totally unqualified for? So why did they elect Trump to be president?
36
I’ll say this regardless of outcome. As I approached middle age I grew more empathy for Republican POVs on debt, overspending, certain cases for privatization, some other issues. GW Bush bugged me out a bit with his smugly juvenile behavior but DJ Trump and the resultant Republican servility have made it extremely unlikely that I, a sincerely Independent voter, would consider giving any support to Republicans. Essentially, I was winnable. No more.
Funny thing is, one would think that would make moderate Democrats appeal to me. Not really. It seems like the only truth-tellers on the stage are the most progressive candidates. That’s the thread, realism. Voters appreciate politicians who tell the truth, even hard ones. Odd that the realists are being described by so many as extreme.
32
President Trump should quit demeaning people, and the office of the Presidency with every tweet. He seriously should resign if he can’t button it up.
38
At this point, why the interest in listening to anything Republicans have to say? They are not acting in good faith. They are knowingly defending a corrupt president for political reasons. They've twisted everything around anyway they could insanely conceive in an effort to convince voters that Donald Trump is not guilty of what he is clearly guilty of. No judge would allow for these shenanigans to go on in a courtroom. Just take the vote and move on. Please.
18
Republicans like Trump's coattails. But what if they become toxic at some point? That is the risk that they seem to be taking collectively.
3
I don’t know if by working at the company in Ukrane if Hunter Biden broke any US laws, if that could be the case then why has it been referred to the correct. Government law enforcement agency. Isn’t that what’s happening now with Giuliani, he is being investigated by US for possible crimes. First off who would ever really believe trump cares if Ukrane is corrupt, I mean it was Congress that appropriated the funds, thinking it was needed to help them fight the Russian army, who has invaded part of there country. Trump should have just signed the bill and let the funds go to Ukrane. This is trumps third year, his timing regarding Ukrane being corrupt seems at the least suspect, and he only seems to be focused on the Bidens. The Democrats won the House back for a reason, Paul Ryan wasn’t saying or taking any action to hold trump accountable. I support the House’s Impeachment as they have provided testimony along with other evidence if trumps wrong doing, and the fact that trump won’t allow staff testimony or allow subpoenaed documents to counter the testimony/evidence is an admission of some guilt. If trump doesn’t want the Impeachment stigma as part of his legacy, one would think his actions would show that by fighting back with facts, instead of everything being a hoax or witch hunt. Even if he is cleared in the Senate, because they have the votes to do so, just like the House has the votes to Impeach. Neither side needs help from the other.
4
Yes- let’s lock up hunter Biden for profiting off of an elected official and then let’s line up the presidents entire family and all of Congress, and all lobbyists and then Let’s get back to what we came here for which is that the president abused his office, obstructed the investigation and was aided and abetted by the Republican house and senate
Vote out all republicans. They are as bad as Trump.
25
To the nation - not all Ohioans are fans of Jim Jordan and his exceedingly disgusting behavior at these impeachment proceedings. He is first and foremost a dishonest person. Second, he is rude. Third, he willingly ignored the policies of his employer, The Ohio State University, to report complaints of sexual harassment and misconduct made to him by students he coached. His failure to act to protect those student athletes is egregious behavior. Does anybody remember Jerry Sandusky, Pap Joe and Penn State football? Jim Jordan is central to a similar situation at OSU.
38
Yes. Time for that sex abuse case to bring him down. We’re waiting Ohio.
17
Republicans repeatedly point to Zelensky saying that he didn't feel pressure from Trump. Reminds me of a common courtroom situation where a husband is being charged with abusing his spouse. Five witnesses say: "yes, I saw him hitting her." Then she testifies and says: "no, he didn't hit me."
What's the point? Well, if you're a jerk who goes around hitting your spouse, make sure that you hire an attorney who knows how to seat Republicans as jurors.
9
Trump Inc. should be careful about adding Dershowitz to their defense team. Dersh is tainted by the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Makes sense to create a diversion? bolks may connect the wrong dots and start wondering whether Dershowitz was massaged by a 50 year-old woman and kept his underwear on at all times in the Magin Island (or was it innyhe brownstone?). Republicans are going down a dark path, no doubt.
1
The White House is considering adding Alan Dershowitz, Lionel Hutz and Vincent Gambino to the President's defense team.
11
If only Ranking Member Collins' constituents could watch on television or hear on the radio his sickening, despicable spin of the facts re Trumps's getting "You-kraine" to publicly announce an investigation into Joe Biden in order to get Zelinski a White House meeting with POTUS and their previously-vetted-for-corruption aid money. In my opinion, the "us" in "Do us a favor" referred to Trump, Rudolph Guiliani, Perry, and Mulvaney, not the US.
6
And from a man of the cloth. Supposedly.
Check the board members of most corporations. Their experience is not always directly related to the industry or company which they serve. I am not trying to diminish the bad judgement of Hunter Biden, I trying to put the idea out there: many board members are not hired for their experience and yes they may be hired for their “connections”.
Check the board of an American Natural Gas company , how about Chesapeake
http://www.chk.com/about/board-of-directors
I see several members on this board that don’t have oil/gas experience
8
Boy, imagine if Donald Trump Jr. got some big oil job in Russia!
2
Or imagine Ivanka got lucrative contracts in China right after her father became president!
17
It's hard not to think of these Republicans as anything but lying sociopaths on steroids. Not unlike the current occupant of the Oval Office.
6
We're lucky that the Republicans on the committee never prosecuted any mobsters in extortion cases if they believe that unless the person being extorted came forward, extortion could never be proven.
And if Congressman Sensenbrenner believes that what is occur is the actual trial then what does he think the Senate is going to do. Perhaps he thinks that this is the trial and the Senate is an appeals court.
3
House Republicans have joined in obstructing justice by promoting the Trump lie agenda. Would it be possible to censure them?
9
Of course! The Republicans are desperate, and will throw anything up against the wall to see if anything sticks. Wish the New York Times would do a report on Hunter Biden and expose the conspiracy theory that the Russian oligarch has made-up!
Hunter Biden was on the board of Burisma from 2014 until the spring of 2019. During those years Republicans controlled both House and Senate. Yet they didn’t say a peep about the Bidens, didn’t open an investigation! It’s only now, when the Republican president decided to cheat in 2020 that this conspiracy theory comes up! And Lindsey Graham opens a Senate investigation.
Up to the New York Times, Washington Post and other reputable media to expose the lies!
12
@Mari Hunter gets a job, The prosecutor going after the company he was hired at loses his job. The FBI apologizes for the termination because the prior investigator was doing nothing wrong...Hunter quits the job in public...Trump tries to investigate...And now we accuse Trump of corruption for trying to get said investigation, all while we investigated all of Trump's associates, his children, etc. Yes, sounds legit. It sounds more like you guys are completely corrupt as a party and a people. Do grow up.
1
When was it that Republican arguments lost all credibility? When and why did a major American political party divorce itself from reason?
The president withheld congressionally approved military aid in an attempt to blackmail the Ukrainians into conducting a (hopefully) damaging investigation of Joe and Hunter Biden.
Why in the world would the Democrats agree to drag the Bidens into the impeachment process?
Are the Republicans serious? Are they ALL as confused and unbalanced as Trump?!? Can an entire party be suffering from cranial trauma?
27
@Tom W
IMO we are getting this vitriol from the Republican side because their party's whole future reputation is at stake. I don't believe any of them truly back what Trump did. I believe they are more concerned about the shame factor, in the end.
4
@Tom W This is getting out of control. Trump investigated clear signs of corruption. Your side is technically trying the same against Trump. Why is it considered to be non biased when democrats investigate Trump, all his allies, everyone he knows, and, prosecutes some when democrats get off for the same crime (Andrew McGabe lied under oath 4 times and leaked information, whereas Papadopoulos lied once to under cover cops and was jailed, John Kerry did actual campaign finance aspects, as in taking campaign money to finance personal issues, using personal finances to battle something outside of the public eye which could be used to destroy you politically is not meant to be a campaign finance violation, and it risks destroying the whole U.S. making it one by the way, as then any allegation you try to defend with dollars becomes impossible, so your opponents can just make crud up and you can't use legal funds to defend yourself but regardless John Edwards, no charges, Michael Cohen, several years, Bernie actually violated foreign election funding rules, and was let off the hook with little done, look it up) and biased, when Trump investigates democrats? I see clear bias in convictions, in that if you are on the left you get off, if you are on the right, you don't. You guys on the left are out of control. Knock it off.
Dear my neighbours to the south,
It is fascinating to watch the impeachment proceedings as the very structure of your government crumbles under the influence of a political party that seems to have no respect for the content or the historical significance of your constitution. That a matter of such gravity has devolved into political theatre, with the GOP ignoring its constitutional duty in service to an incompetent, obviously corrupt president is disheartening and unsettling. Thinking people knew from the start that this presidency could only bring tragedy to the USA. The complete complicity of the GOP in this self destruction is now very clear. What comes next after your senate votes to acquit this tyrant? 20th century history provides some disturbing possibilities.
42
@TB Johnson bruh it is the 21 century
@TB Johnson Flip it, and that is the democrats right now.
Put as short as possible: Hunter Biden got a position at a company where his dad fired the investigator who was looking into the company. The FBI apologized for the firing, saying the old investigator actually was doing his job well. All signs point to a quid pro quo, a personal level one for that job and abuse of his powers (Biden). Trump looks into this, and now we try to impeach him. Sounds legit. We've already investigated Trump's kids, friends, and allies. It's time to investigate corruption on the other side. Your side then used this to try and impeach Trump. It is mind boggling the level of corruption democrats are getting into, and your intro was a bigoted post against the south...Outrageous. Perhaps rural areas are not just dumb hicks, and perhaps they have advantages in certain areas that city folks don't, and vice versa.
@Crazypostalbob
Do you watch Fox News by any chance?
16
Two things —
A) I recently moved to the Florida Panhandle and can’t wait to vote against Matt Gaetz.
B) To Jim Sensenbrenner: That these impeachment hearings are a “railroad job” is not obvious to me, and I’m a member of the American public.
27
There is another game afoot going on here
2
"Impeachment Live Updates: Republicans Try to Shift Focus to Hunter Biden During Debate on Trump Charges"
Hunter Biden is not the President - Donald Trump is......
AND
Therein lies the difference, the big difference.............
26
The G.O.P. wants America to live in Bizarro World with them.
15
Please, will the NY Times stop printing Republican lies. You are under no obligation to print obvious lies. It is not newsworthy to report what Republicans are saying when their are lying. We are in a war for our democracy, and we all know the first casualty of war is the truth.
Just store up all the lies of the Republicans in one giant 10,000 page document and release it 10 years from now for the historians to analyze. Right now, we need the truth, not lies. The Republican strategy is when this comes before the Senate to comment on how their lies were not accepted by the House Democrats and that now accepting their lies as truth constitutes something far worse than anything Trump did.
23
Ridiculous, typical republican game plan.
5
Once again, I’m struck by the contrasts among and between the Nixon , the Clinton and the Trump Impeachmnets.
In the first two, it appeared that nearly every member of the various panels realized just what a serious matter they were involved in. In the Clinton proceedings, the grotesque head of partisanship was becoming visible, but , for the most part, the involved Congressmen were serious and professional.
We’ve come to this: the Nuneses, the Jordan’s, the Gaetzes, et.al. How did these self serving men ever get to such positions of power? There’s not a “statesman” in the entire lot of them.
If these guys represent our future ,,then, we, as a nation of respect and honor are finished. I have never been so pessimistic about our future.
28
The reason is they REALLY believe what they are doing is the right thing. That is what is so amazing and what really makes me wonder ... it is really a kind of scary thing to see that ideas I have grown up with : good judgement, truth and right and wrong , have double meanings.
1
While the Republicans are trying this diversionary move, once again, the basic question no one has held them to is why this is important to determining if Trump's actions are illegal.
Take the two possible outcomes, that Biden did do something wrong or he didn't. In either analysis, the guilt or innocence of Biden does not alter in any slightest way, the facts surrounding his actions.
The end, even if Biden were guilty, does not justify Trump's means.
20
I've had enough of today's hearing; endless repetition of the same charges and counter-charges.
My primary takeaway, however, is that the Republican minority can not or will not directly address some well-established facts in the Ukraine matter. Foremost of these is the organized, secret effort managed by Rudy Giuliani and Lev Parnas to besmirch the reputation of a highly regarded U.S. Ambassador known for her hardline approach to Ukrainian corruption. What possible reason exists for this action, besides the most obvious one: Vovanivich needed to go because she was increasingly aware of the alternative foreign policy towards Ukraine -- the rogue policy being created and run by Rudy and his pals, on Trump's behalf, to place new President Zelensky in an untenable position and force him to publicly announce an investigation of the Bidens and the 2016 election.
