Dear NYT, Please publish the results of all the amendment votes so people can reference them. I believe all of the votes so far have been 53 to 47.
1
The Trumpist defense ('Republicans' are extinct) came down to asking the American people to 'not care' about this 'boring' and 'long" and 'expensive' impeachment 'baloney'.
They were in effect asking the American people to give up on the United States comstitution and welcome a dictator that will 'make it all go away'.
They are all traitors.
3
Americas witnessed yesterday a lawless senate filled with guile and stealth.
Senator McConnell has reached a depth of deceit,
until this week unknown to mankind.
3
How is this proceeding a "trial?" If no evidence can be admitted and no witnesses called, where is the trial? The president is accused of crimes, so let's see the evidence and hear from the witnesses, then decide whether or not he is guilty.
4
Well it boils down to this: If we are displeased and disappointed with Susan Collins and other Republican Senators in vulnerable seats, it’s time to vote them out of office in November and let them think about their actions. And vote Trump out of office while we’re at it.
6
Will the paper do any fact checking of the statements made by both sides, the impeachment managers and Trump’s lawyers, as the paper has in the past done with Trump’s statements?
There was the admonishing that the Chief Justice did when Nadler said the Trump’s lawyers lie and lie and lie. Well, did either side make any false statements/lies?
It would be great if the Chief Justice could admonish someone when they make a false statement!
OMG, the board is about to elect Mr. Potter head of the Building and Loan, and we’re going to live in Pottersville, rather than Bedford Falls. And George Bailey is on a tramp steamer headed to Tahiti, there’s nobody in town that’s gonna save us.
1
The Republicans were never interested in the truth, so how can they even have a trial? How do you expect any courage from a bunch of cowards? All hail the dear leader.
2
You've heard them. All the President's men want is "a fair trial." That's a good one! Tell us another. What they really want is obvious, to bury these contemptible impeachable offenses as quickly as they can by gross distortions of the truth, by hook and by crook. As if locking arms and complaining about the Dems makes the big bad smell emanating from the White House stink any less. Their pompous, deliberately messy, long-winded, mind numbing whinge fest is a grotesque insult to every American citizen with half a brain.
6
‘What Happened to Alan Dershowitz?’[Politico]
He’s met Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and he dined with him at the White House the day after the FBI raid on Michael Cohen’s office. He’s a regular presence on TV, especially Fox News, where he’s a reliable voice on the president’s side against the investigation. In April, following the Cohen raid, Dershowitz appeared on “Hannity” nine times—including three days in a row.
5
I can't remember if it was in an old Disney cartoon, but I have a memory of a cartoon jury getting up from their chairs to deliberate, walking through a door, then like a conveyor belt walking right back in from another door. Trump is right: the system is rigged, but it is rigged in his favor. This farce will play out, but all of us know the outcome. The only remaining question is whether the American people will be roused by this blatant injustice. Probably not, because they will be watching the super bowl instead.
3
This is supposed to be a fair impeachment trial by senators who swore to support and defend the constitution? The impeachment by the Dems in the House was real, based on facts and the few witnesses who showed up because they cared about our country and democracy. Now, this trial in the Senate is the real joke, Trump and his GOP sycophants are the ones responsible for this impeachment trial sham. Mitch and the GOP have obstructed justice since the start and it's nauseating. The cover-up is pandemic.
11
This reminds me of how trials used to be conducted in the Jim Crow south. A white man kills a black man. He is tried in front of an all-white jury with a white judge.
Of course he is found innocent. They are just going through the motions and calling it "justice".
4
Trump says "read the transcript, it was a perfect call" and
"the phone call transcript was verbatim" [my quotes}. Several GOP trial managers have already claimed "there was no Quid Pro Quo" based on the transcript.
Yet the transcript takes 10 minutes to read and the phone call lasted 30 minutes. The transcript contains ellipses and is considered to be a "rough transcript".
It seems this impeachment trial is solidly based on the contents of this July 25 phone call's transcript.
If the full transcript of this phone call cannot be obtained and introduced as evidence, all arguments in this trial are severely compromised.
2
I'm embarrassed by the sham trial. What happened to the American system of justice and the country I grew up knowing? By refusing to hear witnesses or see evidence, the majority party in the Senate is putting a final dagger into the heart of our democracy. We live under a dictatorship now, abetted by members of the Trump Party in the Senate. They will give the dictator a pass to obstruct oversight by Congress and for him to encourage foreign nations to affect our elections. Putin is smiling.
3
I am not watching the impeachment proceedings. I am paying little attention to whatever Trump and the Republicans do now. I am burned out. I have made phone calls and sent emails to my congressman and my senators (Republicans all, of course) since Trump first began to show himself for the small-minded, narcissistic, corrupt vulgarian that he is. My duly elected representatives know my opinion. They know how I will vote, as far as “not for YOU” goes. As for the impeachment “trial” being a sham, of course it’s a sham. McConnell has made it clear all along that he intends to make it one. Even if I can’t bring myself to watch, I do hope the small percentage of swing voters who haven’t decided whether or not Trump deserves to be president (!) are watching. I think Schiff and the other Democratic managers are going to do everything they can to paint them a picture that anyone should be able to recognize; anyone with any integrity, humanity, and common sense, that is. As much as I’ve read about the subject, and even grasp the concept intellectually, I will never truly understand how anyone who reads his tweets and listens to him talk could ever think that Donald Trump could be a good president in a decent world. I will do my small part at election time to prevent him returning to the job. I hope the impeachment trial convinces enough smart fence sitters to do the same.
3
The media, including CNN, are continuing to worry about what they call a "fair" trial, as if Trump's trial is "unfair." This is idiotic and plays the Trump propaganda game.
Sure "fair trial" must be heard from the mouths of the participants, but the media don't have to parrot the term, and should not. The issue is whether the trial is full, fair, and IMPARTIAL.
As the FOIA and other requests continue to spew evidence of wrong doing will there ever be a point where any republican senator stands says enough?
Nope. It's a crack pipe dream.
Mittens concern, and Collins clutching peals don't begin to cut it.
Republicans incumbents Gardner (CO), Sens. Martha McSally (AZ), Susan Collins (ME), and Thom Tillis (NC) are real targets for 2020.
Paint them all with the treason they are collaborating in.
Consider changing registration to vote for a more extreme trumper in the primary, to either defeat them or move them to the right.
Be serious about playing and donating to win. It could be our last chance.
Constitutional Prof. Tribe: “The argument that only criminal offenses are impeachable has died a thousand deaths in the writings of all the experts on the subject, but it staggers on like a vengeful zombie!”
Sekulow & Cipollone: “The Article of Impeachment are constitutionally invalid on their face. They fail to allege any crime or violation of law whatsoever, as required by the Constitution.”
2
I'm literally sick that Republicans have decided to mock our constitution and to lie under oath. They will not be fair. They will not defend or protect our laws and constitution. They will instead join rank against the truth to protect one of their own.
McConnell's legacy will be that of a fool, a traitor and a coward. I have no respect for the man. This trial (if you can call it that), will be his lasting legacy. A man without a moral center or soul. A man who chose party over his country.
Vote Democrat in 2020 like your life depended upon it. The only message Republicans will understand is "unemployment".
2
No witnesses, no document evidence. This is not a trial without the relevant witnesses and documents.
CALL IT A PROCESS, A TALK SHOW, A KANGAROO. IT IS NOT A TRIAL.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1219792856979857408
2
I watched. History in the making. I was proud of the managers. Sick to death of hearing the divider in chiefs lawyer keep using the word ridiculous. That seemed to be the basic argument of the right. Shame on Mitch and the cowardly Republicans.
3
I just keep wondering when it was that the Republican Party finally stopped understanding that living under rule of law includes appreciation for the spirit of the law.
There is flexibility granted to high officials by our Constitution that was meant to be used by them for the benefit of the nation in unforeseen circumstances. It was expected by the framers of that document that a respect for the spirit of the law would still govern use of those powers.
Thank goodness though that the framers also realized such reverence for spirit of law might not persist in every American to whom the people have granted great power. Hence the option to impeach and remove a highly empowered official who has so forgotten his oath of office as to imagine being above the law.
But how distressing that even the remedy of impeachment and trial with possibility of removal seems now to be set aside by a Republican Party so corrupted by power as to think both spirit and letter of law irrelevant to their own selfish purposes.
The people have the option to clean house in November. One can still hope that the intent to do so is so apparent in the resulting vote counts, that even any malicious tinkering with our electoral processes will not have been able to nullify the people's right to consent to governance that respects spirit as well as letter of our rule of law.
1
Apparently none of the 53 republicans have a thinking functioning brain. It’s been hijacked by Trump. What will happen to them when, say Mr Trump former president civilian, is tried and indicted for his various financial cover ups tax evasions etc? Once impeached by the house, Mr Trump is now free to be prosecuted outside the presidency.
These republicans will look ugly once Trump is charged, unless the system is so rigged a wealthy powerful white Christian bully, can never be charged. Today in our justice system. Ask yourselves.
2
Alan Dershowitz’s Old Comments About Impeachment Come Back To Haunt Him [HuffPost]
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alan-dershowitz-impeachment-abuse-of-power_n_5e255a6ac5b674e44b9ad92e
--In 1998 ― when President Bill Clinton was facing impeachment … “It certainly doesn’t have to be a crime if you have somebody who completely corrupts the office of president and who abuses trust and who poses great danger to our liberty,” Dershowitz said on CNN at the time. “You don’t need a technical crime.”
--Dershowitz also said impeachment was “like a nonviolent revolution” and had to be limited to great offenses of state.
--“We look at their acts of state, we look at how they conduct the foreign policy, we look at how they try to subvert the Constitution the way Iran-Contra did by going behind the back of Congress, by lying repeatedly and by misstating to the American public matters of great state issues,” he said.
--Dershowitz added that Iran-Contra, a scandal under President Ronald Reagan, was not an impeachable offense. However, his concession that abusing the trust was an impeachable offense seemed to be at odds with his current belief that abuse of power.
2
The KISS principle; Keep it simple stupid. I like just the two charges agains Trump. Both are well in evidence and if Justice Roberts opens the door to subpoenaed Testimony and documents currently denied by Trump we can all know for a certainty that Trump is completely innocent, or, completely guilty.
What's Las Vegas saying about the odds of that happening in our corrupt government? Las Vegas oddsmakers are betting the whole trial is just a sham.
The truth is this; No evidence and testimony will be allowed by Justice Roberts and Trump will walk away from it all. The current odds? ...about 10% that Trump gets Impeached.
This isn't the America I want. Looking back I remember that everyday, at grammar school, I pledged allegiance to the flag. Today I realize how far from those words our country has fallen.
3
The Senate has now explicitly abandoned any pretense of discovering fact or honest deliberation. The Trump cancer runs rampant in the most prestigious institutions of the USA. Tragically, it looks as if the despicably iconoclastic loser Bannon was accurate in his prediction that essential institutions would break under the strain of this President's unhinged behavior. It really falls to the vote of the people now - if that fails, despair could turn to violence. We can only hope that our Constitution will survive.
2
Trump’s takeaway from his first meeting with Obama was the US had “high flying assets”. He thought those assets were now HIS which is why Obama recently said Trump literally knows nothing.
1
Since the Republicans decided that presiding judge Roberts shall have no role or say in dterming which witneses are relevant, why would they care or respect what he said about decorum? Their entire conduct, from start to finish is indecorous.
1
No witnesses no documents? Does that apply to the rest of us, or only Republicans. IOKIYAR—it’s ok if you’re a Republican, is that what Republicans are saying? With all the knowledge we have the guiding principle of the founding Republic was that we didn't want to have a government predicated on a Monarchy. Present day Republicans are throwing that idea down the toilet, along with rule of law. Too bad we used to have country that was respected for the rule of law. No longer, all men must die, as they say and Republics also.
This impeachment going back to "Russiagate" constitutes malicious prosecution on false charges. Democrats are in completely bad faith. Anyone who supports it is discredited forever. The only and only Democrat that is worth any respect is Tulsi Gabbard, because she is the only one that did not support this Democrat conspiracy to overthrow our constitutionally elected president.
We all know that the House and the Senate (on both sides) is nothing but a daytime drama. So, could we at least get rid of all of these lousy actors/actresses and replace them with some gorgeous Telenova stars with the background filled with stunning Bollywood dancers and music? Surely, America can do better than "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" or a man eating a bucket of chicken.
It's kind of funny when you stop and think about it. It's a trial of America's president--who has authority over every one of us. It's a trial where no evidence is allowed. No documents. No witnesses. A trial where no cameras are allowed by observers. A trial where the sole Senate camera does not allow me to see my Senators or other Senators. It's 2020! But feels more like 1820. Evidence of malfeasance at every turn, and it is not being looked at, or discussed. As if we are a nation of complete pushover idiots. And as long as we let this charade continue--we are.
1
Why does Dershowitz keep appearing on Russian propaganda channels? [ThinkProgress]
The president's most prominent legal defender has found a new outlet for his views. Dershowitz’s multiple appearances on RT (RussiaToday) over the past few months come as questions continue to swirl about the Trump campaign’s relationship with Russia. Dershowitz’s multiple appearances on RT (Russia Today) over the past few months come as questions continue to swirl about the Trump campaign’s relationship with Russia. Special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his final report on Russian interference last week, and Attorney General William Barr’s four-page synopsis cleared the campaign of collusion while also describing the multiple ways Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election. Following Barr’s letter, Dershowitz appeared on RT to condemn the entire investigation. “It was a mistake to appoint a special counsel because there was no evidence of a crime,” Dershowitz said, calling for contempt of court proceedings to begin against those who lobbied for FISA warrants.
2
Bribery, money laundering, campaign finance violations, theft, fraud,.... and the list goes on and on....
1
Excuse my ignorance of impeachment procedure as indicated or implied in the Constitution, but after watching all of the votes establishing, by the Republican majority, that no witnesses and new evidence are going to be allowed, despite the incontrovertibly sound arguments that justice (including ascertaining the basic facts of the case, what actually happened) in this case is impossible without witnesses and allowing new evidence, the most critical elements of any authentic trial, I wonder about Justice Roberts's role and for that matter whether the Supreme Court doesn't implicitly have an appellate role over *every* judicial proceeding, even an impeachment (which is a trial after all).
Sure Justice Roberts appreciated the arguments on the importance of witnesses and evidence being "sine qua non" in such a proceeding, the trial being a sham without them. Surely he understood that the oath he himself administered is violated when Republicans decide in advance to deliberately blind themselves to the facts. Has he no responsibility for holding them to their oath? To requiring them to pursue a fair, legitimate trial? Can the Constitution have sough a mere rubber stamp applied by an empty black robe? If that were the case, the Constitution could have said a trained monkey should preside. Same thing.
Judges can overrule bad faith verdicts by a "directed verdict." The Supreme Court similarly should review the impropriety of a witness-less, evidence-less, oath-repudiating trial.
1
The Senate Republicans are trying to preserve the process, not impede it. The Democrats corrupted the impeachment process by ramming through two ridiculous articles of impeachment in a hyper-partisan, thoroughly political show trial. Now they want the Senate to be "deliberative," something they had no use of in the house. Their rash process will now and forever be the new norm in the House: whenever a House majority exists that is of the party opposite the President, we may expect an impeachment. To prevent this, the Senate should push back in as forceful a way as possible to prevent this process from becoming normalizes. Let's hope the Senate stabilizes this process and exonerates the President of these charges and asserts itself as the reasonable house of our Congress.
The GOP defense is based on the dubious argument the President cannot be impeached if no crime has been committed. The GAO says Trump violated the Impoundment Control Act in his shakedown of Ukraine.
Andrew Johnson was impeached for replacing Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton with Major General Lorenzo Thomas. The underlying 'crime' was violating the "Tenure of Office Act." Today no one would think twice because the President can replace any cabinet member he chooses.
If this truly turns into a mock trial, I think most objective Americans will see it as a cover-up and unleash their own justice on Republicans in November.
