House Impeachment Inquiry

[Stacyhs]

There's nothing secret about it. If he were out of the business entirely, he wouldn't have pitched his bedbug infested resort in Florida at the G-7.

Secretly meaning intentional subterfuge in the decision making, not just publicly promoting his hotels and resorts. Does anyone really think Donnie Jr and Eric are running things without Daddy's orders?

 

[Craig4]

Secretly meaning intentional subterfuge in the decision making, not just publicly promoting his hotels and resorts. Does anyone really think Donnie Jr and Eric are running things without Daddy's orders?

Of course not; that would be absurd. Running such a business requires at least near human intelligence and Trump's nits who grew into lice don't have that.

 

[Stacyhs]

Of course not; that would be absurd. Running such a business requires at least near human intelligence and Trump's nits who grew into lice don't have that.

Trump's narcissism would never permit him losing absolute control over his business. Never. That's why he refused to put it in a blind trust.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

You are half right. Trump is no angel though I can't tell if he is more dishonest than past presidents - just more blatant.

If you can't see the difference, there is no doubt this fits the "willful ignorance" category.

It seems that the purpose of the impeachment is simply to give him unfavourable publicity and hopefully make him lose the election. Making him face legal sanctions for his wrong doings seems almost irrelevant.

Yeah right. It's just fine for Presidents to blatantly profit from the job.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

...

The only way to dissuade future profiteers from seeking high political office is to make it costly for them by holding them legally accountable for their crimes.
We won't get another Trump if as a result of the Investigations Trump loses all his wealth.

This ^

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Where did you get this rubbish from?

There is no profit in becoming POTUS. It is extremely costly to run and this is the main reason why only the seriously wealthy can afford to try. Many ex-presidents have to go on the speaking circuit in order to service the debt they incurred from running for office.

Trump doesn't have to spend a dime on his defence. The Senate wouldn't vote against Trump if they had video footage of every crime that Trump was accused of.

Holey Moley!

Trump didn't spend any of his own money on his campaign.

 

[psionl0]

Holey Moley!

Trump didn't spend any of his own money on his campaign.

I take everything that has been said at face value. Trump financed his campaign entirely from donations or raided his businesses in a non-transparent way. Trump still continues to hold offices of profit while serving as POTUS.

I don't know how illegal his activities are. If they were truly illegal then there is nothing to stop him being charged right now. The fact that he hasn't suggests that it is not as clear cut as people here want it to be.

None of that changes anything that I originally stated: Trump will not be impeached!!! This whole process is about votes. That may not be an illegitimate use of impeachment but don't pretend that it is about anything else.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

...

I don't know how illegal his activities are. If they were truly illegal then there is nothing to stop him being charged right now.

...

You are not quite correct:

because there never was such a Grifter-in-Chief means that there is no Case Law on how to deal with him.
The biggest problem isn't evidence (there is plenty) but Standing:

who gets to sue when the President uses his position to direct business to his companies?
who gets to sue when Trump forces the Secret Service to spend millions at his Golf Clubs?

This is all stuff that is currently being asked of courts, and until we have an answer, pending lawsuits are stuck.

 

[Cabbage]

If they were truly illegal then there is nothing to stop him being charged right now.

Still not paying attention, huh?

Yeah, there's "nothing" to stop him being charged right now.....except, for example, the OLC memo that says exactly that: He can't be charged right now. Oh, and of course that little bitty fact that Robert Mueller even said he was abiding by that particular memo. You know, that's a pretty damned significant "nothing" you're ignoring.

I would recommend you start paying attention before posting anymore nonsense.

 

[Cabbage]

Oh, yeah, and I just thought it would be helpful to point out that this also implies you have no idea (in this particular case) that any impeachment of Trump would simply be about votes.

One thing I've noticed: Grifters are generally more successful with their con games when grifting people that don't bother to pay attention.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Cory Lewandowski hearing today in front of the House Judiciary Committee is a painful joke.

The Republicans have Trump-lies-talking-points they are repeating one after the other in concerted effort: everything from the dossier was a Hillary fake to this is all a continuation of the witch hunt.

The Democrats have an uncoordinated weak response. Very frustrating to watch.

 

[AnonyMoose]

Cory Lewandowski hearing today in front of the House Judiciary Committee is a painful joke.

The Republicans have Trump-lies-talking-points they are repeating one after the other in concerted effort: everything from the dossier was a Hillary fake to this is all a continuation of the witch hunt.
The Democrats have an uncoordinated weak response. Very frustrating to watch.

Not only that, but it's really really really really really important to republicans that everybody be reminded every few minutes that Lewandowski is sitting in front of the committee voluntarily.

It's really really really important that we not forget he's volunteering his time.

 

[Lurch]

Cory Lewandowski hearing today in front of the House Judiciary Committee is a painful joke.