It's a question hanging over the entire impeachment proceedings, and the absence of a Republican explanation speaks volumes.
13
I watched a 45 minute rebuttal by the Republican legal Counsel on Monday or Tuesday and not once did he mention Rudy G. Why would they? They know Rudy’s whole crooked agenda was direct from the President, they know the President told everyone to “talk to Rudy”.
They know Rudy is the fall guy. Without Rudy, the President can deny his involvement and scheme. But Rudy WAS there and Rudy did direct the scheme to expose the Biden’s as corrupt to help Trump get elected. We don’t live in Lala land we know what happened.
The Republicans do live in La La land, I guess?
4
This is not about Hunter Biden. It’s not about what Hunter Biden did. It’s about Donald Trump and what Donald Trump did.
If they want to investigate Hunter Biden they should do it outside the impeachment inquiry.
26
To the Republican Congress people, please do not tell me how I think. I am part of the American public and it is obvious to me that the President IS NOT being railroaded. That he obstructed justice.
23
I admit that even after 9 years of college, I don't know much about law or the workings of our government. Becoming proficient in my own fields was about all I could handle. So I ask those more knowledgeable then me: why can't Trump be impeached on the totality of his moral failings and unfitness for office, on his lifelong patterns of misconduct
and malign intent?
I understand the Democrats' decision to simplify the charges by focusing on the Ukraine affair, but even without Ukraine, why couldn't they impeach him for his totalitarian tactics, his choice of criminal associates, his erratic policy decisions and disregard for protocols and expert counsel, and his continuous irresponsible, insulting, mendacious speech? - all of which constitute high crimes and misdemeanors which threaten the well-being of our nation and our world, in my opinion.
I can sort of understand why some disillusioned people with no powers of discernment voted for Trump back in 2016. There was some reason to hope that he might actually address some of their needs. But after clear evidence of his true nature (which has always been there for all to see), how they can continue to support the man is incomprehensible.
22
I hear you, but I think many who voted for Trump did so because of his rhetoric against “others” whom they judge have taken something that’s theirs. Also, a recent article I read by a psychiatrist said that Trump supporters see him as “America.” Scary.
3
Must we keep reading about Trump's juvenile and misspelled tweets? I'd rather ignore my neighbor's 5-yr-old having a tantrum.
9
I hope each Congressional members votes their conscience, and I hope each member comprehends how awful NOT impeaching Trump seems at least to me after dutifully watching all of the proceedings in their entirety today, reading the Articles, and following the moral decline of the country as it suffers under this grotesque presidency since 2016.
13
When historians look back at this sad period, the behavior of Republicans and their President will live in infamy. We are watching The Decline and Fall of America on live TV.
13
What's the next argument, that Time magazine's selection of Greta Thunberg as person of the year is "Fake News", and a "Deep State" conspiracy led by "Never Trumper" whistleblowers who without predication refused to follow Fox New's instructions, and were only seeking to embarrass Trump.
13
The Republicans try to defend Trump's actions regarding Ukraine as an attempt to lessen corruption in that country. That's laughable. Trump is one of the more corrupt American presidents and probably couldn't find Ukraine on a map.
12
"Wherefore President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law." (Article I: Abuse of Power)
Certainly the GOP senators are cognizant of the fact that after they acquit Trump, he may will indeed prove the above ominous warning true. If there is another terrorist attack (in addition to Pensacola), it will be the GOP's fault.
9
All the GOP has are discredited conspiracy theories. They are blocking protection of the Constitution based on discredited conspiracy theories.
When Biden had a corrupt prosecutor removed in Ukraine, he had bipartisan support. (And Burisma was already investigated.)
Now, that prosecutor turns out to be a favorite of corrupt Russian oligarchs, so Trump and the GOP (and Putin - let's never forget what Vlad wants, right, Donald?) want him reinstated and EXONERATED.
So they are, once again, fighting FOR more swamp, this time in Ukraine. Deplorable.
9
Let’s make a deal. Hunter will resign if Trump will.
8
FYI: Hunter’s term on the board of Burisma ended in April of 2019.
2
Trump had no interest in corruption or he wouldn’t have forced out Yovanovich, who was getting on with that job.
7
@Paul Corr My sentiment also, he had the Ambassador of Ukraine to keep him [Trump] abreast with what was going on in Ukraine. She was under Past Presidents for 30 years, and they didn't think that her job performance in fighting corruption was in questions, so why it was questioned now under this President.
The Ukraine Energy Company and the Prosecutors removed was no significantly different than any corrupt company beit in an American Company or some other international company dealing with money laundering or embezzling state funds. How many companies in the U.S. has been accused of embezzlement of state or company funds? There is no significant difference. The difference in this case is an investigation of Hunter Biden the son of former VP [ to pressure Ukraine President] to investigate Biden in to ask for a favor.... in order to receive Aid that has been established between U.S. and Ukraine a little over a decade ago to fight off the invasion of Russia.
1
"The president and his Republican allies have maintained that it was inappropriate for Hunter Biden, who had no experience on energy issues, to serve on the board of Burisma..." OH, so NOW Republicans care about whether someone in an important position has actual experience? Seriously? After Congressional Republicans have given the green light to every supremely unqualified Trump cabinet and agency appointee? Their hypocrisy is mind boggling. Please, God, let this national nightmare end soon. And may it end with #45 and his lickspittle minions in Congress being soundly defeated either by impeachment or at the polls next November.
18
Amen to this comment, exactly!
2
What if the Poroshenko Administration did try to utilize Hunter Biden and all his weaknesses to get to Joe Biden? Zelensky defeated the oligarchy in 2019. Hunter’s term on the Burisma Board expired in 2019. The Biden name probably opened doors for Hunter Biden but there is nothing to indicate that Joe Biden was ever influenced by his son’s benefactors. I guess we have to look at the Trump clan and Andrew Giuliani through RICO colored glasses too.
6
‘“It’s obvious to all of the American public that this is a railroad job,” Representative Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin.’ ... Really, Rep. Sensenbrenner? You are speaking for 370 million people, as many as half of whom believe the president has defied the constitution and disagree with you that this is a railroad job of any kind. Speak for yourself and those who have chosen you to represent them but not on behalf of the entire American public. I am offended.
17
This is an impeachment of Trump, the President of the United States of America. Hunter Biden has NOTHING to do with this. Who he worked for is not related in any way to trump's abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Republican's keep grabbing at straws and frankly this American is sick and tired of listening to them! Not a patriotic one among them today. They should have tried to control trump and corrupt actions better. Wasn't it Rex Tillerson that said he had to keep on telling the president he couldn't do something, because it was illegal. Trump just thought he could do whatever he wanted. And Barrl he's the next one this country needs to rid itself of!!
8
Grasping at the HB straw.
Pathetic, but predictable.
4
Republicans are pathetic bullies. All they do is yell, scream and whine without ever providing either a defense or the evidence that Trump is innocent. When Trump refuses to cooperate when repeatedly offered the chance, you can’t keep claiming he wasn’t given a chance to defend himself. All Republicans have are lies and big whiny cries. The adults in the room need to send them to put them in their cribs and close the door.
I’m still waiting for Trump and the Republicans evidence that they promised they had that Obama was a Muslim and not an American citizen. Anyone who believes Republicans needs to have his or her head examined.
8
Alan Dershowitz’s client list has included O.J. Simpson, Claus Von Bulow and Jeffrey Epstein. If he adds Donald Trump to his list, I get to call bingo with my “Criminals Dershowitz Has Represented Who Belong in Prison” card!!!
14
Jarad and Ivanka have no business in government just like Hunter has no business in Burisma.
16
It surely looks like hunter biden is corrupt. But whatever crimes he committed has to be investigated and prosecuted in the appropriate venue. He is and has never been an elected official and there is no place for him here. Trump didn’t care about Bidens in 2017 or 2018, but now he cares. This nasty smearing of joe Biden is simply disgusting. I’m not excited about a biden presidency but this disgusting behavior by republicans is making me seriously consider him.
9
No more corrupt than any other politician's child getting underserved anything for their name.
Ivanka, Don Jr, Freddo Trump ALL come to mind as well.
By the way, Burisma was already investigated when Biden1ed for the removal of Ukraine's crooked investigator, with bipartisan support and the support of the EU and *pro Democracy* Ukrainians.
The Ukrainians who were angered by this are all connected to Putin's oligarchs.
4
@Vivien Hunter Biden was on the board of Burisma, since 2014 until spring of this year! IF Hunter was doing something illegal he wasn’t hiding! Republicans KNEW he was on the board of Burisma!
1
Just out of curiosity, Mr. Shear, how many times in your reporting have you characterized the accusations against President Trump as "unproven" as you did for Vice-President Bide (and also for President Obama). A quick google search has so far yielded NO instances where you wrote that accusations against a Republican were "unproven".
4
The accusations against trump were proven, eliminate your implicit bias and you will see
22
@John
Perhaps because the ones about DJT ARE proven. He told us so himself.
8
@John what’s unproven? Explain. Because witnesses proved that Trump DID extort Ukraine!
3
Insert Hunter Biden? Huh?
If you don't like what he did, then make it a campaign issue!
If you think he committed a crime, then have DOJ investigate and prosecute it! Duh, DOJ did no such thing, not even Barr's DOJ, because Hunter Biden committed no crime - just bad political judgment.
But it has absolutely nothing to do with Trump's bribery, treason, obstruction of Congress and abuse of power, nor is it any defense or excuse for the same!
55
I just want Trump tried and in prison so they take away his phone
44
The slithering swamp creatures that collectively make up the Republican Party are absolutely beneath contempt. I wish we could impeach each and every one of them.
52
This brand of Republicanism is disgusting at best.
38
Shouldn't neo-Confederate Republistan follow its manifest destiny and secede from the USA and simply become the newest Soviet satellite republic ?
They are marching in lockstep with the Kremlin.
They abandoned the United States Constitution and American ideals a long time ago.
50
Why are Republicans yelling so much for?
Is that supposed to help convince people of your intellect?
Or are they just imitating the crudeness of “Dear Leader” Trump to impress the base??
41
My sentiments exactly. The yelling just makes me turn down the volume until their time is up.
9
I’m surprised they haven’t yet found a way to tie Hilary Clinton’s email server and Benghazi into this.
40
Give them time. I'm sure Jordan will find a way.
9
As which Republicans try to insert Biden Jr? Why, the usually suspects, of course; the most snivelling, obsequious grovellers who seek to stay in Trump's good books because they're either after a plum job in his next administration, or they're just plain bat-guano crazy.
18
I would love it if Alan Dershowitz joined Trump's impeachment legal team. Let the same person who in March 2019 publicly begged to be sued for defamation by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who he is accused of raping, so that he could clear his name, try to defend Trump's refusal to testify, or allow persons with first-hand knowledge of facts relating to the Ukraine scandal to testify, before Congress.
12
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives voted by a huge bipartisan majority, 377–48, to approve the largest US military spending bill in history, providing a record $738 billion for the US war machine.
Only 41 Democrats voted against the bill, issuing pro forma criticisms, but the entire Democratic leadership embraced the legislation.
The most important aspect of the legislation, besides the vast total sum authorized, was the stripping out of the bill of virtually every provision in the original House version that would have set limits on overseas military operations by the Trump administration.
The House-Senate conference removed a ban on US military support for the genocidal war by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and a provision requiring that Trump obtain congressional approval before initiating any military operations against Iran.
It also removed a measure that would repeal the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), which gave congressional approval in advance to the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq. The AUMF is still being used as the legal pretext for other US military actions in the Middle East.
All this for bad, bad Trump, the guy Democrats are trying to impeach right now because he is a Russian agent.
Puh-lease.
8
Republicans voted today against Elections Protection Bill. They’re Russian assets!
3
@Mari
Nice whataboutism.
Democrats gave Trump a renewed Patriot Act, increased spying powers, the largest military budget in history and "They’re Russian assets!"!!!
Thomas Jefferson once said:
"He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions."
I think it's fair to say that the Republican legislators on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees are living in an alternate universe, where lying, furthering conspiracy theories, playing to their base, and Trump, takes precedence over what is good for our democracy. Republican Senators have proven to be are no more responsible than these jokers. Voting as many of them out in November is the remedy.
25
As usual, the Republicans are banking on a weak defense without anything to back it up outside of their desperation.
Imagine.
Questioning Hunter Biden's son's place on Burisma's board, and the fact that he got the job without any obvious experience and pulling in the big bucks -- while conveniently forgetting Ivanka Trump, Trump's sons and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner are all doing the same thing by profiting from Trump's position as president.
But then again, bringing that up might possibly bring up questions about the Emoluments Clause.
That's next.
27
Just as he always has in the past, Trump will threaten the Republicans to cover for him and when that's over and another scheme comes along he will embarrass them and our country again.