1
House Managers were brilliant, searing and calculating, basing every argument on evidence, and told a compelling story of Trump's overt criminal activity. If it's such a "hoax, folks," why refuse all evidence and firsthand witnesses? Sadly, in spite of the Democrats' powerful performance, Trump is already acquitted by his Republican sycophants. We're witnessing the death of America at the hands of the GOP. I hope they're happy. They have killed the greatest political experiment in world history. I'm glad I'm in my mid-60s; I don't want to be around for the total obliteration of our Constitutional Democracy. It's horrid, absolutely horrid. America is gone. RIP.
14
On Election Day, I was dazed and amazed because the pollsters didn't give me a clue. From the start, the goal was to be done with him. I didn't fear him as much as others. I was more concerned about dead time and nonsense when we needed to make progress.
Impeaching him was desirable, but hardly an obsession. I looked into the history of impeachment and concluded it is a poor instrument for removal. Politics are inherent in the process and a two-thirds majority is effectively beyond reach. Moreover, successful removal has happened only once, when Nixon resigned. For the most part, I think that either you overwhelm the President or he survives and possibly thrives.
No way I watch the trial. I'll read the media accounts. I stay informed but, however perfunctory, the trial will go on too long and will have all the appeal of an obscure C-Span broadcast.
My readings tell me, and everyone else, that the trial is not about removal. Instead it is about vindication for those who abhor Trump, and are highly principled. For me, Trump is mostly dead weight and I am anxious to move on. Most of the Party seems to be on a very different page. I fear that most of the Party is lost.
1
If Trump and his legal team would bring documentation and witnesses ... they just might be able to take this proceeding to a level of policy disagreement. However, because they are not allowing documentation and witnesses ... the focus is on abuse of power and obstruction. We hope that the next vote to allow for documentation and witnesses will be successful. Policy disagreement is something Trump would prefer -- rather than the specificity of abuse of power and obstruction -- in our humble opinion. Hope for common sense to prevail.
1
McConnell and the GOP don't have anything to show that Trump is innocent so instead they are going to manipulate the "trial" in a way that limits or stops the presentation of the mounds of information, the mounds of proof, showing that Trump is guilty.
All of this is to hide the truth, not from the Democrats, not from the Republicans, but from the American people, Trump's guilt.
Everybody needs to contact their congressional representatives, republican and democrat alike, in every way that they can, and tell them that this will not do!
4
Since it looks like Trump will not be convicted, the question becomes: what is the precedent going forward? When a president has a politically driven, partisan conspiracy theory bee in his bonnet, can he/she hijack Congressional funds allocated for military aid to leverage response, announcements, information? Republican Senators need to be called out as to exactly what they are approving going forward.
2
Already discouraging to watch and witness what the Republicans are doing and that was only day one.
Can’t watch. Don’t want to be frustrated, yet again, by what is allowed to happen during this presidency. Even an impeachment trial is partisan.
2
An additional article should be added to the impeachment document, which spells out the ongoing criminal conspiracy by not only Trump and his staff, but the republicans in Congress and the Republican National Committee, which are all obstructing justice for the un-indicted co-conspirator named in Michael Cohen's federal criminal case.
This is beyond politics, because clearly the entire group has tied itself to this immoral person who currently occupies the Office of the President of the United States.
They will all be attached to Trump through history going forward, even after the goods he is delivering to them have been overturned by future presidents and congresses.
1
Was it an illusion that we Americans are supposed to be the "good guys" who stand for justice and truth?
Is it now becoming painfully obvious and clear that we have put "bad guys" in power?
Do Republican Senators make you proud to be an American? Do you take pride in them blocking witnesses and documents? Do you fear a fair trial, like they do?
What deal did they make behind closed doors? How were they pressured or bought?
3
McConnell openly discusses Obstruction of Justice
Before he/wife were taking Russian Money
Mr. President, I arise to today to call attention to a serious and deeply troubling crisis in our country. This is a crisis of confidence, or credibility, and of integrity. Our nation is indeed at a crossroads. Will we pursue the search for truth, or will we dodge, weave and evade the truth? I am of course referring to the investigation into serious allegations of illegal conduct by the president of the United States. That the president has engaged in a persistent pattern and practice of obstruction of justice. The allegations are grave, the investigation is legitimate, and ascertaining the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the unqualified, unevasive truth is absolutely critical. The search for truth is led by... Kenneth Star. Mr. President I am deeply troubled today because Judge Starr’s pursuit of the truth is being undermined every step of the way, every single day in the press by those whose sole mission is to attack and impugn the court-appointed independent prosecutor and the congressionally-created process. And these attackers are not the journalists or the broadcasters. Mr. President, what troubles me most here is that these reckless attacks, these ruthless onslaughts, are being carried out by the closest advisers to the president of the United States.The smear campaign is being orchestrated by the White House.
3
The entire impeachment ordeal has been like watching exercise bicyclists: a lot of motion, but no movement. Sadly, we Democrats are equally to blame for the waste of energy. After saying she opposed impeachment accept if there was a reasonable chance of conviction and removal, the Speaker endorsed the current effort even though it has always been clear the Republican Senate would not remove the President months before the election over a bone-headed (and failed) attempt to get the Ukraine President to announce phony investigations into Joe Biden's son and a DNC computer server.
Our party needs to focus on the needs of working class Americans -- our former base. Instead we have let Donald Trump, a modern day P. T. Barnum, become the spokesman for the working class. He at least he pretends to care about them.
Real people with real problems need good, fair, honest, supportive government. Please focus on those needs.
@Ed MacColl
There’s something like 400 bills that the Democratic House passed, many bipartisan, on all kinds of issues affecting real people, which are now in Mitch McConnell’s graveyard.
Blaming Democrats for inaction when they did their part is only buying into the false Republican narrative of “bothsidism”.
It really isn’t on “both sides” this time. Not by a long shot.
1
It is clear that the GOP controlled Senate is going to conduct a sham trial of a corrupt, sitting US President. There is not on honest Republican Senator among the 53 who are presiding. What shame they bring on themselves and our nation.
Raise your children to have respect for the law, and to be ethical, and to have morals, so that they would never become so low as to be a politician.
1
If Trump gets away with this, and he will, I hope The Times and other mainstream media look closely at the Federal budget and scrutinize every line item. I don't put it past Trump and his evil brethren to transfer millions — if not billions — from Federal coffers into his and their personal bank accounts. He will rob this country blind and probably succeed, unless he is stopped. Please don't let this happen!
3
So Ukraine is pretty sketchy with rampant corruption. Joe Biden’s son gets some phoney high paying job while he’s in office. Trump tells their president he wants them to investigate corruption before he allocates our tax money to them. Previous to that, Joe tells Ukraine while in office that he wants their official fired or, guess what? They’re not getting money from us! Who should really be investigated exactly? This scenario gets twisted by Democrats who say well, that’s all been debunked. Sounds plausible? Kelly Ann Conway was right- there really are alternate facts ! And why do they keep saying Trump did this to a political rival when he wasn’t (and still isn’t) the nominee and all this took place a year and a half before an election? This whole thing is boggling and extremely political and the Democrats are going to be very sorry they started this.
@Brian Kenney You got at least one thing right—“rampant corruption” perfectly describes the Trump administration.
We all have to force ourselves to witness this shameful perversion of reality.
(I laughed out loud when one of Trump's lawyers asserted Trump is trustworthy. Schiff rebutted that, but ever soft spoken and reserved, he could have been correcting someone for using the wrong spoon at a formal dinner.)
My last hope is that enough people watch this farce trial, feel the outrage and compel just enough Republican Senators to vote against the ugly reality that is Trump.
Bottom line: no one gets to turn out the news. Watch and be horrified. This should be the political version of Emmett Till's mother forcing us to look on her son's mutilated body. You must watch and watch until you are forced to act.
3
The republic is no more. We live in a dictatorship with Trump and McConnell as the modern incarnations of Big Brother, and Mr Barr their willing attack dog, though that’s not really fair to dogs. Debate, the rule of law, and the Congress as a deliberative body are remnants of some bygone era. The Senate’s capitulation will embolden prosecutions of political figures, and usher in an era of historical negationism, doublethink, and thought crimes. Mr Barr’s fantasy of unchecked executive power is now realized. 2 2= 5. Get your blood pressure meds and get ready for Team Trump ad infinitum.
2
Re : "House managers, led by Representative Adam B. Schiff, will present different elements of the case"
Politico reports that such elements contain error
"Schiff may have mischaracterized Parnas evidence, documents show"
Politico 2020/01/21
Apparently the evidence confuses Zelensky (Ukrainian President) with Zlochevsky (Owner of Burisma , past employer of Hunter Biden)
It seems that the Vladimir Putin Show will be premiering today on Capitol Hill, in D.C.
Yes....McConnell's "show" trial: starring Lindsay Graham, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Tom Cotton...... written, produced and directed by Vlad, himself.
Just goes to show you that the richest man in the world can "buy the US". He lost the Cold War, but he's a winner now, with The Donald and Mitch. The show will play on Russian TV, too; they'll call it The New Apprentice.
1
And when the history is written for this period, it will be noted that the full turn to fascism occurred at the Senate impeachment trial. The acquittal elevates the president into a dictator, above the law, and ending the republic.
2
What an absolute disgrace. I am writing from a country that is supposedly less democratic than the great US but believe me the South African Constitution Court would never stand for what is going on in your senate. I just heard a Republican Senator taking such rubbish that he clearly is not interested in his own reputation saying that the House doesn’t have a complete case because it didn’t have all the witnesses ( which the Republicans deny if) And then you have Dershovitz tying himself into knots saying Abuse of Power is not unlawful when “Lawful Abuse of Power” is an oxymoron and is regarded as the most serious offense a member of an executive can perform in just about every civilized jurisdiction.
3
Oh the irony of having first class criminal defense attorneys, who also defended murderers and serial rapists on speed-dial, and then to ALSO be able to effectively demand that no house impeachment documents, witnesses or evidence be admitted at your trial. The president is no equal citizen to US. Money can buy you anything, even an entire country full of delusions of democracy.
1
".... as they begin what will be as much as 24 hours of opening arguments over three days. With no guarantee of being able to call witnesses later, these three days may be the main opportunity for the prosecution."
Because a trial in the USA always restricts the prosecution to the opportunity to make an opening statement.... ?!?!
A whole lotta 'splaining gonna have to happen in some future American civics classrooms. Oh wait. I forgot, we don't hardly bother teaching that stuff no more. My bad.
Please do let's carry on with the circus: I'm sure the Chief Justice will ensure that prosecutors speak in modulated tones and with all due respect to the defendant's team, as they must be weary from that long trip over to the Senate in their clown car.
The real question is why is the entire republican party defending and protecting Trump?
This is corporate American run and owned by companies that love all of Trump's make the 1% richer and keep the lower and middle class stuck at any cost.
Most politicians even if thrown in prison come out with lucrative job offers for the influence they still posess.
3
At the end of this circus, the President will not be removed from office and the Democrats will be left liicking their wounds.
As the outcome is rigged, does anyone really think this is a 'fair trial' from either side?
Is it any wonder Congress is not trusted by the American people.
As an independent voter, I don't trust either party.
1
Pelosi should AT LEAST have held on to the articles so that the trial would not end BEFORE the State of the Union address. Now we should all be prepared for constant repetition of the word "exonerated" by Trump next month.
1
Where are the mass demonstrations? Other countries have shown it works. People have the power!
3
Let the theatrics begin
The charade is boring
No crime.
Pandering to the left wing to appease those who reject democracy and the last election entirely.
3
Can the Senate be charged with obstruction of Congress?
5
Roberts had to be polite and do the "both sides do it" but he really was going after the trump lawyers for lying in the Senate chambers (their false claim Repubs blocked from the scif) and trumps lawyer calling out Nadler directly.
3
Mitt and the Moderates were supposed to save the process. Hogwash. Republican senators lost their moral compass in 2016. Let’s not forget that Mitt allowed Trump to humiliate him during the transition. Mitt still wants to be president and will need all of Trump’s racist base if he’s to get the nomination in 2024.
2
What a travesty. A criminal set the rules for his own trial and the Republicans went along with it. The little last-minute theatrical production by Collins and the other so-called moderates is a joke and a sop for Fox News viewers. Amazing to see a great country's legal system and constitution turned into a international joke by Mitch McConnell.
18
@Susan
I would say this is payback for what the Obama administration did to Trump for the fake dossier and collusion story. Turn about is fair play
@Susan
To be fair it was ronald reagan who made America a joke.
4
@RS adjust the tin foil hat: Obama had nothing to do with the dossier, which was initiated by the other candidates in the trump party.
4
I want to say two things, and I feel dread that neither will matter. But I will do what I can:
1. Bear with me... in a marriage, there are 3 entities... each spouse, and then the marriage itself. In a disagreement, sometimes neither spouse gets their way, but the marriage does. It is the unifying entity. I kind of see a similar opportunity in the impeachment... the Constitution itself is the unifying entity--it is the one thing all parties should be able to rally around. It offers itself as a safe space, the ultimate mediator between parties. As long as parties will not compromise for the good of the Constitution (marriage), there will be trouble always.
2. More simple... Truth is not afraid of the light. So let light shine. But is it possible that those resisting witness testimony "can't handle the truth?" Or are personally threatened by it? I'm starting to wonder if Trump is the only one with something to hide.
I am praying hard that right be done. At this moment, we need a something greater than ourselves to lift our collective conscience.
5
If one is a lawyer or law student, the preliminary arguments (and filibuster Motions) were instructive. The House Managers/lawyers reiterated their case. The defense counsel however, especially Philbin, zeroed in on rules and procedure. It was effectively a mature, adult, professional defense team correcting a House posse so partisan that they lost their bearings in actual law and legal principles, and continue to undermine their credibility in law, and as congressional members. Moreover, Nadler's unfortunate performance only underscored the impeachment project's deviation from not only law, but rational thought. I say this as an Independent. Schumer moreover believes himself a clever street fighter, but his motion strategy had no impact in persuasion; it may have actually ratified Defense position. The question remains, what will the House democrats do after they lose in Senate? What new charges will they develop; how will they seek to mold the 2020 election?
1
@Matt Andersson
The Republican Party, which initially intended to even exclude evidence from the House hearings, and which now has voted repeatedly to not allow witnesses or documents to be subpoenaed, has engineered an empty farce of a “trial”, the kind you expect in failed dictatorships and authoritarian regimes such as North Korea.
And yet you get your undies in a bundle because Nadler lost his temper and spoke the truth in the chamber? Unbelievable.
This kind of crazy banana republic charade would have never happened in our country only five years ago. Don’t you understand what’s happening?
Probably the most important court case, so far, in the history of the USA. At last, Trump's "never before in the history of this country have we seen..." fits something that he is responsible for.
It was like an absurd black comedy, the events that occurred yesterday in the senate. The most important trial will not be a trial at all. They actually voted that they do not want to see evidence, that they do not want to hear witnesses. That they do not want to know the truth. It was absurd. Listening to McConnel and Trump's lawyers was absurd. It was painful. They lied about the sequence of events, they lied about facts and they distorted the whole case so that it was almost unrecognizable. And everybody knew that. Then they agreed that it was OK to do so.
I did think the Democrats were naive in the House hearings. They should have stood by their subpoenas. That was the only time they had the matter in their hands. I guess they hoped that some Republicans would break rank at the first instance and then use the crack to create uncertainty before the final vote. Very few people, apart from Nacy Pelosi, believed that the Republican's unity would crack.
Now there's no going back. Trump will have his great victory so far and will be almost unbeatable in the election.
It is so sad. When justice is gone... when the wish for justice is gone, then what is there left of the core values that Americans have always been so proud of?
3
@Truthseeker "Probably the most important court case, so far, in the history of the USA."
And, without a chargeable crime.
@truthseeker
No witnesses, no documents, no evidence. They nicely complement the See no Evil tenet. They're also adhering well to the Hear no Evil. If only they'd do something about their mouths.
The senate is the one on trial here, and they look pretty guilty of obstruction of justice too.
9
@Mark
If only I'd thought of that one!
The words of James Russell Lowell come to my mind over and over during these sorry times, but it isn't coming to the minds of the Congressional Republicans:
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side.
2
I wish Trump would be impeached, although it has been obvious for a long time that will not happen.
It is ridiculous to pretend that impeachment is the equivalent of a criminal trial and to analyze and discuss it as though it were a criminal trial. It absolutely is not.
