Within Treason: Every Road Leads Back To You (The Impeachment Inquiry, Part 11)

Link to previous thread for reference.

Mmm peach mint. x

Ivanka is hoping to hook up with the King of the North if things go wrong.

Elaine Chao looks like Imelda Staunton 's character in Harry Potter.

That’s the real Donald Dump in the pic @ OP.

The Republicans can't deny the behavior of Trump and his cronies in the Ukraine scandal. They will attempt to argue "motive". That is why Fox pundits are still relentlessly bashing Hunter Biden. It is desperation.

Repugs will try anything but the facts. Not surprising considering they don't listen to them in their normal daily lives. Dems are not playing that game this time. No "what about____? Stick to the topic, Trump = Bribery, Extortion Ukraine.

Critique of Kellyanne, the "champion prevaricator".

[quote]But if you really want to see reality twisted into something unrecognizable without even the slightest sense of regret or remorse — the gold standard of the Trump era — then you have to trot out Kellyanne Conway, the Trump adviser who coined the term “alternative facts” on a Sunday talk show in January 2017 to try to explain how Inauguration Day crowds could be record-setting when they weren’t.

R6 but it's more than attacking Hunter Biden. On Fox they have decided to project everything that Trump has done onto Joe Biden and the Democrats

The mainstream media and legal analysts and pundits all keep bringing up Trump's "shakedown" of Ukraine. Well on Fox they're saying Biden was the one with the "shakedown" by threatening to withhold money until the prosecutor was fired because "he was protecting his son Hunter."

Trump and his associates are being accused of corruption and protecting enemy Russia. Well on Fox they're saying the Democrats are the ones doing that and protecting Ukraine from the [false] allegations of election interference.

and of course they're attacking Schiff relentlessly saying he's a witness and shouldn't be running the impeachment hearings because he and his team communicated with the whistle blower

so sadly we're going to have possibly up to 40% of the country who just won't believe or accept the facts shared in these hearings. This is only going to get worse, hard as it is to believe we haven't hit rock bottom yet. Fox and the repubs are just so fucking partisan, biased and dangerously irresponsible because they don't want to lose power.

You cant argue with stupid R9. All the Fox News Trumpiters are not going to change their mind even when the facts are right in their face. Instead you have turn out the other rational intelligent 60% who can say the sky is blue with the sky is blue.

If you really want to make a difference, take someone you know who just docent bother to vote, a friend, neighbor, old lady across the street to the voting both with you. Of course make sure she or he is not wearing a red MAGA hat first.

Would NewsCorp, the Murdoch media empire, actually sell Fox? Bloomberg is a huge media tycoon himself, and has the money.

Isn't Lachlan Murdoch, one of Rupert sons, who lives in Los Angeles, is the one that has green-lighted airing many of these extreme right-wing conspiracy theories and falacious claims?

Fox has been long-term conservative, pro-GOP. But they have gone muçh further, being heavy on the pro-Trump propaganda, and are inflaming viewers into embracing hateful, partisan, and highly flawed talking points.

If he bought FOX he would have to fire everyone that worked there. It's more infested with nasty parasites than a dirty jockstrap on the floor of a sex club.

It's pure hypocrisy. It's ok for a Republican to play dirty or even commit crimes for the greater, conservative, good. But Hillary checking her emails? Burn her! She's a threat to humanity!

You can't shame a Republican, because a) they are corrupt as fuck and will always laugh all the way to the bank and b) they truly believe in being superior and having to do everything to stay superior.

For Republicans it isn't about right or wrong. It's about fighting for their status quo of superiority. For them everything is a war and if they lose, they lose their superiority status. And they are terrified of how they are being treated as inferiors, because they know first hand how badly inferiors are being treated (by them).

I heard 2 repubs talking last week at the grocery store in front of me in line. They were looking at the local newspaper that had Sondland's amended testimony on the front page.

The first one said "gee this makes you wonder what's actually real. First he said no quid pro quo now he does"

#2: "it's just fake news. They're trying to influence people what to believe. I don't really care what happened anyway as it doesn't affect me"

This is a direct cause of the bullshit on Fox "News". You have a whole swath of people who are walled off from reality and think real news is fake while fake news is real sad and dangerous

So let me get this straight...Trump is blaming Ukraine for hacking the DNC e-mails to help Hillary lose? Okay got it!

Trump is the most compassionate man you will ever encounter and seeing Hillary lose because of the Ukrainian shenanigans absolutely crushed his heart. That's why he wants to right this ship and do her right. Shame on Ukraine! Shame on the vile corrupted Ukrainians!

R15 Trump and the repubs claim that and also that Ukraine tried framing it on Russia.

Fox isn't about the freedom of the press.

It is about freedom to lie and incite without negative consequences for their financial profits.

AP:

Clinton criticizes UK government for blocking Russian report

Had a recent encounter at the gym as 2 older men (one who i occasionally say hi to and the other never saw before) were talking and i overheard one of them (the one i didn't know and never saw before) say "yeah, it's a witch hunt alright, their trying to get to the two ugliest witches that ever lived, pelosi and hillary!"

so of course i had to chime in with "have you seen what the president looks like"????? bouffant hair, fake tan and white circles around his eyes!..

(never mind, what the hell does how someone look like have to do with anything of importance and real issues! this is how a child thinks and acts! i didn't say this to this man though who i would guess was around 60 plus)..

then this guy started talking about polls and how it's a huge lie that the majority of americans are against trump and are for investigation and even removal of office of trump and when i explained to him or tried to when he said this was a lie, he comes back with "well for all you know they could have polled senior citizens in homes or homeless people!" and when i said to him "do you actually think they did this? his reply was "do you know that they DIDN'T"?...

i just had to walk away on that idiotic last remark.. flash forward the next week, he walked right past me and i said hi and he didn't even flinch as he walked past! triggered OLDER snowflake trump lover!....

Reuters:

As impeachment probe starts new phase, Trump promises another transcript

CBS:

Poll finds negative views of Democrats' and Trump's handling of impeachment inquiry

[quote]—Miss Lindz

R16, you do know there is a Miss L defender/apologist/fan, or LG herself or staff member, on these thread types that seeks to bar posts referencing LG in a critical or humorous way. The poster, perhaps with another at times, gets inflamed with feminizing the caricature of LG DL has had an impact. Even politicians in D.C., including Republican allies, say it off the record and joke among themselves. In So. Carolina, the conatation is growing.

LG craves attention and influence. He needs to realize not all of it will be flattery. He certainly hasn't delivered kinds words to people who have confronted Trump's, and his own, behavior.

Good satire post, r16.

He looks like an ape / boar chimera. I bet his sweat smells like old bacon grease.

Conotation

[quote]Trump and the repubs claim that and also that Ukraine tried framing it on Russia.

Because they want a pretext for lifting the sanctions on Russia.

Actually, r25, it's connotation.

A friend on mine told me last night that they were almost chosen for the Roger Stone trial this past week during jury selection. They got to the final 34 after starting out as one of about 160 people. They said that the court seemed to be trying to weed out anyone who knew what Roger Stone had done/was being charged with or anyone had made any sort of political post on social media in the past couple of years. So, basically, any one of us in these threads would be ineligible.

They also said that Alex fucking Jones was in the courtroom during voir dire and was intimidating potential jurors. Why the fuck is that fat chunk of human offal allowed in any courtroom where he is not being prosecuted? I found that really outrageous.

Roger Stone's trial happening in parallel with impeachment public proceedings is just too delicious for words.

The Hill:

Advocacy groups push Senate to include election security money in funding bill

Washington Post:

Roger Stone trial to resume with focus on Trump campaign and WikiLeaks

Stone trial litigates the criminality of Trump and his campaign in 2016. I hope more media tie it to the conclusions from The Mueller Report.

Yes, there was collusion, and yes there was obstruction. Stone is being tried for lying to Congress, for heaven's sake.

^Please ignore, this was for the Pres Carter thread

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz:

!!! Candidate Trump and Stone phone call, Gates say about Trump after the call:

“He indicated that more information would be coming.”

^ Ignore again, DL is obviously full of bugs or really slow today.

NBC:

ormer U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump's July call with the leader of Ukraine, but said that "it's never a good practice for us to ask a foreign country to investigate an American. It's just not a good practice." "Having said that, there's no insistence on that call, there are no demands on that call, it is a conversation between two presidents that's casual in nature," Haley said in an interview on "Today" with NBC News' Savannah Guthrie.

According to the White House record of Trump's July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkiy, Trump asked Zelenskiy for a "favor," suggesting the country probe a debunked conspiracy theory about Democrats and the 2016 election and the Biden family. The call is at the center of the House's impeachment inquiry.

Haley contended that it was appropriate for Trump to ask Ukraine to probe "corruption."

"Okay, but the corruption mentioned by the president here has to do with Joe Biden and the DNC server," Guthrie said. "Those are the two very specific examples."

"An American should want to know the answer of, 'Did Biden pressure the prosecutor to, you know, to do what he did?' And I think there's a real question there. You can question the president, but you also have to question what Biden did," Haley said.

[Quote]So, basically, any one of us in these threads would be ineligible.

I always wonder how do they actually know if you post on anonymous boards or use aliases or nicknames? Even on Facebook most accounts are private and I would never use my real name to comment on any social media. People's social media activity has even caused people problems when they applied for visas. But do you guys really use your real names for stuff like that? I even have fake accounts for reviews on Google or Trustpilot and would never use my real name for anything.

Oh for chrissakes, make up your mind!

Reuters: In reversal, Mulvaney says he won't sue over impeachment probe subpoena

Nikki Haley is such a dumb cunt. Why is she all of a sudden all over the place?

AP: Fox legal analyst Napolitano emerges as Trump critic

....Tucker Carlson guest Joseph diGenova's dismissal of Napolitano for saying that soliciting campaign aid from a foreign government is against the law illustrates the awkward place that the former New Jersey Superior Court judge finds himself in at Fox during the Trump era.

Napolitano, who joined Fox News in 1998, has emerged as one of Donald Trump's bluntest critics on a network where the president expects to hear encouragement.

Napolitano has defended an impeachment inquiry that many Trump supporters call unfair, noting it follows rules written by Republicans. He said the White House counsel's arguments against the process were "profoundly misguided," and described Trump's since-withdrawn proposal to host a summit of world leaders at his Miami resort as a constitutional violation "about as direct and profound ... as one could create." He has questioned how seriously Trump takes his oath of office, and said he governs like a mafia don.

This blog post over at EmptyWheel really showcases just how far Barr went to try to bury this. None of it is new but it's all laid out very well. It also illustrates just how complacent and gullible some of our reporters are. The summation:

[quote]So, at a time [italic]after[/italic] someone had already shared Ukrainian information with the Barr-micromanaged Durham investigation, [italic]after[/italic] Barr had met with lawyers who were trading that access for propaganda to feed Durham, [italic]after[/italic] Barr’s DOJ had scoped the whistleblower complaint to ensure it would not tie the complaint to the fully predicated criminal investigation in SDNY, [italic]after[/italic] DOJ failed to turn over the complaint to FEC as required by a memorandum of understanding, [italic]after[/italic] DOJ created an excuse to delay sharing the whistleblower complaint with Congress as mandated by law, [italic]after[/italic] DOJ tried to hide Barr’s own involvement from Congress by overclassifying that fact … after all those overt acts that, depending on Barr’s understanding of what he got briefed way back in February and learned in multiple different ways since then, might amount to overt acts in the conspiracy SDNY has already charged Parnas and Fruman in, Barr declined to go out before cameras and comment on an ongoing investigation (which is, remember, what Jim Comey was ostensibly fired for) by publicly exonerating the President.

[quote]Instead, he had DOJ’s spox Kerri Kupec do so, in a statement that offered up excuses for why DOJ failed to connect the dots on a complaint that tied to a fully predicated investigation being conducted by SDNY.

[quote]Had Barr made that public comment, with his knowledge that the subject of the complaint connected to an ongoing investigation in SDNY into the underlying information operation that led up to the President’s call, his involvement in the Durham investigation that had already been fed by that information operation, and his meeting with lawyers that helped to provide a payoff for some of that information operation, it would have been an overt act that even Barr, with his abundant flair for PR (as witnessed by this WaPo article), could not deny was an overt act in a conspiracy being investigated by his subordinates.

[quote]So instead, he had a different subordinate (there is no evidence Kupec had any knowledge of these other acts) do that.

[quote]But that is not — as portrayed by the WaPo — evidence of distance between Barr and the White House. Rather, it’s evidence that Barr recognizes his own risk of becoming an active member of the conspiracy his DOJ went to great lengths to avoid investigating.

[quote]And all that’s before Barr slinked into a meeting with Rupert Murdoch as Sean Hannity was about to become part of the conspiracy.

R38 Is Mulvaney having a meltdown? Will be crack?

R36 Nikki said nothing substantive in that interview. Particularly, "Did Biden pressure the prosecutor to, you know, to do what he did?' And I think there's a real question there."

Do what exactly? We are impeaching the President on extortion/bribery -- money and weapons in exchange for fake info to help in his election. We can name the impeachment accusations. What did Biden do?

R39 because she's replacing Pence as the VP candidate in 2020.

And then she'll assume the presidency when Trump is pushed from office during his second term. Unlike Pence, her hands aren't too bloody.

R41 thanks for that.

This is why Barr is in retreat, and Trump can not turn to him for much help in this impeachment journey.

Yes, the article at R41 makes sense. It would explain why Barr wouldn't do as Trump demanded and hold a press conference declaring that Trump had done "nothing wrong" in his phone call with Zelensky.

Frankly, Barr needs to be put to the fire about much of this. I guess The House has enough on its plate right now, but that does not stop the media from digging and exposing.

Saw Malcolm Nance again on Morning Joe. He has Bone Spurs & Putie pegged and doesn't mind expressing it. Nance is promoting his new book.

Haley is on a book tour, R39, shilling her new tome. It’s a quick way to pick up an extra $million or so if the book does well. Her timing is interesting, though.

This is a great song that will be the official entertainment for impeachment hearings.

I know this has probably already been said previously, but it just pisses me off when the 6'3" Cheeto screams, "Fake news!" Like, what news could ever be possibly fake that regards the government? I feel like I'm living in the book "1984" where the government tries to tell you something different than what you know - The Ministry of Truth was more about being the Ministry of Lies.

At r31 Stone looks like the love child of Wayne Newton and Larry Hagman

Spicer? Never heard of that guy!

Actually, r52, he looks like the Penguin.

R53, Sean Spicer looks almost drove to hell...that's a horrible picture of him...