7
At this point, on this evidence, you must either be for Trump or for America - you can't possibly be both.
24
Trump has always skated the edge. From spurious bone spurs, to his absurd Birther campaign libeling Obama, to the claim he's self made when he has actually received some $400 million from Daddy, he's been a fraud. As a businessman, he got maybe billions in dirty Russian money...this he's desperately kept concealed, so far. During the campaign he publicly welcomed Russian FSB and GRI "active measures"; "I love Wikileaks" he cried out at rallies. He even dead seriously solicited Russians to hack Clinton's missing emails. Michael Cohen took the fall for Trump's porn-star election donation fraud crimes. The day after Mueller cleared him of "collusion" with Russia, Trump was personally extorting Zelinsky to help him steal his 2nd election. It's a pattern of misbehavior that disqualifies him to be President. He's got a natural, slippery sense of how to use obtuse, disjointed speech so that he can deny the plain meaning. But, it's not gonna work this time. Not to mention his abusive, corrosive, degrading bombast...similar crudities by Pres. Andrew Johnson were a major consideration cited by his impeachers. Trump is not fit to be President, and his decades long pattern of misbehavior before and after election is in the aggregate a high crime itself, discrediting the office and the country. His negation of all US commitments to deal with global warming, an existential crisis for the human race, is yet another high crime more than worthy of impeachment and removal. He's got to go.
24
I have been advocating for impeachment since reading the Mueller Report. I will be glad to see the process completed.
I found the histrionics of both sides cringe worthy at times but still it moved along at a good pace.
I will be interested to see how Mr. McConnell formats the trial in the Senate next year. Knowing Mr. McConnell he will be looking to "pay back" the Democrats for the Republican perceived unfairness of Mr. Schiff and Mr. Nadler in the conduct of their hearings.
I would guess Mr. McConnell will at a minimum gavel out any inconvenient chatter from the Democrats, effectively not allow them to bring any witnesses and he will likely take his sweet time.
I will be glad when that process is completed as well.
Regardless of the outcome, Mr. Trump needed to be impeached. His conduct has been unspeakable and at least he is getting his hands spanked by House.
26
Revitalize the constitution all this modern gibberish is ridiculous.
@gpickard
It’s disturbing to see the Republicans put party over country.
Money is their god.
4
@gpickard. I think that McConnell will just ram this through as quickly as possible, calling no witnesses.
There is no real downside to this as he already knows the outcome will be a "not guilty", sd no R has the backbone to vote otherwise.
1
It is getting close to the point where, judging from people's comments, that the ranting and raving in the Judiciary hearings are serving no purpose at all. No one is listening; we're exhausted.
If just one Republican Representative would provide factual rebuttal to the sworn testimony, I'd continue to listen.
We hear about how Republicans want to call "fact" witnesses and their choice of "fact" witnesses include Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Adam Schiff. Why not Mr. Bolton, Mr. Mulvaney, Mr. Pompeo or Mr. Giuliani?
In one's imagination if the Bidens were involved in corruption, there is no evidence whatsoever that Mr. Trump was looking to find evidence of that. No testimony regarding Trump's actions or statements provide any evidence at all that Trump was pursuing corruption in Ukraine. There is little doubt that there is corruption in Ukraine, but Trump only wanted an announcement by Ukraine that an investigation of the Bidens and only the Bidens.
If that observation is wrong, then surely Mulvaney, Pompeo, Bolton and Giuliani could provide relevant evidence. So call them as "fact" witnesses. But Republicans know better; they'll get "don't remember", 5th Amendment pleas, or fact free politically directed rants.
Republicans also want to call Adam Schiff who wasn't involved in any way shape or form with the Trump conspiracy.
I can't stomach it any more. But I am not changing my mind about the need to impeach or censure Mr. Trump.
33
I COULD be mistaken, but I wasn't aware that Hunter Biden was a politically elected entity.
The Republicans want this to be about the son of an ex-vice-president.
That has about as much relevance as this impeachment being about Trump's sister in NYCity who had to resign as a Federal Judge.
Sorry, Trump, but this puppy's about you, not your sister.
44
The GOP is utterly off the rails. Their paychecks should be stopped until they get serious about doing work fo All Americans, which IS their job.
21
I don’t understand why Hunter Biden wasn’t called to testify. Trump would have been doomed if Biden offered a reasonable, verifiable explanation of what he was doing in Ukraine and how he learned about and obtained his job with a corrupt Ukraine energy company. Everyone knows that Hunter was uniquely qualified for the job.
1
@Robert Okegub
And I don't understand why Trump himself didn't testify, or allow anyone else in the White House to do the same.
Oh. Wait a minute.
Yes I do.
13
And I don’t understand why Trumpists think this sort of thing is clever, and exonerates Trump.
9
Trump IS doomed.
3
Matt Gaetz should be censured by his party and voted out of office by his constituents. His use of this public, televised forum to describe details of anyone's addiction disease process is reprehensible.
67
@Cindy
Yes, I've never seen anything like Gaetz. What a disgusting little lickspittle.
His lips seem to be firmly attached to the end of Donald Trump's alimentary canal.
14
@Cindy
He's exhibiting the symptoms of Trump-addiction.
5
Are you saying all the Navy personnel at Pensacola don’t know who they should vote for. Certainly a nasty thing to say about our veterans.
The GOP works exclusively for Donald Trump-they make that clear everyday. Their personality worship of Trump on our taxpayer dollars and time is despicable and dangerous.
25
The whole "they hate Trump" or trying to "undo the election" is bogus rhetoric for the simple folks among us. Every election has winners or losers and the majority of repeat voters have experienced their prefer choice, losing. Grow up by being Republicans, not Trumplicans, and honor the oath you took to uphold our COUNTRY'S LAWS!
27
Never trust poor people. Only trust rich people. Rich people always care about your interests and will go to bat for you. Because they’re rich. How do you think they got to be rich? Because they care about you so much. Oh, and they also really really care about God and morals too. Rich people are very spiritual. Poor people, meh, not so much. You can always count on all those rich people in government to take care of your best interests. Financial, spiritual, physical. That’s why rich people exist. To represent you, take care of you and work for you so you don’t have to do any work at all. You should definitely, always trust rich people no matter what they do or say. No matter how ridiculous. No matter how many immoral things they might do, how many laws they break, how many peoples lives they destroy. Even if they destroy your life, or your family’s, keep on trusting them. Rich people have proven time and time again that they can be trusted. Simply because they’re rich. Anything else is just nasty lies and bigly sad.
21
LIke Madame Defarge, I intend to bear witness at the base of this edifice and the names of the traitors are going down in the history books.
Forget street politics, forget parties, forget personalities. Shut down the sound machine, end the sound bytes, unplug the noise machine.
The Constitution has spoken to this moment and there is only one answer: Impeachment.
Knit one. Purl two.
14
I've been watching, listening, reading and thinking.
What staggers me is the unwillingness to LISTEN!!
The facts are clear.
I know the Republicans want to support their president but how can they continue to support someone who has gotten away with being a bully, a liar and a cheat. These members will have to live with every decision and vote they make.
No one on either side should concern themselves with reelected. They should concern themselves with the facts, not the spin infront of them.
I hope they read this.
20
Can they also include the other Hunter, Duncan, the corrupt California Trump supporter?
8
Watching this charade of an election with Trump as President shows just how much power the executive branch has over the Congress. Since the days of Reagan the Executive Branch has increased its powers so that a person like Trump acting as a pawn for Russia, takes almost total control of the government. Some huge changes need to be made in the Exective Branch of the government after Trump goes into LaLa land where her spends most of his time these days. To allow a near Fascist Government to take place in this country is a crime by itself. Vote out the Republicans and Trump, and restore our country to a Democracy.
16
@David Michael
GOP can not just let the president to go. Everybody needs him. I do not see anybody who would REALLY want him gone. I think he is a kind of national treasure shining and giving everyday bread to hundred of thousand influential people including 100% so-called mass media.
1
Every time a Republican says that Hunter Biden was unqualified for the Burisma Board, they should be to asked how they feel about Ivanka & Jared’s qualification to work in the White House. Previously she hawked trinkets and daddy thought that qualified her for a job in his Administration and put her husband in charge of Middle East peace! If Joe Biden used his influence to get his son a job at least it wasn’t in the U.S., let alone the Administration.
43
If Dershowitz comes in the Democrats really ought to take a page from the Republican playbook and start mentioning his “defending Jeffrey Epstein’s child’s sex trafficking ring” every chance they get. It has the added bonus of being true.
Also, why no mention of Emoluments? Trump violates that every day. When did that become an “optional” part of the Constitution?
14
@William
If Dershowitz participates in any hearings, the Democrats should bring in Virginia Roberts and let her sit in a prominent place.
7
Alan Dershowitz would surprise many should he join Trump’s legal team against the state of N.Y., or against the US attorney in the Southern District of N.Y. One look at his fee and the Russian oligarchs who own Donnie will bail. We’ll see how the “billionaire” Trump
does when his tax returns become public and he pleas for a public defender & Crowdstrike.
6
I wish Democrats would just say, Yes, it appears Hunter Biden is a loser. However, he's a loser who's a private citizen. He's not an elected official and his behavior is not held to any sort of Constitutional scrutiny. But the president's behavior IS. Do we not expect a higher standard from our president?
And by the way, all of this hand-wringing over Hunter Biden is especially precious given the blatant grifting being done every day by the Trump children. Perhaps the GOP should investigate, since they're so concerned with rooting out corruption.
25
When Nixon/Clinton impeached, they too were duly elected by majorities the successful impeachment/removal would have overturned. The GOP election argument just another specious one they are making.
American voters know/knew Trump was/is a serial sexual abuser,cheater and liar and they voted for him anyway. The Dems getting impeachment on Trump’s record still a good thing, and they need to mobilize their voters and the anti-Trump Independents to the polls to vote for whomever they put forward as the 2020 candidate.... Or, it will be Trump again.
5
The song from Lion King is so appropriate for this Lyin King ,"I Just Can't Wait To Be King".
The Republicans keep running from side to side oscillating between GENERIC CORRUPTION, and only be concerned in the THE BIDENS.
6
Listening to the shrill, inane dissembling of Gaetz, Collins, Jordan et. al., has been a repulsive, revolting experience. These low-level hit men will go down in history as pawns of the fascist coup that a handful of Russian oligarchs, with their help and the help of state propaganda from FOX and Sinclair, perpetrated upon America's gullible, poorly-educated voters. These are soulless creatures devoid of any scruples. Just can't listen to their foul-mouthed flailing and defense of the indefensible for another second.
21
Apparently the New York Times thinks 2 2 = 5 is a partisan debate. The Times bemoans the death of truth but then they characterize everything as partisan relativism.
4
When I talk about being afraid, this is what I mean: If this man is not impeached and removed, he'll have a total mandate to do anything, and I do mean anything.
To not impeach is to endorse his twisted view that he is above the law. Perhaps the most telling words uttered during his campaign were these... "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."
I went zero at the bone when I heard those words and
I still want to know to what degree you have to be both deplorable and ignorant to vote in a man who boldly states this as a *strength* and selling point. The simple truth is that those were the only true words he has spoken.
Has this GOP really paused to consider what it will unleash if DJT walks away from this unscathed? Where do we go from here? The putative Constitutional crisis bandied about in the early days came true. Will the threat to kill people in the streets also come true?
This is not idle speculation. It never was. For anyone paying attention, we've been checking off item after item on the Despot's To-Do List.
Threaten the press. ✓
Brazenly lie. ✓
Undermine other branches. ✓
Declare yourself above the law.✓
Imperil the nation for personal gain. ✓
Demand total fealty even of sycophants. V
Unchecked power is dangerous power. Always. It's not clear to me if anyone on the GOP side grasps or cares about the potential peril we'll be in if DJT has the green light to enact more crimes.
He must be stopped.
16
@AhBrightWings
How did this happen? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
He has slowly but surely torn down everything about our once beautiful country. He has stacked the Supreme Court, the Justice Department, the State Department, and soon the FBI. Everything furthers his own lawlessness/furtherance of power and Putin's desires.
However, what has me baffled is that Trump on his own is simply not smart enough to create and execute such a plot. So who's directing this?
3
If I were a House Republican, I might be concerned about overplaying my hand in support of Trump.
They like to invoke the desire of "the American people" to acquit Trump, but I'm not so sure that after a Senate trial "the American people" will be on Trump's side.
The evidence is clear and damning, independent Republicans' apparent immunity to evidence.
Unlikely, I know, but wow would I love to see this gaggle of Constitution-trampling sycophants ushered out.
11
You're going down, trust-fund boy. Impeached losers are BORING....
11
Tell you what, GOP: You help us remove this corrupt, incompetent, lying, cheating, mean, nasty person from the presidency, and after it's all done and over with, with give you a shot at "impeaching" Hunter Biden. Deal?