Impeachment is a purely political process that is presented in a faux trial setting. The founding fathers did not put a recall process in the Constitution. But they did put impeachment in the Constitution. Impeachment is the equivalent of a recall process.
There is absolutely no punishment inflicted on an impeached president regardless how severe was any real crime he may have committed. Impeachment just removes him from office....no other action against him. Impeachment is nothing more that the equivalent of voting him out of office at the next election.
Impeachment is and should be a political process. The real complaint anyone should have is that actual crimes by presidents are NEVER prosecuted, never prosecuted when there has been an impeachment, and never prosecuted when there wasn't an impeachment.
Presidents really are above the law....EVERY president has been above the law.
There is not a shred of dignity, decency, or honor among Senate Republicans. Not one of them value the rule of law, or the Constitution, upon which our nation is founded and endures. There doesn't seem to be a courageous member among them. They are all disgraceful sycophants to the most unhinged, corrupt, and vindictive president in the history of our nation. Every one of them up for election in November needs to lose their seat.
In addition, let this please serve as a warning to moderate candidates who dream of "reaching across the aisle" - this is what you'll be reaching toward.
6
@Dominic
I keep thinking of the words of an intelligent, thoughtful woman I met recently and with whom I was talking about the state of our national politics: "It's so hard to know what the truth is." I replied with the first (bungled) words that came to mind. "Not really, if you follow things." But if we're really thinking that the impeachment will awaken anyone, I should have acknowledged that most people simply do not have the time to follow events or the knowledge of how to discern the truth from the news. They're not stupid, just busy.
The Russo Republicans will completely destroy America with this coverup. It's time that they pay for their arrogance and ignorance. It is time that they pay for their contempt for the Constitution and their countrymen. It is time.
7
Only water and milk? What an extraordinarily picayune stipulation. And what an utterly transparent attempt to diminish Senators' attention and, frankly, will to participate in an event conditioned upon long days. Shameful.
6
@Joe
The coffee ban is just about being ugly and highlights McConnell’s petty vindictiveness.
Of course, he’ll only police the Democrats in the room. Rules and laws only apply to Democrats.
1
No need for him to show up for the Senate trial. It is a hoax and scam on the American people and the American model of government. The GOP are co-conspirators with Trump at this point. When the evidence is released which will eventually happen, the entire GOP will be complicit in the crime the president committed. Furthermore, and potentially much worse, is that once you go down this path, we are not going back. McConnell, Trump and GOP broke the government and will eventually lose control and then the Dems will have their chance to behave with complete disregard to the concerns of the GOP.
13
@CA Dreamer
The solution is for an administration to take an interest in Justice. Personally I'd like to see everyone since Nixon held to account.
Realistically we need more than anything else to arrest the entire George W Bush administration and prosecute them for the war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as their crimes against the constitution.
It isn't a partisan thing, Obama needs to be investigated for his use of drones. I suspect there are charges to be laid there as well.
What we need as adherence to the law and the spirit of the law. And to stop this nonsense of congress behaving like we are British and supposed to oppose one another just because. get back to being American and cooperate!
Chief Justice Roberts could issue a ruling on the constitutional issues raised by the attorneys. Do the articles of impeachment present constitutional grounds for impeachment, or can presidents only be impeached for statutory crimes? Must the White House comply with congressional subpoenas, or does executive privilege provide immunity?
Roberts could rule neither Article 1 or Article 2 present constitutional grounds for impeachment. He could rule both articles provides constitutional grounds for impeachment or that one article but not the provides constitutional grounds from impeachment.
The Senate can override the chief justice’s justice rulings. The Republican majority could end the trial by sustaining the chief justice’s ruling that the articles do not provide constitutional grounds for impeachment or by overriding a ruling that they do not constitute constitutional grounds for impeachment.
This, of course, is why Roberts won’t make any such rulings. He should rule that the Senate rule that permits the Senate to override rulings issued by the chief justice unconstitutional. The Constitution provides that the chief justice presides over the trial.
2
The key argument of Trump's legal team is the "Technically he didn't break any federal law" defense.
In 1787
1) There was not yet Any federal law.
2) Even 'high crimes' like murder were considered state crimes, and would not be tried in federal courts for a century or more.
3) The laws creating the federal court system had not yet been proposed.
But references to Burke et. al. and other 18th century cases misses a key point. In that era both British and American colonial law were both based largely on English Common Law. To some extent our laws still are. A key principle of Common Law is that something does not have to have been specified as illegal by Parliament or Congress if everybody knows it is a crime or legally unsupportable. There may be no specified punishment, but courts cannot support such actions if common sense and precedent agree that they are indefensible.
This is exactly the case with "High Crimes and Misdemeanors". Pressuring another country to do your dirty work for you so as to influence American elections may not be a specifically criminal act, but it's intent is to be aided and abetted in our elections by a foreign power, whether that be Russia, China, or Ukraine. If it is not bribery, it is extortion, and it amounts to treason.
9
I am glad that we now have evidence that the laws are meant only to beat down and exploit the people. It means we are all released morally from following the laws, since they are not meant to be really upheld. So, go forth and be criminals, if you can get away with it.
The people, for their part, support these criminals and agree that we should have a country where you can have what you can take through mafia means.
I am looking forward to following the oligarch wars. It will be interesting to see how they invoke the need for federal military protection of their businesses and persons, even as it is other oligarchs that attack them. Some will obviously have to be made out to be criminals because they compete with the more powerful oligarchs. Just like in Russia.
I also look forward to the further gutting of the heartland. The supporters of Trump will get what they voted for, destruction. They probably thought they would be given favoritism because of whiteness. However, what they fail to see is that Trump never really believed in their white power dreams, he just used that to get them to elect him, but, Trump's only purpose is more money and power for him. Just like his hero Putin.
15
How is this even interesting anymore? It's over. The fix is in. Trump will be acquitted 53-47. There will be no witness testimony or anything that might embarrass Trump. And even if there was, he'd be acquitted anyway.
5
No process is ever squeaky-clean, and this “Impeachment Process” does suffer from the same deficiency. However, it is important though to remember that the Senators do have a collective responsibility to protect the sanctity of the “Office of the Presidency”, no matter what. The world at large is watching this process keenly to ascertain the quality of our ethical norm, our values plus our principles that define this unique thing called “American way”.
My dear Senators! Please do uphold the dignity of your President’s office.
3
If Trump's behavior is not impeachable, then no behavior by a US President is impeachable and no acts I can be used to remove a duly elected president. That makes the constitution a farce, as more and more it seems to be anyway. The constitution does not hold up to autocracy, nor plutocracy. Are we surprised?
Republicans have trounced all over the constitution all day in the name of 'being in control'. And then they place their hands over their hearts and proclaim themselves its only saviors.
12
The GOP has much to be proud of.
Watergate, Iran-Contra, Trump's attempted bribery.
Do we need any more reasons not to reelect Republicans?
12
They broke the world economy on 2008?
1
In my opinion, the United States Senate is as much on trial as Trump is. Senate Republicans by taking a "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" attitude toward Donald Trump's high treason, have left the door of democracy open to the rise of a totalitarian dictator.
9
With the electoral college appointment of this fraud, and his muzzling of witnesses to his crimes, we are now, just a few steps, and a verdict away, from becoming a corrupt nation.
5
It's telling to see how much stock these "Christian" members of Congress actually place in oaths they swore to on the Bible. Their claims of being faithful to principled leadership are completely vacuous. All that once made this country great is under full assault by the Republican party.
5
I thought Donald J. Trump was Impeached. Shouldn't this be called Removal from Office.
3
The result is known. The only question is how long this farce continues. Shame, GOP, you have sold out for power. Welcome everyone to the new US, worse than a third world corrupt dictatorship. The new slogan for 2020 is “ Let’s make America third rate again”, sad.
5
At the end of this charade I call on a demonstration where Constitution loving Americans fly the "Trump Baby Balloon" near every state capitol until the 2020 elections. Tell me where I can send my donation $.
3
It's so remarkably out-of-touch the way Roberts pretends that the senate, or any branch of this government, has any shred of prestige left. Hearing him say "the world's greatest deliberative body" without any irony sent a cringe through my entire body. As though anyone in the country, other than maybe a few overfed liberals, believes there's still sincerity, honor or dignity to our politics.
4
Trump needs the support of only 34 Senators to remain in office.
But the White House and Senate GOP will do everything to keep the truth buried. What is there to suggest that they won't succeed in this?
Who still believes in separation of powers, or a system of effective checks and balances?
3
I thought bringing up amendments, even though it was assumed they would be tabled, was an excellent way to highlight and point out all the information that came out during the House impeachment hearings. There they all were, the charges and crimes and misdemeanors, with video highlights and presentations.
6
House Managers did the Homework. Equations Presented add up.Trump lawyers present truth like forced square pegs through circle. As far as Trump Crime--The Glove Fits! McConnell cannot make a fish walk.
6
Observe the difference between counsel in this show trial. Democratic counsel is orderly and logical in its presentation. Republican counsel stampedes all over the lot trying to trample wind-driven brushfires. Trump's whole mob is scatterbrained.
10
It's obvious to everyone with a brain and conscience that Trump has repeatedly abused the power of his office and obstructed justice.
Mitch's sham Senate trial won't affect that obvious fact, but it will likely set a precedent that a criminal president can continue to be a criminal president and nobody will hold the president to account.
We've lost our democracy and the rule of law.
Thanks Trump and MAGA cult, for doing what the Confederates couldn't quite achieve.
9
@Steve Davies Remember they have to vote on record for everyone to see how blind they are to this. We can use that for the November elections.
the constitution is kaput.
the american democracy is kaput.
tyranny is alive and well.
given the makeup of the senate, the expectation for trump's removal was never realistic, but the idea that the evidence could be put in front of the american people to act on when election day comes was something i thought would happen.
i guess i was wrong. the "rules" are restriction that prevent any of these things from seeing daylight, despite the efforts of the house managers yesterday.
we deserve to have our day in court - and that means a trial like any other with testimony from witnesses and presentation of evidence.
the blatant lies undermine the constitution and we will all suffer. i think it's possible, though unlikely, that there could even be a worse president in the future. maybe president putin.
i thought that burke's statement that all it takes for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing would be considered and somebody would stand up. i guess there are no good men/women on the republican side of the aisle - at least not yet. there's plenty of evil though. trump. mcconnell. pompeo. and so many more. what do they expect to get from their actions? if it's only re-election, then they're far worse and more stupid than i could have imagined.
5
When will someone file an ethics complaint against Cipollone?
"The American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct states that a lawyer 'shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact.' In other words, lawyers aren't supposed to lie--and they can be disciplined or even disbarred for doing so."
29
I'm proud of the fight to hold this president accountable.
Did you catch Ted Cruz's side comment, trying to parrot "that old saying": "if you have the facts, pound the facts; if you have the law, pound the law; if you have neither, pound the table... we've seen a whole lot of table-pounding today." Thanks to the steady checklist of amendments yesterday, It's now crystal clear who would rather ignore facts and law. It's the people complaining about the entire Constitutionally-outlined process - from legally-protected whistleblower, to court-pursued subpoenas, to corroborating witnesses, to the bicameral investigation, to even admitting any wrongdoing. That last argument is what really gets me. The senators seem ready to fall in line with the president's "so what?"/"this is all normal"/"[insert country name here], if you're listening..." strategy.
I hope the Republicans continue to lose members as they see this and get sick of it. Statistics seem to back up the idea. They should take heart that Trump's deep unpopularity is also reflected among Independents - a growing third of the country - when comparing him to a wide range of other Republican figures (Enns, fivethirtyeight, "Trump may be even more unpopular than his approval rating shows"). His brand of showmanship/extremism is advocated by a plurality (winning primary-goers) of a third (primary-goers) of a plurality (Republicans), barely tolerated among others and losing people. Here's to a new moderate/conservative party!
8
Democrats continue their effort to undo the elections of 2016.
That is what this is about.
Let them know in November 2020 what we think about their efforts to undo the results of a free election.
My god, in terms of Democracy we are now at the level of a 3rd World country, undoing elections where we do not agree with the winner.
Thanks Democratic Party, this is all on you.
6
@AutumnLeaf The only election that is being undone is the blue wave of 2018, where voters clearly already threw out a Trump subservient Congress. This Congress, -unlike the Trump boot-licking one from 2 years ago-, actually upholds it sworn duty to uphold oversight on the abuse of the executive. It is sad that that the so-called Senate (it contains actually 53 "Conspirators", not "Senators") is actually ruling against the election of 2018.
But not toworry: their time will come as well, more so, as the entire world is watching this republican farce of having taken an oath!
1
@AutumnLeaf This does not "undo" the 2016 election. If this POTUS is removed from office (unlikely), then the VPOTUS takes office. These are serious articles of impeachment regarding POTUS' behavior. He should have the chance to explain/defend himself but so far there is a whole lot of stonewalling.
3
@AutumnLeaf How would the ascension of Vice President Pence to the presidency "undo" the 2016 election?
Honest question: pretend, as much as it might pain you to do so, that the things the president is accused of are true. Would you want a democratic president impeached for illegally withholding aid from an ally to extort a sham investigation of a political rival? Not in a glib, scoring points on the internet way, but in an honest, looking myself in the eye and staking my honor on it way?
1
The Senate Republicans need to realize that if they vote to not impeach President Trump, then they will have, in essence, validated his kind of behavior for future administrations as well.
As a hypothetical example, in 2023, it would then not be impeachable if President Biden withheld tens of millions of dollars in military aid from Israel until the Prime Minister of Israel committed to publicly announcing a corruption investigation into Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s dealings with that country.
10
@Kay
Well, Democrats should realize the next time its a Democrat in the Oval Office and the Republicans control the House there will be a Special Counsel Investigation of that President followed by a Partisan Impeachment. If your example allows a democratic Senate I guess I know what the outcome of that will be. What, may I ask, do you suppose the outcome will be if it just happens to be a Republican Controlled Senate? With a Filibuster Proof Majority? So go ahead you already rolled those dice Kay.
Justice Roberts is speaking of the past, not the present. The Senate is not a deliberative body at all, much less the greatest. They don't bring up anything for deliberation except appointments of alt right judicial candidates that are rated unqualified by the ABA. They used to be great. Now they are just Trump minions.
32
@Irish
They are eerily reminiscent of rubber stamp legislatures
in dictatorships past and present.
Ever see the Russian Federal Assembly disagree with Putin?
2
The only question is whether the House should issue subpoenas for the documents and witnesses they asked for from the Senate, or wait until the Senate formally denies their requests later in the "trial." They should probably wait until the decision is final, then slam the subpoenas into the courts, looking for some relief there and calling into question the entire Senate travesty.
As to Roberts, the case he will preside over today is another outreach by the Republican Five to firmly insert religion into our government. A state refuses to use taxpayer monies to pay Christian religious organizations to educate their members outside the public education system and then, in response to an attack in the courts decides to refuse to fund all private education systems, regardless of religion. This decision is upheld as legal by the courts below. Instead, the court grants review. I guess the Supreme Court Five will now hold that the state has to, has to, fund Christian private schools. We are at a crossroads, don't expect anything from Roberts.
6
@Eero - The Chief Justice is the presiding officer, he does not rule. The Senators vote.
3
@Eero: All legislation that accords respect to believing anything without credible substantiation is unconstitutional in the US.
1
So many drama queens hanging out here. Of course a President can be impeached for abuse of power, but an abuse of power can run from fixing a traffic ticket to, as did Lyndon Johnson, creating a hoax that an American destroyer had been attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin, and then using the hoax to get Congress give him the authority to have a free hand in Vietnam. Johnson used this authority to send over a half a million American soldiers, with over 58,000 of them returning in body bags.
Or, as was the case with Franklin Roosevelt, ordering 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent rounded up and sent to inland internment camps surrounded by barbed wire for up to four years. Completely bypassing their 6th and 14th Amendment rights to Due Process of Law.
The grounds for impeachment settled on by the House Democrats, without the vote of a single member of the President's party, was the attempted bribery of a foreign leader in return for unspecified information to be used against an opponent. These were their second string grounds, accepted when the envelope containing the Mueller information was found to be full of only dust.