Reuters:

House Democrat: 'Sham' investigation of Bidens will not dominate impeachment hearings

Does anyone think that Adam Schiff's head is bigger than his 5'10" body, LOL? I think if he had hair, he'd look like Jimmy Neutron a bit. Nonetheless, I absolutely like him and hope he's successful with the public hearings tomorrow.

Leaked emails show Stephen Miller's support for White Nationalism

I want in on the next public heckling of the “president”.

Side note on the sexual assault/deplorable women discussion. Minimization is a common psychological coping mechanism for trauma victims and it is especially common when a victim has to continue interacting with the abuser. I think that many of the women who make light of the President’s assault comments do so because they’ve already been (repeatedly perhaps) assaulted by the deplorable men in their lives and so have already adapted a no big deal defense mechanism.

^Thank you for providing me a rational explanation.

Wouldn't this be nice. These spineless GOP senators would surely drump Cheetolini if they didn't have to attach their names to it.

Except there are no secrets and Putin has a long reach.

r51, he's 6'5" and 135lbs.

The argument GOPers are putting forth tomorrow is that Trump was genuinely suspicious of Ukraine's corruption?

Really? They are arguing that Trump was being, for once, presidential? a statesman? Someone with a conscience?

Unlike, when his campaign parlayed with Russians to influence the election?

Or, Charlottesville when nationalists became murderers?

Or the border, when children died in cages?

Or when a journalist was tortured and dismembered in Turkey by Saudia Arabia?

Or Syria when we betrayed our allies and aided the re-emergence of terrorists bent on American deaths...

Manafort aide Rick Gates just testified in Roger Stone's trial that Stone gave Trump campaign updates on the WikiLeaks stolen Hillary/DNC emails. This "conflicts" with Trump's written answers to Mueller that he never communicated with anyone about the WikiLeaks hack. Trump lied to Mueller.

Trump lied to Mueller? I'm shocked. Absolutely shocked!

^As if Trump ever gave a flying fuck about corruption in Ukraine. Remember he also didn't care that our allies were being slaughtered in Syria or a war in the country that is 7000 miles away. A person who doesn't care about human lives in a foreign country surely doesn't care about corruption in Ukraine. Ridiculous.

Sashay to the camera. Reporters battling for position to be nearest to Lindsey. The lights! The shout-outs! The climatic moments! The once in a lifetime opportunity to nail THE story! Gaggle!

[quote]Every week, television cameras line up in the hallway outside Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in hopes of catching a quote from Graham that will dominate the day’s news shows — and he rarely disappoints.

[quote]Being a media celebrity, however, can stir bad feelings in the Senate, as senators sometimes resent their colleagues for being in the spotlight while their own work gets ignored.

[quote]The press gaggles around Graham outside the Judiciary Committee room sometimes rival the weekly press conferences Senate leaders hold every Tuesday after lunches.

[quote]Reporters follow him in packs as he walks between his Russell Senate Office Building and the Capitol, and there’s often a stakeout of television reporters just outside the Russell Rotunda basement looking out for Graham coming down the hallway.

[quote]Former deputy Trump campaign chairman Rick Gates said in open court today at the Roger Stone trial that Trump was directly informed by Stone about upcoming WikiLeaks releases. The campaign also coordinated and planned their efforts around WikiLeaks releases.

WikiLeaks = Russia

Perjury!! Can we add that to impeachment articles?

NBC:

In speech, Bolton suggested Trump's policy decisions guided by personal interest

Bloomberg:

Trump puts economic growth at the center of his 2020 campaign

Washington Post:

Former top Trump official details campaign’s dealings on WikiLeaks, and suggests Trump was in the know

I absolutely love the Republican talking points for defending Trump in court that was leaked last night. Between last night and this morning, TWO of their talking points have already been negated.

Point 1... The July 25 summary of the call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy “shows no conditionality or evidence of pressure.” Uh. Sure, Jan. Let's see how this holds up in court.

Point 2... "Both Zelenskiy and Trump have said there was no pressure on the call" This is a ridiculous argument. Of course Zelenskiy would never admit there was pressure. Trump has his boot on this guy's neck. The same reason he was ready to go on CNN and announce the opening of a sham investigation- he had no choice.

Point 3... "The Ukraine government was not aware of a hold on U.S. security assistance at the time of the July 25 call" This point has already been proven false in the released testimony of Laura Cooper, who reported that Ukrainian government officials expressed concerned about the hold on the security aid as far back as May. They knew very well the aid was being held up.

Point 4... "Trump met with Zelenskiy, although not in the Oval Office, and U.S. security assistance flowed to Ukraine in September 2019 -- both of which occurred without Ukraine investigating Trump’s political rivals" This point is probably the most laughable. Of course the aid was released...because by early September is was already circulating throughout the WH that there was a whistleblower. Also, nearly everyone involved with the release of the aid (OMB, defense department, etc) raised such an alarm about the situation, Trump probably didn't realize it would cause so much noise. The idiot dictator probably assumed he'd hold the aid as long as it took and nobody would notice. As to the second point, it's well documented that Zelenskiy was set to go on CNN on September 12th to announce an investigation into Burisma and the Bidens, but was saved by the release of the whistleblower complaint. If the whistleblower complaint hadn't happened, Ukraine would have announced the opening of the investigations.

Is this really all they have? Do they really think they're going to convince anyone of Trump's innocence with this line of defense?

"Trump puts economic growth at the center of his 2020 campaign"

So the Democrats have to put the categorical dismantling of his claims at the center of their campaign(s). Numbers, statistics, flow charts, false claims, results...

He's done nothing but ride the Obama wave since he was elected. And if the Dems can't point this out then they are doomed.

It is hard to wonder about how watered down the Mueller Report is against the Stone trial...

Part of it was obstruction of Mueller, maybe part of it was Mueller's being reigned in, or his own cautiousness...

r71, absolutely. Wasn't it a Clinton article?

What Happened

Trump, Ukraine and Impeachment: The Inside Story of How We Got Here

President Trump fixated on Ukraine as a solution to his political problems. In five months, his obsession upended American foreign policy and threatened his presidency. Here is how it happened.

WASHINGTON — Like every presidential conversation with a foreign leader, this one had scripted talking points and a predigested news release recounting an exchange yet to take place. Aides in the White House Situation Room clustered around a speaker phone, pens and pads in hand to document what they heard.

At 9:03 a.m. on Thursday, July 25, they listened as President Trump picked up the phone in the White House residence and was connected to Volodymyr Zelensky, the newly elected president of Ukraine. Within minutes, two note-takers exchanged troubled looks.

Mr. Trump had not merely veered off his talking points. By the conversation’s end, he had asked Mr. Zelensky — a leader in dire need of American military aid to fight the Russian-led invasion on his eastern border — to “do us a favor” by investigating one of his political rivals and an unfounded conspiracy theory about the 2016 election.

That 30-minute conversation has now emerged as a mortal threat to Mr. Trump’s presidency. This week, the House of Representatives begins public hearings that could lead to the impeachment of a president for only the third time in American history. More than a half dozen Trump administration officials have called the phone conversation and the events surrounding it insidious and shocking. Five officials who dealt with Ukraine have resigned since September.

The unfolding story is in many ways a sequel to the events that led to Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Once again, the plot involves foreign influence in an election and is centered in the post-Soviet sphere.

Only one day before Mr. Trump spoke to Mr. Zelensky, Mr. Mueller had testified to Congress about how the Russians had tried to help elect Mr. Trump by organizing the theft and release of emails damaging to his opponent. In that case, the Russians were the pursuers who sought contacts with Mr. Trump’s campaign.

Now the president and his minions were the aggressors, seeking help with the 2020 re-election effort. They asked the Ukrainians to investigate unfounded allegations about former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., one of Mr. Trump’s leading Democratic rivals, as well as to chase a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, had intervened in 2016.

The story is also another chapter in Mr. Trump’s war on the wheels of American governance, from the intelligence community to the diplomatic corps to Congress itself. In his zeal to win Mr. Zelensky’s compliance, the president ousted the American ambassador to Ukraine, froze congressionally approved military aid, shut out foreign-policy experts in the National Security Council and sidestepped the State Department to set up a back-channel to Kiev with his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani.

The Ukraine saga is yet another episode in which Russia is the potential beneficiary of White House decisions. Mr. Trump not only sought to muddy the picture of Russia’s role in the 2016 election, but also withheld nearly $400 million in military aid, a tenth of Ukraine’s defense budget, for its war with Russian-backed forces.

It was the full article R78...that's all they got CLinton on.

The Russians “would love the humiliation of Zelensky at the hands of the Americans,” William B. Taylor Jr., the top diplomat in Kiev who nearly quit in protest, testified to Congress.

This account of the effort to muscle the Ukrainians for Mr. Trump’s political gain is based on interviews with more than a dozen American and Ukrainian principals as well as thousands of pages of witnesses’ testimony in the House impeachment inquiry. More details and revelations are likely to surface in the hearings that begin Wednesday in the historic House Ways and Means Committee room on Capitol Hill.

But what is already striking is the intense pressure the Trump White House exerted on one of the weakest nations in Europe. Mr. Zelensky dodged the White House’s demands for months, but with one or more Ukrainians a week dying under Russian fire in the east, he finally ran out of options. In a CNN interview scheduled for Sept. 13, Mr. Zelensky aimed to satisfy Mr. Trump with an announcement about investigations.

Only at the last minute, after key members of Congress erupted in protest over Mr. Trump’s actions, did the White House release the aid. Mr. Zelensky canceled his appearance, and — for the moment, at least — Ukraine’s perils abated.

Mr. Trump’s, however, were only beginning.

Giuliani, a human ‘hand grenade’

Mr. Zelensky’s election in April garnered limited attention in the United States. But it thrilled American foreign policy experts who had watched Ukraine struggle for decades in the shadow of Russian economic and military threats, seesawing between democracy and authoritarianism.

Mr. Zelensky, a former comedian with no political experience, had campaigned against corruption and won a landslide victory. He quickly opened a special court to hear corruption cases and stripped legislators of immunity from criminal prosecution, two long-awaited reforms.

“There was much excitement in Kiev that this time things could be different — a new Ukraine might finally be breaking from its corrupt, post-Soviet past,” Mr. Taylor testified.

Mr. Zelensky hoped to cement a relationship with the American president. But even before he took office, his aides suspected that the route to Mr. Trump ran through Mr. Giuliani rather than the State Department or the National Security Council. The former New York mayor’s influence over administration policy toward Ukraine “was almost unmissable,” George P. Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state, testified.

Mr. Giuliani and his allies had worked for months to force out Marie L. Yovanovitch, the American ambassador in Kiev, claiming, with no evidence, that she was disloyal to Mr. Trump.

Gordon D. Sondland, a Republican donor with no diplomatic experience whom Mr. Trump had appointed ambassador to the European Union, offered Ms. Yovanovitch some unwanted advice: She might save her job, he counseled, if she extolled Mr. Trump in Twitter messages.

“You know the president,” he told her, according to Ms. Yovanovitch’s testimony to Congress.

Ms. Yovanovitch’s superiors insisted that she was an exemplary public servant who had been falsely accused. She nonetheless was abruptly recalled to Washington in May, a decision Mr. Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state, called dispiriting.

Ms. Yovanovitch testified that she did not know exactly why, but she believed that Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Trump saw her as an obstacle to their strategy for Ukraine.

Even before she was ousted, Mr. Giuliani and the president were leveling charges on Fox News against one of Mr. Trump’s main Democratic rivals, Joseph R. Biden Jr. As vice president, they claimed, Mr. Biden had forced Mr. Zelensky’s predecessor to fire a state prosecutor to quash an investigation of a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma, that had hired Mr. Biden’s son Hunter.

No evidence has emerged to support that charge or that points to any crime by Hunter Biden. As vice president, Mr. Biden was among many Western officials who considered the prosecutor corrupt and urged that he be fired.

Mr. Trump had also embraced a fringe theory, debunked by extensive evidence, that a central event in the 2016 campaign — the theft of private emails from Democratic computers and their release on the rogue website WikiLeaks — had not been carried out by Russia, as both American intelligence experts and a criminal inquiry had proven, but by Ukraine.

Mr. Giuliani saw the Ukraine intrigues as a perfect riposte to the criminal investigation by the special counsel, Mr. Mueller, that had cast such a shadow over Mr. Trump’s presidency. So did Mr. Trump, who told reporters that Ukrainians were behind the “hoax that was perpetrated on our country” — one of his favorite terms for the Mueller inquiry. If Mr. Trump could promote the Ukraine theory, he might be able to undercut the evidence that the Russians had tried to get him elected, and put to rest questions about his legitimacy.

Soon after Mr. Zelensky’s election, Mr. Giuliani’s allies relayed a message that the president’s lawyer wanted to meet with him. It was the beginning of a five-month high-wire act in which Mr. Zelensky tried to mollify Mr. Trump and his messengers, yet hang on to the support of members of Congress and diplomats who told him not to get mired in American politics.

Initially, the Ukrainian leader put Mr. Giuliani off, a move that went over badly. In a subsequent appearance on Fox News, Mr. Giuliani suggested that Mr. Zelensky had surrounded himself with “enemies of the president and in some cases enemies of the United States.”

In what some saw as a sign of Mr. Trump’s personal displeasure, a White House aide later said, Mr. Trump’s team also downgraded the American delegation to Mr. Zelensky’s May 20 inauguration, replacing Vice President Mike Pence as the group’s senior official with Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

Three days later, fresh from Mr. Zelensky’s swearing-in, Mr. Sondland, the European Union ambassador, and Kurt D. Volker, an American special envoy to Ukraine, went to an Oval Office meeting. There they praised Mr. Zelensky as a reformer who deserved American support.

The president would have none of it. “They are all corrupt, they are all terrible people,” Mr. Trump retorted, according to Mr. Volker. He added, “They tried to take me down.”

Mr. Trump was apparently referring to Ukraine’s disclosure in 2016 of tens of millions of dollars in secret payments to Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman at the time, who had worked as a consultant to one of Mr. Zelensky’s predecessors. Mr. Manafort was forced to resign from the Trump campaign and is now in prison for crimes related to those payments.

In the Oval Office, the president told both men to coordinate future Ukraine-related initiatives with Mr. Giuliani. “He just kept saying: ‘Talk to Rudy, talk to Rudy,’” Mr. Sondland testified.

And they did, creating a foreign policy back channel that bewildered both Ukrainians and high-ranking administration officials.

Among those officials was John R. Bolton, Mr. Trump’s third national security adviser. Just days earlier, he had warned Fiona Hill, one of his top deputies: “Giuliani is a hand grenade who’s going to blow everybody up.”