9
This is how it will be done:
Step 1: Impeach Trump.
Step 2a: Dem elected Pres. in 2020.
Step 2b: Dems take the Senate and hold the House.
Step 3: Dismantle the Electoral College (among other election reform legislation).
32
@Connor Dougherty
Step 4: Trump, Giuliani, et al go to jail.
10
@Connor Dougherty
taking the Senate is a tall order. so is Step 3.
1
One great thing about this process is watching Republicans being put on the record for all time defending the indefensible.
The Republican alternative facts are out there for all to see on display.
They are insisting that the sky is green, and that the grass is blue, and thinking that if they are belligerent and yell their position as loud as possible, people will believe them.
While the can try to confuse and obfuscate to their hearts content, people will be able to see them for who they really are.
They will not be able to erase their betrayal of their oath.
It won’t go away.
46
Watching the hearings this morning it seemed to me that the Republicans were trying to build a new narrative around Trump's officially unexplained decision to hold up military aid to Ukraine: Donald Trump as corruption fighter.
It will be amazing if they manage to pull this off. What we have so far, in Trump's own words, is that he was interested in an investigation of the Bidens, and of Ukraine meddling in the 2016 presidential election, echoing a conspiracy theory advanced by Russia and praised by Putin.
Meanwhile, agencies charged with overseeing the aid and Ukraine compliance with anti-corruption efforts had signed off on the military aid. Mulvaney acknowledged in a press conference there was a quid pro quo ("Get over it"), but has refused to testify. During the Intelligence Committee hearings no one said that official U.S. policy was to investigate the Bidens and the 2016 election, never mind the idea that the Democratic server was in Ukraine.
It seems the Republicans are now boxed into a corner. They'll have to argue that U.S. policy towards Ukraine is what Trump says it is, even if it isn't formally communicated or announced, or revealed after the fact during an impeachment investigation. If this is not an imperial presidency, I don't know what is.
21
Why don’t they debate their Super-bowl picks, as it would be respectable and have greater social value.
8
Rather than repeat Mr. Trump's narrow offences,
The Democrats might want to keep the debate real.
When any Congressional official mentions Mr. Trump's attempts of cleansing all corruption from the borders of Ukraine,
it might be a good time to state that Mr. Trump violated the Constitution weeks prior to the 2016 election by paying hush money to prostitutes,
or remark that many of Mr. Trump's campaign officials or his personal lawyer are in prison or facing a trial,
or mention the frequent foreign payments to Mr. Trump which violate the emollient sections of the Constitution.
or mention his serial adultery, and remarkable tendency to associate with odd fellow who have several marriages...
or....
12
Which is more important during this somber time in America's past, present and future? The Constitution of the United States or the shell game that carnival barkers Collins, Jordan, Gaetz and the Great Wizard behind the TV remote and Twitter feed Mr Trump continue to pitch? Blech. Thank you Madam Speaker Pelosi and all of the brave patriots who are doing their jobs.
25
I've watched a good bit of last night's and today's Judiciary Committee hearing. Republicans are doing what they do, obfuscating, mis-directing and lying.
I wish one Democrat -- just one -- would pose this question: If you were not afraid of being primaries by Trump, would you still oppose impeachment?
It is crystal clear that the Republican strategy is enforced Party discipline and talking points, under penalty of retribution, while Speaker Pelosi said Democratic members may vote their conscience.
What are Republicans so fearful of? Not impeachment. But re-election. Party over country, in all its disgusting splendor.
14
@PaulB67 Are you suggesting that the Democrats are not about their own election success? They might think they need to depose Trump because they haven't found anyone who is likely to win against him. That's a sad comment on the Democrat talent pool. Please keep looking.
I followed this, quite painful, obtuse, running argument from the judiciary committee for a while this morning. I know what Trump did. You know what Trump did. However, with regret, I have to conclude that with the evidence available there is room for his defense. Its just a worm’s width. Don’t jump down my throat please.
We are now hearing that there are moderate Democrats who are planning to defect, and of course no Republicans are in support. If this was a slam dunk, even Republicans (and their constituents) wouldn’t be able to mount a defense. Think, in comparison, of how Nixon went down.
Their argument is that the long list of career diplomats and Trump appointees misread the situation. They didn’t, and if they had, wouldn’t Trump reasonably have corrected them? I know, BUT, its an argument with enough legs to muddy, for those who don’t want to see. Fullstop.
So, as anyone with sense has planned to all along, lets wash our hands of this and vote Trump out in November. Lets end this drama ourselves. This executive behavior is intolerable, intolerable. Its been intolerable. As Pelosi once said, He’s not worth it.
5
@Aaron Regrettably, I agree, there is room for Trump's defense, and having heard every version of it, it is mostly not merely refutable, but utter nonsense. It comes down to this - what is more important to the country: removal of a president on all-but-certain evidence of corruption, or leave an all-but-certainly corrupt president in office to continue to abuse the powers of the presidency.
6
Jim Jordan needs to be censured or better yet voted out of office. The man is absolutely unfit for office. Also, if these Trump Republicans want to focus in on Hunter Biden, then it's fair game to investigate Trump's daughter and sons for their business activities while he is president - and the son-in-law. Who knows what those individuals were up to. The so called $86M/mo will pale in comparison to what the kiddies dealt for themselves while daddy was in the oval office.
26
Yes. And a president who ORDERED a security clearance for his son-in-law, as he couldn't get it otherwise.
15
@KittyC
Jordan's district in Ohio has been illegally gerrymandered and has been ordered to be redrawn. So it's possible in the new district he could lose.
10
Stubbornness is a positive quality in leadership,
if you're right about what you're stubborn about.
Douglas Brinkley
3
The abuse of power lies in the Dems use of subpoena as a weapon
No quid pro quo. So no impeachment for reasonable minds
Meanwhile the arms temporarily withheld were exactly the type of weapons Obama refused to send them. National security risk to delay them ? If so Obama is also a risk to us.
This is true silliness and politics.
2
I just have to say that I’m on the verge of turning it all off, and I know I’m not alone. It’s so painful to watch the GOP spew so many lies and attacks on the very fabric of our democracy. It PAINS me!! And for what?
For this “President”? It’s all incomprehensible to me.
22
I’m so disgusted. America as we have known it is finished. The Constitution is nothing more than a museum piece. The crazies have won. Trump will be re-elected and crowned King.
5
Remind me NOT to take law classes at Harvard if Dershowitz is going to defend Trump. Talk about defending the indefensible. Giuliani is more suited for the job, that is of course he becomes a defendant.
6
@Clearwater :He may have more to worry about than defending trump! The Epstein revelations may do it.......just saying.
1
@Upstater
Oh, that's right. Forgot about that little client attorney situation. You are the clients you keep. Just watch any mob lawyer in action.
1
The abuse of power needs to be applied to the Republicans for making the Grand Old Party the new "GOPP", Grand Old Party of Putin.
9
America is well on its way to a Republican dictatorship and the complete destruction of democracy by the Rightwing.
13
Listening to these silly Republican demands for a roll call on every single procedural vote, all I can say is "Aye, aye aye"
8
Jim Jordan really likes the sound of his own voice...
18
And he's likely the only one for whom that is true - I have to silence the volume whenever he gets the microphone so that I don't break the radio.
5
There are two reasons that this is being allowed to happen. 1 is Facebook. 2 is the coverage on CNN, MSNBC, at the Washington Post and here at the Times. By marketing this, as they do with all issues, as simply a partisan divide (in order to divide and enrage people to sell papers) they have given political cover to the most un-American group of Republicans since the southern bebel traitors in the 19th century.
7
My statement, if I were a Democrat serving on the judiciary committee would be: "I would like to read the names of traitors actively aiding and abetting Russia in their attempt to infiltrate the United States. Matt Gaetz, Doug Collins, Louie Gohmert... ."
9
When did Republicans in Congress start working for Trump? Do they all think they are on The Apprentice? Can someone remind them that they represent constituents and the constitution, not an old, washed-up lying slob.
16
So self-enriching is Donald Trump
That corrupt men gave fraud a bump.
Found useful to Putin
The GOP rootin'
Now 3 years in, we're in a slump.
Throughout the free world, we have earned
No respect - just disgust. Bridges burned.
So, it's now safe to say, we are all on our way
To that place where our honor's UNlearned.
My father - a WWII vet -
Were he alive would not get
Why this GOP now
Chooses to kowtow
To a liar who still hasn't yet
Explained why he took troops deployed
In Syria out - Kurds destroyed.
And Ukraine? Same refrain.
Their democracies strained.
Now ours is. Trump toadies annoyed
By Mueller, by Vindman, and they
Are going to rue the day
The disgraced themselves with what they now do.
This limerick says what is noble and true
I know what is wrong - it is they.
They are wrong and and what is taking place
Would make Lincoln call you what you are
You're the Know-Nothings now
I just don't know how
You don't see that you just how much you disgrace
The basic standards of trust
Because during these hearings, you thrust
The sickle and hammer, rife in what you yammer
You've earned no respect; just disgust.
While you've sideswiped both Mueller and Vindman -
REAL heroes subjected to your spin
That Putin's applauded; that Trump also lauded -
Defaming real heroes proved to us you're zeros.
GOP, you SHOULD be ashamed.
s
9
The display by the republicans is disgusting. How can they possibly look at their faces in the morning? Moreover, the large majority of the voters and including their republican contingent are equally disgusted by their poor loud-mouth arguments and their actions to support Trump's treachery and submission to Putin. Absolutely disgusting.
15
Republicans are simply embarrassing themselves further with lies and theatrics. But, it’s interesting to watch. It’s nice to see them huff and puff with their lies.
9
It is beyond evil that republicans are besmirching and threatening the only living son of a man who is still grieving his family's earlier loss of another. Such behavior reminds me of the psycho methods used by Khmer Rouge interrogators.
9
This is not a debate. Democrats presented the facts . Republicans yells , shouts and made false statement. GOP are a bunch of cronies that should be be re-elected since they don’t put US ahead of their own personal interest ! They are all corrupted, liars, and cronies
5
it is almost painful to see how these big republican guys try to defend their cheap lies. pick them up and put them in cachot.
4
It is very interesting to note that Trump and the Republicans in Congress and the Russian trolls the comments sections of the NYT are all parroting the same Russian talking points.
Word for word.
It’s as if what Sen. Cruz and Sen. Kennedy has confessed live on air — that the Republican Party is now Putin’s propaganda arm right here in the heart of the USA — might actually be true.
5
The president doth protest too much. @guilty
6
any gop comments on trumps comments re this years Time Person of the Year 2019 .... are followers of the twerp as insecure as their supreme leader
1
Listen up America! Ever had substance abuse problems? If so, and if convenient to President Trump, you will be exploited. And the vast majority of Trump supporters, being gullible suckers, will jump on the bandwagon and pillory you. Shame on Gaetz. Shame on the Republicans.
6
Republican Rep. Gaetz just said with a straight face and without a trace of irony that corrupt people (referring to alleged Ukrainian corruption) don't engage in corruption just once. Exactly Matt.
126
@Jay Orchard
I know.... I almost snorted my tea all over my keyboard when Rep. Gaetz said that... excuse me...
Trump University
Illegal PAC donation
Refusing to pay contractors
The Trump Network (pyramid scheme)
Trump Model Management
Use of undocumented workers
Housing discrimination charges
Violation of anti-trust laws
Stormy Dainiels et. al
25+ accusations of sexual harassment and/or abuse
Failure to divest (violation of emoluments clause)
lies.... even about piddling stupid things that are easily checked like *the weather*
If the good Mr. Gaetz actually believed his own statement he wouldn't trust Mr. Trump any further than he could pick up and throw Trump's 6'3" 239 lbs - of course that would be if Trump actually really is 6'3" or 239 lbs...
9
I wish I could remember which one of these clowns said it, but I caught one of ‘em yesterday just as they explained that, and I kid thee not, the complete absence of any evidence that the FBI’s investigation had been politically biased against Trump was in fact the evidence that there had been political bias against Trump.
It took him about 90 seconds to emit that one...the whole time, I was staring at the TV, sliding from “No...he can’t be,” to, “O wow, he’s actually,” all the way to, “Do it! Say it!”
Not since the UFO-ologists started saying that the lack of evidence was the evidence, because why would the MIBs be hiding the evidence if there were no evidence...
6
When the Kurds were run out of Syria, the Kurds were upholding a Democracy.
Trump put that democracy in peril, and Putin applauded it.
The GOP - the defunct former Party of Lincoln, now know as the Party of Trump - barely shrugged their shoulders.
When the newly elected anti-corruption president of the Ukraine was to receive authorized funding to combat further annexation of lands in its country by an adversarial dictator - not just their adversary but this country's - because it threatens THEIR democracy, Trump put that democracy in peril, and Putin applauded that also.