Who is to judge the sufficiency of those grounds? There are only two parties: the House and Senate. The House prepares and argues the case against the President. The Senate, acting as the Court, has the ability of any court to throw out the case because the grounds are insufficient to remove a sitting president from office.
8
@Bill Keating historical whataboutism won’t save Trump or the GOP in November.
7
@Bill Keating
Very few of us were even alive for the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, but I often wonder at the failure to remember his inhumanity in wholesale imprisoning of Japanese Americans, and why we fail to hold him accountable.
That said, I noticed you overlooked the bogus WWDs Bush II utilized to justify the second Iraq invasion. Funny that.
But let us return to the here and now. If you don’t see the danger in the the collapse of the balance of power established by the Constitution to prevent tyranny— and tyranny is indeed what we are confronting in the White House — or the red flag of a show trial emblematic of a repressive authoritarian dictatorship... we’ll, I’m not your optometrist.
Drama queens? Have you ever bother to take a peek at the Presidential Twitter feed?
4
This battle needs to be reframed. It's not "Democrats versus Republicans". The Republican party was seized by a small but extremely effective faction of manipulative unscrupulous con artists who will stop at nothing to acquire more power. No lie is too low, no scheme beyond consideration. The Republicans with integrity have left the party, or are leaving. This battle has become Mitch McConnell and his allies the Trumpists, versus everyone else and we will lose if we don't stop wringing our hands and figure out how to fight back.
14
When it became clear in 2015 that trump was going to be the Republican nominee I ran into a buddy of mine who is moderate conservative with a wife who is ultra conservative. I pondered a question: if trump actually got elected( of which I was doubtful ) how long do you think it will be before they impeach him? I said to my friend. Even he thought trump unlikely. Trump cottons to corruption and is clueless. He has been doing that and lying about all things in between seemly his whole adult life. Privileged and spoiled life. Trump with the word impeachment in a sentence is as natural as peas and carrots.
10
The Republican Party has devolved into nothing more than a criminal enterprise, bankrolled by wealthy criminals.
The GOP Senate has sold out America for power and money.
Remember in November!
23
The reporter who characterized Europe as halfway around the world needs to go back to school. Europe is a quarter of the way around world. How much else was fudged by 50 per cent. For decades I expected and got great reporting from the NYT. Today not so much.
2
Russo-Republican pretzel logic at its best —
“The phone call was perfect.”
That’s why —
“We have to secret away its full transcript and audio recording inside a codeword-protected server in the dead of the night and prevent first-hand witnesses and documentary evidence from coming forward.”
This Senate trial is a cover up of a crime committed in full daylight.
23
Chief Justice Roberts, by presiding over this charade that no one in their right mind can legitimately call a trial, reduces himself to the same pathetic stature of the Republicans to which he provides cover. His empty outrage at lack of decorum “on both sides” as one party alone continues to lie and cover for the dismantling of our country, is pathetic and weak.
Roberts and Republican Congressmen have proven themselves as nothing better than tawdry fascist enablers willing to surrender the country to a criminal authoritarian enterprise.
In better times, we would call men like these traitors. Now we just call them Republicans.
If anything of our former country survives these dark days, it will be because of the efforts of Democratic representatives who, in the face of this shameful cabal, continue to fight.
What will it take to get the people of DC into the streets, anyway? We can’t start an effective protest from the woods of the west coast, people. Please get out there. The rest of the country will follow but you have to take the lead.
15
The House’s power trip of hypocrisy and urgency can only be safely landed by the Senate. Kudos to Mitch!
4
American tragedy. Caused by a rogue party with the amoral Mr. McConnell at its head.
22
@pkbormes: Extremism in defense of liberty rules out equitable negotiation.
1
@Steve Bolger, what liberty is McConnell protecting? Trump’s right to corruptly rig the 2020 election? There’s no way Republicans would accept his behavior if the shoe were on the other foot. No way.
I have under estimated the Democrats for going ahead with this
impeachment, after the vote for impeachment was split by the Parties.The Democrats knew before hand that any request made by the Democratic Managers would be denied by the majority of the Republican Senate. Then what was the purpose of going ahead with the Impeachment.
As Im watched the procedures, I became more and more angry at the Bulling tactics of the Majority's tactics.I wondered if all Americans were affected like I was.I'm sure the undecided like I am were having second thoughts about voting for Trump & for the Republicans in general.I see where this is a win win for the Democrats even as perdicted that Trump is aquited.
I for one cannot wait to vote against Trump in November.
Everyone loves an under dog, and hates a bully,
25
In the words of Allen Iverson, ‘we in here talking about practice, really”. Impeachment for a phone call. Seriously?
6
@Mike it was a coordinated effort by several people in several instances at the direction of President Trump. The phone call was just one episode. It’s amazing how successful the Fox/GOP messaging machine is;
“Build the wall.”
“But her emails.”
“Drain the swamp.”
“One phone call.”
Keep it under four syllables and it will stick!
12
@Mike
Oh Please.
A phone call plus Trump's crooked lawyer doing Trump's "alternative state dept business", plus hide the phone call in with US military secrets, lie about the phone call and then release the "perfect" phone call when Congress forces you - in a heavily redacted form. And then go after the US ambassador for phony reasons and can her, then libel her on live TV during a hearing. And then take it upon yourself to STOP war funding to Ukraine for your own benefit. Connect the huge dots.
So yeah, impeach the blankety blank.
15
@Mike
This is weird defense. It's like Al Capone wondering what the big deal is about some random paperwork.
8
Americans watch in dismay as the Senate crumbles from its former institutional stature, and lost GOP-member self-esteem.
They have been elbowed out by rancid appeal of Trump’s dishonor and his advocates’ shame—linked with Leader McConnell, leading a funeral procession, of homage to enabling and disrepute.
It is crushing irony to point our students to Shelley’s Ozymandias:
“Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
The United States Senate: despair indeed.
The sonnet is a literary drone of conscience—hovering over the lock-step comatose GOP-Obedient. It is a dirge, amidst the wreckage of self-respect, and the triumph of intellectual dishonesty.
The sole remaining faithless defense, with persuasion a relic of a bygone era, can only be shouted, so painful and condescending:
We are Republican Rectitude.
4
Chief Justice Roberts revealed his perspective last night when he “admonished” both sides.
Was THAT what he views as most important about these proceedings
Not that the GOP are stonewalling and defending this corrupt president and his administration.
Sad sad sad.
12
@Sunshine
False equivalency at its finest. In reality, Cipollone should be disbarred for his litany of lies:
@Larry
Cipollone should be disbarred:
The American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct states that a lawyer “shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact.” In other words, lawyers aren't supposed to lie--and they can be disciplined or even disbarred for doing so.
5
I do not care what "evidence" the Dems present or don't present. I do not need them or the media to tell me what I saw and heard from Trump's own mouth. Trump obstructed justice on national TV many times. Trump admitted to extortion of the Ukraine on national TV many times. I am no legal expert, but to me, those are clear abuses of power and at least one high crime, extortion. And to my non-lawyer mind, extortion, bribery, quid pro quo (in this case, not the general case) are all the same. To me, Trump's "Transcript" is a clear admission of all kinds of guilt. I do not get why he says to read it.
The House inquiry, that whole show, only detailed the crimes I witnessed, the planning, the detailed execution. I do not expect the GOP rules to allow any examination of the things I saw. This is not the Rule of Law.
Stand for the Rule of Law, or don't.
18
@gratis: How does one avoid the conclusion that the entire Republican Senate delegation swallowed some poison pill of Trump's like the one he tried to force down Zelensky's throat? I have never seen anyone grovel like Lindsey Graham before.
14
This is the world we live in. A world where opinion is tantamount to fact. The GOP defense rests on the claim that this is a partisan trial bent on "stealing back the election." Why? Because Democrats and their constituents have been angry and dismayed over the idea of Donald Trump as the President of the United States since he "walked down the escalator."
The fact that Trump is doing exactly what has had the Democrats and their constituents worried about—subverting and corrupting the protocols of government, lying with impunity, and turning the White House into a self serving vehicle for personal gain—has no credence because Trump was considered contemptuous prior to his actions.
...and this defense will probably succeed. Justice Roberts seems to have no problem withholding witnesses to a trial. The GOP has given no legal precedence for withholding witnesses, only that the trial is "partisan."
Our country is devolving into a high school cafeteria and the teachers are not teaching, they are simply saying "behave."
7
In light of more impeachment articles being threatened in the House, Senate Republicans should take this opportunity to establishment good impeachment precedent moving forward. They should adopt Prof. Dershowitz's arguments this impeachment effort is unconstitutional as neither of the two articles contains an alleged crime, or were approved on a bipartisan basis in the House.
3
I watched and listened to the trial of Donald Trump until the wee hours of the morning. The House managers, led by Congressman Adam Schiff, were organized, serious and clear, describing trump’s abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Trump blocked subpoenaed witnesses from testifying during impeachment by the House. Thankfully, some of his own appointees and long serving public officials found the courage to comply with the law. Trump has also refused to turn over a trove of subpoenaed documents. These two facts and the continuing fight by trump and the GOP to keep witnesses from testifying and to prevent documents from seeing the light of day make it clear: Trump has A LOT TO HIDE.
But there is so much more to this... Why is the GOP so committed to helping him hide evidence of wrongdoing? Why is the Senate trial scheduled to go late into the night (when most people are asleep)? Yesterday the GOP spent hours on the floor defeating proposals to bring in witnesses and the requested documents. WHY? HOW IS ACTUAL EVIDENCE of FACTS the ENEMY of a sitting president?
18
By repeatedly explaining the already overwhelming evidence of Trump’s guilty actions, in slides and videos, the House Democrats are making the GOP senators look like fools. Basically, the Democrats are saying that if the GOP senators don’t believe this evidence, they ought to call witnesses and cross examine them.
11
"Soon we will find out if breaking the law is illegal." -- Stephen Colbert 02/21
32
Why does the Chief Justice not set parameters for the admission of evidence? Is his role simply to be a lump?
8
@Mary
In Impeachment trials, yes.
If additional information was so important to prove this case, perhaps the House should have obtained it before rushing to impeach?
2
It's over, 53 to 47, along with any fantasy about there being such a thing as a moderate republican.
I'm going to put a seed order in for my garden, look to the future, and stop watching this sham.
It was useful to pound in the message that Republicans would only allow a North Korean style preordained trial.
Rather than watching,the tube, a path to consider is contacting third party friends and beg them not to aid in the suicide of the republic by throwing their vote away.
It's going to take a big get out the vote effort, and an even larger popular margin than Clinton had to win the E.C.
So that he and his cohorts won't say the election was stolen, and they ain't leaving.
With this criminal gang, never say never.
186
@Lawrence
Indeed. Everyone must vote. Vote like one's life depended on it. Because it does.
24
@Lawrence - When someone doesn't vote the way you want, they are not "throwing their vote away".
4
@Lawrence It's over, 53 to 47, along with any fantasy about there being such a thing as a moderate Democrat. The Democrats have already made up there minds that Trump is guilty of high crimes and no matter what the testimony is they'll vote guilty. And yet Schumer is making every effort to make this trial drag on. I agree with the Republicans, the votes are already cast, end the trial as quickly as possible and get on with real business.
2
What exactly is the point of John Roberts presiding? I sincerely hope the framers did not mean his presence to be a cruel joke, akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burns. How can he live with himself? And how can any republican voter ever justify their leaders, their lawyers or this sham.
9
@Meena: The appointment of the Chief Justice to preside at impeachment trials is the root basis of its power to judge the constitutionality of laws.
1
The democrats didn’t get a single vote from the republicans in the House. They haven’t a single vote from the republicans in the Senate so far. There is just no way they will get 67 votes to remove Trump from office. During the trial the Senate can do nothing else. And a ridiculous rule that only get to drink milk and water. Can we just end this and go back to work?
2
@Jim: Unbending partisan hacks have no logic other than to claim everyone else is even more partisan.
5
@Jim
Right. The Democrats didn't get a single vote from the Republicans for the ACA either, there was due process, there was debate and amendments, they lost fair and square and yet they cried foul. Ted Cruz claimed bipartisanship is when Democrats come to his side.
This comment detailed exactly that the Republicans always walk lock step and are incapable of acting independently and being bipartisan - and yet the Democrats are accused of lack of bipartisanship and and told that they should just capitulate and not even try.
As always, Republicans accuse Democrats of what they are guilty of. Just like Trump, their guy.
3
45 was wrong for holding the foreign aid and his guilt continues to be presented in many forms.
The Senate needs to review and question more (but not all!) documents and witnesses, respectively.
6
Every vote against the inclusion of testimony and documentary evidence will come back to haunt the GOP this fall. This coverup demeans the Senate. The White House lawyers are continuing Trump's lies about the House process in which they had every opportunity to participate. This mistreatment of the truth and complete lack of a credible defense demeans the presidency.
And yet, the Democrats persist. Armed with the truth, the moral high ground, and right on their side, they speak past the Senate and White House to the American voter.
We must listen. We must act in the fall. We must vote for what is best in America. We must find our way back to honesty and integrity.
17
If Chief Justice Roberts is tired and stressed he should speak to Mitch McConnell who insisted that the Senate Impeachment trial be speedy and last just days-he hopes that the public will forget what was said and that the Republican members can hurry out to the campaign trail and try to defend their seats.McConnell miscalculated-the public knows a sham trial when they see one-they have seen hundreds of trials enacted on TV.The public is interested and since some testimony is in the wee hours the curiosity of viewers is piqued-they want to know what is being hidden.This sham of an Impeachment that McConnell has designed may come back to bite him-voters know this is historic and are tuning in for the drama!
11
This morning Chief Justice Roberts hears a case about the constitutionality of taxing the public to support private sectarian schools. What is this case doing in the Supreme Court?
8
We may be watching the final act of Trump's reality TV show "Democracy takes a holiday." Based on the first day of his impeachment I sincerely doubt that anybody on either side of the aisle has any illusions that he will not be acquitted. We have now entered "The Fact-Free Zone" where evidence, witness testimony and the law take a back seat to partisan indignation backstopped by McConnell's heavy thumb on the scale.
We should all be very aware that no matter what Trump did, does or will do he will not be held accountable by GOP puppets. It was once said of a corrupt Louisiana governor (I forget the name because there have been so many) that he would not be impeached even if he were found in bed with a dead girl or a live boy. Trump's impeachment firmly establishes the Nixon doctrine that "if the president does something it cannot be illegal."
Orate fratres.
8
I watched this on and off yesterday. The problem is the speakers speak like they do in their respective forums. Slow. Clear enunciation. They want to make their point clear, but, often over talk it. Slowly over talk it.
These truly are the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players".
1
I don't understand why the majority party in the Senate is setting the rules--shouldn't the Chief justice set them according to established rules of jurisprudence?
3
The Democrats made logical , persuasive arguments for witnesses and were rebuffed by Republicans shielding Americans from the truth.
I believe the Democrats should offer to provide Joe Biden as a witness as he dealt with corruption in the Ukraine with the support of allies and global institutions this will contrast starkly with the tactics of the Trump Administration.
In return Bolton should be called as a witness and provided he is truthful he will confirm and strengthen the case against Trump .
It will not change the vote in the Senate but it will enable Americans free to vote in November knowing all the facts
6
Chief Justice Roberts has already shown his cards commenting about decorum, not about presenting evidence.
It is all about the format. If the GOP rules are just followed, "Conservative Justice" will be done.
The Supreme Court will approve the way this is done.
3
@gratis: C. J. Roberts reminds me of C.J. Taney (1858). Dred Scott is suing for his freedom on a subtle point of law. Taney cites the Constitution: doesn't mention the word "slavery", and therefore by some contorted reasoning Scott remains a slave. Roberts, 162-years later is committing another abomination. He presides over a Senate trial that voted to call no witnesses and documents - and he pretends all are well. We supposedly in the 21st century live in a more enlightened age - yet Roberts allows/legitimizes this outrage. Roberts' farce is infinitely worse than Taney's.
4
I hope someone is keeping a list of Senator yeas and nays. In this election year it is imperative to name and shame.
1
No need to keep track. Straight party line voting. Does anyone expect anything different?