Public Investigations

Mr. Sondland, a blustery hotelier who had parlayed a $1 million donation to Mr. Trump’s inaugural into his ambassadorship, assumed the role as principal go-between with the Ukrainians. He did not like taking instructions from Mr. Giuliani, he testified, but Mr. Giuliani made it clear he spoke for the president.

What Mr. Trump wanted, Mr. Giuliani told him, was a public declaration that Ukraine was investigating two matters: Burisma, the firm that had hired Hunter Biden, and whether Ukraine had meddled in the 2016 election.

Mr. Bolton and State Department officials were largely cut out of discussions about how to achieve that. But that changed on July 10.

More than a half dozen American and Ukrainian officials gathered that day in Mr. Bolton’s West Wing office, including Mr. Sondland, Mr. Volker, Mr. Bolton, Ms. Hill and Alexander S. Vindman, Mr. Bolton’s chief Ukraine specialist. The Ukrainians included Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Mr. Zelensky, and Alexander Danyliuk, Mr. Bolton’s counterpart in Kiev.

All went well until the Ukrainians raised one of Mr. Zelensky’s most important issues: An invitation to the White House that Mr. Trump had promised in a letter after Mr. Zelensky was elected.

Mr. Sondland blurted out that Mick Mulvaney, the president’s acting chief of staff, had guaranteed the invitation as long as Ukraine announced the investigations. By then, Ms. Hill testified, she and others recognized “investigations” as code for Burisma, the Bidens and the 2016 election.

Mr. Bolton stiffened, witnesses said, and abruptly ended the meeting. He pulled Ms. Hill aside and told her to report what had transpired to John A. Eisenberg, the chief legal adviser to the National Security Council.

“Tell Eisenberg that I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up,” he said, according to Ms. Hill’s testimony.

He dispatched her to catch up to the others in the White House basement, where Mr. Sondland had reconvened discussions with the Ukrainians. Ms. Hill listened long enough to hear the word “Burisma,” then declared the meeting over.

But if Mr. Bolton had hoped to blow up the back channel for Ukraine policy that day, he failed.

At 9:15 that morning, over coffee at the nearby Trump International Hotel, Mr. Yermak had asked Mr. Volker to connect him to Mr. Giuliani. “I feel the key for many things is Rudy,” Mr. Yermak texted the envoy. He later met the president’s lawyer in Madrid.

By mid-July, it became evident that there was more than an Oval Office meeting at stake for Ukraine. The military assistance was in play, too.

Eight days after the debacle with the Ukrainians at the White House came another bombshell. A secure video conference call with national security officials was interrupted by the disembodied voice of an Office of Management and Budget staffer. At Mr. Mulvaney’s direction, the staffer said, the office had placed a hold on $391 million in military aid for Ukraine.

Interesting scenario: only three Senate Repugs needed to force a secret vote on removal. Flake said 35 Senate Repugs would privately vote for removal. Romney, Collins, and who?

Mr. Taylor, the top American envoy to Ukraine, said he listened “in astonishment.”

For four years, Russia had fought to expand its grip on Ukrainian territory. About 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died. Every morning, Ukrainian soldiers stood in formation in front of the Defense Ministry to commemorate their dead.

Mr. Taylor traveled later that month to the front lines, where Ukrainian soldiers faced hostile Russian forces across a damaged bridge. He listened uncomfortably as a Ukrainian military commander, unaware that the White House had held up military aid, thanked him for America’s support.

It was against this backdrop that Mr. Trump’s July 25 conversation with Mr. Zelensky unfolded. The president told Mr. Zelensky that the United States had done much for his nation and raised the “favor” he wanted: the inquiries into the 2016 election and the Bidens.

What the Bidens had done “sounds horrible to me,” he said, according to a White House reconstructed transcript of the call. Mr. Trump added that Mr. Giuliani would be in touch. Mr. Zelensky assured Mr. Trump that a new prosecutor would investigate Burisma and noted that his aide, Mr. Yermak, had already talked to Mr. Giuliani. Apparently pleased, Mr. Trump later told reporters that the new Ukrainian leader was “a very reasonable guy.”

But Colonel Vindman, the national security expert on Ukraine who was taking notes on the conversation in the Situation Room, was staggered by the implications of Mr. Trump’s remarks. He headed for the office of Mr. Eisenberg, the National Security Council’s chief legal adviser, to question the propriety of the demand for investigations.

Mr. Eisenberg quickly shunted the official summary of the conversation to an electronic storage system normally used for the most sensitive classified information. Later, he instructed Colonel Vindman not to discuss the phone call with others.

Nonetheless, a Central Intelligence Agency officer detailed to the White House got wind of it. On Aug. 12, he filed a whistle-blower complaint, which slowly made its way to Congress.

Resistance Crumbles

After the July 25 phone call, Mr. Sondland, Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Volker worked to draft an announcement for Mr. Zelensky that would satisfy Mr. Trump’s demands. Mr. Giuliani rejected one draft because it failed to mention the targets of the investigations. “If it doesn’t say Burisma and it doesn’t say 2016 what does it mean?” he asked Mr. Volker in a text.

But the Ukrainians were hesitating. Mr. Yermak, Mr. Zelensky’s aide, said the White House should set a date for Mr. Zelensky’s meeting with Mr. Trump before the Ukrainians released a statement.

Only after an American official explicitly told the Ukrainians that the military aid depended on that announcement did their resistance finally crumble.

Colonel Vindman, the national security aide, had drafted a memo for Mr. Bolton to give Mr. Trump in a meeting on Aug. 16. It said that the National Security Council, the Defense Department and the State Department all agreed that the aid should be released to Ukraine. But Mr. Trump rejected it, Colonel Vindman testified.

Timothy Morrison, a National Security Council regional expert, told Mr. Taylor: “The president doesn’t want to provide any assistance at all.”

Mr. Taylor protested in phone calls, text messages and in person. He complained to Mr. Bolton when the national security adviser came to Kiev to meet Mr. Zelensky in late August. On Mr. Bolton’s advice, he sent a rare first-person cable to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Aug. 29 describing the hold on the funds as “folly.”

On Sept. 1, an anxious Mr. Zelensky asked Vice President Mike Pence about the money during an event in Warsaw to commemorate the outbreak of World War II. Mr. Pence said only that he would raise it with Mr. Trump.

But Mr. Sondland, who also was at the event, took Mr. Yermak aside to deliver an explicit message: The Ukrainians should not expect the money if Mr. Zelensky did not publicly announce the investigations.

“It kept getting more insidious,” Mr. Sondland testified. Mr. Taylor, who took notes of his conversations, said the ambassador told him that “everything was on the line,” unless Mr. Zelensky put himself “in a public box.”

In Kiev, all but one of Mr. Zelenksy’s senior advisers argued that he had no choice but to give in. If left frozen, the military aid would expire at the end of the American government’s fiscal year on Sept 30. Mr. Zelensky scheduled a Sept. 13 interview on CNN to deliver an announcement designed to satisfy Mr. Trump.

But the ground was suddenly shifting in Washington. The hold on the aid, first reported by Politico on Aug. 28, had surprised and angered members of Congress.

Word of the whistle-blower complaint had also reached the top echelons of the National Security Council. As soon as Congress learned of it in early September, three House committees opened investigations.

In the meantime, Mr. Taylor was still pushing Mr. Sondland to lobby Mr. Trump to change his mind. “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” he texted the ambassador. Mr. Sondland called Mr. Trump on Sept. 7 to see if there was any wiggle room.

“What do you want from Ukraine?” Mr. Sondland testified that he asked Mr. Trump.

“‘I want nothing,’” he quoted Mr. Trump as replying. “‘I want no quid pro quo. I want Zelensky to do the right thing.’”

“I recall that the president was really in a bad mood,” Mr. Sondland testified.

The White House reversed course and released the $391 million just two days before Mr. Zelensky’s CNN interview. Two weeks later, it also released a rough transcript of the July 25 call, hoping to defuse the formal impeachment inquiry now underway.

Instead, it accelerated it.

Mr. Volker called the transcript “explosive” and resigned just before he testified.

Mr. Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state, told investigators that Mr. Trump had stood United States policy on its head. For decades, he said, the United States had demanded that leaders in Ukraine and other countries stop instigating politically motivated prosecutions of their opponents and uphold the rule of law.

For Mr. Trump to ask Ukraine to investigate his political rival for his political gain, he said, was “wrong.”

Ms. Hill testified that she was “shocked” and “very saddened” by the transcript of the calls and documents. Together, she said, they confirmed “my worst fears and nightmares” that private interests had subverted America’s national security concerns.

Her former boss, Mr. Bolton, who resigned in September, has said he would not testify unless a federal court rules that he can legally do so.

But in a letter to the court last week, his lawyer suggested more is to come. Mr. Bolton, he said, knows of many other White House meetings and discussions about Ukraine that have yet to become public.

Sharon LaFraniere reported from Washington, Andrew E. Kramer from Kiev, Ukraine, and Danny Hakim from New York. Michael S. Schmidt contributed reporting from Washington. Susan Beachy and Kitty Bennett contributed research.

The economy is not better for deplorables. Their factories are closing, farms in the red, and most don’t have 401ks.

Can we talk about coal? Steel? Soybeans?

The Deplorables are complete idiots.

Thanks for sharing that article. What a shady character Sondland is.

Almost every character who works for Trump is shady.

Where do they find these people?

Sondland has changed his story how many times in the past 2-3 weeks? I take comfort in the fact that his entire family probably hates his guts now for dragging their name through the proverbial gutter.

Breaking - Mann Coulter: Trump must go!

Is she saying why, R93?

Over DACA. "I give up!" Even Drudge is getting tired of him.

His people are all grafters, including McConnell's wife. Everyone has their hand out, looking to make money by cheating someone. They are all scum, just like Trump.

R20 I think the Republicans and Fox News are basically taking advantage of the fact that most of the Baby Boomers are now in the early stages of Dementia and it trickles down because their kids believe what they say because they don’t realize Daddy got da Dementia. Also, they don’t understand technology like they used to and Facebook seems like a fine news source, where all the demented Baby Boomers can share their memes about that evil devil Cunt Hillary.

Stephen Miller should be fired

Venal...they're all on the take! Modeled after the kleptocracy that is Russia!

Steven Miller should be disposed of. Why is there no one in DC who will do the job? Dexter where are you and your trusty chain saw?

Steven Miller looks like he has a whole crawl space full of bodies somewhere.

I miss the swamp!

Somehow I feel like an interview for a White House job is like a job interview with Connie Marble.

"... and to stay past your probationary period, you must burn down Nancy Pelosi's gorgeous mobile home."

R94, because Trump tweeted he'll work with the Dems.

[quote]Mr. President, there are no holes barred with me. I am totally open to your new thrust in reaching a satisfying conclusion.

Good gosh Miss Thang! Can't you talk about DACA with more practicality, and less suggestiveness?

Let that sink in: For Coulter, Trump isn't conservative, right wing enough.

Coulter should be stripped off her women's rights to appear and speak in public and chained to Bill Maher's kitchen stove for all eternity.

R97, Obama is a Boomer. Do you think Obama is “in the early stages of dementia”? Doesn’t know how to use the internet?

If you get dementia, no one will notice. There wasn’t much to start with.

Call me crazy, but unhealthy food diet and the use of mobile phones does make the average boomer more senile than previous generations at that age. I could see Millennials being forced to retire due to health reasons in their early 50s if not sooner.

ABC: Republicans plan to focus on Trump's 'state of mind,' intentions about Ukraine call

NYT:

Trump Has Considered Firing Intelligence Community Inspector General

Washington Post:

Democrats’ impeachment lawyer cut his teeth prosecuting mobsters, Wall Street cheats

Bloomberg:

How and When to Watch the House Impeachment Hearings

The Hill:

Democrats warn State Dept against punishing individuals who testify in impeachment hearings

OP, in my case you should have named this thread, "Every Load Leads Back to You!!!"

Everyone needs to F&F the recent double post about voting for what you think will be the impeachment outcome. It contains info that’s just despicable. I hesitate to even mention what it is—needless to say it’s info that shouldn’t be out there, made by a giant piece of shit who thinks he’s being clever. Just despicable.

There are things about to come out I don't think most people are ready for. Pres Bone Spurs has been busy these last few years but especially since Barr gave him cover. Crooks like to, shall we say, do more crookin when they feel they've gotten away with some seriously big shit.

There is a lot of cover up about how involved Russia is in all things conservative around the world. From here, to Spain, to the UK, to Poland, to Italy, Turkey, Australia and beyond. Russian oligarchs are running the world right now- with a huge assist from conservative US billionaires.

Media-ite:

Adam Schiff Signals ‘Bribery’ Charge for Trump’s Impeachment: Founders Understood It as ‘Breach of the Public Trust’

FCI @r116, are you expecting that this stuff will come out during the impeachment hearing? We know Dump is criminal, but is there solid evidence that you know will be revealed? I’m thinking yes...

I’m still wondering why the Kushner call with MBS isn’t on any of the news.

Very intriguing, FCI. Please tell us more.

R118 and R120 Absolutely! I don't know of the details. I would probably be getting a knock on my door if I did. I was told the spillage is coming. Take note of the GOP defense- not of the details. They can't fight the facts. There will be new Russian linkage revealed. That much I do know. Mrs. McConnell is in some immediate peril with new information coming out.

R121 is me

About that picture in the OP - its a good example of the creepy way Trump shakes hands. I can’t quite define or explain it. I don’t think it’s the other hand on the elbow, which he always does, but I think it’s how he tilts his head. The head tilt seems patronizing. Like he’s pretending to find you (or Putin in this case) to be fascinating. Maybe just because it’s Trump, it is repulsive, I’m not sure.

R107 you’re an idiot I said most, cognitive decline happens to everyone.

37.4 percent of those age 90 and older have full on Dementia so most are in the early stages by 60-70.

R123 to add to your comment. The thing that always gets my attention is Trump's grimace, whenever he is in the company of the most corrupt people... like here...

And here with Lev Parness

Trump with Erdogan

R123 it probably bothers you because it illustrates a Sociopath trying to imitate what it perceives as normal behavior and failing.

Exactly, r128.

Trump with China President

Even here with Melania and that poor orphan who was used as a political tool.

@FCI you big tease!

Nothin but love for ya

Politico:

House Intel panel announces additional witnesses for public impeachment hearings

Law & Crime : This Is the Lawyer Doing the Questioning for House Republicans in Public Impeachment Hearings

“He has the longest-running institutional knowledge of most anybody on our side of the aisle. He’s been through several of these fights in the past,” former Rep. Jason Chaffetz told the Daily Beast Tuesday.

Chaffetz, who previously spent three years serving as chairman of the Oversight Committee, said Republicans could be optimistic knowing Castor is leading the charge.