And the Party of Trump not only shrugs it shoulders, it also screams insults at directed at our countrys' war heros (e.g., Mueller and Vindman) while repeating talking points on conspiracies that originated with Putin himself.
They're doing it again right now. Right now, that is what the former Party of Lincoln - now the Party of Trump - is doing.
The GOP claims concern over corruption Really, GOP? Are ya? Really? then why not start here at the beginning of November when Trump and his offspring were ordered to pay restitution to the people they ripped off with their fraudulent charity and focus on them in reverse chronological order.
Also due process. Really? Hey, GOP members, stop and think about what would happen to you if you had ordered your staff to defy subpoenas issued and intimidated witnesses. You're not that ignorant. But you are confident that your voters are.
You insult us all.
96
@Jbugko : We face a lethal threat on our southern border, a narco state in which cartels lay down the law to journalists and honest politicians and police officers as well. Give President Trump the benefit of the doubt that the M.E. is not worth 1 more American life,With a Ph.D. in history, greatest authority on the counterrevolutionary OAS since I interviewed over 100 ex spooks and gunmen, a Fulbright,(SENEGAL 1994-5)licensed in 2 foreign idioms I can hardly be called ignorant and there are many more with my scholarly and professional achievements. Many of us Trump supporters have a world view, having served abroad for a number of years in west Africa and the Mahgreb.Admittedly it is hard to get a fair hearing at the TIMES newspaper which favors those with anti Trump views no matter how shallow, but we keep on trying.
@Alexander Harrison
President Trump is not withdrawing soldiers from the ME, he is sending them to protect Saudi Arabia.
I would like to withdraw from the ME also, but not in a fashion that puts the Kurds at risk.
I agree that Mexico is extremely challenged, and has been for a long time, but we're hardly going to invade one of our biggest trading partners.
2
@DB There are immutable constants in our foreign policy, and 1 is to be a reliable ally of the Mamlaka because (1)they are 1 of the greatest purchasers of US made weaponry in the world and (2)they are a source of intelligence for us, like Israel,for the region. When I was there in the 1970's as an employee of Raytheon,we had a contract to sell S.A . Hawk Missiles which they never used, but nonetheless was part of a commercial arrangement which pleased the military industrial complex. This policy has not changed and under Obama we sold the Saudis 24 billion dollars worth of weaponry.Misconception re Obama was that he was a man of peace, in contrast to his predecessor, but O continued the policy started by Bush"fils" of dispatching a Seal Team 6 under at that time Adm. Mcgraven which "policed" the region and eliminated in a peremptory fashion anyone whom US regarded as a threat to regional and to our security. 1 Seal Team member interviewed anonymously by freelance journalist Jeremy Skahill told the journalist that O was even more gung ho about the program than Bush "fils!" Anwar al Walaki and members of his family, a US citizen and while he was in the US, a moderate were killed by a drone ordered by Seal Team 6. As I said, there are immutable constants in our foreign policy that carry on regardless of the admin. in the WH.Mcgraven upon retirement wrote a book, "Now Make your Bed!"
I'm so sick of the characterization in the media of the impeachment process as a "debate" and a "partisan divide." It's like characterizing truth and lies by saying, "there are two sides to every story."
Somebody please ask the Republicans why everyone knows that there is no chance that Trump will be convicted in a trial in the Senate. It's because Republican senators decided without hearing one witness or piece of evidence that they would protect their Republican president no matter what he had done.
When House Republicans say the Democrats are trying to overturn an election and the will of the people, they are flat out lying. Trump has violated his oath of office, which is to protect and defend the Constitution. Ask the people whether they support the Constitution, and you'll see what their will is.
It's is Republican who are trying to overturn, not an election, but the Constitution of the United States. They are despicable.
118
@Yes to Progressive
Those not wearing blinders can see there absolutely was quid pro quo.
Sondland's sworn testimony: “Was there a quid pro quo? The answer is yes.”
10
@JeffW , what was quid pro quo ? Other testimony says NO. Out of the echo chamber, we deal in facts. You can’t even name the quid pro quo
1
Dear NYT,
Why did this article need to be headlined in partisan terms (“Democrats Defeat Republican Bid to Kill the Abuse of Power Charge”)?
Even if all votes are cast along strict party lines, isn’t it also true that the result is a represents outcome for the House of Representatives as a whole, acting on behalf of its constituents?
So why not simply: “House rejects effort to kill ...”?
If you’re going to decry excessive partisanship, you shouldn’t also fan it’s flames. Bad choice, imo.
28
Per one comment below, mute is a good solution for the obvious lies and hate being spewed out. I would not want to be a descendant of any of these Republican Congressmen and women; history will not treat this kindly, no matter which way it goes.
25
@Jean louis LONNE Jim Jordan is going to need a lot of therapy and mental health support if he ever realizes how despicable he is and how reprehensible his behavior has been. But I doubt he will come to this realization since he seems to have made a career out of defending the indefensible.
1
@Jean louis LONNE
Thank you for your comment. One of the most important aspects of this civil war in the United States is that many Americans don't realize that if the country falls to the Putin-faction of the GOP, history will still be written about the late, great United States. It will simply be written by other civilized countries.
History will record (in Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese) how a genuinely great nation collapsed of its own weight like the Soviet Union before it.
History will record the beginning of the greatest war in history; the battle between democracy and totalitarianism...with America on the side of totalitarianism.
1
Republican Rep. Gaetz's spin on a president who engages in corruption, abuse of power and obstruction of justice: "It's just an unconventional way of doing business." I guess it is - in the same way that murdering your business rival is an unconventional way of dealing with the competition.
54
Hard to believe this is holiday time.
Such mean individuals in our country. Is this really America?
Turn on the music, it’s happier.....and a diversion. Let them fight it out.
DC has been poisoned. It’s toxic. Thanks, Donald.
7
1)Trump is an arrogant,vulgar,bully.
2)The Democrats including Pelosi hate him.
3)Senior officials in the Obama administration were out to destroy him.
4)Russian interference in the campaign was real.
5)Russian collusion with the Trump campaign was a concocted story pushed by the Democrats and swallowed whole by the media.
6)The Muellar investigation and report was a complete waste of time and money.
7) The Ukrainian story is a desperate attempt by the Democrats to save face from the failed Muellar investigation.
8) The Democrats will impeach on a party line vote.
9)The Republicans will acquit on a party line vote.
10)A sadder, poorer America will vote in 2020.
Hopefully we will be done with all of them.
1
Can we also get rid of Trumpists who think that repeating the same nonsense over and over and over, louder and louder and louder, makes the nonsense true?
3
@John
“Hate” is a meaningless word intended to trigger an emotional response.
This impeachment is not about emotions. At least as far as Democrats are concerned.
This impeachment is about one President who:
1. Used the power of his office to destroy the career of a public servant and pressure specific actions from another country, for the benefit of his political campaign, while hampering the defense and best interests of our own country.
2. How this President acted to cover his actions, going as far as to pressure Government Employees to ignore legal subpoenas and defy the rule of law.
Notably, in the face of the evidence presented by multiple witnesses, Republicans offer no actual defense, only noise and diversion.
How any of us feel about this President has nothing to do with his behavior and the damage his behavior has done to our country.
But all of us are sick to death of the false equivalencies. That we do hate.
8
Pelosi very eloquently stated she does not “hate” Trump, or anyone for that matter. Rewatch her press conference.
Mueller report has resulted in many convictions. And it did not exonerate Trump, it merely stated a sitting president can not be charged with a crime. I read the whole report. One of the most fascinating things is that in Part One it said that there was no proof of campaign coordination at this time, it went further to say that many of the people investigated had deleted and encrypted messages - and that further/future evidence could change the “no proof” conclusion. Something tells me the Mueller report will grow in importance as time goes on.
1
The republican playbook is to lie enough that even they believe their own lies.
34
@Steve Mason Well, it DOES work for them...
1
@Sydney Our country is damaged by their lies and it's no way to run a government. Fake news indeed.
2
Witness the major meltdown of mindless men and women.
4
So Democrats chose not to include an article of impeachment relating to Trump's obstruction of the Mueller Investigation because they wanted to prevent Republicans from conflating the murkier Mueller findings of wrongdoing with the clear abuse of power and obstruction that took place with respect to Ukraine. How's that working out? Republicans are bringing up the Russia investigation at every opportunity.
10
"Where are the witnesses to prove Trump is innocent?"
"Where are the documents to prove Trump is innocent?"
These questions should be posited a hundred times a day during these hearings.
63
Why isn't there pushback on the contention that Democrats wish to nullify the 2016 presidential election? Are they attempting also to remove Republican VP Pence who was simultaneously elected? No. So, the proceedings are against a person who is alleged to have committed impeachable offenses. It's not an annulment process like the Catholic Church has for marriages.
10
@uga muga
This has nothing to do with the fact that Russia helped Trump get elected and Trump and Team Trump gladly accepted there help and that Trump lost the popular by 3,000,000 votes.
This impeachment is about a president that tried to use US Tax Payer funds (yours and mine) to extort/bribe a sitting head of a foreign country and thus place them in peril while aiding and abetting another country that just happens to be our nation's adversary.
2
@uga muga This is not "nullifying" the election. This should be likened to firing a person hired to do a job and who has abused and debased everyone and everything that the job entails. If a company hired a person that was as rude and abusive as Trump, they would fire him. That's what this is about. Trump is spending more time watching Fox news, golfing at his resorts and Tweeting insults than he does doing what he was elected to do - be a leader. The Constitution provides for "firing" a worthless and corrupt President. Anyone who defends his actions is only watching Fox and reading Trump's Tweets. Those persons, like their hero Trump, obviously have no interest in facts or truth and don't have enough attention span to actually read various sources. Trump makes a ridiculous President in everything he does. I can't understand why intelligent people defend him - must be afraid of the schoolyard bully. His being in office scares me, not the bully part. So you Trump defenders, look in the mirror and be honest with yourselves - is this the way we want the USA to be run? Is this the legacy we give to our children? Shame on all of you who defend this joke of a President! You all scare me.
1
When you've got nothing to stand on, attack the process. It's an old game.
31
Let there be no doubt about it.
What we're watching here is the Civil War.
Because never has the North and South divide been more evident.
This is what Trump promised.
This is what he's got.
14
The surest sign that someone is losing an argument is when their anger and shouting rises to higher and higher levels.
95
Hard to tell, with a clown like Jim Jordan.
5
I have never been more proud to consider myself a Republican. And I am proud of my congressmen. God bless this wonderful country.
2
@Bill R Blind loyalty is no loyalty at all.
@Larry Dipple,
You made me laugh! But, dear God, if you are listening, let people get along. Please.
Can always count on modern progressives to see things as black and white
1
For anybody with a bit of intelligence the Republican arguments in defence of Trump are really an insult to common sense, honesty and also the level of integrity you would expect from a politician representing a serious country. None of their arguments are based on official statements or documents, they just twist and turn the facts to make them fit their blatantly misleading ´reasoning´, some with a bit more sophistication than (most) others. They also don't hesitate to insinuate that democrats conspired against the president. And then they also try to scare moderate democrats to give up support for the impeachment articles ("this will backfire tremendously", said this guy Johnson from Louisiana). It's actually pretty scary to watch.
34
@Zeger you could substitute Democrats for Republican here. No difference.
@greatnfi You´re wrong! Read my post again. The Republicans just rely on distortion, innuendo, deflection and scaremongering. Their feigned indignation is laughable. The democrats have a solid case. Well documented and authentic. They should hold steadfast, impeach Trump and then stick to their cas (and values) in the senate. And btw, it could backfire on the Republicans too. Next year, in November.
6
Trumplicans are demanding Trump not be held to the same laws and standards as every President that came before him had followed. Sad day for America's democracy..
25
Democrats have shown themselves time and again to be truly impotent at pushing back against the Republican's omissions and lies. Too many times during these hearings have I heard blatant misrepresentations of the facts by Republicans, which then go completely unchallenged when it's the Democrats' chance to be heard.
The lackadaisical approach of many Democrats on the Judiciary Committee in directly responding to these falsehoods has been and continues to be a disservice to the country. Why do people continue to vote for these ossified representatives? Where is their clear and methodical thinking? Where is their laser-like focus? Where is their resolute passion for the truth?
It's both maddening and disheartening at the same time. Our futures are being held in the hands of these people? To say that I'm worried about our prospects under their so-called leadership is a vast understatement.
9
If it’s not a national security concern at all, who should we ask to conveniently investigate political rivals next? China? Check. Saudi Arabia? North Korea? Of course the ask opened us to foreign manipulation. They could have easily manufactured evidence or created the circumstances to sway our political outcomes, if they so wanted. What a shortsighted comment.