4
@Mark
Republicans have made this very easy for us by their universal capitulation to corruption in this show trial worthy of any tin pot dictatorship.
Don’t vote for Republicans
5
To me, this is not a waste of time.
I want history to know someone thought the Rule of Law was worth defending, even if you lose.
So many here think only winning matters. So many think, if you are losing, give up. The evidence is overwhelming. Stand up for the Constitution. Defend the Rule of Law.
Give up? Do not even try? Not this liberal. Stand up for what you believe, even if you lose. And the Dems will lose.
That is what courage is about.
13
After the disgraceful Republican display yesterday, there can no longer be any whiff of a suggestion that the United States is a functioning democracy, let alone the greatest democracy of them all.
A very sad day for America. How did these GOP Senators face themselves in the mirror this morning?
19
I guess the Republicans think the memory structures inside our brains have ceased function. Well mine are working quite well.
If we can have four (or is it five?) hearings on Benghazi with several subpoenaed witnesses and thousands of pages of documents submitted by Obama et al, and our republic survived in tact, then we can do the same now.
11
@Stephen
House didn't want to go through the slog of fighting in Court. Republicans did for Benghazi. You don't understand the difference I don't care to explain it to you but there IS a difference.
Of all people, see what Jonathan Turley said about the WH defense in a column for BBC News (sorry to reference another source but it's where it appears). The actual risk of precedence that could be set if the Trump defense wins, which is all but assured only because of the rules structure and lack of witnesses: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51200828
2
All these partisan hacks claiming to mind-read the Founders evidently don't even grasp that the founders expected their scheme of government to inhibit the formation of political parties like the Robotic Republicans.
3
The irony of Chief Justice Roberts admonishing Cippolone and Nadler by pointing out that the Senate is "the world's greatest deliberative body" is that the Senate adopted rules to minimize any deliberation.
237
"...the Senate adopted rules to minimize any deliberation."
@Larry - 48 hours of argument plus 16 hours of open questioning sounds like plenty of deliberative time to me.
3
@Larry :
It is not irony. Chief Justice Roberts is in on the fix.
41
@Larry: The US Senate, in its profound genius, selects and elevates individuals like John Roberts to be clueless about transgression of constitutional laws like "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion".
21
The Presidents professional lawyers spent yesterday engaging in argument while the Democrats were engaging in political debate. You make argument in court over witnesses and documents, you do not debate it, as this article frames it. The Democrats were simply stuffing the record and creating sound bites for political consumption. The conclusion was already known by anyone paying attention. Nothing was gained by the proceedings yesterday. Schumer could have made one Ammendment motion instead multiple. In a regular trial court the Judge would have forced those Ammendments into one.
1
Adam Schiff was brilliant yesterday and I see a potential great president in the making! The president’s “attorneys” LYING before the Senate did not go over well with me!
28
Why can't the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court take a day off work to preside over the third Presidential impeachment in history? Nobody's explaining why, they're just saying he has to go to perform his duties at SCOTUS in the mornings. How come they can't postpone their gleeful destruction of the separation of church and state till *after* they've legalized sovereign immunity and redefined corruption out of existence?
9
Please do contact your Senators and Representatives to let them know that you want witnesses and documents included in the impeachment trial.
12
@Frances Good idea, except my senators and representatives already are pushing for that, and the Republican ones aren't interested in any views except their dear leader Trump's.
6
The democrats have done their work admirably. trump has lied and deceived and hidden evidence. Chief Justice should break with tradition and demand McConnell act like a senator/judge/juror and not trump's attorney.
8
@MLE53 :
The GOP has done its work better. Obstruct, obstruct, obstruct, then blame the Dems for not doing their job. It is the Dems fault the GOP does not follow the Rule of Law.
Fox News helps, and it all works. Look who holds the majority and the POTUS.
5
@gratis
The GOP has not done their job better. They have failed to do their job and this they do very well. They are not acting as senators and congresspeople, they are acting as trump’s bodyguards. Their legacy will be one of shame. trump is president for one reason, misinformation, by Fox and Russia, and refusal of the GOP to stand for their principles. Another miserable legacy
1
We don’t need any more evidence or witnesses. Trump committed a crime AND violated the Constitution. He breaks the emoluments rule daily. Trump should be removed from office. Just bz he keeps committing new offenses doesn’t mean we have to keep waiting!!
131
@Meg Riley Please name the crime and statute committed.
@JGaltTX
Do some homework! The Trump maneuver was deemed ILLEGAL - withholding appropriated funds is not legal. Good God.
30
@JGaltTX
Educate yourself.
NY Times article entitled G.A.O. Report Says Trump Administration Broke Law in Withholding Ukraine Aid.
Actual statutory crimes are not required for impeachment despite what Republicans say. But the article above is one example.
20
Observations:
The decision of Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republicans to conduct the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump in the dead of night, out of sight and hearing of the American people: 1. Demonstrates the Republicans' contempt for the Constitution and their oath to uphold it;
2. Makes a joke and mockery of any claim America remains "the greatest Democracy in the world".
3. Demonstrates the Republicans' contempt for the Democrats, the Press and the televised Media, which dutifully "report" what the Republicans are doing, but express and explain (by editorial or other apprpriate means) no outrage over the meaning and consequences of the Republicans' conduct.
Absent a few principled Republicans honoring their oath to the Constitution, the Republicans' truncated, eviscerated version of an impeachment trial, their argument Trump's "abuse of power" is not an impeachable offense, their controlling majority in the Senate, and William Barr as Attorney General, we are left to contemplate a future with Donald Trump as President operating under his interpretation of Article II of the Constitution.
3
To me, this is not a waste of time.
I want history to know someone thought the Rule of Law was worth defending, even if you lose.
So many here think only winning matters. So many think, if you are losing, give up. The evidence is overwhelming. Stand up for the Constitution. Defend the Rule of Law.
Give up? Do not even try? Not this liberal. Stand up for what you believe, even if you lose. And the Dems will lose.
That is what courage is about.
9
It’s not a surprise that after we elected the worst human being imaginable to our most powerful office, albeit with a minority of the vote, he would commit crimes, betray our country and repeatedly embarrass and diminish us on the world stage.
It is a surprise that one of our two major political parties would completely debase itself to defend this man, utterly at odds with reality and at the cost of their own dignity and our Constitutional democracy.
Truly a historic low point for the United States, and one that can only begin to be addressed by removing the GOP from power in all three branches of government.
9
This is nothing less than a battle for the soul of our democracy. The behavior of the Republicans makes me weep.... they are spitting on the graves of all of those who have died for our Constitution and for freedom in this country. This a time for deep prayer.
5
Cipollone perjured himself at least twice yesterday. Where's the Republican outrage over perjury? Must be in the same file drawer with Republican outrage over deficits and big spending.
20
Why doesn’t our Senator break from the pack and show some spine- he is going to lose his senate race against a popular governor- Hickenlooper- anyway. “Cardboard Corey” could redeem himself in the eyes of Colorado voters.
6
@Kay Johnson
Cory Gardner show backbone? Cory Gardner do what is best for Coloradans and represent Colorado? Cory Gardner break from the pack? You don't know the real Cory Gardner.
He has always been a Trumpian through and through. Vulnerable? - you betcha.
For those who don't understand the cardboard Cory reference - Gardner has not held a real town hall with real live people - only phone conferences. He hasn't had one of those in years. He doesn't meet with constituents, only donors. He has insulated himself from the people of Colorado, except his minority support. So there is a cardboard cut out of Cory that travels the state and we have Cardboard Cory town halls.
1
Imagine a case where the jury is the one deciding what evidence they will hear as opposed to the parties and the judge. "Impartiality" indeed [end sarcasm]. How exactly are the American public supposed to be happy about government transparency at this point? ... I'm the first to agree with Hamilton that impeachments are partisan affairs, but we need to set the constitutional impeachment process up next to the electoral college as institutions that require some tuning after 220+ years.
3
This farce should not be called a trial. Trump has no qualms about fighting as dirty as he can on just about everything.
The Republicans Senators aren’t even pretending to want a fair trial. Collins and Romney are mumbling a few things but they refuse to stand up to Trump.
Midnight Mitch seems determined to help Putin however he can. Donald, Mitch and Barr don’t have the integrity to handle their powerful positions.
6
I wish the Democrats had exploded in laughter when John Roberts referred to the Senate as the "world's greatest deliberative body". It would've done nothing to help their case, but even Roberts knows better than to say stuff like that.
5
The Democrats should walk out of the “trial” and leave that circus to the Republicans alone. Depriving them of an enemy would leave them helpless, purposeless, and floundering. If the Democrats simply absented themselves and refused to participate any further, Trump could not then claim exoneration. Well, he might try to, but you can’t be exonerated if almost half of the jury doesn’t participate and never votes. Let Trump be, as he already is, in Nancy Pelosi’s immortal phrase, “impeached for life,” and let that be the end of it.
4
How is it every american cannot see that when the GOP and the president are refusing to let certain witnesses appear, Trump is in fact acknowledging his guilt in this case. I don't understand that. Because they don't care if he is guilty?
11
Day 1: McConnell 1 : Constitution 0 (as usual)
The GOP has the power. The WH lawyers are not making a case to defend Pres. Trump -because there is none and they don't have to.
House Managers are using each amendment proposal to lay out facts, connect dots, and demonstrate Trump high crimes, obstruction, and the need for witnesses and documents that Trump has blocked. They are doing such a good job, that McConnell suggested they 'stack' their amendments without presenting their arguments so that the GOP could vote them down all at once. Haha.
Meanwhile, every Republican is on record as rejecting witness testimony, pertinent documents, and rules to prevent cherry picking of new evidence. (Except one 'independent' vote by Susan Collins on allowing more time.) Dems even had to fight to get House evidence into the record as McConnell Trump GOP drive for cover up extends to the archival record ie to erasing all evidence from Senate history.
Watch for McConnell to throw Collins a few crumbs here and there and cut her loose from the herd to make a few 'independent' votes to shore up her seat. But so far she's casting her net more to voters on the far right than to center. (FYI, Maine CD2 which went for Trump in 2016, flipped its House seat to blue in 2018, while the state also flipped the governorship to blue. CD2 stayed blue.)
3
Without witnesses, this is a cover-up.
Without documents, this is a cover-up.
If he were innocent, he would want witnesses and documents to back up his story.
Republican Senators who blocked witnesses and documents should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. They are complicit and history will echo with their shame.
I tell my children, every morning, to do good and be good. After last night, my son asked, "Why are they trying to help the President lie? Why don't they want to see the proof?" I had no answer.
19
@JLT - good job, you absorbed the Democrats talking points perfectly. Witnesses and documents will be decided by the Senate later in the proceedings. That was the plan all along.
2
@Mkm In what world do you decide about witnesses 1/2 way through a trial? The whole point of a trial is to review evidence. It is an obvious play to reduce the amount of evidence that can be reviewed, a legal trick, a sham, a rigging of the system to favor the accused.
7
Trump is Entitled. It is his reality that matters and this Impeachment Trial Counters all that matters which is to serve him and his reality. Americans are just Pawns to serve this process.. This is the underlying Narrative.
1
There is probably no appetite for it, but there seems to be nothing to preclude another Congress from re-opening an investigation of the new information, and subpoenaing witness which the courts will allow. At least this would keep DJT from being beatified like St. Ronnie. I urge continued vigilance and perseverance.
4
Clearly the GOP senators are counting on 51% of the Electors to not have turned on their TV sets last night. Or at the minimum, to hope that the same 51% have no regard for the constitution.
3
@richard They are relying on at least 51% only getting their news from the Fox spin state media outlet. And sadly they will find this to be the case.
1
I'm guessing the Framers of the constitution would be appalled that we have not changed the process to meet the modern realities of party politics and a VP from the same party.
Our greatest strength -- the peaceful transfer of power every 4 years through respect for the constitution -- has turned into our greatest weakness: gaming the system.
I'm glad it's Trump and the demographically-challenged Republicans who are making the case for a presidency without limits. Our horror of Trump should boost the dry arguments about separation of powers.
Unfortunately, the NY Times and the rest of the media continue to dramatize this as Democrats v. Republicans, instead of Citizens v. Party Hacks and Political Bosses.
5
I will be making another contribution to Kentucky’s Democratic Party. It is time for Senator McConnell to retire.
14
The Supreme Court ought to clear its schedule to allow Chief Justice Roberts to devote his full attention and all of his faculties on this critical trial regarding the fate of our democracy and whether a rogue president can be removed.
And the people of the United States would like to hear more from their chief justice as he presides over the only remedy to remove this blight of Trump upon our government, before his term mercifully ends.
More than just a gentle admonishment and words about decorum and the “world’s great deliberative body“.
5
@srwdm :
Why? Roberts is owned by corporations. He is there to put the approval of the SCOTUS on the sham.
3
It is a shame that Justice Roberts has to be pulled away from important matters to preside over this continuing farce. And even the most unengaged Senator will have heard the story over and over again because everything they need to know was in the transcript of the phone call. They simply must decide if what Trump said was an impeachable high crime or misdemeanor. It wasn’t. Trump won’t be removed and the impeachment’s 15 minutes of fame will be over by Valentine’s Day—if the Super Bowl doesn’t wipe it from our collective memories even sooner.
3
Do ethics and morality matter to Conservatives?
As little as the Rule of Law and the Constitution.
3
If the final score of the Super Bowl is 53 47, I'll scream. But you have to hand it to the R's. Yesterday they used the same strategy they've used for climate change and it worked. Lie, refuse to hear evidence, blame everybody but themselves and play the victim card.
18
@RNS Perfect summary!
3
Once again we will get to witness the Trump Derangement Syndrome on full speed ahead. Last night Nadler accused Republican Senators of being treasonous if they didn't vote for his amendments. Wow, talk about derangement.
This is nothing more than a coup attempt and trying to influence the 2020 elections. Again I repeat, if and when the Democrats win back the Presidency they will do everything possible to consolidate power and cause a civil war. Their lust for power is no different than Putin or a 3rd world dictator.
6
@JGaltTX
Wipe the foam off your lips. Bringing impeachment charges, having a hearing, having people testify, is called holding a leader accountable- a duty assigned to citizens by the US Constitution.
Trying to strong-arm another country to consolidate power is exactly what Trump is in trouble for and being held accountable for. Hiding evidence is not a sign of innocence. Trump is a fan of Putin FYI.
10
@JGaltTX Can you explain how it is a coup or why democrats would want Pence to become president if the Senate were to vote to remove? I'm not understanding this part of your argument. Thank you.
I tried to watch. A Republican was making a statement that was pure lies. It made me so angry I couldn’t watch anymore. It’s a sham trial. It looks like Trump will in fact be allowed to alter and enhance the power of the presidency. He is indeed above the rule of law. Trump is providing a blueprint for all future presidents on how to get away with anything, no guardrails, no restraints, no accountability. He has corrupted the highest level of government. They’re all corrupt. I hope people are calling their senators.
20
If Trump’s tweets cannot penetrate the Senate chamber is it Trump or our Senators who cease to exist? Maybe someone will report some breakthrough from their isolation tank.
Tell us again why lying about an extracurricular girlfriend is worthy of impeachment but arm twisting foreign govs to investigate your rival or else lose military funding is now OK.
5
This is a joke. Everyone knows the outcome but yet here we are with 100 senators and all their staff wasting time instead of passing a law that say increases infrastructure spending.
No wonder Congress’s approval rating is even lower than Trump’s.
Worse yet is the effect on national productivity. How much time is an average American essentially forced into paying attention to a proceeding that has a foregone conclusion? Maybe half an hour? Multiply that by 300 million plus. I wonder what amazing things we could have accomplished with that time but for this charade of a trial.
3
The trump cult bellowing about "the courts" is so disingenuous: 1) law-abiding citizens obey supoenas; 2) the courts would have taken years, and that what the trump defense was counting on. They were counting on holding the entire process up until after he enlisted as much foreign help and cheating to "win" the election again.
It goes against the sheepish DNA of the trump party to be honest. But we shouldn't forget that all their "outrage," and their "rationalizing," is fabricated.
7
". . . many of the points that will be heard on Wednesday may feel familiar to anyone who hung through Tuesday’s session, which dragged on for nearly 13 hours into the wee hours of Wednesday morning."