“From Tom Davis to Darrell Issa to me to Jim Jordan to Trey Gowdy, he’s always had everybody’s confidence and we are an eclectic group of oversight chairs and ranking members,” he said, adding, “And the fact that he’s had all of our confidence is saying something,” he said.

In that Malcolm Nance interview posted upthread, he says that Trump has been in the KGB files and watched by them since the mid 70s when he married Ivana. Ivana's dad was an informant.

Yet... people still strive to work for Trump. There seems to be anew 'acting' somethingorother every week. I can only surmise they come from abuse backgrounds, and they are programmed to please their evil daddies.

Stone trial is disclosing evidence Trump directly lied to Mueller when he said he didn't recall conversations with Stone or anyone about WikiLeaks' plans & intentions re the release of material stolen by Russian op. Gates says Trump "indicated...more information would be coming."

Former deputy Trump campaign chairman, Rick Gates said in open court today at the Roger Stone trial that Trump directly informed by Stone about upcoming Wikileaks releases.

The campaign also coordinated and planned their efforts around Wikileaks releases.

Trump denied in writing and under oath to Mueller any recollection of ever discussing WikiLeaks with Stone or being aware of Stone discussing WikiLeaks with the campaign.

Gates testified he was in the car with Trump when he Trump talked to Stone about it.

Rick Gates direct is over. Brief but hardly lacking in substance, including government getting on record that Donald Trump himself talked about upcoming WikiLeaks disclosures based on conversation with Roger Stone

"The revelation means the Trump campaign was aware of WikiLeaks' election-year plans much earlier than previously understood. And it also shows that the president was involved in conversations about the issue, something he has previously denied."

Jim Sciutto, CNN:

2/ Former deputy campaign chair Gates testified that he was riding in a Chevy Suburban from LaGuardia Airport in New York in mid-2016 when Trump took a late-evening phone call from Stone, where the pair apparently discussed WikiLeaks' planned release of hacked Democratic emails.

3/ “After Mr. Trump got off the phone with Mr. Stone, what did Mr. Trump say?" prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky asked Gates. "He indicated more information would be coming," Gates responded, in testimony at Stone's criminal trial in Washington.

4/ Gates said two secret service agents also witnessed the call. The call happened days after WikiLeaks' first release on July 22, 2016, of emails the Russian military hacked from the Democratic National Committee.

Elie Honig, CNN Legal Analyst, former federal and state prosecutor:

The crazy thing is Mueller absolutely knew this - he knew everything Gates has to say, any prosecutor would with any cooperator. But he did zero about it.

[quote]Trump denied in writing and under oath to Mueller any recollection of ever discussing WikiLeaks with Stone or being aware of Stone discussing WikiLeaks with the campaign.

He'll just keep denying he "recalls" anything.

[quote]Gates said two secret service agents also witnessed the call.

Interesting. So, can Secret Service agents testify against the President they are sworn to protect?

The Man Who Knew Too Much

If only I was being a tease! lol

I am being iced out of information due to those I know being swamped with work and afraid of leaking something they shouldn't. I was told that, if they could, I would be told if something was about to break like I did with impeachment and Haley being VP. Btw- that is looking likely.

Child! Things are going down :)

R147 I would have to agree with you if DL is any indication. A ton of Deplorables apparently coming out of nowhere to post.

Articles of Impeachment predicted to be:

Obstruction of Justice

Abuse of Power

Bribery and extortion related to misuse of Congressionally authorized funds for Ukraine, for personal political purposes

I don’t think they even have the last charge figured out, as it’s never happened before.

Rachel led tonight with a bit about NBC's Watergate coverage and the fact that it had a musical opener (Berlioz's "March to the Scaffold").

But R149 so what if he did all those things? He's draining the swamp AND what about Hillary's Emails?????

Rush Limbaugh today went on and on today about how Trump was doing just what he was elected to do and draining the swamp of these deep state, career government workers who don't like that there's such a corruption busting rebel in charge now. Not a mention of withholding millions and asking for "favors"

Corruption busting? Talk about irony.

R152 He is an expert gaslighter. No surprise there. It is what conservatives do best because it sure isn't running the country.

President Obama is brilliant and anyone with a brain knows that. He is brilliant, kind, educated and honest. Trump doesn't have any good traits.

President Obama is brilliant and anyone with a brain knows that. He is brilliant, kind, educated and honest. Trump doesn't have any good traits.

I think, if anyone is watching, Trump will look awful from the testimony.

Like I kept saying...

Republican Mueller was never going to do anything to endanger a Republican POTUS and Republican Congress.

R142 I bet the Secret Service Agents know some real incriminating shit. Could they whistleblow’?

[quote]Like I kept saying...

First of all, life lesson...everyone hates anyone who says this.

[quote]Republican Mueller was never going to do anything to endanger a Republican POTUS and Republican Congress.

Secondly, it is very, very clear that Barr pulled the plug on the investigation and that Mueller was under orders to not charge. Everything Trump is being impeached for is laid out clearly in the Mueller report. All the evidence being used to convict Manafort, Flynn, Gates, Stone, etc. is coming from the Mueller investigation. Hell, even the prosecutors were on Mueller's team. So, really, just stop with your idiotic proclamations. Barr was and is the problem and he has spent the last year proving that over and over and over.

Who would have thought that Jeff Sessions would end up being the Attorney General with some integrity?

[quote]Barr was and is the problem and he has spent the last year proving that over and over and over.

Yes, a treacherous, unprincipled man. Like Manafort, he, too, sent an unsolicited multi-page letter to Trump asking for the job. We'll get a better look at his work after his "investigation" of our security services comes out shortly.

Recently, there's been talk that he's not such a brilliant guy. He had months to think of how to neuter Mueller. Months to discuss with others and to get the players lined up. Now he has to think on his feet and deal with each Trump crisis as it comes up. But...no less than arch-conservative William Safire called him the "Cover-up General." So, we'll see how he handles this...

r161 Yep, who woulda thunk it?

It all comes down to Republicans...they have no morals, no character, no conscience. They have been lying constantly because the naive voters let them get away with it. At the same time they cry CHRISTIAN and they are nothing like Christ.

It all comes down to Republicans...they have no morals, no character, no conscience. They have been lying constantly because the naive voters let them get away with it. At the same time they cry CHRISTIAN and they are nothing like Christ.

R162 Bill is an obese boozehound who may have been on his toes for Iran-Contra but now if it varies from his Imperial President playbook he’s lost. The danger with Bill is time the longer he has to think... the more ideals he MIGHT come up with, but if they keep bringing things forward constantly he won’t be able to keep up. Even the delays with the Mueller summary were because he’s a fat slow retard.

Lindz declares on largely nightly Hannity show appearance, that he won't be watching. But the potty-mouth continues........

[quote]In recent days, he has blasted it as a “bunch of BS” and declared that he would refuse to read any sworn testimony after a litany of damming witnesses implicated the White House in attempting to extort a corruption investigation into Joe Biden in exchange for releasing $391 million in military aid

If "Cursing Lindsey" ain't reading or watching, then the media, who flocks to him, need not be interviewing his under-informed arse.

I'm hopeful knowing that the Democrats are using Daniel Goldman as their attorney.

I think the repubs are using the one they had for the Benghazi hearings...

Haley as VP for Pence or an attempt at a 2nd Dump term?

I think ratings are dwindling as people are fed up on Trump in office. I think the media wants him out, at-large, rabid and batshit crazy on Twitter.

CNN, and I assume media in general, need to calm the fuck down. They are totally undermining the gravity of what's about to unfold and I wonder if, in part, that is part of the reason why a lot of people don't back impeachment.

Media is totally overhyping,. Thank God John Berman's wearing a dark suit because I'm fairly sure he peed himself already.

The day really carries itself.

I despise La Senatrice for being such a pig-headed jackass. The whistleblower is NOT tRump’s “accuser” In the sense that a crime victim accuses a defendant. The WB provided basic information to the IG and Congress, all of which has been corroborated by many other people. So, the WB is irrelevant at this point except to serve as a red herring for the Repukes. In addition, Cheatolini will get to call witnesses at the Senate trial.

But none of that matters to Miss Lindz. She just wants to lie, dissemble, and obfuscate. I wish some real journalists would start asking Aunt Pissypat the difficult questions to explain these ludicrous assertions.

Washington Post:

GOP and Democrats push dueling messages on Trump’s conduct ahead of historic impeachment hearings

CBS:

WH plans "aggressive" strategy for open impeachment hearings

Politico:

Poll: Most voters remain unmovable in impeachment views

Politico:

Trump lashes out online ahead of impeachment hearings

Is the Stone trial happening today, too?

Public impeachment hearings over extortion and bribery

Stone trial (litigating Mueller report) collusion, perjury, obstrustion

and a public appearance by Erdogan, who we capitulated to, betraying Kurds, and caused ISIS to regroup and threaten us again

What a trifecta from hell!

Washington Post:

Aides are counseling Trump not to fire Mulvaney, as acting chief of staff changes course again

[quote]Politico: Poll: Most voters remain unmovable in impeachment views

I think that is potentially good news... if the hearings produce enough repellant information it will [italic]really[/italic] shock people and that will make them move.

This is serious business - so long as people treat it seriously (my post upthread with regard to CNN peeing itself) - and I think it has potential to truly turn in favour of the country.

Live coverage from CBS

Same R178 - Before the impeachment proceedings against Nixon got televised, people didn't care and the polls remained unmoved. But once they were televised, that's when the shit hit the fan.

Most of the younger set (I'll say 40s and under) are already for impeachment. But the older set (60+) are against it - and they're the ones that are going to watch the impeachment proceedings. Lose them, and Trump loses everything.

Why are Rethugs allowed to have props behind them?

What are you all streaming?

I'm streaming Washington Post's coverage on Youtube. Their analysis is that Rethugs have shifted incredibly on this and their new strategy is hiding behind the term, "Quid Pro Quo," which they say Dotard has successfully gotten out there as the new, "No Collusion." Rethugs are stating that even IF there was Quid Pro Quo it doesn't rise to the LEVEL of an impeachable offense to remove a President.

Um.

Crimes and Misdemeanors?

SO. is this like the superbowl? Will Kelly Clarkson appear to sing the national anthem? I feel it's only right.

The La Sénatrice is raging against Burisma and Hunter Biden.

Fuck Lindsey. And fuck the OBSESSION with him from certain posters on this board.

Jabba go switch your browser and take your shit elsewhere.

For neutrality's sake, the national anthem will be signed by a Swiss agnostic, Fraulein Jael Guugenstaten.

I love Adam Schiff but whenever I look at him I feel like I'm looking at AI.

Is this where we’ll share live thoughts on impeachment or is there an official thread somewhere?

Personally, this thread seems to me like the perfect place. Where else (now that it’s here) would impeachment be discussed but in the threads that foretold its approach.

R185 The Lindsey deflector pretending to be the hall monitor. M- you got a nasty troll, and cussing like Lindsey too.

Nunes is such an epic douchebag

I don't know why it shocks me that Rethugs can sit up there and lie with a straight face and act furious over the lies they're spilling.

Schiff was hamming it up. These remarks should be plain and clear. The power lies in the matter, not the description of it.

Why do this guys always try to speak as they think Kennedy would have phrased it?

“Broadly speaking, the short words are the best,” Churchill said, “and the old ones when short are the best of all.”

r193 is a Nunes fan.

Oh look only took Nunes 2 minutes to bring up Hillary!

Typical of liars — they act as though yelling will make them more believable.

Nunes going through all the old points . . .

HAHAHAAH Nunes bitching and saying that Rethugs can't get a copy of something to review?

REALLY?

Nunes, and Trump GOPers have no points.

I thought they weren't allowed to bring up Biden?

The rage, the sniveling self-pity of Nunes.

Oh, Nunes wants to say they shouldn't be allowed to move forward unless their questions are answered?

uh huh. I'm sure you did the same when you were the Chair, piece of shit, asshole.

R194 that is untrue, unfair and without basis.

Drink some bleach, asshole. (Words short and old.)

And now he goes right in and insults Kent and Taylor. Nice.

These Fox Loving Rethug Assholes want to say Political Theatrics by the hand of Dems is what has broken the trust in politics? It's fucking amazing the shit they'll spew but more amazing that rethug morons eat the shit out of their asses.

Kent has a look on his face that says, "Is this bitch for real?"

I feel sorry for these witnesses. The Republicans will be so awful, untruthful and ruthless. Nunes is one of the worst people in Congress... up there with himself, Lindsay and Moscow Mitch. Himself is addled, Lindsay is an emotional mess, Moscow Mitch is a right wing zealot and Nunes is what happens when stupid gets elected.

Their strategy is to keep interrupting with procedural questions to get that soundbite about witnesses excluded.

Actually, their strategy seems to be to just sulk and squabble

So this is how the Rethugs are going to play it.. just keep interrupting.

Glad that Nunes isn't taking the shit.

[quote]Oh look only took Nunes 2 minutes to bring up Hillary!

I'm surprised he showed that much restraint.

I really loved how Schiff slapped that bitch down.

Who was that bitch?

Looks like there is another thread on the actual hearings. Is it better to use that one so this one doesn't max out and/or get paywalled more quickly?

This whistleblower focus is so two weeks ago. We now have people who had 1st person experience and knowledge of the Ukraine call and other shenanigans. And these people have corroborated the whistleblower's claims and concerns--in addition to providing more damning evidence.

So what is the Republicans' motivation of bringing the whistleblower to light? Hmmm? What? If they prove him/her wrong and harboring malicious intent, this will negate all that has been said under oath by Kent, Taylar, Yonanovitch, et al?

Yes, probably, because it is not on R213 of Part 11.

Link to the other thread talking about the hearings:

R214, it’s because they cannot think of anything else to do.

The other thread has an angry Mary threatening to spam this thread until it's, "useless."

Make sure to thumbs up the OP.

Gym is really experienced at concealing illegal actions.

R218, shame, shame, shame. You didn't tell the whole truth now did you. The only reason why this thread was threatened was because someone from here keeps coming to any other thread about anything remotely related to Trump and shits all over it and whines that we should all be here. You've been asked a few times by quite a few posters to stop it. If we wanted to be on this thread we would.

Bill Taylor is very effective.

Doesn't make it any more sane, Mary.

And shame shame shame, that's not what someone posted on the other thread. Whoever it was mentioned there was another thread, that's all. No one shat on it.

But here you are anywhere, Welcome!

Devin Nunes is a sack of shit, he's suing twitter because people are making fun of him. He's one of those Repugs who whines about "frivolous lawsuits" and "our litigious culture" while suing everyone on the planet who hurt his feelings.