@Nathan , if not sending those arms that Obama refused to send was a security risk, what does that say about Obama? You don’t get it , do you ?
1
I see. You don’t want to respond to my point that clearly undercut your argument that it’s not a national security concern at all, so you’ll just ignore that point and proceed to move the goalposts. How typical.
Rep Sensebrenner want Impeachment to focus on Hunter Biden and not Joe Biden because then Trumps' action won't be abuse--since Hunter isn't running 2020. Anyone tainting Don Jr. right before election is obviously going after Trump by association. Oldest trick in the books. Tried front, now back door--window next?
11
Every time Republicans attempt to defend Trump in any way, by challenging the process, challenging the articles of impeachment, etc., etc, they are publicly admitting that they are terrified of the professional and personal damage that Trump can impose on them, while he's president, and even afterward.
So, republicans are not 'merely' concerned about being re-elected, they are afraid for the potential damage to their current lifestyle and more.
Does that not tell them, clearly, that Trump is a vicious dictator and that he needs to be removed from office?
16
For the sake of accuracy, completeness and certainty, I believe these Articles of Impeachment should refer to the President as Donald John Trump, AKA Individual 1.
17
Yes, the Republicans are a loud broken record, but that's just their point: anyone tuning in will take their lies for the truth. By contrast, the Dems are often all over the place in their description of Trump's actions (not to mention Nadler's mumbling off-camera when others are talking, and just his general bumbling manner). Pathetically, the Dems don't seem to have a simple, consistent message they are pounding home. Without that, the Republicans are winning the spin war.
2
All Trump has wanted is for the Biden name be smeared enough to harm Joe Biden's campaign, and the Republican's telling of Hunter Biden's struggles accomplish that.
11
Our president is watching the affair on tv and commenting on it from the safety of his bathroom instead of manning up and showing up. He refuses to let anyone testify or release documents and threatens people with a weaponized Justice Department for living up to their oaths.
Meanwhile our soldiers in military are trying to figure out how to react when the expected attacks from Russian and Syrian forces happen.
Can anyone say that this is what our president is elected to do? Trash Congress and our military? Trash the constitution while complaining about flushing toilets and light bulbs?
The dome has dropped on Crazytown and we are all trapped inside.
21
@Zeke27
You’ve nailed him. As he flushes his golden throne 15 times and tweets demeaning threats at Greta Thunberg and congressional women, he has Jordan, Gaetz, Gohmert, and other trash talkers wasting our time and tax dollars defending the indefensible. They all should be flushed out of the people’s House!
1
Truth won't be derailed, altered, ignored, or forgotten.
4
@Pia Except that all those things and more can very easily happen. The very meaning of truth can be re-defined by those with the power to do so.
Don't forget, the GOP and a significant portion of the population do not care about truth in the normal sense of the word where facts matter. They just replace facts with "alternative facts" that validate what they want to believe (and want others to believe). They label their end product the Truth.
4
I have yet to hear a single valid criticism or observation from any of these screaming Republicans. They are just incredible phonies and hypocrites in lock-step with Trump, the king of deception and deflection. If I never hear another word from Doug Collin or Jim Jordan, it will be too soon.
22
It’s because there is no quid pro quo. None
And no risk to national security
Those not in an echo chamber can see this
Beware of groupthink of certain circles
1
@Thomas Powell Agree, and you can throw Nunes under that bus, too.
2
@Thomas Powell , learn the facts outside of the echo chamber.
What Republicans are doing here is probably not just aimed at the public!! It may be even more so for the Senate. The aim is probably simply to lay the groundwork and justification for the Senate to summarily or faster than usual dismiss the impeachment!
It’s a strategy to give their party cover for summarily dismissing the impeachment with less debate or questions than would be usual in the Senate, to limit any political backfiring as much as possible. They may be hiding the fact that they’re quite worried about the political implications because the wrongdoing is quite plain for most Americans to see.
And, likely, far from planning and thinking about bringing in Hunter Biden, in fact, they don’t really want to, because it could get more ugly and unpredictable for them. It’s safer to get the whole thing over with.
So, they may be laying the groundwork to sweep the whole thing under the rug as fast as they can, so that Trump can run off and start spinning that he was cleared.
5
Pressing the "mute" on Jordan. Grating, Vitriolic Display....way too early in the morning for him.
25
I turn off the sound and just watch the faces of Republicans ranting and pounding the tables. Their expressions are oddly flat and emotionless for the most part and do not match their lies and emotive tones. Gaetz, for instance, looks as if he has a bad hangover. His skin has an oily, unhealthy sheen. His face says, “when, oh, when can I get some hair of the dog”.
12
@Ellyn
Gaetz has the look and behavior of a shark. Got to watch those Florida waters!
Where is the Democratic outrage? The Republicans are good with the Trump language___use the vocabulary of a 4th grader, keep it simple, repeat the same thought over and over and make it loud. It's Johnny Cochran all over again. The Republicans have got that glove!
8
I see reason on one side, and hormones on the other.
2
@Freak I guess you mean the Democrats.
@Freak Not many of them are young enough for hormones. It's more like insanity.
1
"Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are liars," says Donald Trump, the man who refuses to testify under oath or let anyone else who works for him testify under oath.
Speaking of which, word is that Malcolm Gladwell is hard at work on a new book about Trump and his Republican sycophants in Congress. It's a sequel to his previous prior bestselling book and is called Out and Out Liars.
4
The Republicans up there are acting like petulant children.
Pathetic, all of them.
60
Wrong. Children behave with far more dignity.
9
Especially Jim Jordan of Ohio. Wow. Well, I shouldn’t blame all of Ohio for his behavior. Only those that elected him.
20
Watching these hearings, and seeing how completely debased the Republicans have become in defense of Trump, I can't help but ask them: Is power so dear or reelection so sweet as to be purchased at the price of our Constitution and our democracy? And the answer appears to be yes.
72
I congratulate Nadler and the Judiciary committees democrats for their unvarnished honesty.
Chairman Nadler “We cannot rely on an election to solve our problems ......”
thus Trump must be impeached before voters have a chance to voice their opinions.
Not only that, at least two democrats were on tv announcing that if this impeachment fails other impeachment efforts will follow i guess until they finally get their prey.
Where are we heading?
6
Ridding ourselves of the worst fear our founding fathers had....a dishonest president putting his own interests ahead of that of the Republic. And welcoming a foreign country to interfere in our election process. The worst of all fears and one of the highest crimes a president could commit.....
11
You intentionally attributed a false rationale, as all Trump’s defenders insist upon doing. When Trump is openly working to steal an election, just like he did in 2016 when he asked Russia to interfere on live television, one doesn’t just sit and watch him do it again. One stops them.
16
@Jerry Davenport ... Trump needs to be impeached -- NOT before voters have a chance to voice their opinions but because voters should know all there is to know -- before the election -- about any candidate they might consider voting for. It's called transparency.
9
At what point does a group of lawyers indicate that an impeachment doesn't require criminal evidence, it only requires a preponderance of the circumstantial evidence at hand?
9
@JBK007 Impeachment isn't a criminal process, it's a political process. It's a process regarding the check of powers. Impeachment can happen to any duly elected official in the 3 branches of government. There isn't a need for criminal evidence to be included in impeachment. For example, Clinton and Nixon had articles of impeachment that included obstruction of justice. Whether or not there was a crime committed by Pres. Trump at the end of the day impeachment is a political process not criminal.
https://history.house.gov/Institution/Impeachment/Impeachment-List/
3
@JBK007 Boris, there’s no such thing as criminal evidence. The most direct evidence is the July 25 transcript. Everything else corroborates it. The obstruction of Congress is a fact.
6
@Doug Lowenthal It is good to point out the Senators can judge Trump using a civil level of evidence by looking to see that only a preponderance of evidence tilts the scales, and that they should not weigh evidence through the criminal lens that requires juries to judge the evidence to be beyond a doubt.
2
I can only imagine the Democratic strategy is to put Republicans on record blindly defending POTUS. And then hopefully winning 2020 elections in a landslide gaining power in house, senate, and White House. Though I feel this is necessary in the short term. It is unsustainable to have this continuous tug of war.
We need a real paradigm shift.
20
@Chris Or, the “people” can make the same mistake twice, as they did with Bush.
3
@Chris
Blue Tsunami.
2
Bill Clinton was investigated over a decade old real estate deal that predated even running for president and impeached over lying in a civil deposition about sex in a personal lawsuit unrelated to the presidency. Compare that to using the office to solicit an announcement that serves your political campaign and Russia but not Justice, which would keep any investigation secret in order to be effective. All the GOP has to do is apply half the standard the did for Clinton against Trump, and it would be an unanimous yes vote.
120
@Irish “half the standard”. The GOP deals in double standards.
9
I have stopped watching entirely. I am emotionally and indeed physically sickened by the continuous stream of outrageous distortions of reality and the outright lies offered in defense of the indefensible. There is no debate; just a repetitive recitation of talking points.
At the same time I hate that I have succumbed to the intentional plan of the Republicans - to distort a deadly serious process into a farce and to thereby drive away the audience.
148
I understand the imperative Dems must have felt to use last night's time to frame how they came to this momentous decision. Many of the personal stories moved me profoundly. But I fear that this strategy allowed the GOP to use its allotted time to seed more lies, ones that went unchecked and often unremarked at all.
It's still not clear why the Dems aren't more forcefully renouncing and calling out the host of lies the GOP is mindfully sowing in order to foment confusion designed to provide cover for crimes. And please, enough already with the gentle euphemisms like "false narratives," and "misinformation." We are talking bold faced lies designed to enable criminal wrongdoing.
When they rage about the "fact" that "this president wasn't even allowed to defend himself!" Shout back: He was INVITED to participate repeatedly and REFUSED to cooperate.
When they whinge endlessly about there being "no fact witnesses!"--one of their favorite tom tom drums-- Shout back: We've subpoenaed numerous ones. They REFUSED to cooperate.
When they bluster about the speed of the proceedings (after grumbling about the time wasted) point out the urgency of forestalling another compromised election.
When they fulminate about "meeting in a dark basement," either invoke sarcastically, "The horror! The horror!" or simply point out it's the designated meeting room. Dum dum dum dum. Then remind them that they were there calling witnesses and asking plenty of questions.
Call them on their lies!
61
They have. Repeatedly.
And I’m tired of these chest-beating demands that Democrats “fight,” by behaving as stupidly and dangerously as Republicans.
Because that’s not fighting: it’s petulance.
2
@AhBrightWings I feel you.
I think the House needs to empower an ad hoc truth commission to pursue the House's outstanding subpoena and investigate and prosecute unfinished business around issues raised in the Mueller Report, and more recently to investigate the weird parroting the White House and right wing media does of Russian talking points about Ukraine being the source of the 2016 DNC hacks. What's behind that? And what has Trump discussed with Putin for well over an hour in Helsinki? Why keep the discussions a secret from the public?
The American people deserve to know the truth about what happened in 2016 election, how compromised our systems were / and are, and how deep and extensive the Russian and other country's tentacles reach into society and government.
This is a presidency that sold out and the public is entitled to know the extent of the damage.
2
@Robert.
Sorry. They really have not. And there is nothing remotely "petulant" or pugilistic about correcting the record.
The next time Jim Jordan starts a five-minute rant packed with these lies, someone should cut in and ask him to stop lying; how are his followers to know they're lies if they aren't pointed out?
6
The Republicans keep pointing out that Trump gave Ukraine significant military assistance while Obama gave them meals ready to eat and blankets.
They also keep accusing Joe Biden and his son Hunter of being corruptly bought by Ukraine because of Hunter’s position on the board of Burisma.
Why doesn’t someone point out the inconsistency here? I surmise that Joe Biden wasn’t corruptly influenced because of his son’s cushy and well paid position - I’m pretty sure that Ukraine could easily buy their own food and blankets.
There is a question, however, of Jared Kushner’s bailout on his 666 Fifth Avenue problem and the concurrent lifting of a mysterious blockade on Qatar.
That to me sounds like quid pro quo on steroids.
27
What debate? So far, it’s all posturing, discounting, and fluff in five minute increments. Oh, and analogies about children knowing right from wrong.
4
"Your Honor, Mr. Capone resents the use of Alphonse as it can be construed as derogatory towards Italian Americans. Mr. Capone is a proud American who believes in free enterprise and the American way. He is guilty of no crime that we can see". House Republicans.
23
I’ve listened to all that I can of this day’s proceedings and I’ve had enough. The Republicans repeat their shrill liturgy that Trump did nothing wrong and slam this process as a sham. Democrats simply repeat well known information. It’s an acrimonious, futile, mud slinging contest.
Why doesn’t a Democrat ask a Republican some direct questions like;
How do you feel about President Trump live intimidating Masha Yovanovitch while she gave sworn testimony?