". . . to introduce their case again in a coherent and compelling way that will capture the attention of 100 senators sitting muzzled at their desks."
Even though this entire ordeal continues to wear me out on a daily basis, thank goodness for the perky and humorous descriptions and writing of Peter Baker to keep things "entertaining".
I truly need this degree of jocularity, especially at the beginning of the day.
Thank you Mr. Baker and the NYT!!!
3
Please amend my earlier comment to thank both
Mr. Baker and NYT
1
Tuesday’s hearing did not “drag on” Mr. Baker. It was long, but it was substantive on the Democratic side. Not knowing when Sen. Mitch McConnell will shut down the hearing without documents or witnesses, they masterfully presented the case while they could. Meanwhile, Mr. Cipollone was unprepared and outright lied about the proceedings that had been held by the House of Representatives. Apparently, their presentation, such as it was, was tailored for the president and the Fox News viewers. In essence, the Democratic managers were serious and informative, the president’s men, knowing the fix is in, didn’t even try, their desks clear of notes, reciting talking points.
165
@Kathryn Thomas
I watched a great deal of the proceedings yesterday. I was very impressed with the House presentation. The defense for trump was exactly what I expected. Very thin and very useless. I did not see Chief Justice admonish the two sides, but I am sure he was wrong. Only trump’s defense needs admonishment. They certainly have my scorn. As does McConnell and his cronies for their very cheap impressions of senators and in this case judges/jurors.
32
@Kathryn Thomas - Adam Schiff. You did an
amazing job yesterday!
30
@Kathryn Thomas "Tuesday’s hearing did not “drag on” Mr. Baker. It was long, but it was substantive on the Democratic side. " The drag was that the Republicans didn't even begin to present a defense, they merely repeated the fictional Fox News talking points, presenting lies as if they were believable, over and over. I don't expect that there will be any more substantive arguments to present during this sham-trial, but then, with the legal team he has, the point is not to present a legal defense of the President's conduct but merely to reinforce what his base already believes, and to get this out of the way as quickly as possible so he can get back to destroying the environment, the election and the Constitution.
6
Watch for more democrats to insist that it is now normal to consider an American Guilty when charged and the burden is on the Accused to Prove Their Innocence.
15
@GregP
That's what Republicans believe. They are the ones not allowing evidence.
43
@GregP
A) Impeachment is not a criminal trial. There is no Constitutionally defined standard of burden beyond “high crimes and misdemeanors”. But that definition is ambiguous. Back in the 1990s, Alan Dershowitz, Lindsey Graham and other prominent conservatives argued that a crime need not have even been committed to remove the president if their conduct was unbecoming of their office.
B) Why do you desire to hold the President of the United States to the same standard as someone who is accused of being a serial killer? Don’t you think that the most powerful political office on Earth should be held to a higher standard than that?
43
@GregP
Where did you get this, from a Fox News? The democrats are trying to prove trump’s guilt through witnesses and documents. What is trump's defense team’s argument - trump is president and can’t be questioned?
68
It’s a sham. Republicans refuse to allow the truth to come out. Only a guilty person would block witnesses from testifying and refuse to allow relevant documents. Someday, karma will catch up with Trump. Not sure our country will remain intact given all the damage that’s been done.
7
The President has been absent from responsibility for most of his life. He has avoided the draft, avoided responsibility for bankruptcy, extramarital affairs, lying constantly, etc. Those were real events. The Impeachment has become a parody demonstrating how a bunch of rich older white guys can protect another rich older white guy. It is "fake news" at this point. Trump should feel right at home. It is as big a sham as the President is...well, maybe not quite that big.
8
All of the Republican Senators are traitors to the Constitution and should be tried for treason. And I honestly have to ask Mainers why they keep voting for cover-up Susie. At least her constituents know that if they're accused of a crime the prosecutor won't be able to present witnesses or documents. Should reduce the prison population in Maine.
9
If I were the Democrats’ cornerman I’d give the following pep talk after round one:
“Great round, you pounded away at all the evidence available and necessary for there to be a real trial on the truth...and Mitch’s GOP can’t handle the truth. Trump, he can’t touch you with facts, he’s got nothing but lies. Now get out there and stick them with the testimony and facts already developed in the hearings, and in public domain, that prove the case that Trump is unfit to continue in office; keep it focused and concise...don’t forget the jury is not asleep in the Senate but at home...get that clicker out of their hands....
Go for the TKO...Trump Kicked Out !”
4
I would hope the GOP pays a price in the the ballot box BUT way too many ignorant voters: in their minds this thought persists.......,,”Don’t confuse me facts, I have already made up my mind”.....oh and this applies to the GOP senate.
9
What we are witnessing is a travesty of 'justice', politicised to absurdity. I fear the light has gone out in the shining city on the hill. Hopefully there will be some in the GOP who can go beyond virtue signaling and save our republic!
6
The ones always making sure people understand, that they are there to protect America... the ones calling themselves defenders of the Motherland... the ones that want to protect America from intruders... those are the most corrupt people in the land. The Republicans, the GOP politicians, racist, neochristians, white nationalists, entitled rich, war mongers. These Republicans are defending their special interests, they are not defending the middle class, the workers, the institutions? They are there only to defend their corrupt ways of operating.
4
Cover-ups for influence and cash! Republican sell-outs like the cash flow of Putin-power to do anything about the behavior of this Putin-installed president. Words of the founders flounder, use it or loose it!
5
A mawkish and mockable trial led by a mock turtle.
6
I really don’t understand how the Chief Justice of the United States, sworn to uphold the constitution and the rules of law, allows a trial without evidence or witnesses to continue.
This is a farce, theater of the absurd, played out before the entire world.
Putin and his like are laughing at the fraud the American people are suppose to swallow.
My country is dying.
223
Because it isn’t a judicial trial. The only peril they defendant is in is that he may be removed from office. His life, freedom, or property are not at stake.
6
@DavidJ
The Chief Justice's role in impeachment is not the same as in the Court. He can tell visiting House members and lawyers to respect Senate protocols but not impose any rules. He keeps things civil and running smoothly. He is not allowed to use his judiciary power in congress because of separation of powers.
10
@DavidJ
Chief Justice Roberts is owned by Corporations.
He always was.
20
Having watched the House impeachment hearings, there really is nothing to "watch for" in the arguments that the House managers will make to the Senate, or in the rebuttal arguments. We have heard them before. The only thing to "watch for" is whether at some point John Bolton or other new witnesses will be called to testify.
2
I watched a good part of the first days proceedings, and the only conclusion one can draw from this the Trump enabled GOP intends to permanently change our form of government into an authoritarian state. I believe this is now their fundamental aim and the true goal is to permanently enshrine a privileged position for a permanent minority. It is pretty clear they intend to pave the way for the GOP to continue stealing elections by any means, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. I don’t see how this gets resolved in the context of the legislature, and it certainly won’t get resolved in the 2020 election because we cannot trust the results. Trump’s acquittal will pave the way for further tampering, and even if he loses, he will claim it was rigged, then take to Fox News to harass the next president. The last time the country faced such blatant injustice was during the Civil Rights movement. The only way we got actual change was taking to the streets. If Gun owners are willing to threaten the State of Virginia, why wouldn’t progressives, liberals and just plain people who wish to live in actual democracy rise up and defend it?
10
Given the evidence, their oath to impartial justice ought to be a lot easier to keep than to milk, water and silence.
GOP senators are setting precedents they will regret when the shoe is on the other foot. Unless they assume there is never going to be a scenario in which they aren't in control? Why, one would think they had inside knowledge that future elections will be rigged in their favor...
4
@Nomad They will just change their minds and say the opposite at that point. Already there are countless examples of GOP senators, not to mention Dershowitz, Starr, etc, arguing the opposite at the time of Clinton's impeachment. I wish the Dems would run those conflicting statements side by side day and night.
4
It was a wholly partisan exercise in the House and the Senate, accordingly, is responding in kind. This is not how impeachment is supposed to be conducted and the responsibility lies with Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and their House colleagues.
2
The GOP senate, having publicly stated that they would coordinate with the White House lawyers during the trial, broke their oath of impartiality from the beginning.
Now that the very compelling evidence proving the President's mis-deeds has been locked away from view, the impeachment verdict will be rendered without the prosecutorial presentation of these clear facts.
American's are being misguided through this process, not being given any opportunity to render opinion based on full truth and fact. Many Americans seem to be ok with that.
74
@biijii Many Americans are capable and confident in their own opinions of what they are viewing. Like most Democrats, that quality is ok only if it agrees with their opinions. Freedom of thought and opinion is that which has made the United States great and those who would have it otherwise become throwbacks to a darker side of history.
@biijii
If only we lived in a divided limited different power constitutional republic of united states where the people wielded the ultimate sovereign power over their elected and selected hired help.
Many Americans including 58 % of the white European American Judeo-Christian majority voted for Donald Trump. And they delivered him a meaningful Electoral College majority vote.
Hillary lost. Donnie won. Republicans won the Senate. Deal with it.
1
"What [I'm] expecting to see" is a sham of a show trial: arguments without witnesses, absence of necessary evidence, senator's questions without information. They've already rendered their verdict.
I used to be a moderate, even voting occasionally for a sensible Republican. No longer. My motto now at the polls: never Republican for the rest of my life.
And I urge my fellow Democrats to send money to the Democratic opponents of at-risk Republicans running for reelection in 2020: Susan Collins (ME), Thom Tillis (NC), Cory Gardner (CO), Martha McSally (AZ). Also send money to bolster at-risk Democrats Doug Jones (AL) and Gary Peters (MI).
King Donald's and fixer McConnell's tyranny must come to an end.
71
@Wiltontraveler I made the same decision as you about donating to opponents of GOP senators. And the rogues gallery on your list will also be getting postcards from me telling them about my donations to their opponents. I used to stay out of other states’ elections, but that was back in quaint times when politics ended at the water’s edge.
17
@Wiltontraveler
Watch the video of Chuck Schumer during the Clinton Impeachment where he makes the argument not to have witnesses. His reason? The 2/3rds vote to Acquit was already in the bag and no reason to drag it out any longer. That is Schumer himself two decades ago. It was Partisan when it was Clinton being acquitted and its Partisan now that Trump is being assailed.
4
@Wiltontraveler You might also look up "the Lincoln
project" and add your support to that group, they are raising money to bring down Trumpy, and support Democrats who are running for office this fall. This group is made up of Conservative Republicans who are also disgusted with the present GOP. I also will never vote for a Rep. again.
10
I was watching a different show. Where was there presented any direct evidence that the President ordered money to be withheld in exchange for public statements of investigations?
Yes, I see the President refused to grant them access to rummage around the White House to make something more of the President’s call, but they had the courts to help them in that decision and they chose not to.
The biggest liar thus far has been Schiff, as he made up the dialogue of the call. Also, as time marches on, we’re hearing of even more Biden corruption as it relates to his brothers and their dealings to enrich themselves on Biden’s coattails.
8
@Arthur Taylor
the evidence was presented in phone calls.
They all participated; Trump, Pompeo and the rest of his criminal gang.
Schiff is the only way saving our democracy/
What does hunter Biden have to do with anything?
Look at Trump' s kids: all enriching themselves at taxpayers expense .
Why is Trump not "letting " people testify? Where are his tax returns? If he has nothing to hide, he would be cooperating fully, not stonewalling.
89
@Arthur Taylor Congress shouldn't have to go to court to get witnesses or the full transcripts of all calls with Ukraine. That's called obstruction.
Have you read the WH summary of the July 25th call? Paraphrasing is not the same as making up.
11
@Arthur Taylor They want to present direct evidence and are being blocked by the GOP majority!
6
The game is on and the fix is in. May the GOP pay a heavy price for their cowardly 11 votes of last night come Nov.
62
That Justice Roberts was exhausted was obvious when he referred to the current Senate as the 'world's greatest deliberative body.' The irony is that Moscow Mitch had prevented all deliberations and all votes were party-line. This, while both Roberts and the 'world' were watching.
43
@Cynical :
Roberts is there to put the approval of the SCOTUS on the sham trial. And he is gladly doing his part to exonerate Trump. When he is done, so is the Constitution, to the GOP delight. Trump is King. Long live the King.
3
So the Republican plan is sweep it all under the rug before the voters come home or the Judge wakes up? I don’t believe any of these Republicans have a mother.
35
If we could just eliminate evidence in criminal trials, nobody would get convicted and we could turn prisons into bed and breakfasts for the homeless.
44
Our system of government is a joke. The Republicans are traitors to the Constitution. Look at what they have become? There are no moderates, just radicals. America is subjected to tyranny of the majority by the minority.
51
@Ben
Our system of government is not a joke.
But you are correct that Republicans are trying to make it into one.
"Radical" is a metaphor borrowed from mathematics, where radicals find roots of equations. (It's the square root symbol).
Political "radicals" look for the root of a problem, instead of attacking symptoms.
The Radical Right thinks that the Constitution and it's attempts to make all people politically equal is the root of the problem. They are trying to use a corrupt, lying president to end it.
The radical Left thinks that the root of the problem is the corruption of the Constitution by corrupt, lying politicians and the billionaires that fund their campaigns.
They want to take Constitutional Rights from corporations and tax them, so we can invest in Americans and America.
Moderates need to choose a side.
The whole thing is laughable. High crimes? Why not charge the Iranian dictator with high crimes for killing innocent people. Oh and a misdemeanor the most minor of offenses. I'm not sure this trial will accomplish anything of significance. These lawmakers need to get back to governing the country instead of focusing on a single person
4
If logic, Patriotism, facts and the truth meant anything, the impeachment trial’s ultimate result would be the unanimous conviction of President Trump, who is guilty of all he has been accused of.
Adam Schiff was brilliant in his presentation of Trump’s abuses of power. Trump’s defense team was inept, untruthful, and full of sound and fury signifying nothing but malarkey. They also violated all legal norms of an honorable and honest defense of what is indefensible. The Republican Senators have already shown that they didn’t take their oaths to be impartial jurors seriously and have shown no inclination to have an open mind and a fair impartial trial with witnesses and subpoenaed records. They have chosen political expediency and shallow partisanship over their duties to the Constitution and their institution the Senate. The world’s greatest deliberative body has been shown today to have no deliberation and no honor. They are as shameless as the President that they have decided to defend and all deserve history’s ignominy. This trial promises to be a sham, a fraud, and an embarrassment to our country. The world is watching the US Senate reveal ourselves as a democracy in shambles with a tattered and likely meaningless Constitution.
29
@IN
Individual One is going to deliver the Constitution of the United States of AMERICA, wrapped in a big RED now, to Vlad after he leaves Davos. Individual One and the Republicon party KILLED America. Remember what happened to Mussolini and his lady friend? For some reason that is flashing through the minds of true Americans, and good people everywhere.
4
America, the land of milk and water?
Is this some Biblical thing from the same book that says Trump is Jesus and children are best caged and not heard?
6
You mean after 12 hours of stamping feet and crying, they have more to say?
2
When Chief Justice Roberts admonished 'the world’s greatest deliberative body' I had to laugh.
It is that no longer!
The GOP has destroyed the Senate under Moscow Mitch. There is no longer deliberation, only obstruction, group think, and sycophancy to their supreme leader.
The Senate is a joke, and after 1 day of watching this sham trial, I realized it will take a new generation to fix it.
These 70-something year old GOP men and women are more concerned about being re-elected than observing their oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution.
To allow this lawless president to continue is to set a precedent for all future presidents that they are above the law.
We may as well have a coronation rather than an inauguration on Jan 20, 2021.
25
A complete waste of my taxes and desire to participate in our democracy.
2
@Pilot :
What democracy? The Electoral Majority is in fact a minority, and the majority of Americans have no power at all.
1
After watching the highlights of yesterday's (Tue) proceedings - I've concluded that it's all now a collossal waste of time and that all is lost. Perhaps the dems should not even carry on with this circus and not bother showing up anyome. So sorry for my neighbour's to the south.
9
Yesterday, Trump presented nothing to defend his actions in response to the charges. This entire trial is being railroaded through without any evidence provided to defend what Trump did.