I can't wait for Rethugs to turn on these two. It'll show exactly who they are.

[quote] The other thread has an angry Mary threatening to spam this thread until it's, "useless."

It’s got to be the Loon. He’s an impotent control freak. His only arguments are spamming and “I know you are but what am I?”

This Taylor testimony is actually fascinating for anyone who is really interested.

Imagine being Bill Taylor and having to deal with Trump in any way. Taylor must want to stab his eyes out every time Trump opens his pie hole.

I fully expect Rethugs questions for these two to be:

"Why are you a lying liar?"

"Why do you hate our country?"

"Are you afraid that Hillary Clinton is going to kill you, is that why you're fabricating this malfeasance?"

Taylor is doing a fantastic job. Very factual and clear.

And damning.

Taylor is NAMING NAMES

LOVE THIS

Bone Spurs, Junior Mint, and Miss Lindzey are having Twitter meltdowns.

Thought DJT claimed he would hardly watch and was hosting the Pres of Turkey? And Miss Lindzey wasn't going to read any of it and refuses to watch?

They lie.

But will he name the Whistleblower? That's what matters FOR GODSAKES!!!!

Who's the dark haired hottie with the glasses and nice profile in the back?

Rethugs: So you admit you were embarrassed... and so you decided to make these fabrications which dishonor our great leader???

R231 what are they saying

Taylor’s testimony is devastating and undercuts every stupid Rethuglican talking point that they have trotted out over the past several weeks.

Oh, so the obsessed person with this thread is the one who has repeatedly tried creating competing threads and hates this thread because he couldn't take it over years ago. Got it!

R235 same ole stuff, using terms such as scam, witchhunt, unamerican, unfair, name WB, Dem cult, etc. Repeating Gym's and Nunes' rhetoric.

Any chance we could just suspend the infighting and pay attention to the hearing right now?

Yes, because it's really slowing down this thread.

The trouble is that this hearing isn't going to change any one's minds. The damn Rethugs know Deplorables aren't paying attention and will only listen to soundbytes therefore all they're going to do is ask questions that make no sense considering Taylor's statements. They're only interested in getting those "damaging" questions out there for Fox to replay.

that is true. After the hearing concludes, Fox will only air "repub highlights" and ignore everything else

Taylor’s testimony is clear and damning.

[quote]"Are you afraid that Hillary Clinton is going to kill you, is that why you're fabricating this malfeasance?"

LOL. But true.

I want George Kent to fuck me three ways from Sunday. Where has this sexy daddy been all my adult life thus far?

Dump wanted to withhold Aid and Assistance to Ukraine while they're at war which Taylor thought was insane....

So does Treason only being "during times of war," have to be when the US is at war? Or can it just you know, be while we're involved in someone else's?

The ‘Hit-the- fan’ threads have tanked, so she’s out for blood. She’s going maniacal and threatened to end this thread on the impeachment thread. She’s out of control and insane. Steer clear.

Kevin McCarthy still focussed only on the WB and repeating Gym Jordan's lie that only Schiff knows the identity of the WB. Conveniently cuts of the video just before Schiff says this was a lie. What a lying mf.

Just leave it alone, R247. No point in engaging with those we deem insane.

r248, I can't stand Gym Jordan at all. Like he just looks like a child molester or something...oh, wait...he may be (or at least complicit in watching).

Checked Fox a couple of times. They are doing the full live coverage of the testimony

Of course, later, their pundits will highlight and twist what they choose.

R251, you know who scares me the most at Fox? Tucker Carlson. Hannity, as far as I can see, is just acting to keep his job on Fox at 9:00 ET. Carlson, on the other hand, really thinks the way he's talking and doesn't mind pushing it on people.

Is it just me or have they barely mentioned Fooliani yet?

Ah, Trumpy prepared a video that Dems are trying to steal Americans guns and healthcare. Nothing to do with anything, just a lot of gaslighting in the rose garden. And he is accepting donations of course. Please send more money to me and my grifting family.

Remember when Jon Stewart basically got Carlson cancelled?

r274, she has also killed the MSNBC 1 4 thread.

Need subscribers institute parallel threads.

Schiff did not speak with the WB directly. The attorney for the WB had phoned Schiff. The attorney did not speak the name of his client. The discussion centered around protecting the WB's identity, and the WB's willingness to cooperate while being protected.

R255, when was that...I must have missed it purposefully...honest question.

R255, when was that...I must have missed it purposefully...honest question.

Steph Grisham [bold]IS[/bold] the Exuberant North Korean News Lady!

Blue wave coming in 2020? Trump is trailing Biden, Sanders, Warren, Pete, and Harris in Georgia. The blue wave in the 2018 mid-terms, last week's blue wave in KY, PA, and VA. Gov. Edwards probable reelection in LA.

Why does Goldman look so familiar?

Reagan had the sincere optics of Oliver North for Iran-Contra...now we have Taylor's earnestness...

And others to come.

^ He was a commenter on MSNBC for a while during the Mueller investigation.

R259 it was when Carlson was doing Crossfire. Jon Stewart's appearance basically got the show cancelled.

Remember how those women that were victims of assault cornered Flake?

I wish some of those wrestlers would do the same to Gym Shorts. On camera of course.

Do you think there’s any point in watching the repub cross-examination? I think it’s just going to give me a stomach ache and make me furious.

R265, oh, YEAH...I forgot about that. I remember it being a source of conversation around the coffeepot at work, but I couldn't partake in it because I didn't originally see it.

R267, I feel the same way...but I need to know what they plan on really arguing other than asking random parliament questions.

Feel the same way, R267. I'll probably turn it off but I don't know if that makes me as bad as a Rethug.

R270, no, not really. Because unlike them, you and I have a moral conscience (hence the fact of us debating to watch the other half). I'm just scared that they will personally attack two veterans who have no reason to lie under oath about what they said a month ago?

Dana Bash is pointing out on CNN that the rethugs are going to point out that they only heard this secondhand, but when Sondland testifies, that will make it known that they knew firsthand.

From the link about Nunes' lies:

[quote] "It isn’t mere lying. There is a scheme here. As the conservative political activist and former chess champion Garry Kasparov has noted, “The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”

[quote]To annihilate truth. To make it difficult for people to know what is and isn’t true. To create chaos."

Who is the asshole being interviewed on the C-Span feed?

R273, oh, so a la 1984's Ministry of Truth. Remember they aren't concerned with the truth, but forcing you to believe lies and then if not, they would kill (I'm being extreme by saying that) you.

Josh Lederman, NBC News:

[quote]JUST IN: A source familiar with the matter tells @NBCNews that the Taylor staffer who overheard Sondland's call with Trump is David Holmes, who was just added to the calendar to testify in closed session Friday

R272 I fully expect them to attack two veterans because Rethugs have shown time and time again that they hate the Military and the Country.

I just don't even want to watch it because it's pathetic, gives me a headache, and makes me angry.

I turned it off. I refuse to watch Nunes again.

R277, Devin Nunes' voice is a bit annoying to hear. And now that I think about it, he does look like a cow himself. I thought Portuguese people get some better looks than that...

R278, be honest. You just turned it off for the next 45 minutes, LOL.

I knew that this was all the work of Hillary Clinton — because Devin Nunes told me so!! 😂😂😂😂

What a lying douche.

Insert Jan Brady voice: Hillary, Hillary, Hillary!

WHY ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT CANDIDATE TRUMP instead of the PRESIDENT Trump?

Well, Hillary DID win the POPULAR vote, so I suppose in their eyes, she is to blame.

R284, you can't blame the fact that she's more of a household name spoken than a con man with millions...Rethugs should get off that train.

Did Schiff do something or say something to Nunes? I don't have it on.

Damn, that republican counsel is vile and funny looking.

R287 he looks like Herman Munster.

Rethugs are vile. Their willingness to lie and distort is breathtaking.

R286, he just made sure to call order to that moment so the Rethug's counsel could keep their time. All they (the Rethugs) are worried about is shit before this "PERFECT phone call".

Pervert Jim Jordan is on now. Put a fucking JACKET on, you asswipe!

Gym Shorts Jordan is a fucking vile pig.

Both Biden and Trump will be destroyed by the end of this.

Where is Mother Maxine? She should bust up in there and knock Jungle Gym upside the head!

Is Jim Jordan on Meth?

R295, that and more. I can't stand his voice or smug look...

Also, let’s stop trying to consolidate threads. That new thread has 250+ posts and nothing to learn. All retards.

Himes in two questions completely undercut the Repukes arguments about tRump’s purported attempt to root out corruption in Ukraine.

R297, which one?

For those watching CNN, have you LOL'd at the fact that they took Ratcliffe off the screen for a minute or two?

The idea that Donald Trump, the most corrupt grifter of a president in our nation’s history, gives a flying fuck about “corruption” anywhere in the world is just laughable.

They may be scoring a few points.

Jordan looked like a coked out, gas lighting, abusive boyfriend, which I‘m sure plays well with the Repub base.

"They" who, R301? The Republicans? You must be joking.

[quote]Jordan looked like a coked out, gas lighting, abusive boyfriend,

Looked like?

Oh, hon...

Big new revelation from Bill Taylor's prepared remarks.

Gym Jordan looks unhinged in this gif:

Sahil Kapur:

Just got this message from a Republican operative:

Fox is reprehensible.

[bold]Danielle Misiak @DanielleMisiak[/bold] fox's graphic for bill taylor vs. msnbc's graphic

you already know how this is gonna play out

Please click on graphic to see Fox vs MSNBC side by side. It is beyond the pale how Fox characterizes the witnesses. -------------

Some choice observations from Rick Wilson

[bold]Rick Wilson@TheRickWilson[/bold]

Remember: the Republican questioning is not meant for anything more than feeder material for Fox and their fundraising emails.

Just as Trump is the hobo's idea of a billionaire, Gym Jordan is the pro se sovereign citizen chronic litigant's idea of a lawyer.

(Re R questions) Nope. It was base maintenance only.

Looks like what the GOP liars all agreed on:

"star witness" to discredit Taylor somehow

"no linkage" new phrase since no quid pro quo no longer possible

People on Twitter really made fun of Castor - for his stupid line of questioning and appearance. Will be interesting if we see him again. Maybe they should choose someone more competent and charismatic. The guy was a joke.

Trump speaking now. He sounds very tired....and/or very medicated.

He is very worried by the impeachment inquiry, R310 -- as much as he wants people to believe otherwise.

Wolf Blitzer now covering the day's hearings on The Situation Room.

He said the impeachment witnesses today "further tie Trump to Ukraine pressure".

He also called Taylor's statements about Trump "bombshells" because it shows Trump "cared more about investigating Biden than he did about the Ukraine".

Jonathan Karl, ABC:

[quote]After President Trump urges Erdogan to call on “a friendly reporter from Turkey,” Lindsey Graham turns to me and says, “There aren’t any others left.”

Dana Bash, Gloria Borger, Pamela Brown & Susan Hennessey all said on CNN a few minutes ago that the Democrats had a good day and that these witnesses are career diplomats who have worked for both parties and are credible in their testimony.

I think the lady in R306 perfectly sums up everyone's feelings today.

Turned the radio to local news and they had Ann Coulter on.

She was going on and on about how what Biden did was illegal. Yeah, I know, talking point. They interrupted her and said wait a second, if you think that was illegal then you have to say what Dotard did was illegal.

Nope. She countered and said ALL Presidents except favors for Aid because the American people don't like to give Aid to others and you better be damn sure we had better be getting something back for it.

uh.

I thought she hated Dotard?

I switched over to Progressive Radio and Michaelangelo Signorile was taking calls.

He had a Deplorable call in saying the real crime was Biden taking money from Ukraine...

Signorile stopped him immediately and said if he wants to talk about the Ukraine call they will take about the call but he's not going to allow callers to call in and go off on conspiracy theories and repeat lies that have been debunked.

The caller's response was, "You just can't handle the truth."

So truth isn't truth, apparently.

Q & A at the 22:00 mark. Trump uses the word 'very' 126 times. And the word 'tremendous' 71 times.

r317

[quote]The caller's response was, "You just can't handle the truth."

That was scripted. What's a good comeback to that, I wonder?

I'll take your word for it, R318. I avoid listening to Trump's voice, and seeing his face, as much a possible.

[bold]TRUMP KEEPS LOSING IN COURT

Darren Samuelsohn @dsamuelsohn[/bold]

NEWS: US Court of Appeals DC Circuit just denied Trump’s request for a rehearing in a lawsuit it’s already lost involving House Democrats’ bid to get financial records tied to the president.

Haley on Fox saying in her opinion Trump asked for Ukraine investigation because he basically wanted revenge because he’s been so consistently investigated here. Not illegal because he didn’t threaten... no joke. This Cunt is nuts.

Thanks Marie. Though it appears he may get his way on cancelling DACA with SCOTUS based on the reporting from yesterday.

Since the ruling will come in the summer of 2020, it could backfire on the GOP for the election.

Washington Post:

Congress can have access to eight years of Trump’s tax records, appeals court orders

[quote]That was scripted.

Why would you think it had to be scripted. Deplorables live by soundbytes. It's how they think.

It’s odd, don’t you think, that with corruption going on all over the world — including right here in the good ole USA — the only corruption that tRump could identify and was concerned about involved the DNC server in 2016 and Joe Biden.

r325 - They do love to watch mano-a-mano soundbites but generally they aren't quick enough to play the wit game on their own. The line of "You can't handle the truth" is (I believe) a standard comeback when called on their conspiracy theories. By scripted I meant the caller had the response at the ready in case he was confronted with the truth. Goes to the old - Accuse them of what you are doing.

I didn't mean that C-Span had scripted the call. Just my opinion.

[bold]JR's Money Laundering

Tom Arnold @TomArnold [/bold]

... Don Jr didn't earn #1. Donald Trump made RNC buy thousands Don Jr.'s crap book for Trump 2020. Not for Don Jr but so Don Sr didn't look like he had a loser son like his dad did. I've gotten 6 emails offering free SIGNED copies of Triggered. They're desperate

[bold]Andrew C Laufer, Esq @lauferlaw [/bold]

Wonder if there’s any money laundering involved in the “mass purchasing” of these books, Tom. Andrew C Laufer, Esq Retweeted

[bold]Boomer Brett @TheChandlerDude [/bold]

In a word, "yes".

EXTREMELY common tactic. This is a great way to convert campaign contributions to personal $$$.

The Trump Family will monetize any and all parts of The Donald's Presidency.

[bold]GOP TALKING POINT: BUT THE AID TO UKR WAS NEVER WITHELD

Josh Marshall @joshtpm[/BOLD]

This - FINALLY - is the point. Very, very clear that the White House finally released the aid only when the whistleblower report was coming to light and the Intel committee was already starting its investigation! They relented because they finally got caught.