Why do you believe that dedicated, loyal career civil and military servants risk their all to expose apparent presidential wrongdoing, bringing attention to themselves, their families, and potentially risking their physical wellbeing?
Why do Democrats hold a House majority after the midterms if the American people are behind Trump and deride his impeachment?
Why do Republicans think that Clinton’s infidelity was a higher crime than inducing a foreign government to investigate Trump’s political rivals?
What crimes do Republicans suspect the Bidens of?
What did Hunter Biden do that was unlawful at Burisma?
Why couldn’t the US government investigate the activities of the Bidens as American citizens if it was so clear their conduct was improper or unlawful?
The list is endless.
40
You almost feel sorry for the Republicans. Trump, a native New Yorker, has an exceptional ability to read people. He took a look at that party and he saw a bunch of weaklings. And then he proceeded to dismantle it and re-create it in his own image.
So now they’re all sycophants. They’ve been co opted by a guy like Trump and they’re no match for him. So they just fall in line.
I said I almost feel sorry for Republican lawmakers but I can’t because even if they were to lose their jobs in Congress( by standing up to him) they all have options.
They took an oath to protect the constitution. The world will not come to an end if they go back into private law practice. 
31
Earth to Republicans (falsely) complaining about the alleged lack of an opportunity to put on witnesses during the House's impeachment inquiry: THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL IS IN THE SENATE, NOT THE HOUSE. So stop talking about trials. Geez.
25
Representative Chabot, admittedly, this is an unfortunate set of choices, but here we are. Would you rather have a president who perjured himself by lying about an affair with an intern or a president who stonewalled every effort at investigating a confessed action to deny an ally congressionally approved and appropriated funds provided to defend that ally from an invasion by one of the nations greatest adversaries?
How you can sit there and suggest that Clinton committed a crime and deserved impeachment, but Donald J. Trump does not should permanently disqualify you from eligibility to serve as a representative in the House.
Utterly shameful!
31
His supporters can't even get their t-shirt slogans correct. The proper text should read "get over it, he is OUR president." "He is YOUR president" implies that these two 'courageous warriors' are not also Americans. I happen to concur with that opinion, for to defend the idea that it is acceptable for a sitting president to seek foreign aid in a domestic election is wholly un-American. So, I guess I'd tell those two yokels to "go back to Russia."
12
The guy on the left in that picture is an unemployed reactionary activist from Southern California who follows Trump around like a groupie to border wall appearances, etc. and has ties to white nationalist groups. He occasionally pops up screaming into any microphone he manages to get in front of.
2
"Trump lawyers consider adding Alan Dershowitz to legal team".
The man's name, as well as that of Trump himself, is tainted by the Epstein scandal.
21
@Hochelaga and don’t forget Clinton?
@greatnfi
And don't forget Trump!
1
What gets me is that the Republicans have dismissed that the Kurds - driven out by Trump's removal of troops in Syria - were defending a democracy. The new president of the Ukraine is an anti-corruption president, also defending a democracy.
Just what is it that the Republicans are defending right now at this current debate while they scream out insults at war heroes like Mueller and Vindman and recite talking points that originated with Putin.
What on earth are they defending, and what is it that they are trying to defeat.
They don't care one whit about democracies being put in peril - not even ours.
They are perfectly entitled to destroy their own party. It's obvious they are no longer the Party of Lincoln. They are the Party of Trump. Lincoln would refer to what they've become as Know-Nothings.
And Lincoln had nothing good to say about Know-Nothings.
WHAT are they defending? Due process? Are they - for instance - aware of what would happen to them if they themselves intimidated witnesses and instructed their staff to ignore subpoenas? Are they really that ignorant, or do they just rely on their constituents being that ignorant.
I don't have anything good to say about this GOP because they show no real concern for democracy either overseas or here at home.
Respect is earned. This GOP has not earned my respect. They have earned my disgust.
31
@Jbugko Republicans are in no way as ignorant as they seem. What they are doing is the best they can to protect a madman who can do serious damage to the career of every person who he deems has 'turned against him.' Every Republican defending Trump is fighting with Democrats every way they can in the mistaken notion that they are protecting their own careers by protecting Trump. They are so terrified that they don't even consider what their current lack of integrity will do to their own self-worth after this mess is all over with.
Supposedly, over 100 employees, senators, and others too close to Trump have already resigned rather than face this situation themselves.
1
If any sane person in this country needed a reason to vote blue from now on, the cynical behavior of the Republicans during this impeachment must be that reason. The disengenuous interruptions, persistent mockery, sneering disrespect toward our institutions of democracy are proof of Republicans' descent into gangsterism. They do not seek truth or justice, only chaos.
47
Let us all step back from the emotion and, unfortunately, childishness to consider the constitutional implications.
This impeachment process is not about the sitting President; it is about future Presidents. This is about defining the Office of the President, about the extent of Presidential power and privilege, authority and access. It about the balance of power between executive and legislative branches of government as defined in the constitution. This is about the legislative branch’s constitutional responsibility of oversight. President Trump purposefully or unintentionally provided this moment in our history.
We will either have an Imperial President, an autocrat that serves himself/herself demanding absolute loyalty from his/her subjects, or we will have the President our founders intended, one who serves the people and who demands loyalty to the constitution and the laws of our country.
Our Congressmen and Congresswomen, and our Senators must decide whom do they serve. To whom are they loyal?
524
@Paul Well put.
10
@Paul
Thank you Paul. Unfortunately it's clear that many decided long ago that they serve only themselves, their party, and power.
10
@Paul Agreed. The only two questions:
Do we want a democracy or a dictatorship?
Do we want our public servants to be patriots or traitors?
16
Mama don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys
Don't let 'em pick guitars and drive them old trucks
Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such
---- Waylon Jennings
And don’t let them grow up to be gutless, lily-livered politicians
Like Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz and Doug Collins
Who wake up in the morning thinking about getting elected again
And dream all night about getting elected again.
--- Stanton
33
The Washington Post is reporting that Senate Republicans plan to call zero witnesses, mount no defense, and proceed quickly to the vote. They will basically take turns yelling at Democrats until they vote to exonerate Trump.
Not sure it makes much sense to pass the Impeachment Articles to them, only for them to mock and ignore months worth of work. Why not hold onto the Articles until the courts have ruled on whether subpoenas can be ignored. The Constitution says Congress has oversight authority over the Executive branch. The courts need to reinforce this, or Trump will keep breaking laws with impunity. What's the rush?
I keep hoping Pelosi has a trick left up her sleeve, but i'm losing faith.
26
@RP Smith
You comment is very lucid. But I think Pelosi is trying to get out of the way of the Democratic presidential candidates and the election itself. But I tend to agree with you if the courts were to expedite the cases. If the courts rule in favor of the House after the election then it would all be moot.
10
The Republicans are trying to make a case that the aid was held as Trump wanted to evaluate if the new Ukrainian administration was corrupt. However, he had given them significant military aid prior to that. Why wouldn't he have held up the prior military aid?
33
I am grateful for the perspective of Representative Lofgren.
14
The House Leadership beyond gathering votes and moving the Impeachment Process forward, has a tremendous task ahead of them. The House does not have to explain or justify Trump's Impeachment. However, they must handle and show, reveal, or expose Trump's and his GOP enablers attack on process and disrupting hearings are simply to clear waters muddy. The GOP has become so comfortable and complicit in defending an inept, lying POTUS and his denial of reality. They understand that the America they see is not the America they demand. The House Leadership must address this obfuscation and distracting "strategy" for the present electorate and future Americans.
9
@Jon Well said.
Nadler is doing a remarkable job of presiding over this contentious hearing. Kinda embarrassed by the GOP reps, but overall very proud of my country today. Whatever the outcome...very proud and grateful for our Constitution.
This is a real, and working, Democracy.
19
Listening to the debate, and put off by the theatrics. Not to mention the misleading statements, appeals to emotion, and diversions. I don't find these arguments convincing. Call me boring, but wishing there was more calm, scholarly debate.
Also, wish I had a quarter for every time they invoke "the American people" and the statement does not apply to me $$$
11
Amen! Term limits for all. Tired of life long Politicians on both sides.
7
"For only the third time in modern history, lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee are formally considering articles of impeachment..."
Only in America would 1868 NOT be considered "modern history".
7
@Dastwood Biouf yes, I am sure the English consider Victorian era to be "modern history"... NOT
Unfortunately the real "sham" portion of this process is about tp begin in the Senate. None of the most critical and incriminating evidence carefully gathered by the House will even be considered in the Senate. The president will use the "total exoneration" to continue his corrupt attempt to throw the 2020 election in his favor.
19
Freddy read the comment below you. It’s just too funny how people can look at the same thing so differently
How blatantly one-sided can this committee be? Throughout the numerous impeachment hearings and accounts from people like Ambassador Volker and Lt. Col. Vindman no actual proof of quit pro quo was found. The democrats are creating this false story-line and alter the facts of what really happened to twist the whole incident into something it is not. The Democrats need to stop probing for facts where there aren't any. The GOP keeps whining about this because it is nothing but a ploy and a waste of time.
3
@Person There was no quid pro quo (check your spelling) because they got caught before they could get the deal done. If you attempt to extort money from someone but get caught in the act, the charge is still going to be extortion. Let's move on from this red herring. It was gutted over a month ago.
9
I wonder how, after reading the transcript, one can deduce that there was no quid pro quo. I just want to know where that argument is coming from because every time I hear it I wonder if we’re all reading the same transcript....
9
How about the White House releasing an actual full transcript of the call so that everyone can know what was said in its entirety?
1
After watching Doug Collins's performance throughout this hearing, I am so happy Georgia Governor Kemp chose not to appoint him to fulfill Johnny Isakson's term.
15
It would be an act of patriotism to show on a continuous loop the number of lies the GOP trotted out last night. I know that the Dems wanted to frame the moment by showing their personal investment in this and why they came to the decision to impeach with so much reluctance and gravity, but once again a host of nearly insane lies was allowed to germinate.
I do see them like that. Some malign anti-Johnny Appleseed, this GOP roams the land casting lies, paranoia, false equivalencies, and hypocrisies right and left. My gods, the thought that some of these people are the very ones who waxed hysterical over Clinton's consensual affair! Were it now so consequential, it would be hilarious to ponder the full magnitude of their raging hypocrisy and gross double-standards.
They are without shame, without moral barometers, without redeeming factor. I'm genuinely curious if we'll find a single member on that side who has the courage and wit to depart ways with a party that has visibly gone off a cliff.
34
The GOP lawmakers that could save their party are retiring.
10
When even the calm, rational sounding Will Hurd, who is indeed retiring, continues to vote on a party line supported only by propaganda and outright lies, we are left with no choice but to dismiss ALL Republicans as supporters of a traitorous criminal, and not as public servants fulfilling their sworn duty to defend this country..
Painting with a broad brush is appropriate when presented with a surface lacking variations.
9
They’ve all left the party and barely speak up.
2
Donald Trump is Julius Caesar dismissing the Senate and taking full power for himself. If he is allowed to go unimpeached he will have taken control of the government as is done in dictatorships. He must not be allowed to turn our system of government into the rule of the person elected by the Electoral College.
Impeach him and then get rid of the Electoral College. It has no reason to be.
71
@cjg couldn't agree more.
1
@cjg ... Has anybody ever wondered what it would take to "buy" the vote of a member of the electoral college, or even a few votes? What would it take?
3
For all rational, sane, truthful Americans, these hearings -- thanks to the Republicans -- have been difficult to stomach. However, because I care about this nation, and because these hearings are essential and historic, I've been tuned in ever since the impeachment proceedings began.
Then yesterday happened.
As a result of the almost demonic farce of denials and lies by the House Republicans who debated against impeachment, I turned the TV off. Henceforth, I'll get my impeachment coverage via the Times.
So here we are, Thursday morning, the day yay's and nay's for impeachment will be cast in the House.
And once again, it will be the Articulate, Responsible side vs.
the Nonsensical, Infantile boys and girls.
38
Debate articles of impeachment? Why? Democrats say that Trump did something wrong that they can impeach Trump on and remove him from office. They must be correct. Does it take that long to claim that Trump is guilty? But I wonder why they have not moved forward months ago with the other things that they accuse Trump of doing.
4
@John Bowman
I know it must be wrong - but the only John Bowman of Peoria Illinois that I can find on the net passed away in August.
I can't prove that there are other John Bowmans of Peoria Illinois. However, there is proof positive that the GOP - which once could refer to themselves as the Party of Lincoln - died as that when they upheld Putin's talking points and a man who cares not one whit for democracy either abroad (the Kurds, the new Ukraine goverment), and here as well.
15
The debate needs to be a debate.
The facts are on the side of impeachment and yet Trump's minions have been effective in warding off that truth because Republicans are much better at putting on a show than Democrats.