Next week, republican senators will acquit Trump without any witness testimony or any review of key documents. This decision will be based solely on which political party republican senators belong to, and not on the facts.
By doing so, Republicans will tell Trump he is free to demand foreign interference in our 2020 election by withholding congressionally appropriated money. By doing so, Republicans will tell Trump he is free to force other countries to launch criminal investigations of any American citizen for any reason, without any evidence.
That is abominable.
Do republican senators have any sense of right or wrong?
Do they have no strength of character to demand that testimony and evidence be considered, and decide, on the merits and facts, what is constitutionally right or wrong?
Do they honestly believe they exist solely to blow in the winds of whatever is released from Trump's mouth, and not to vote their consciences come hell or high water? Is staying in office more important than doing what is constitutionally right or wrong?
Do republican senators have any spine left?
29
@Ed : The GOP does not need spine, morals or ethics.
They have the Electoral Majority. End of story.
4
Yes, the Democrats got "schiffed" last night. How can anybody expect any less after that joke of an "impeachment inquiry" in the House? What goes around comes around.
6
Have Trump return from his lederhosen ramble and come sit down and take the oath.
He says he’s innocent but won’t allow anyone to talk about his “drug deal”. John Bolton sounds plenty ready to chat about it.
10
@Kay Johnson
Looks like we’ll have to wait for the book.
It strikes me that to truly bring the case to the people, each Senator should use their time in opening statements to rationally, seriously lay out the case against Trump, including reading testimony from the House hearings. While it may sway no one, it will demonstrate the seriousness of the conduct and the desire for an appropriate hearing.
1
@Jeanne A
One problem...Senators do not have any statements to make. They can submit written questions and at the end they vote.
1
@Wondering you're right - and I was misinformed.
The sense that there are any "moderate" republicans was laid to rest yesterday when every one of the trial rule amendments regarding witnesses and documents was defeated by 53-47. Voted against by every single republican, including Susan Collins of Maine.
The question that Greta Thunberg asked at the World Economic Forum regarding the climate crisis applies equally well to every single republican who has chosen party over county: "What will you tell your children and grandchildren of your behavior"; they are the ones to face the long-term consequences of Republican choices.
22
@James
"The sense that there are any "moderate" republicans was laid to rest yesterday when every one of the trial rule amendments regarding witnesses and documents was defeated by 53-47."
Let's hope that centrist Democrats notice this and stop begging the Right for compromise that will NEVER come.
Win the election and make Replicans compromise. Otherwise they will give up nothing.
This isn’t a legal proceeding, it’s a political proceeding. The House, lead by Democrats, had the right to impeach President Trump and the senate, lead by Republicans, has the right to run the impeachment anyway it sees fit. Then in November, the voters get to make the final determinations. That’s democracy.
6
At what point is the Chief Justice allowed to intervene and say that witnesses and evidence can be introduced?
6
@Bill M I am no expert, but I believe that the Senate sets the rules and then the Chief Justice enforces them. So he is basically there to “remind them where they are” when things get out of hand. I am grateful that they are not reconvening until 1pm— I am too tired to start listening again this morning, and I imagine 100 cranky senators feel the same.
2
I don't understand what the Republican Senators are so afraid of.
Impeach Trump and he won't have the power of the presidential pulpit to hold over them. He'll be removed from office and then be immediately indicted for campaign finance violations. He'll likely join Michael Cohen in prison.
And President Pence will be more than happy to continue with the right-wing Republican agenda.
If Trump is acquitted, the House is waiting in the wings for some more articles of impeachment, either emolument-related, or when Trump, emboldened by his big win, violates the law even more egregiously.
16
@Doug McKenna
Re: "Impeach Trump and he won't have the power of the presidential pulpit to hold over them"
It's not the Presidency: it's twitter. The reason Trump is powerful is because his power emanates not from his office or Republican efforts. So if they impeach him, he can and will destroy the Republican Senators who voted against him, if not the Republican old guard.
Republican politicians all describe their offices being overrun with Trump supporters, and being fearful of making them angry. History will tell us this small number of squawking voices were tended and paid by Putin.
3
Only water and milk allowed and few breaks ? Well we all knew this wouldn't be a fair trial. I commend the House for at least trying, looks like we will have to vote to get anything done. The photos make me want to visit Washington DC. So much history, so beautiful .
2
@Missy Please do come visit DC. It’s a great city.
1
Holy Mackerel.
If it wasn't for some "moderate Republicans who forced those last-minute changes" to the impeachment rules, how in the world could there have been an impartial trial if the previous rules of the impeachment hearing had been "tailed to the president's wishes"?
And to think that Mitch McConnell had the audacity to ask “Can we still put fairness, evenhandedness and historical precedent ahead of the partisan passions of the day?" all the while he continues to orchestrate the rules to favor his boss, the president.
I think today will be another long and behemoth day for everyone.
5
Strangest factoid of the day: Only water and milk can be imbibed during the proceedings. I can understand a ban on the Glenlivet, a refreshing IPA or a smooth Cabernet, but gee...
4
What the Senate is arguing, (because there is no legal justification whatsoever,) is that they will go to the ends of the earth to cover up any wrongdoing by a corrupt president as long as they are both in the same party.
10
When one of the Presidents lawyers said that "the President was a man of his word.", the entire Senate (or at least the Democrats) should have burst out laughing. They wouldn't have violated the impeachment rules (no speaking) and it would have been added to the highlight reel of Donal Trump's presidency.
12
@Tom
The Senate is just relieved lightning didn’t strike and catch the whole chamber on fire when the President’s lawyers said “The President is a man of his word.”
8
There is only one thing and one thing only to watch out for —
Whether Midnight Mitch will crown King Donald the First by Friday.
It will be very beautiful to behold.
5
@Opinioned! Yes but those crowns of thorns are not easy to come by.
One persons thoughts:
1. The Democrats are totally in favor of removing the President.
2. The Republicans are totally in favor of keeping the President.
3. IMHO the Democrats should agree to the Republican demand that they call witnesses including Joe & Hunter Biden and then watch as the Republicans stumble all over themselves trying to find questions to ask the Bidens while the Democrats feast on John Bolton and Mulvaney.
8
@Bob in Pennsyltucky
Um, Bolton and Mulvaney can claim Executive Privilege. Hunter cannot. So, Yeah, sounds good to me. See if you can get Schumer to ask for it? Betcha McConnell says...Let's do it.
1
@Bob in Pennsyltucky I agree. It would make Biden look very sympathetic.
1
@GregP Hunter Biden can claim the 5th (just as good as executive privilege, just like Bolton and Mulvaney he doesn't have to incriminate himself. Unless McConnell wants to give Hunter Biden full immunity, I doubt it, would defeat the purpose of a subpoena.
1
Is it too much to hope that the Sergeant-at-arms will be called today to remove those who choose to sleep through the hearing, as many on the GOP side did yesterday?
The political hacks so rude, so blatant in their contempt for rule of law, so indifferent to norms of decency that they slept through the hearing should not be allowed to vote on the resolutions and articles before them. How can they? They literally don't know what was said.
Very little now separates this party from open thuggery.
13
@AhBrightWings
This is what you get when it mostly old, multimillionairs, white men in the senate. Most should have left many years ago. Oh yes, I am old white man.
On another note I was shocked to hear trump lawyer Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow lie in front of the Chief Justice. Guess they are just like trump - liars.
8
@Fred
The only good news is that virtually all pundits nailed it by calling it a flagrant lie. Many voiced being stupified by how brazen it was.
2
"Not Guilty, Fully Acquitted, Exonerated Completely!" 'Now, lets get on with the trial, and forget about calling any witnesses." Imagine this scenario in the Democracy of America, 21st century.
4
GOP obviously is scared of further evidence. The blocking of it means the entire trial will be a farce. The outcome party line vote 53/47...
That’s why the democrats should just leave the trial now to show the American people that the whole process is rigged.
4
I cannot help but think that the worm will turn for many of these Republican senators who do not hail from the reddest of red states. In future elections, their cowardice and dishonesty will be used against them by future Republican challengers once the dictator is out of office; certainly, this will leave a bad taste in their constituents' mouths for years to come.
Just how many of them are even now making this calculation is the question. I would think more than a few. If they believe, however, that assenting to the idea - most likely not going to happen- that supporting the introduction of witnesses at the end of the trial will give themselves political cover, they have another guess coming. When Trump is done, so too will their political foturnes crash.
Get ready for another day of Schiff bringing you down, boys.
11
We could borrow a phrase the Chinese government used about people who were hiding Wuhan infections. In our case, we could say it about Republicans who are favoring job security over the personal integrity and the safety of our republic. They will be “forever nailed to history’s pillar of shame.”
My kids are astonished at their parent's and, in particular, grandparent's generations, that they would favor personal comfort over fairness, honesty, and securing "the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity..."
5
This partisan trial without a crime has to end soon, by next week.
In exchange for Bolton under executive privilege, sure, it would have been fun to have Hunter testify on the millions from Ukraine and the billions from China. But that could have been TOO good, and taken down Joe.
Better do it AFTER Joe becomes the DNC candidate.
That is why there will be no witnesses. You have to look at the whole picture.
1
@novoad
I wonder how many millions Ivanka Trump will make after getting all those trademarks from China after having dinner with the leader of China. Normally it takes many years to get a trademark approved in China.
Also I wonder just how many millions the Trump boys have made since daddy became president.
You seem to have a real issue with Hunter but none of the Trump kids making money off their political connection.
5
@novoad Hunter Biden is a private citizen. His father’s party lost the 2016 election. What would their testimony add to the question of whether Trump has committed impeachable offenses warranting removal from office? Oh, of course— smoke and mirrors
1
The Republican Party will, with few exceptions go down in history as a group of liars, following in their leaders footsteps. Imagine almost 16,000 fact checked lies in 3 years attributed to trump. That's quite a record and legacy. In his impeachment trial, his lawyers are playing it by the seat of their pants. Like a bunch if raw law clerks floundering.
Wondering why, if Bolton is a private citizen trump has a hold on him? We all want to hear what Bolton has to say.
7
@Sari
Yeah, sure Sari. History won't remember anything about Kavanaugh or Mueller or democrats trying to remove a fairly elected President for partisan reasons. You can bet your last dollar on that my friend. Won't be a peep about it.
1
@Sari :
Perhaps. But based on American voting patterns, the GOP will still have the majority, the POTUS, the SCOTUS, and probably the House.
The Fact is that liberals do not like to vote, or prefer Jill Stein or Ralph Nader.
1
Rather than taking an oath to support the constitution of the United States perhaps the senators should take an oath to tell the truth—something that could land them in jail.
81
@Confused Sounds like a Gulag to me. If you make politics at a political proceeding a criminal act then the next logical step is the criminalization of political dissent. This isn’t a criminal trial. The rules are set by senators just as the rules in the a House were set by the House. The appropriate way to deal with political matters is elections, not jails.
1
@John
So you are saying it is okay to lie no matter what in political hearings? Are you okay with lawyers lying in this impeachment trial which trump lawyers did.
10
@John
Nothing is criminal until there is a law against it. Maybe if Senators that are caught in provable lies face prosecution, it would reduce their eagerness to lie?
2
Trump’s defense team is severely lacking in substance, presentation and strategy.
Their ineptitude has been magnified by Adam Schiff’s exemplary skills as lead Impeachment manager.
170
@Andrea ...If this nightmare ever ends I hope he gets the Medal of Freedom. A true hero.
22
@Andrea
It is not that they are inept. They are actually very good at what they do
The problem is that all of the evidence is against them, so they use every trick in the book to get around that.
It is so obvious that the actual evidence convicts Trump, that they are basically admitting that he abused his power, then claiming abuse of power is not Impeachable (even though abusing power and having foreign governments interfere in elections were both specifically discussed as High Crimes by the Founders when they were writng the impeachment Clause).
Fortunately for them, they have half the jury that is also against the Constitution and also willing to lie to protect Trump.
Calling them inept just helps Trump. It makes it seem like they just don't know how to present their case. The real problem is they know they have no case, so they are hiding that fact.
2
“Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.” ― Mark Twain
64
Wrote he who fought for the CSA before deserting.
1
@Seabrook
The problem is which country is Trump loyal to- he has not made it clear.
15
@Seabrook
If republican senators had one ounce of patriotism in their bodies, Trump would not be president already.
They are a loyal to their corrupt schemes only.
How is this a trial without evidence? Well, it is clearly our full desent into Fascism. Good is bad, bad is good, only power matters.
193
@Michael It’s not a trial. It’s an impeachment.
4
@John
Article I, Clause 6:
"The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present."
When you "try" someone and they can be "convicted," that is a trial.
Impeachment is like an indictment, and now we are in the trial.
Notice that this trial is only to take away his job, not his freedom or his life.
5
President Trump was on the right track to expose the Bidens ,demcrats, which are probably dirty to the core for crimes and personal agendas that are to help them become richer and more powerful. They only want to help their party not the people. They want to opress the American people and take away our rights through big government. They are the ones who are the deep state behind the scenes plotting and undermining the American people for their own selfish ends.
10
@Willis Bryant These are tired and trite Trumpian talking points for which there is no evidence. There is a difference between what you want to be true and what is true.
12
@Willis Bryant
Don’t operate heavy equipment is the usual warning on the label.
10
I would say to myself ‘where to begin?’ in order to address this comment. But then I would ask myself ‘ where do I hope to end up when we are finished with our examination of the facts?’ And then I would realize there really is no place to begin, because facts no longer count for the commenter.
Votes count. As does a good insurance policy which includes a flexible one way ticket and a well- packed suitcase, just in case the votes aren’t counted. Or even if they are and the commenter then finds himself drowning in his imagined deep state.
7
Shame on the Republican senators who voted in lockstep with Mitch McConnell to refuse to hold this criminal president accountable - a man in thrall to a foreign government who has no regard for the Constitution or the law.
Rep. Adam Schiff in particular did an outstanding job presenting the case against Trump.
Watching Trump hold a "news conference" in Davos this morning and refer to the Congressman as "Schifty Schiff" is embarrassing. Trump is representing us on the world stage by childishly belittling his political opponents and repeating his lies that his "perfect" phone call was about fighting corruption and not demanding a bribe for his political benefit.
It's not hard to imagine what the Davos leaders were saying about Trump behind his back, as they watched Jared and Ivanka swanning around the conference on U.S. taxpayer's dimes looking for new ways to enrich themselves while we foot the bill.
The Republicans sink lower and lower.
Our long national nightmare continues.
354
@fast/furious "refer to the Congressman as "Schifty Schiff" is embarrassing"
It was not gratuitous. Trump gave the motivation a few minutes later.
4
@fast/furious
"Read the transcript!" Trump called it "perfect."
The President of Ukraine says that he really needs those antitank missiles to defend his country. Trump replies, "I need a favor, THOUGH," and immediately asks Zelensky to investigate the Bidens.
All of the other evidence just corroborates this smoking gun. The Office of Management and budget says that withholding this aid was against the law.
In case you think this was a misunderstanding, Trump stated his intent to violate the Constitution when he said he would take information from foreign countries and use it in elections, on TV. Trump asked China to investigate the Bidens, on TV. Before his election, Trump asked Russia to interfere in our elections, on TV.
Trump supporters seem to think that if a presidential candidate makes a campaign promise to violate the Constitution, then the election of that candidate changes the Constitution. It doesn't . You need amendments ratified by super-majorities to change the Constitution, not just a corrupt president. The Constitution has been ratified. "Get over it."
Congress didn't allocate that money just to be nice to Ukraine. That money was allocated to help with US national security. Trump was using US national security for personal political reasons. He didn't withhold Ukrainian aid last year, or the year before.
It's not enough to wear a tee-shirt that says "read the transcript." You have to actually read it.
21
@fast/furious
Shame on the Democratic Party, who once again, have been outsmarted by McConnell. Democrats can complain all they want about how "unfair" these impeachment trials are, but bottom line, McConnell's strategy is legal. Do the Republicans just have better legal counsel then the Democrats? When it comes to the most important issues in our country (Supreme Court Justices, Impeachment), McConnell has demonstrated he is two steps ahead of the Democrats. Democrats had better take a critical look at their ineffective leadership, and quick... the November 2020 election is too important to lose.