I had a run in with a coworker over impeachment. He was screeching, literally, this was a witch hunt. I just blurted out it was not. He came at me and asked over and over, "what did he do? Read the transcripts. You can't say what he did." I told him I read them, they aren't transcripts but were enough to show extortion and bribery then he cut me off saying it was all made up. I then got in his face and told him to turn off Fox News over and over until he walked away.

Proud of you r330, at least you tried.

[bold]More on GOP bogus TP

Jesse Lee @JesseCharlesLee[/bold]

The circumstances when aid was released on 9/11 also crush this argument:

* Ukraine was about to make the statement on CNN * Whistleblower complaint * 9/9: House launches investigation * 9/9: Taylor sends his "crazy" text to Sondland, who calls Trump, who gets angry & hangs up

r330 You are doing great there, every Trumper needs to be confronted.

[bold]GOP Argument: UKR President said no pressure, but really [italic]TRUMP[/italic] said no pressure.

Gabriel Snyder @gabrielsnyder[/bold]

[italic]Reminder: when Republicans say "no pressure," they're quoting Trump not Zelensky[/italic]

Josh Marshall @joshtpm

So just for clarity, here's the 'hostage video' where Zelensky allegedly confirms no one pressured him. This is maybe half of the GOP argument.

Washington Post:

The GOP Ukraine defense asks us to believe Trump cared deeply about things he rarely discussed

Washington Post:

Ambassador’s cellphone call to Trump from Kyiv restaurant was a stunning breach of security, former officials say

To witness today what the GOP has become I cannot imagine anybody voting for that party again any time soon. Not even the "good" ones. They've lost the right to deserve anybody's vote. Too see a party go so far off the rails is frightening and sobering. How could anybody think, yeah, maybe once Pres Bone Spurs is gone I can go back to voting for his enablers?

Oh I forgot, "socialism"...................

If the GOP is so sure there is nothing there, why go through all the drama and disgusting displays? Don't cross examine the witnesses. Just repeat, "There is nothing wrong here" and let that stand.

Oh, but they can't because if the American people are allowed to make up their minds without propaganda, his ass would not only be thrown out of office, he would be in prison.

Schiff is treating the Republicans in Congress like Emperor Elagabalus' Praetorian Guard.

^ I was just saying that!

Weather and work permitting, I am going to DC soon. I need to know what all is going on. I will get far more insight in person.

Additional casting for the Trump Impeachment movie:

Michael Keaton as Adam Schiff

Ed Norton as George Kent

Pierce Brosnan as Ambassador Bill Taylor

J. K. Simmons as Gordon Sondland

Chris Meloni as Rep. Jim Himes

Pat Healy as Gym Jordan

You're doing God's work FCI. Safe travels.

Hurry up, FCI. I’d love to know how the Republicans are taking it when the cameras are off. My bet is they’re a lot less cocky.

Any hope of a secret Senate vote on impeachment, I wonder?

Well, the Republicans are absolutely less cocky when the cameras are off. My friend and I talked about that a lot. I know a guy who worked for a Republican Rep and he said they are freaking out but think Fox and their big donors will bail them out. I also reported earlier the Dems have a lot more Russian connections previously not reported but I did not get details for obvious reasons.

I absolutely will report everything here. These threads have kept me sane for over a year. Some of you need to get your asses into the pundit biz. There is a lot of talent here.

r342, who is playing Miss Lindsey?

Also, I talk to the guy who worked for a GOP rep about twice a week. He is bi but will not act on it now and he is hot. He really bought the whole GOP platitudes about God, Country and the American Way. He was a true believer. They were the party of law, order, patriotism and all that jazz. He is struggling with all of this. He sees it was all bullshit. He did not like Pres Bone Spurs, didn't vote for him and cried about it for weeks though he did not regret not voting for him.

He has shared, and I posted it here last summer, that at least a few GOP reps believe Russia stole the election as in changed actual votes. They believe the big donors will never let this come to light. They are fighting everything like their lives depend on it because it probably does, at least the life of the GOP.

Shocker! Trump aides are bigots!

R346, Dylan Baker!

R342,

[quote]who is playing Miss Lindsey?

Kathy Bates has already been cast.

Why are normal people defending him? The entire GOP machine insults everybody's intelligence with their bonkers defense of him. They literally don't want any of us to believe our eyes and ears. They deny things said on tape or live on TV. They change their talking points several times in one hour sometimes. They say something didn't happen, say ok maybe it did, then say if it did it wasn't wrong then flat out admit it then circling back to it didn't happen! How did this scum of a man elicit such loyalty from some very regular voters?

Was in a meeting this week where people lamented Clinton's deplorable remark--that she/Dems "lost the moral ground." Yeah, I guess that was worst than all the crap Trump spewed on his campaign?

I had to bite my tongue because the person who lamented is a client and I'm already on thin ice with my manager.

Los Angeles Times was unimpressed

[quote] R344: Any hope of a secret Senate vote on impeachment, I wonder?

Also, the vote requires 2/3 [italic] of those Senators present. [/italic] Perhaps, the Republicans will declare a boycott of the vote out of “principle”, or some other excuse. That could throw the vote as well.

No, R353, Not the LA Times editorial board, but a Repuke op-Ed contributor. “Scott Jennings is former advisor to President George W. Bush and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a CNN contributor.”

And a Senator who does not show up for the vote basically votes for conviction without actually voting for conviction.

A hearing that reveals new facts directly involving Trump - the call with Sondland in a Kyiv restaurant - is definitely NOT a lost day.

The LA Times op-ed tried.

Priceless

[quote]Also, the vote requires 2/3 of those Senators present.

Indeed.

What a gross trio at R358.

That creepy guy in the middle gives off Roy Cohen vibes...

But how many times did the liddle stable genius utter "very tremendous" and "very perfect" R318? Because you know that's where his shrinking brain with its symptomatic shrinking vocabulary is taking him right now.

R330. I want to prepare for the moment you just had. My goal is to get them to talk about Putin.

"What did Traitor Tot do?" Suck KGB Putin's dick again. Every thing he does is protect his Daddy.

Remember day 1 of the Republican Convention. The platform was changed IN SECRET to back off Russia.

Then, there over 100 meetings with Putin's Russians? Why did EVERY single person lie about those meetings?

Then, All 17 federal agencies and the Mueller report PROVE Putin's Russian's interfered. Why does Trump fight and lie against the United States government in order to NOT blame Putin? Why does he keep meeting with him in secret?

Then I'll listen. I think we have to remind the Deplorables that Putin is our enemy.

[quote]who is playing Miss Lindsey? Kathy Bates has already been cast.

Marie, I like you.

I smell Oscar!

Ironic, when you consider whose voice this is.

That LA Times Op-Ed at r353 is wrong.

We're all conditioned to want the "Blockbuster" or "Viral" moment. Trump has those every day, and everybody, even his moronic supporters, know he's full of shit.

I like Schiff's steady, understated approach that will lead to what I think will provide significant moments - Colonel Vindman's testimony. His testimony is the one I'm really looking forward to, after the basic facts have been set forward by Kent and Taylor.

Haven't we learned from Merry Fitzmas and the Mueller Report not to predict, before the fact, "Blockbuster" moments that will result in the scales falling from the eyes of Americans so they see obvious corruption? And then we're disappointed when, seemingly, it didn't happen?

Swallwell (sp) is a good one for that. He, among others, goes before the cameras, raises expectations about testimony before it happens, and then, afterwards, the perception is that the hearings are falling flat.

Just let the pace be. Schiff and Speaker Pelosi know what they're doing.

[quote]Schiff is treating the Republicans in Congress like Emperor Elagabalus' Praetorian Guard.

Boy, I’ll say!

I'm wondering about the on going lawsuits. When can we expect a verdict if Mulvaney, Bolton, Giuliani and others have to appear before the committee?

R369, there is another lawsuit seeking the testimony of Dan McGann that was filed earlier, in August; the judge in that case may be close to a decision rejecting the WH's bogus "absolute immunity" argument. That, in turn, could accelerate the verdicts in other, similar cases. Of course, the WH will likely want to appeal everything up to the Supreme Court.

R367 gave me an idea when s/he mentioned the scales falling from their eyes: let a southern preacher lay out the facts in that indomitable preaching style and the deplorables will eat it up like candy. Can you imagine the build-up a southern preacher could give to announcing that Trump is the Anti-Christ? Can you imagine the deplorables weeping, falling on their knees and begging for forgiveness for worshiping a false god by the name of Donald Trump?

It is hysterical, but the possibility makes the mind reel.

Rethugs must be really worried. Tons of Trolls flooding DL and posting obviously Troll threads.

^delay tactics; all of them. They are hoping when there are no options for further appeals, Congress has moved-on from seeking their testimonies.

Aside from impeachment hearings, yesterday were closing arguments in the Stone trial.

If he is found guilty of lying to congress, then ergo -- Trump perjured himself to Mueller, his campaign DID collude with Russia in 2016 campaign, and the Mueller report was obstructed.

Meanwhile Erdogan gave the tough guy letter Trump wrote, back to him. He might as well have pissed on Trump's face.

Trump's presidency is nothing short of explosive, painful diarrhea at this point

Referencing r369

Referencing r369

I wish the media would point blank ask McConnell and the GOP what they stand for these days. Which would be a rhetorical question since we know they are all Russian assets either directly or indirectly (by siding with their peers who are Russian assets).

Good question, R377. I'm curious about what their response would be since they would never come out and say they were Russian assets - nothing else makes any sense.

[quote]I wish the media would point blank ask McConnell and the GOP what they stand for these days.

And to throw the old fucker off his smug stride I'd like the media to phrase it as such: Moscow Mitch, what do you stand for these days?

The Hill: Sessions vows to 'work for' Trump endorsement

n an appearance on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle," Sessions, who last week launched a campaign for his former Senate seat, said he knows that Trump doesn't always get involved in primaries, but he would actively seek the president's support.

"Certainly, I'm going to work for that and will be seeking it," he said.

The former Alabama senator also praised Trump's "conservative agenda," saying his performance in the White House has been "better than almost any president in my lifetime."

Asked by host Laura Ingraham if there was anything he'd like to say to the president, Sessions responded by reminding her that he was the first senator to back Trump.

"He didn't have a better supporter in the United States Senate than when I was there," he said. "I was his first supporter in the United States Senate, and if I go back to the United States Senate, he won't have a more aggressive, determined supporter when I get back."

Carolina Barnyard

Miss Lindzey showing Mulvaney he ain't getting any. Not today!

CNN:

Exclusive: Trump DC hotel sales pitch boasts of millions to be made from foreign government

My god, how pathetic can Jeff Sessions be?

He seems like another dainty Southern gay man in the mood of Miss Lindz although he bearded up at some point. There’s no way that little gnome hasn’t been pounded at some point.

^ What you said. Cringingly pathetic. What a weak, wizened, spineless little nome. Pathetic, with all the scorn and contempt the word commands, is really the only word for him. Get some self respect, man.

USA Today:

Pompeo 'on shifting sand' as impeachment probe reveals his role in Ukraine pressure campaign

Newsweek: Trump Claims Ivanka 'Created 14 Million Jobs' But Only 5.5 Million Have Been Created During His Presidency

[quote]Meanwhile Erdogan gave the tough guy letter Trump wrote, back to him. He might as well have pissed on Trump's face.

Instead of ‘Lock him up! Lock him up!” stadiums should start shouting “Putin’s Bitch! Putin’s Bitch!”

r386...hes referring to the slave labor she enlists in the shitty manufacturing jobs overseas producing her inferior products.

Oh, Ivanka! Give those girls a break.

[quote]He seems like another dainty Southern gay man in the mood of Miss Lindz although he bearded up at some point.

With the worst beard ever. She literally used to be a gym teacher. I could see her leading a ceremony for crones at Michfest.

WSJ:

Lawmakers, More Polite in Private, Get Aggressive in Public Hearing

^

What is up with Republicans and their gym teacher wives? Jean Hastert is also a former PE teacher.

And this is why we’re in the state we’re in. The propaganda arm of the Trump regime has 35-40% of the country hook, line and sinker.

Ivanka, you in danger, gurl

The reich-wing lives in an alternate universe, as discussed in the article at R394. They completely ignore inconvenient facts that don’t conform to their preconceived notions.

This is a problem that will continue after tRump is gone, because it started long before he came on the scene. It is a mindset that excoriated President Obama for wearing a tan suit In the WH press briefing room, or putting his feet on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, or saluting a soldier with a cup of coffee in his hand — and yet gives Cheatolini a pass on everything.

This is a long-term problem that, if left unchecked, can and will undermine the foundations of our democracy.

Sorry, let me re-post the link at r395

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

^ Idiots

At this point are his tax returns still lynchpin, crucial items?

Either because they 1) they point to who is bankrolling/blackmailing him, or 2) show him to be a con man

Maybe these both apply.

Would something like that cause a large shift in opinion?

Rush Limbaugh continues to be a piece of shit

"This is a problem that will continue after tRump is gone, because it started long before he came on the scene. It is a mindset that excoriated President Obama for wearing a tan suit In the WH press briefing room, or putting his feet on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, or saluting a soldier with a cup of coffee in his hand — and yet gives Cheatolini a pass on everything.

This is a long-term problem that, if left unchecked, can and will undermine the foundations of our democracy."

This is what happens when wealthy, entitled white men/women are in power. There's a double standard in the US, where wealthy white people are allowed to say/do whatever they want and everybody else has to conform to the laws of the land. For example Numero Uno, see Donald Trump. If Obama had tried one one hundredth of what Trump has pulled, there would have been a lynch mob dragging the entire Obama family out of the White House and strung up on the South Lawn.

Plunder and Pillage.

ABC:

Chad Wolf confirmed as acting Homeland Security chief

Reuters:

Pelosi says Trump has admitted to bribery

R402, it is a bit more than being in power — it is the fear of losing power to “the other.” So terrified are they that they are in the thrall of tRump and Faux News in an attempt to allegedly bring back American greatness. Which is just code for a time when white “Christians” (mostly male) were in charge.

AP:

AP source: 2nd US official heard Trump call with Sondland

Agree with you 100%, R396/R406

So is this grand bargain/conspiracy between Putin and his oligarchy applying his years of KGB training and subterfuge to try to sustain an American oligarchy (white/mostly male/rich) within the levers of US governmental power.

USA Today:

Trust seeks seizure of Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas's bail to repay $678K judgment

Another like from me for the r402 post.

To Repugs White Privilege is a "myth", never mind that its very embodiment/personification is Donald Trump.