There needs to be a tactical response approach that allows the Democratic Representatives to immediately follow GOP lies and obfuscation after every GOP member's floor time. They must present rejections of specious and off topic GOP arguments when they count the most, by having competent staff, working in the background, preparing responses that reject GOP arguments, immediately.
The first minute of some of the next Democratic speaker's allotted time should be devoted to replying directly to the argument just presented. That would be a debate that can work to expose the truth. And the truth "may" just keep America free.
33
"For only the third time in modern history, lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee are formally considering articles of impeachment against a sitting president in a debate that underscores the deep divisionsin the country."
It is actually the fourth time... There is not doubt that the House in 1974 "formally considered" articles of impeachment, and WOULD HAVE impeached him if they had to.
From wikipedia: "On July 27, 29, and 30, 1974, the Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon, for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress, and reported those articles to the House of Representatives for a vote."
4
@Torbjørn Eide Johnson's Impeachment was not 'recent history'. The three they are counting are Nixon, Clinton and Trump.
4
Listening to Doug Collins describe the conduct of Impeachment markup hearing as a stain on the House of Representatives while supporting the vile behavior of Donald Trump is almost more than I can bear.
223
@Eva Tackett: Collins' party is a stain on the country.
5
@Eva Tackett
No doubt. Many years from now and with the benefit of hindsight, I can imagine House Republicans rewatching their disgusting song and dance for Trump and wondering how they ever managed to get so tightly wrapped around his orange fingers.
6
So nice to see the Republicans outmaneuvered by Chairman Nadler's hardball application of committee rules and parliamentary procedure.
62
Nadler might as well start an open debate of whether Censure or Impeachment would be appropriate and why one wouldn’t and the other would. The Republicans need to be put on the spot more of just how far they will go to allow behavior by Trump. If they would not even consider Censure either, they could be asked what their line in the sand is for the leader of their own party. Surely if there is no Impeachment and no Censure, Trump will feel emboldened to push the boundaries of his office even more. What could he do that would require holding him to account? Would his party become “5th Avenue Republicans” - that is, if Trump shot someone on 5th Avenue they would stand by him - like one of his lawyers did several months ago - and claim that he could not be held accountable in office because it would be too disruptive? At least the NYPD doesn’t see it that way.
In any event, if Trump is going to be acquitted in the Senate, Democrats really need to think about Censure instead so they can hold Impeachment over his head as a potential punishment if he does push the limits again. As one of the editorial columns said, if he is acquitted it will be very hard to bring up impeachment again and surely that is going to embolden Trump. Can anyone really disagree with that?
6
Republicans emphatic loyalty to Trump, a deeply corrupt person, is the scariest thing to watch. What else are these people willing to do for power?
188
@Pat Kilroy
"What else are these people willing to do for power?"
Dunno...just spitballing here...shoot someone on 5th Avenue ? Oh, wait...
All kidding aside, if this crime spree is not stopped, if his despotic inclinations are not checked, if his raging narcissism is given free rein, we may still see actual blood spilled in the streets.
10
When you get right down to it, the fundamental reason why the House is about to take the "solemn" step of impeaching Donald Trump is because Mr. Trump has treated the Office of the President of the United States and the duties and obligations of that Office with disrespect and as a joke.
170
Why do you keep saying partisan? The President broke the law, there is nothing partisan about truth.
302
@Kingsley Arthur Rowe Which law? Be specific.
3
@Steve
President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government in the 2020 election, through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations (not even conduct them, just announce that) against US citizens in order to harm the prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage. He also with-held from Ukraine - a democracy in peril - funds authorized for release, conditional on obtaining that.
BTW, if Trump and his toadies are really concerned about rooting out corruption, they can start with the FACT that Donald Sr., Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric - as officers of their self-enriching charitable foundation - are deemed guilty of fraud and self-enrichment and are paying restituion to people they've defrauded.
That's what's happening here in the U.S.
Anbd they can ask themselves also why so many of Trump's colleagues are in prison, also here in the U.S. after doing Trump's bidding.
Why they disparage a hero like Mueller and a soldier like Vindman with talking points that originated with Putin.
Or why don't YOU ask that.
86
It is clear the President has broken laws that would get any other public official removed from office or jailed (bribing foreign officials, using public office to enrich himself and his family, defamation of President Obama falsely claiming that he was not born in the US, using unsecure phones to discuss confidential matters), but impeachment is about violating the oath of office which pledges support of the Constitution.
Engaging foreign governments in US elections is one of the specific abuses that the Founding Fathers were concerned about. And while these hearings are underway, Rudy has been back in Ukraine seeking dirt on the President’s political opponents. This is not a theoretical debate it is about actions that are still happening
42
If you can't beat him, impeach him!
There's a bumper sticker for you.
5
I know this is really difficult for Trump supporters to grasp, but there were many people like myself who had no interest in impeaching Trump until the call with Ukraine came to light. At that point it seemed irresponsible to let this pass. This has nothing to do with elections but rather with upholding the constitution. Republicans seem blind to this and it goes without saying that if Obama did half of what Trump did you would all be calling for his head.
229
@MIKEinNYC
NYC did not vote Trump.
In fact, neither did Westchester County.
In fact, neither did most people in the entire country.
35
Do any Republicans remember the midterm elections last year? Democrats won the House for a reason—to check Trump’s abuses of power. Yes, elections do have consequences, and the impeachment is one of them.
19
I am thankful to the whistleblower and to those who testified as to President Trump’s actions. I am thankful to the House Democrats for pursuing impeachment, as I see the actions of the president as a clear violation of his oath of office and an assault on the security of our elections and the future of our democracy. I am saddened by the actions of the House Republicans.
It became abundantly clear to me, while watching the judiciary committee debates, why the Republicans are so desperate to hold on to power at any cost. The Republican members, overwhelmingly white males, are forced to rely on misinformation, distractions, and outright lies to maintain power. Their failure to embrace diversity results in a party which does not reflect the electorate. I was proud to witness the true diversity of the Democratic members of the judiciary committee, more closely mirroring “We the People.”
The people of the United States deserve and must demand representatives who are willing to uphold their oaths of office, even at the risk of losing an election. How refreshing it would be to witness a Republican take a brave stand in this process, similar to the example set by the late Senator John McCain who followed his conscience, maintained his dignity, and fulfilled his obligation.
561
McCain did that a few times, but overall he was just another republican doing the deeds of that party. Let’s not elevate him to sainthood.
40
@Matthew I don’t know...given what we’re seeing from republicans now, sainthood for McCain might be justified after all.
22
@M Lindsay — Better and more relevant examples would be those in the GOP who steadfastly defended Richard Nixon until the evidence for impeachment became too compelling to ignore or excuse. Having a moral compass, backbone, and integrity should be expected from anyone in public office, and not seen as unattainable assets.
47
Every single time the GOP mentioned how the Democrats are trying to ignore and erase those 63 million people who voted for him, all I could think about were the other 66 million of us that DIDN’T.
424
@Andrea The Trumpers' arguement the "Democrats are trying to reverse the election" is laughable, because any time a president is impeached it is by definition an attempt to "reverse and election." This simple fact seems obvious. It also obviously shows that, in terms of possible valid objections to impeachment, the Trumpers got NOTHING, so they have no choice but to keep repeating these meaningless statements.
28
I just say the Republicans are trying to erase the results of the 2018 midterm elections. Presidential elections aren’t the only ones that matter.
31
Actually, more than 146 million American adults didn’t vote for him.
8
Republicans spend most of their time complaining about the rules or that this is a waste of time. That’s what kids who are sore losers do. Hopefully they will behave better in the Senate.
44
@AJ Sanderson Not much chance of that, I'm afraid. Hope you're right, though!
12
Don’t count on that. The GOP has decided that Trump is above the law and he can do as he pleases. Trump says it’s ok for him to abuse his power and commit crimes. His base agrees.
That is all that matters to them.
26
@AJ Sanderson
Your first two sentences are totally accurate, as for your hope, that and two bucks will buy you a coffee.
1
What to Watch For as the House Judiciary Committee Marks Up the Articles of Impeachment?
Watch how our US constitution is dismissed as a set of laws that don’t apply to donnie the king dictator.
Watch our how our democracy died as the republicans defend the indefensible to suit their agenda.
Wonder if our military is prepared to fight and die for nothing?
110
The Republican mark up would be interesting to read, with writers of comments identified. I would imagine these edits will be as vague as voiced comments. But this is their one chance to lay down very specific explanations for why there is no personal deal made with a foreign country and why there was no obstruction. No more whining and belly aching GOP; lay out specifics.
16
@SC But the Republicans can't do that because they got nothing and they KNOW it!
6
I wish there was more focus on the second article of impeachment which describes der ffingerling's constant push to assert his own total power, in defiance of the constitutionally accorded powers of the House. There is a purity to the article which lays out the SOLE power of the House to direct the process of impeachment as it sees fit, and lays out the president's defiance of that power, contrarily asserting his own right - illusory - to define the process and ignore the House. How can the Republicans in the House so readily, ignorantly, and inarticulately allow their powers to be stripped from them?
56
@Harry Bolles
1000%
The evidence for Obstruction of Congress is unambiguous and undeniable. A vote against this AOI is a vote against the Constitution - a vote that will place the executive branch above the law. The GOP will rue the day that they gave up the powers of separation. Is fealty to the most corrupt and unfit president in history worth it?
46
A handful of vulnerable swing state Democrats plan to vote against impeachment, for fear of their base, making them as cynical as Republicans. Why do politicians believe that maintaining their seats is more important than maintaining the integrity of the Constitution?
359
Because “maintaining their seats” is another way of saying representing the views of the people who elected them in the first place.
6
As a voter I want my representative to vote their conscience in alignment with the Constitution, not necessarily do as I want every time.
68
Why have a representative democracy (aka, our republic) if the representatives will just follow the mob even when wrong is being done? We could switch to direct democracy via internet voting on every issue instead,
If the reps are so useless.
30
It seems undeniable that President Trump invited a foreign leader to investigate the leading candidate for the Democratic Party. And then he followed it up with an open invite to China to do the same. Just as he did with Russia in 2016. It is frustrating to see members of Congress dismiss this as nothing.
As the republicans continue to support an immoral president who believes he is above the law, I hope we get to see some semblance of a defense of the actions by President Trump. Disrupting the proceedings every five minutes is childish, immoral, and a complete dereliction of duty. If our democratic process means nothing to republicans, why hold elections in November? If we are going to allow a President to cheat AGAIN in 2020, as he did in 2016, why do we still have a Constitution? If he wants to allow foreign influence, then lets have the entire world vote in American elections - Trump would never win. He has never even won the popular vote in America.
132
Peter Fitzgerald,
Exactly.
If the republicans can say there is nothing wrong and its NOT breaking a law of OUR constitution when donnie their king asked publicly for help from foreign governments during an American presidential election, it needs to work both ways.
The democrats candidates need to ask all allies who want to see democracy stand and for global environmental laws to be protected, that would be most of all nations in the world, with the exception of Putin, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Turkey...then we have an equal playing field to get the game on track.
Get donations and opinions form Australia to The Netherlands and all nations in between.
Or else after this impeachment of a law breaking president goes no where, it will be how democracy died in the 21 century.
26
You do understand that the idea is not for wider voting, but rather that voting as a concept is rendered moot, right??
4
Yes, when you cheat in all aspects of the election, the results are rendered moot. We are glad you’re starting to get it, finally.
5
I have been watching/listening non-stop to the impeachment hearings. I don’t know how much more I can take of Doug Collins, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan and company yelling and screaming in defense of the indefensible. This is exhausting.
508
@Pigenfrafyn You too? I’m watching grown men literally act like insecure angry spoiled children!!
122
Tom Finnegan,
Let’s be clear. This stonewalling by Republicans started in the Obama administration. It is an expression of the white fragility that underlies the Republican base. The Democrats get it, that the country is changing. There is a saying going around, “Equal rights for all doesn’t mean less rights for you. It’s not pie.” But Trump’s base is scared. So the Republicans are willing to violate the constitutional checks and balances to appeal to that base. They even support undermining the Justice department, law enforcement, news organizations, in short demagoguery. This is a foreboding process for our democracy. The constitution and the founding fathers were expressly fearful of a president like Trump, but they were counting on the public and its representatives to see the abuse of power for what it is. Trump has outmaneuvered the founders by playing on fears that racial hierarchy is real and is about to be turned on it’s head. We can thank Steven Miller and Fox News for that.
It’s not pie.
Impeach.
79
Exhaustion is exactly what (and all the Republicans have) they want to inflict on our country. We all become so sick and tired of it all, so much so that we just accept as the new normal the atrocities of Trump. It is disgusting that the Republican Party has chosen to lie and pretend that Trump’s behavior is fine. At least most of the members of the Democratic Party are trying to protect our country.
213