The Republicans have Trump-lies-talking-points they are repeating one after the other in concerted effort: everything from the dossier was a Hillary fake to this is all a continuation of the witch hunt.

The Democrats have an uncoordinated weak response. Very frustrating to watch.

Frustrating?! I had to bail early lest I destroy my phone.

I *like* to think that after Trump is rightly relegated to the dumpster of history, more than a few Goopers will look back on their 'performance' in these times with at least a twinge of shame.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Frustrating?! I had to bail early lest I destroy my phone.

I *like* to think that after Trump is rightly relegated to the dumpster of history, more than a few Goopers will look back on their 'performance' in these times with at least a twinge of shame.

I admit I found myself muting the GOP and sometimes channel surfing. Fifteen minutes and you saw everything.

 

[Frank Newgent]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/corey-lewandowski-impeachment-hearing-lies-disaster.html

The main thrust of Berke’s very effective questioning was to demonstrate that Lewandowski, contrary to his testimony, knew that what Trump had asked him to do was wrong—and possibly criminal—which is why he concealed it from the public. But we should also pause, please, to just let the other key takeaway soak in: Lewandowski, on the same day he rolls out a Senate run, says in a nationally televised hearing that he has no duty to be truthful “with the media.” Someone who has been a paid contributor for CNN, then One America News Network, and who has appeared on Fox News and the Sunday talk shows seems to make a distinction between lying “to the media” and lying to the unsuspecting American public that consumes the media.

This is next-level gaslighting. The same witness who announced to the world that he owes a duty of truth under oath, but that he may lie to the press with impunity, is launching a run for high office. The person who spat the words “fake news” at his hearing, in response to questions he didn’t like, boasted about actually creating and disseminating fake news when caught in a lie. There is a special grade of nihilism required to dismiss all unflattering media stories as fake, but the nihilism of dismissing one’s own lies to the press as justified is truly astounding.

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

The Ukraine issue has been the straw that broke Pelosi's back - the impeachment inquiry is now officially official

 

[Puppycow]

Saw this by Frank Bruni in the New York Times, and I kind of agree:

Why a Trump Impeachment Should Terrify You

What’s just and what’s wise aren’t always the same.

I'll just quote these two paragraphs from the middle of the piece as the main point:

Any scenario is possible, including one in which impeachment redounds to Trump’s benefit and increases the chances of his re-election, because he paints himself a martyr, eludes conviction in the Senate, frames that as exoneration and watches his fans mobilize and turn out as never before. And a second Trump term wouldn’t just be the sadly suboptimal byproduct of a noble stand; it would be disastrous. Morally as well as practically, limiting this unfit, amoral, unsteady man’s time in the presidency takes precedence over any small cluster of sentences written centuries ago.

But while an impeachment’s impact on November 2020 is unknowable, its effect on us as a nation is almost certain. A dangerously polarized and often viciously partisan country would grow more so, with people on opposing sides hunkering down deeper in their camps and clinging harder to their chosen narratives as the president — concerned only with himself — ratcheted up his insistence that truth itself was subjective and up for grabs.

What I believe is almost certain is that the Senate will not have enough votes to remove the president from office.

I personally would like him to be removed from office, even if that means Pence, who I am no fan of, becomes president. But that's not going to be the end result of this process barring something I can't imagine or expect right now. Assuming that there are enough votes in the House to refer articles of impeachment to the Senate, the end result will still almost certainly be that the president remains in office. He may even try to spin that as some kind of vindication or exoneration. I don't know how this all works out politically in 2020. Whether it adds or subtracts any votes from Trump or his eventual opponent. If Trump is reelected though, I think that would be a tragedy. And the people who wanted this impeachment will be even more frustrated than ever if that's where we find ourselves on the morning of November 4th, 2020.

 

[Frank Newgent]

Somebody's gotta say it, I will... the Senate convicts Trump. It's a no-brainer.

I mean... he's an idiot. They'll have no choice.

 

[Puppycow]

Somebody's gotta say it, I will... the Senate convicts Trump. It's a no-brainer.

I mean... he's an idiot. They'll have no choice.

Are you serious? I'll assume you're serious.

What about partisan politics? Have you considered the influence of that?
The Senate will not convict because there are too many members of the president's party in the Senate. It's simply math. Republican Senators won't vote against Trump because that could hurt their own reelection chances.

 

[acbytesla]

Are you serious? I'll assume you're serious.

What about partisan politics? Have you considered the influence of that?
The Senate will not convict because there are too many members of the president's party in the Senate. It's simply math. Republican Senators won't vote against Trump because that could hurt their own reelection chances.

I'm not sure it's that simple. There is another kind of math you're not considering and that is election polling. These guys are going to do what keeps their own political careers alive. And they will turn on Trump in an instant if they believe it is the most politically smart thing to do.