If it's any small consolation to you, r387, I have been randomly sending postcards to turtle over the last year with a picture of Putin on them and the words "Putin's bitch".

I send them from Kentucky to his various offices in Kentucky and DC.

It doesn't matter if he sees them or not. His staff does and I've started including #moscowmitch on them simply because he won't answer the phones.

It's petty and pointless but it makes me feel better.

It was reported Sean Hannity, as well as a few other Fox News personalities, converse with Trump regularly. Hannity had collaborated with Michael Cohen regularly before the exposure, and the details of that have never been fully disclosed. Miss Lindz is on his show almost nightly. Fox has not put parameters on Hannity's behavior. Rupert and his one son, Lachlan Murdoch, have a lot of explaining to do about promoting conspiracy theories and Trump-Russia. They are profiting bigtime with the propaganda. These are Australians who were granted U.S. citizenships. They own a lot of media outlets and bunch of supermarket rags distributed all over the world. No entity is forcing them to account. Facebook was asked to explain. However, much, much more of Putin's agenda is espoused on Fox. Congress won't call them in because it's GOP TV.

That was way harsh, Tai!

R407 - I heard him too! Wink, wink. Do you want to buy a bridge or how about some Florida swamp land?

Sad!

Well, well, well... look who came crawling back to the treason threads @r411.

I eat old people's excrement.

Drag queen sashays into impeachment hearings

did you know that Putin & President Xi Jinping are at an economic summit in Brazil? probably not because the only news we get is about Trump

MSNBC: Trump departure to rally delayed by 30 mins while Trump is having an “animated” conversation with AG Barr in the Oval Office

NBC:

Trump admin preparing to take over private land for border wall

"I'm sure!", r421...

Oh good lord, not this Bozo again....

Newsweek: GOP Congressman Called Out for Tweeting Photos of Man He Claims Is the Whistleblower

Washington Post:

Trump asks Supreme Court to shield his tax returns from prosecutors, setting up historic separation-of-power showdown

So... question on the tax returns court battle. If the SC decided to not rule on the case, that means the lower court decision stands, right? It just seems so cut and dry to me—there is no precedence at all for Dump to win on this, so the SC shouldn’t even accept the case.

Trump wants to buy up private land....isn't that socialism?

Not if a self-serving republican't does it r427.

A Russian oligarch who is friends with Putin bought up 70,000 copies of Don Junior's shitty "book" so it could make the bestseller list

Damn, I wish I could hire a ghostwriter to churn out a book, then get my rich friends to buy thousands of copies so I can call myself a bestselling author.

^^^ The Republican National Committee made bulk purchases of that book also. They’re "giving them away" to the fools who donate to the GOP.

I wonder how many copies the book legitimately sold, aside from the mass purchasing? Like, maybe 12?

[quote] A Russian oligarch who is friends with Putin bought up 70,000 copies of Don Junior's shitty "book" so it could make the bestseller list

Which should make having any book on the bestseller list meaningless. Bulk purchases, really?

And THAT is a form of money laundering and bribery.

A prime reason that appointees do not publish while they are still government employed.

But of course Trump, jr. doesn't benefit AT ALL from daddy being (piece of shit) POTUS. But omg! That Biden son should be HANGED for being such a pathetic moocher mooching off his dad's connections.

Rudy Giuliani says Trump will stay loyal to him but jokes that he has 'insurance'

Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello, who was also on the call, then interjected: “He’s joking.”

lol r417.

"crawling?" I'm SASHAYING back from the other thread, and then sashaying to the other thread.

Shantay.

Smoooches, r418.

What's with the divide and conquer between the two thread? I read and post on both.

Nancy uses the word “exculpatory” in an answer to a press question, and then says, “Mr. President, “exculpatory” means ...”. She didn’t define it for everyone, it was directed to Trump . It was trolling at its best.

LOL, Ari Melber just pulled out the Mariah Carey "I don't know her" gif with tRump saying he does not know Gordon Sondland.

He doesn't know the guy he called when he was out to dinner?

Trump is the Never Ending Liar.

[quote] “...we’re less than a year away from an election!”

Kevin McCarthy (R) used the above as an excuse to argue that there should be no impeachment. This argument just kills me. A year is a long time! It’s also a large percentage of the President’s term, 25%. It’s also an important execution of principle, and would be the right thing to do if there were only 4 months left in his term. It would always be proper, but three months probably isn’t enough time to finish the process. We’ll see about that.

R439, I thought the Ambassador called Trump? If Trump called him, that’s really damning.

[quote]“...we’re less than a year away from an election!”

Not this fucking shit again.

Didn't Scientology do that with L Ron's book, buy a ton of copies to make the sales numbers look better?

It’s a family tradition.

[quote]According to O’Donnell, who oversaw marketing and served as president and chief operating officer of the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino from 1987 to 1990, the Trump Organization helped boost The Art of the Deal by purchasing tens of thousands of copies on its own. In his book, O’Donnell recounts buying 1,000 copies of The Art of the Deal to sell in the Plaza’s gift shop—only to be told by fellow executive Steve Hyde that it wasn’t nearly enough. “You’ve got to increase your order,” Hyde told him. “Donald will go nuts if you don’t order more books.” How many more? Four thousand copies, O’Donnell was told.

[quote]“We were pressured to buy a lot of books,” O’Donnell tells the New Republic. So many, in fact, that he had to find creative ways to get rid of them all. “What we would do is use them as a turn-down service in a hotel,” O’Donnell laughs. “You know how in a nice hotel they turn your bedcover down and put a mint there? We were putting books on the bed.”

[quote]And it wasn’t just the Plaza Hotel that was buying the book in bulk. According to O’Donnell, Trump executives were instructed to buy thousands of copies for their properties. In typical Trump fashion, the boss pitted his top executives against each other: When Trump’s then-wife, Ivana, ordered 4,000 books for the Trump Castle Casino in Atlantic City, O’Donnell was warned that he needed to match her. “Hey, Jack,” a fellow executive cautioned him, “you better buy as many books as Ivana, or Donald will use it against you.

CNN: Russian spies likely intercepted Trump–Sondland phone call

I got on the Trump campaign email list. I just got this:

Subject: Stand with me now

FAKE IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS HAVE BEGUN!

The Democrats are playing a sick game.

The Impeachment Scam hearings begin today! This is a complete Fake Hearing (trial) to interview Never Trumpers and a Pelosi-Schiff SCAM against the Republican Party and me.

It's obvious they hate me, but more importantly, they HATE YOU. The Democrats know they can't win in 2020, so they want to rip the power from your hands by ERASING your VOTE, ERASING your VOICE, and ERASING your FUTURE!

BOTTOM LINE: THIS WITCH HUNT SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO PROCEED.

The Radical Left and Lamestream Media are just trying to make it hard for TRUE AMERICANS, including YOUR PRESIDENT, to win in 2020. We can't let them get away with this.

It's time to make a statement. I want to do something so EPIC that even the FAKE NEWS media won't be able to ignore us while these baseless Witch Hunt Trials go on.

I WANT TO RAISE 3 MILLION DOLLARS IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

These next 24 hours are SO CRITICAL, that I've authorized an EMERGENCY DOUBLE-MATCH on ALL DONATIONS. Together, we are going to show the degenerate Trump Haters that they cannot break us and that AMERICA will no longer tolerate their CORRUPT actions. I can't do this alone. I'm counting on my BEST supporters, like you, to stand with me now when it matters most. Don't let me down, the Nation is counting on you.

I've requested a list of every patriot who steps up with a critical contribution during this Fake Impeachment Hoax. I expect to see your name on that list. Please contribute ANY AMOUNT in the NEXT 24 HOURS and your gift will be DOUBLED!

Thank you, President Trump Donald J. Trump President of the United States

I hope the author who REALLY wrote the book makes some $$$ from all those bulk purchases

[quote] "There is little doubt that the Russians and perhaps multiple other foreign intelligence services would have intercepted this call. Moscow undoubtedly would have been pleased," according to Polymeropoulos.

Maybe Intelligence officers from one of those countries could give us a transcript of the call. That would be very helpful in the impeachment inquiry.

R446, Trump refers to “true Americans”, which I hate because he no doubt defines it to exclude plenty of Americans.

Politico:

Trump shows GOP senators summary of his first call with Ukraine president

r446, it's Tony Schwartz (sp?) who appears on MSNBC (on Ari Melber's show) on a fairly regular basis for his opinion on Trump.

Does he regret ghost writing that book? Yes, yes he does.

R450, of course, Trump lies So much that the “summary” cannot be trusted.

And why not release the actual transcript?

The summary of the second call has already been found to not be accurate, and to Trump‘s benefit.

Washington Post:

Justice Dept. watchdog won’t let witnesses give written feedback on report about FBI’s Russia probe, sparking fears of inaccuracy

AP:

Tense TV: CNN’s Blitzer asks Kellyanne Conway about husband

R441, Sondland called Trump, as it’s currently being reported, but that doesn’t make it one bit less damning.

The NYT flagged the Dump Jr book to indicate that its sales are skewed by bulk purchases.

Bloomberg: Rudy Giuliani is being investigated by federal prosecutors for possible campaign finance violations and a failure to register as a foreign agent as part of an active investigation into his financial dealings, according to three U.S. officials.

WaPo: More depositions incoming!

A longtime career employee at the White House Office of Management and Budget is expected to break ranks and testify Saturday in the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, potentially filling in important details on the hold-up of military aid to Ukraine.

Mark Sandy would be the first OMB employee to testify in the inquiry, after OMB acting director Russell T. Vought and two other political appointees at the agency defied congressional subpoenas to appear. The White House has called the impeachment inquiry unconstitutional and ordered administration officials not to participate.

Bette

Vanity Fair: George Conway privately says Smellyanne is in a "cult"

Politico:

Judge slams feds over murky stance on McCabe

Slate Political Gabfest today was rather discouraging.

[quote] Vanity Fair: George Conway privately says Smellyanne is a "cunt"

Fixed it for you.

CNN:

Lawyer says Trump budget official will testify in impeachment inquiry if subpoenaed

L.A. Times:

Cellphone call from Ukraine could compound Trump's troubles

That looks like fake Melania again at R465.

Thought so as well, r466.

r467,r467 Fake Melania?

Maybe I made a mistake but that pic is not in the article....still what makes you think it's a double.

Per TalkingPointsMemo, Zelensky was on the verge of giving Trump what he wanted.

[quote]Over the course of a few nail-biting days in early September, Trump nearly obtained the “deliverable” he had sought from Ukraine for months. He’d wanted Zelensky to publicly announce investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden and purported Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections — perfect fodder for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.

[quote]The President had placed a hold on a nearly $400 million aid package to Ukraine, and the Ukrainians were feeling the heat.

[quote]The date for the announcement was reportedly set for Sept. 13. But just before Zelensky went public, the security aid was released — and the public learned of a whistleblower’s complaint that would come to rock Washington and endanger Trump’s hold on the Oval Office.

The linked article also has some good notes about the timeline.

Sondland has some involvement with the racist policies of deeply disturbed Jewish Nazi Stephen Miller. From the beginning of his term as Ambassador to the EU Sondland has been trying to persuade wealthy, white Europeans to migrate to the U.S. I would think that's pretty much a hopeless task.

(Apologies for the direct WaPo link, I couldn't find a MSN.com link).

On a lighter note

BREAKING NEWS: Trump moves to stop judge from giving Bolton aide permission to testify

[bold] Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney [/bold]

JUST IN: Trump moves to force dismissal of lawsuit brought by Bolton aide seeking to determine whether to testify in House impeachment proceedings.

>>TRUMP IS GOING TO COURT TO STOP OTHERS FROM TESTIFYING<<

[bold]JARED'S CAREER AS A BAG MAN[/BOLED]

Rick Wilson @TheRickWilson

I remember when Republicans opposed eminent domain seizures of private property.

NBC News @NBCNews

NEW: Trump admin. is preparing paperwork to begin taking over private land to build the president's long-promised border wall as early as this week, according to two officials familiar with the process.

Tsuru @7810o

This should go well. - 'Jared Kushner is hosting a meeting with military and administration officials at the White House this Friday, where they are expected to discuss the U.S. government taking over private land to build more sections of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border'

I'm ready for Masha Yovanovitch to fucking raise hell tomorrow and drop bombs on Trump, Giuliani and the dumb repubs asking nonsense questions

I heard earlier today on MSNBC that she reportedly has a photographic memory

R474 She looks like she would cut a bitch and quick.

r474, I heard that about Fiona not Masha. Can someone verify either.

And I heard it menmtioned as eidetic memory.

Bet some kind soul working for "Five Eyes" would be willing to do the Dems a solid.

I am anxious to hear from Dr Fiona Hill as well.

I hope she and Masha burn the fucking house down.

R476, I also think the 'cut a bitch' lady is Ms Fiona. Judging from excerpts from her close door testimony, Rethug question hour at her hearing will be fun!

The rate good piece by David Brooks.

*rare

I know the Palmer Report is as left as one can go but for your entertainment:

[quote]Sessions vows to 'work for' Trump endorsement

The Republican Primary in Alabama is going to get nasty.

Roy Moore is still after the nomination, but the Republicans probably won't let him have it this time.

Sessions is desperate to get back in Trump's good books so he can get his old seat back.

And there are several other people running as well, including Rep. Bradley Byrne. Byrne is rumored to be Trump's favorite for the nomination and he was in the VIP box with Trump at the game a few days ago.

The talk is that Democrats hope Sessions gets the nomination because other than Moore, he may be easiest to beat since Republican voters angry at Sessions may not vote for him in 2020.

You just know even Deplorables give each other side eyes these days when the topic about Trump hiring only the best comes up.

The second transcript, it needs to be said, is just a smoke screen to confuse people and distract. It's reported to be a congratulatory call after Zelensky won the election, and there's nothing interesting about it. Trump's floating it right now to press and GOP to try to draw out whatever drama he can. It's the same tactic as the previous transcript, although in this case it's not damning (reportedly).

Like the South Korea 500% defense fee increase, as well as scheduling Erdogan the same day as impeachment hearings, this is Trump trying to regain control of the news cycle.

He will "officially" release the transcript likely today during the second day of impeachment hearings (or after, to try to blunt the news cycle).

Surprise! Trump's DC hotel is doing terribly. But this means Eric Trump lied?!

President Trump’s Washington hotel has fallen well behind competing properties despite continuing to charge among the highest rates in the city, according to financial information provided to potential bidders as his company tries to sell the hotel’s lease.