3
Trial you call it. It looks like to rival gangs going at each other. 'We really need to stop pretending it is a trial.
16
@Steven McCain Correct. It’s not a trial.
@Steven McCain :
'Yes, let us look at the participants, not at the evidence.
Oh, wait, there is no evidence.
And Roberts approves!
1
@Steven McCain
Don't try to "both sides" this. The Democrats are talking about documents and witnesses; evidence that proves Trump tried to use foreign policy for private political gain. Republicans are claiming that abuse of power is not a High Crime.
These are not equivalent.
After viewing the shamelessness of the Republican Party yesterday in denying any and all efforts to subpoena additional evidence my cynicism has been completed. There is no way that any of those Republicans if they were working as either prosecutors or defense attorneys would have been able to hold their jobs or careers intact if they behaved that way in the real world. They are seriously refusing to look at evidence. They’d have been fired or possibly even disbarred for such disgraceful behavior. We truly live in the age of criminal shamelessness. I honestly don’t know how these people are able to live with themselves. We are indeed witnessing the downfall of our republic in real time. There is no equivalent level of criminality in the modern world unless you count the Russian organized crime/Govt. cabal. Jesus wept. This is what the US has come to??? Honestly what’s their end game here?
158
@Tim H. To destroy our institutions, as per Bannon's instructions.
24
Republicans have spent fifty years saying, "the government is the enemy." They openly oppose political equality for all people. They constantly try to divide our Union. They openly contradict the Constitution. They claim their twisted interpretation of their bible is the basis of our laws. They promote division, greed, and violence as the solutions to every problem.
A government that does not tax, regulate, and spend does not actually exist, so they are against taxing, regulating and spending (unless it is to pay the corporations that they own while driving up the debt.)
The end goal of Republicans is to end the Constitution, divide the nation, and centralize more power and wealth under their control.
Trump says he will be president for "16 years," "4 terms, maybe 5," without ever mentioning Constitutional term limits. The Right cheers. He said Americans should "sit in attention" for him with "fervor" like North Koreans do for Kim. The Right cheers. Trump says Article II says the President can do "anything I want " The Right cheers.
The Right third of the country is against the Constitution because it makes them politically equal to everyone born here or naturalized. They would rather be subjects under a white King than be politically equal to those they consider inferior.
Trump aims to be that King, and he is attacking the Constitution on TV, regularly, to end the Constitution to end all limits on his power.
7
@Tim H.
Call the Senate offices of Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski and tell them how you feel. Those two probably still have a head on their shoulders and might care if they hear enough from those of us who are disgusted they have sunk so low.
Mitt Romney said in his 2012 debate with Obama that he believes Russian is our most dangerous enemy.
Give that, how can Romney possibly collude to protect Trump - who is owned by Moscow???? Why doesn't somebody make Romney explain that in light of his opposition to Russian influence?
6
I watched for 3 hours last night when I got home from work. I am so proud of the Democratic impeachment managers. A group of patriotic Americans who are defending the Constitution and the American people in our need to get at the truth. They were thoughtful, gave powerful arguments, and came prepared. On the other side of the aisle were Trump lawyers, ill-prepared and like the Republicans in the House they attacked the process without once defending the actions of a criminal president. But why prepare for an exam when you are going to cheat?
And I am beyond words when it comes to the cowardice of the Republican Senators. They should be ashamed of themselves. I hope they read this and I hope they realize that 70% of Americans demand a fair trial and we will not forget their votes come Nov 2020, when it will be our turn to vote. Mark our words. Your times as Senators may very well be short-lived.
290
@Raydeohed
I watched straight through to midnight. To the end, they were dignified, disciplined, formal, passionate, informed, calm, and fact-driven. It was a proud day for this party.
As I watched, I struggled to grasp how anyone listening to the facts of the case, could not vote to call witnesses, subpoena documents, and remove him from office.
The GOP seems to think this will not go down in the history books as the low water mark it so clearly is. They're in for a rude awakening.
172
@Raydeohed
It seems that Trump's "defense" is to say that he abused his power, but abuse of power is not Impeachable!
This flies in the face of discussions by the Founders about why we needed an Impeachment Clause. The whole point of the Impeachment Clause and Congressional Oversight of the executive is to prevent abuse of power. And one of the examples the Founders gave of an Impeachable abuse of power was inviting foreign governments to interfere in elections.
Elections were brand new when the Constitution was ratified, and the Founders were afraid of how foreign governments could use them to interfere in our internal politics for their gain.
Read the Federalist Papers. Then, "read the transcript "
Trump said on TV that he would take information from foreign governments and use it in elections. That was a statement of intent to commit a High Crime. Then he asked China to interfere in our elections on TV. (I still can't figure out why Trump was not Impeached for that.) Trump also asked Russia to interfere in our elections before he was president.
This is not just one phone call. This is a pattern of doing exactly what the Founders described as a High Crime while they were writng the Impeachment Clause.
If the Republicans in the Senate votes to ignore the obvious, they will have proven themselves to be against the Constitution.
Can we stop compromising with those that oppose the Constitution, yet, centrist Democrats?
98
@AhBrightWings
Many in the GOP won't care. Legacy doesn't matter. They'll be dead by the time the history is written.
12
Democrats all gave masterfully clear, concise and legal impeachment arguments. Republicans served up their master’s emotional, legally flawed and reckless opinions on the process w/ almost no refute of the allegations.
America will hold GOP senators accountable for their abdication of their constitutional obligation to the American people.
It’s a disgrace that Justice Roberts chastises Democrats w the GOP impeachment managers when this is clearly a GOP whitewash.
A sad day for America.
59
I watch with amusement as the team's attempt to stake out their positions. It certainly did not appear to be a Big day for the Democrats. They have had their fun and now their turn is over.
Jerry Nadler seems like a fun guy, however I would not leave young children with him.
6
Go, Val, go! Go, Zoe, go! I know in my brain Moscow Mitch has rigged this, his shiniest gift yet to his party and his president, but my heart and soul soared yesterday to see the strength with which the house managers presented their arguments for amendments. I know it is an audacious hope to think that some senators' votes will change, but I am praying very hard.
48
After yesterday's marathon session one thing is already abundantly clear: "the world's greatest deliberative body" has been exposed as a complete sham.
No amount of compelling logic, appeals to fairness, evidence already in existence or anything else will result in anything other than a Republican party line vote to do whatever President Trump and "Midnight Mitch" McConnell dictate.
The fix is in and the outcome has been predetermined.
This is going to be a "trial" in any sense of the word?
Don't make me laugh.
November cannot come soon enough.
108
As Jason Crow pointed out last night, if we think a single day of debate is a "marathon," we need to walk a day in the shoes of our allies in war torn places and in the boots of our soldiers stationed abroad and those of Ukrainian soldiers.
To call the GOP's "showing" yesterday abysmal doesn't quite cut it. There really are no words to embody the magnitude of their collective failure to uphold their sworn oaths and do their jobs. Has it really reached this? Elected officials blatantly refusing to do their jobs?
Where is the public outrage? The will to resist this fall into lawlessness? The courage of convictions to stand up to a party actively engaged in traitorous behavior?
Yesterday made it official. This GOP has no intention of holding a fair hearing; that declaration breaks with more than two centuries of tradition. Are we so anesthetized, so totally broken that we no longer can even pretend to care?
What will it take to set us back on course?The problem is now so entrenched and normalized that I literally cannot envision the person or time span or actions it will take to put us back on firm ethical, moral ground. That is, naturally, a huge part of the problem and part of the malign plan.
All signs suggest that in a matter of days a malignant narcissist who has brayed incessantly about being allowed to do anything, including shooting his own citizens and nuking anyone he wants, is going to be told that he can.
This GOP is directly responsible for imperiling us.
133
@AhBrightWings
Yes the Republican Party is directly attacking the Constitution on TV, because they are against it and want to end all limits on Trump's power, so he can use Government power to reward them at the expense of the rest of us. (That is exactly what they did with their tax cut, btw.)
Unfortunately, a large part of the Democratic Party refuses to admit to themselves that Republicans are doing this. Republicans are destroying the Constitution on TV, and centrists are still talking about compromising with them!
There is no halfway between a party that wants to follow the Constitution and a party that wants to end it. Compromise with traitors is tantamount to treason. If you compromise with those that shred the Constitution, there will be no Constitution.
Anyone that is seriously considering voting for Trump has a deep personal decision to make about whether they would rather be equal citizens under a Constitution or take their chances with a "president for life" that is allied with white supremacists and global billionaires from Russia and China. The only way a Democratic candidate can have an affect on this decision is to show that we have values that are more important than division, greed, and violence.
Democrats need to grow the Left base and OUTNUMBER the Right, not treat then as if "civil war" is a viable policy option by talking about compromise with the Greater Evil!
7
I have never seen so many people work so hard to hide so much.
This may be the most important election of our lives. Does our system of checks and balances work? Will tyranny be allowed to stand? Are we strong enough to do the right thing? Or does the corruption go too far?
62
A rigged scenario. A “greased pole”. That is what the American electorate is faced with time and time again thanks to the Republicans. One example; in the run-up to the 2016 election, Mitch McConnell told President Obama that he would not allow a bipartisan statement denouncing Russian interference in the election. A slippery, traitorous move by any estimation. There have been many similar moves over the last two decades; “WMD”, Merrick Garland, etc...
Now we have a situation where fair-minded Americans have to rely on the good graces of “moderate” Senators like Mitt Romney and Susan Collins in order to avoid our country becoming a monarchy. It should be apparent to all but a few that these people aren’t “moderates” and they certainly aren’t heroes. They only care about getting re-elected and/or consolidating business’s hold over every aspect of American life. They are with Trump all the way, either out of necessity or predilection.
Let’s not hold on to false hopes. Sometimes the best way to climb a greased pole is to get a bulldozer and knock it over. In the coming election, we should never forget that we have the keys to that bulldozer. It may be our last chance to be in the driver’s seat.
86
@Dudesworth
We have the numbers. The numbers need to be in the right places however. Easier said than done. But if we are really, really serious enough it can be accomplished. Use the gerrymandered districts and electoral college to our advantage, if only for one election cycle. Maybe a few billionaires can contribute to the Temporary Relocation Fund.
I think I would like to construct a time machine so I can retrieve the authors of our Constitution and have them sit through this rigged sham trial.
Obviously, impeachment of a President when his party holds the Senate is difficult if not impossible. The process should be taken from the political realm and instead by a real trial, with real jurists. Politicians who represent wealth, as the Republicans do, simply don't care about ethics or what is best for America.
Equally obvious, the Electoral College was a gimmick to get the votes of states controlled by massively powerful slaveholders, people who demanded that their political vote count royally. So more and more we are going to have minority Presidents, minority in vote count, run the lives of the majority.
I have to ask, where is America's FDR in all this, someone who can give the Republicans what they deserve, payback to the max.
If Trump gets reelected, and the Democrats take back the Senate, no Supreme Court nomination until the next election, for example.
Hugh
25
@Hugh Massengill
Thomas Jefferson. Ben Franklin. John Adams. John Jay. James Madison. Alexander Hamilton. George Washington.
Imagine their revulsion if they had watched the Senate Republicans last night.
Imagine their revulsion if they saw what Donald Trump is doing to our country.
3
I hope, at the very least, that Murkowski/Collins will vote to hear new witnesses and testimony. Maybe Romney has a conscience too; hope they genuinely consider all the facts.
13
The assumption all along has been that this week's actions will galvanize voters so that we'll see an epic backlash come November.
I want to believe that, but it's possible the opposite may happen. Confronted with the reality that no matter how we vote (she won by 3 mil. votes) no matter how hard we work (there are thousands of Indivisible groups & resistance groups in the country; my city has 26 active groups in ten square miles) no matter how much and loudly we protest...nothing changes. Worse, the incline of the slope down simply increases.
I think we have to be prepared (in whatever feeble way we can) that November may bring a calcifying of this rot. Having spent three years normalizing him in every way imaginable-- from the seemingly inconsequential (giving his sycophants acres of space and eons of coverage so that the screaming, violent faces we're presented with look like the whole of the country) to the openly dangerous (treating his "policies" as if they were actual policies or plans that had been vetted by others, meticulously planned out and thought through) to putting WMD in the hands of man mental health professionals, in their thousands, warned was dangerous--we have conspired in creating our own Frankensteinian monster.
It's still not clear to me that the GOP or country fully grasps what it has unleashed. This hearing was our last chance to rein him in. Voting is voting. It isn't accountability and the work of this week may well give him four more years.
22
@AhBrightWings
You will have to finish the silent civil war in your own party before you have any chance at winning another election. AOC doing her best to splinter Democrats but you are here blaming Americans who just want to see their lives made better, AND the President who is working to do that. Fight and finish your civil war, then get back to me.
@GregP
Nobody on the Democratic side is in a militia or threatening to arm themselves if we lose an election or threatening to bring guns to a political rally and then doing it....
3
The impeachment was narrowed to only two articles. The focus has clustered around Presidential attempts to divert money meant to be used as military assistance by an ally of the U.S. These two articles have exposed the ugliness of decision making in the Senate. The Senate majority appears to be on the way to a hollow victory. It is coupled with an erosion of credibility. The Senators can't have it both ways. They cannot win and remain credible by restricting testimony.
245
@Michael Edward Zeidler
Right to the heart of the matter.
Exceptional comment Mr. Zeidler!
29
@Michael Edward Zeidler
I don't understand why there are only two articles when Trump publicly contadicts, threatens to violate, and sometimes violates the Constitution, habitually, and on TV.
Trump:
Calls for violence against citizens without due process. When a president can say, "somebody should beat that guy up," debate and voting are being replaced by political violence.
Calls his critics "treasonous," because he confuses himself with the country, like a king.
Demands personal loyalty (Fealty) from pubic servants, like a king.
Takes payments (emoluments) from foreign governments while calling the Emoluments Clause "phony."
Allies with foreign governments against We the People, like a king, asking then to interfere in our elections, ON TELEVISION.
Refuses to coordinate a defense of our elections from foreign attack as required of the Commander in Chief.
Obstructs investigations into attacks on our elections.
Accuses the entire US Intelligence Community of being "treasonous" with no evidence, while praising those that attack our elections.
Says, "the Press is the enemy of the people," while calling for violence against journalists and news organizations.
Claims he can take away birthright citizenship while telling citizens they should "go back where they came from" (exile).
The list of Trump's pubic High Crimes is long and growing.
I can't understand why the Democrats would only Impeach Trump on one secret phone call.
11
@McGloin Maybe after the Senate GOP majority dismisses or acquits the President, the House Democratic leadership will start a second impeachment investigation based on some of the issues you raise, especially regarding emoluments violations, tax return violations, and colluding with Russia to undermine the national interest in an independent Ukraine.
4
The Republicans want to set the reference for future elections in the US. You can manipulate elections and cheat, and still call your country a democracy. Like in Russia and other similar countries. That, together with suppression of "minority " voters the electoral college SC judges guarantees their grip on power for many generations to come. They are thinking about their legacy here. And they are proud of it. Sorry for the rest of the world that has to suffer the consequences of more Trump years and GOP governments to come. Environmentally and socially.
12
Politics is the art of survival, a maxim which will invariably apply during Trump’s impeachment trial. No senator hoping for political longevity will take a controversial position which might hurt at the polls. Though Republican survival instincts are presently on display, the rule that political self-preservation supersedes all else applies to Democrats as well. Editorials and articles exhorting Republicans to put country above party are pipe dreams. No Senator will “vote his/her conscience” so long as Trump polls strongly in their state. Save that “duty, honor, country” talk for the Marines, where it actually has meaning. Sadly, it has no application in politics.
14
@Dennis C. O’Brien
But that was not always so. Numerous Republicans broke with Nixon and some Democrats did with Clinton. We have to acknowledge that this is different and other from past impeachments.
The GOP's refusal to even listen to the hearing is an alarming sign that something is dangerously out of whack.
5
@Dennis C. O’Brien Unfortunately, much of this is spot on. Politicians don't exist to uphold the Constitution, they exist to represent the conscience of the nation. I won't say that they're here to work for all of us "regular citizens"--we simply don't own (nor wield) enough resources to significantly influence the direction of our nation based on our conscience alone.