The hotel has become a center of Republican politics and a frequent stopping point for members of Trump’s cabinet and inner circle. But its guest rooms are running nearly half empty this year, according to the information, causing the 263-room luxury property — which opened on Pennsylvania Avenue weeks before Trump arrived in the White House — to fall short of the company’s own expectations.

Marketing materials distributed by a real estate firm hired by Trump’s company say that a new owner, operating “unencumbered” by Trump’s name or his management company, could dramatically increase profits, particularly through a massive increase in business with foreign governments.

The hotel “is organically positioned to market and solicit foreign government business” given its “unbelievable proximity to the White House, U.S. Capitol, Internal Revenue Service, Treasury, Department of Justice” and other offices, according to the marketing materials given to potential buyers by the firm, JLL, which was obtained by The Washington Post.

This campaign video is nauseating. Why would anyone vote for this bug-eyed "Trump agenda" supporter?

Jared vs Kellyanne

We love this!

Team Kellyanne!

Team Kellyanne!

[quote]Like Trump, Kushner declined to shed all of his business interests upon joining the White House.

[quote]"I disagree with her ideologically, but I think Nancy Pelosi is a master at political warfare. I think, strategically, what she has done from their perspective is actually quite brilliant,” he said in the interview.

13.1 Million Watched First Impeachment Hearings, With Fox News Most Viewed and CNN Second in Demo

Did the hearings start earlier today?

Yes r494, at 9 AM EST.

Republicunts repeated questions will be:

What is the name of the Whistleblower?

and

How many times did Hillary Clinton threaten to make you commit suicide unless you came here and made up this malfeasance?

Fox News coverage

Trump just heard Sondland likely to flip.

Um, the readout of the April call released by the WH then does not match transcript released today.

From the daily Beast:

[quote]The release of the transcript of President Donald Trump’s first call in April with Ukrainain president-elect Volodomyr Zelensky was meant to bolster the case that Trump had nothing but good intentions in his dealings with Ukraine—but it also showed a White House summary of the same call released to the public shortly after it occurred was largely fabricated.

[quote]The White House readout, a summary of the call released hours after it occurred, claimed Trump “underscored the unwavering support of the United States for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity—within its internationally recognized borders—and expressed his commitment to work together with President-elect Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people to implement reforms that strengthen democracy, increase prosperity, and root out corruption.”

[quote]Such statements are nowhere to be found in the transcript of the call released by the president on Friday. That transcript shows Trump congratulating Zelensky on his recent election win, promising to arrange a White House visit for the new Ukrainian president, and recounting the large number of Ukrainaian women who participated in Trump’s Miss Universe competitions.

Miss Thang has been dispatched to the WH to help control Spur's tweet tantrum.

Stone found guilty.

hahahaha Stone going to jail!!!

It's been 45 years in the making

how many Trump associates now?

Roger Stone news story.

[quote]Stone, 67, was convicted of seven charges, including lying to congressional investigators, witness tampering, and obstructing justice. The charges stem from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election—and were the last to be filed before the probe ended.

But surely he'll get a pardon!

Lovely re Stone!

Meanwhile Michael Flynn still hasn't been sentenced, and is trying to have his conviction vacated.

When is he being sentenced? Is he free in the meantime?

makes one wonder, why hasn't Manafort been pardoned yet? He stayed loyal to Trump

CNBC:

Trump ally Roger Stone found guilty of lying to Congress, witness tampering

Dotard is going to pull a Mariah on Stone.

"I don't know her..."

"Never met him in my life."

BREAKING: Jury: Longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone guilty of lying to the US Congress, obstructing justice and witness tampering. NBCNews.com

Geriatric swingers and the Manhattan Madam must be devastated hearing the Stone verdict.

Geriatric swingers and the Manhattan Madam must be devastated hearing the Stone verdict.

BREAKING: Roger Stone, a former Trump campaign official and longtime practitioner of the political dark arts, was found guilty on Friday of lying to Congress.

Judge Amy just let him walk out of the courtroom like he was found guilty on taking a candy bar out of gas station.

Unbelievable. Multiple felony counts. Facing decades in prison and she refuses to have Stone taken into custody.

In the past week, both Giuliani and Mulvaney have publicly threatened Dump in case he’s considering throwing them under the bus. Rudy "joked" that he has "very good insurance", and Mulvaney said he "knows too much."

Roger Stone is set to be sentenced on February 6.

R515 It is nice to be old, white, wealthy and connected in the US.

But he won't going anywhere unless he kills himself or gets sick to the level of being incapacitated.

I hope no one is waiting for a pardon.

Schiff just cut off Nunez when he wanted to lateral to a Republican member of Congress.

Castor is totally unprepared for this to have happened .

He is stumbling.

Nunez looks like a desperate idiot.

Did Castor just make the Democratic case against the President?

Rep. Ted Lieu:

Decision by the jury to find Roger Stone GUILTY on all counts shows no one is above the law, including all the President's Men. Also shows that prosecutors take very seriously the crimes of:

Lying to Congress

Obstruction

Witness Tampering

cc: @realDonaldTrump

#FridayThoughts

Why let Stone out on bail? What's the reasoning?

He didn't shoot anyone on 5th Avenue r522.

Feb. 6, 2020

Judge Amy: "Mr. Stone you have been found guilty on 7 very serious charges including witness tampering. Do you have anything you would like to say?"

Stone: "Eat me, cunt!"

Judge Amy: "Mr. Stone, I hereby sentence you to 25.... minutes in a federal prison. With 20 minutes suspended. I hope you learned your lesson."

I totally seeing him getting some kind of abnormally light sentence. Judge Amy's a professional, but she was very easy on him throughout (instagram, etc.)

Yes, R520, yes, he did.

Someone upthread mentioned Michael Flynn...what in THE hell is going on? Why has he not been sentenced??

R527, one of the articles mentioned that Flynn is challenging one of the indictments or something.

R528, I did see that but that shouldn’t preclude any sentencing... didn’t he plead guilty?

R529, I'm not sure. Could one of the DL lawyers weigh in?

Felix Sater has also been convicted and his sentencing has been postponed for YEARS.

Wait, Stone is out on bail?!? Why?!?

R532, he has not yet been sentenced. There is a whole process to formulating a sentence, factors that must be weighed, etc., particularly as he was found guilty of multiple offenses. The judge has to decide whether the sentences will run consecutively or concurrently.

R524, not a snowball’s chance in hell. Judge Amy Berman Jackson is a former federal prosecutor, is extremely smart, and doesn’t take shit from anyone. She initially ruled against me in a case that took me four years to win (for the prosecution). While I disagreed with that first ruling, I have a great deal of respect for her as a jurist.

Stone is going to jail for several years.

[quote]Judge Amy Berman Jackson is a former federal prosecutor, is extremely smart, and doesn’t take shit from anyone.

Except from Roger Stone based on all the numerous chances and allowances she has given him.

Except. R535, she put a gag order on him. As far as not jailing him until sentencing, the same thing happened with Manafort in EDVA and DC. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, it happened to all of the defendants that Mueller convicted.

Lest we forget, Judge Amy Berman Jackson is the mother of DL's favorite aspie/Jeopardy contestant MATT JACKSON!

Respect her authoritie!!

R537, really? Dear God...

Joe Scarborough tweets:

Hey Ambassador Sondland, Roger Stone lied to Congress for Trump and is now going to jail. Just like his campaign manager and lawyer. Are you next?

Your call, Gordy.

R539, that's because he stole that shit from Jake Tapper on CNN. He's [Joe] someone who's an asshole and wants it both ways, being a Rethug and all. He's just pissed he's not in Gym Jordan's spot.

'Mother' is on the campaign trail. She demands religious liberty.....the kind that discriminates.

[quote]Second Lady Karen Pence made a brief visit to Salt Lake City Friday to file paperwork to put President Donald Trump on Utah’s March primary ballot, rallying a group of invited Trump supporters at the Capitol by stressing his support for religious liberty and other conservative issues.

^ She looks much older.

I guess four years of hyper denial will do that to you.

At least she's got that fulfilling sex beast in bed with her at night.

R542, the gay version of that "fulfilling sex beast" is more fulfilling in bed with her at night. Mike Pence, meet pink vibrator.

I'm just catching up on the impeachment hearings. My question is.... has Pence been implicated yet? When is he going down?

[quote]I demand this sham against my President be stopped!!!

Have any of you D.C bitches had Hogan Gidley?

Fox & Friends will be having on Diamond & Silk to explain it all.

Washington Post:

4 takeaways from Marie Yovanovitch’s testimony

R547, who the fuck are they?

CBS:

Staffer who overheard Trump call with Sondland testifies in closed hearing

CNN:

6 Trump associates have been convicted in Mueller-related investigations

[quote]Have any of you D.C bitches had Hogan Gidley?

He went to Ole Miss. Start there

The Hill: George Conway and Trump Jr. trade personal insults during impeachment hearing

Donald Trump Jr. ✔@DonaldJTrumpJr

America hired @realDonaldTrump to fire people like the first three witnesses we’ve seen. Career government bureaucrats and nothing more.

R553 That side glance picture cracks me up. It’s the one all the news sources use. Doesn’t this man have a better pic for them to use?

R554, like there's a better picture of a blowfish's side eye...

I'm thinking......no, r554.

Mother is now wearing Melania's old wigs?

Vox:

Did Trump just commit witness tampering? I asked 7 legal experts.

The Hill:

Trump defends Yovanovitch attack: 'I have freedom of speech'

R554 Kellyanne Conway has a fug fat husband with a bad hair dye job. No wonder she's a bitter bitch.

^ Her husband has an ugly hag for a wife who is a Trumpster cunt

^ Her husband has an ugly hag for a wife who is a Trumpster cunt

From the NYT:

WASHINGTON — An official from the United States Embassy in Kiev confirmed to House impeachment investigators on Friday that he overheard a call between President Trump and a top American diplomat in July in which the president inquired about investigations he wanted from Ukraine, according to three people familiar with the testimony.

The official, David Holmes, testified privately that he was at a restaurant in Ukraine’s capital when he heard Mr. Trump during a cellphone call loudly asking Gordon D. Sondland, the American ambassador to the European Union, if Ukraine’s president had agreed to conduct investigations into his political rivals. Mr. Sondland, who was in Kiev for meetings with top Ukrainian officials at the time, replied in the affirmative.

Mr. Sondland told Mr. Trump that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine “loves your ass,” and would conduct the investigations and “anything you ask him to,” according to two of the people, who described his testimony on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss it.

After the call ended, Mr. Holmes asked it if was true that the president did not care about Ukraine, the people said. The ambassador replied that Mr. Trump cared only about the “big stuff,” like investigations that his personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani was pushing for, because they affected him personally.

Wow r563 that’s damning!

Touché r562. What I really don't understand is how these two people can live together and make this marriage work. I mean do they really say things like "Have a nice day, honey" when they leave for work? All I could say to her is "Fuck you and your corrupt boss".

Melania's old wig isn't helping Mother very much in the photo at R557. Could she look like more of a hag? Apparently her husband isn't offering her any hair or makeup advice.

Wall Street Journal:

Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating whether Rudy Giuliani stood to personally profit from a Ukrainian natural-gas business pushed by Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.

Isnt it amazing that government officials who have worked and served their country for more than 30 years never met or had a direct conversation with the president, but an inexperienced guy who just donated a million bucks apparently has his private cell number and can just call the POTUS whenever he wants and discuss and brag about it in public?

But Repugs are mysteriously outraged that these honourable government officials can only provide 2nd or 3rd hand information while a jackass like Sondland has POTUS private cell number and can just call whenever he wants to.

Polling

Polling

Also we should all remember that Trump just claimed a couple of days ago that "I hardly know the gentleman" (Sondland).

I was traveling most of the day so didn't get to watch the Hearing. Did I miss anything? How many times did Rethugs call the witness a slut and bring up Hillary?

R572, check out the new thread from today's hearing:

Are the majority of likely voters following this? My Lyft drivers are almost uniformly unaware.

ABC:

Dems call for Stephen Miller to resign after emails promoting white nationalism leak

[quote]State Department official: Sondland told Trump that Ukrainian President 'loves your ass' and would do 'anything you ask him to'

Sondland must be confused. That doesn't seem like Zelinsky; but certainly Miss Lindzey.

[quote]The official, David Holmes, testified privately that he was at a restaurant in Ukraine’s capital when he heard Mr. Trump during a cellphone call loudly asking Gordon D. Sondland, the American ambassador to the European Union, if Ukraine’s president had agreed to conduct investigations into his political rivals. Mr. Sondland, who was in Kiev for meetings with top Ukrainian officials at the time, replied in the affirmative.

R573 you spam this thread with a link that other thread one more time and I will go and SPAM it into oblivion! If any of us wanted to go that thread we would.

I'm stating my boundaries and I'm telling you now so I don't have to tell you later!

Haha at R578, nice one! But you didn't really capture the insanity of that poster.

Holmes testified that Dotard was so loud that a lot of other people also heard the conversation.

How long before more witnesses come forward?

It's the first time I've posted the link to the other thread.

R581 it's okay. You're missing the joke about the OP of those threads who apparently constantly threatens to spam this thread rendering it useless.

[quote] Trump defends Yovanovitch attack: 'I have freedom of speech'

Moron. The freedom of speech is not unlimited. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater and you can’t intimidate witnesses.

He is so venal and stupid.

Yeah, but R583, you can't expect him to know that. He can't be expected to know anything.

^He still doesn't understand that he has a responsibility to protect the people who put their lives on stake and serve their country abroad every day. He's just a selfish bitch but not a leader. This isn't about freedom of speech.

R585 now you're confusing what he understands. He DOES understand that those things are supposed to be his responsibility...

He just doesn't care.

Link to new thread for when this one maxes out:

George and Kellyanne’s married home life has got to be like War of the Roses.

Doubt it R588. They're both full of shit.

*THERE IT IS*.

"Sondland agreed that the President did not 'give a shit about Ukraine'...Sondland stated the President only cares about 'big stuff'...[and added] that he meant 'big stuff' that benefits the President, like the 'Biden investigation' that Mr. Giuliani was pushing."

R583, vapid, venal, and financially challenged...it's a damn shame that Heidi Fleiss manages her shit better than Drumpf.

Love it, r590! Thanks for posting.

Reuters:

Support for Trump's impeachment unchanged after hearings begin: Reuters/Ipsos poll

AP:

AP FACT CHECK: Trump twists ex-ambassador’s record

R593, it's too soon for polls to pick up the latest developments.

Trying to finish up here. Let's see.....how about another link to the new thread!

Closing

this

thread

Link to new thread below:

[quote]Trying to finish up here. Let's see.....how about another link to the new thread!

The end is nigh!

I’m not dead yet!

New thread linked below: