Let them talk, let them bitch, every news item that comes out hurts the Trump and GOP and all their complaining only highlight this.
This is compounded by the fact that their philosophy of "a good offense is the best defense" falls apart when they can't muster a coherent offense and at present come across as whiny children trying to rules lawyer their way out of trouble.
Honestly what I appreciate about impeachment is that fucking finally fucking finally the shoe is on the other foot. Its super easy to explain what Trump did/does/is doing is wrong, and the defenses require so much "well actually..." that no one is buying it other than Chuck Todd.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department’s third-ranking official is expected to tell Congress that political considerations were behind the agency’s refusal to deliver a robust defense of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
People familiar with the matter say the highest-ranking career diplomat in the foreign service, David Hale, plans to tell congressional impeachment investigators on Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other senior officials determined that defending Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch would hurt the effort to free up U.S. military assistance to Ukraine.
Hale will also say that the State Department worried about the reaction from Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, also one of the strongest advocates for removing the ambassador.
Hale is expected to shed more light on why the State Department did not step up to defend its top envoy in Kyiv. According to the people familiar with the matter, he will say he tried to distance himself and the department from the matter by removing himself from email chains about Yovanovitch.
Hale, for example, never responded to an email sent by former top Pompeo adviser Michael McKinley urging Pompeo to speak out in defense of Yovanovitch after the White House released a partial transcript of Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the officials said.
One official said Hale had “tried to take himself out of the loop on Ukraine.” But another official said Hale would defend Pompeo’s actions as “politically smart” for the State Department and its employees in the long run.
What a bunch of danged cowards.
Worth noting that the specific action he was calling for was that the Ambassador was holding things up because of Trump.
Like other advice given by the bureaucrats of Washington its wasnt wrong. Cowardly sure, but it could be reasonable to prioritize aid for a struggling nation over “just one more illegal thing the president is doing”
If anything, this is probably a more honest take from Graham than most of what he's been saying lately.
I imagine there's a part of him, carefully kept under wraps, that would love to say "look, he's a fucking idiot who can't wipe his own chin, okay? if we weren't all covering for him, because we have to, he'd be screwed."
It’s “more honest” but still a blatant lie. Trump and his team knew exactly what they were after in Ukraine.
Trump wanted to hurt Biden in case he was his opponent, and he’s also dumb as shit and believes any conspiracy theory he hears.
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Mx. QuillI now prefer "Myr. Quill", actually...{They/Them}Registered Userregular
edited November 2019
Also neither ignorance of nor incompetence at the law doesn't not make it a crime.
Trump still wanted made up incriminating evidence in exchange for delivering his previously-agreed upon money to Ukraine. Just because he's bad at it and unsubtle doesn't mean he suddenly is free of all charges, Graham.
An incoherent murder plot is still a murder plot, I don’t think this is quite the defence many republicans seem to think it is. They’re trying to say he just messed up a sincere investigation into corruption so badly that it only looks like he was pressuring a foreign country to dig up dirt on a political rival. Who is this for? Trump fans will take umbrage with the idea that he did anything imperfectly, and people on the fence that they need to convince will still see it as incompetence either way. It might be a defence against impeachment but it’s damning if you’re trying to get the guy re-elected
Also neither ignorance of nor incompetence at the law doesn't not make it a crime.
Trump still wanted made up incriminating evidence in exchange for delivering his previously-agreed upon money to Ukraine. Just because he's bad at it and unsubtle doesn't mean he suddenly is free of all charges, Graham.
Because of the way the law was written, ignorance of the law is actually what got Trump Jr off the hook for seeking help from the Russians.
The presidents personal attorney conducting foreign policy and pressuring diplomatic and state officials. This is a first right? This is so weird and awful. Surely there has to be a way to punish and curtail this kind of action. What’s to stop future presidents from just having their random friend be in charge of any random aspect of the executive?
It’s “more honest” but still a blatant lie. Trump and his team knew exactly what they were after in Ukraine.
Trump wanted to hurt Biden in case he was his opponent, and he’s also dumb as shit and believes any conspiracy theory he hears.
Trump wanted the press statement about the investigation. On TV. More then he wanted the actual investigation.
He knew EXACTLY what he was doing.
He also was doing it over a period of several months, across individuals and Departments. If this was a one off stupid conversation, it would still be terrible but can at least be portrayed as a moment of passion and idiocy. What he actually did took repeated, concerted effort aimed at the same consistent result.
It looks like the House GOP is going to make some changes to its Intelligence Committee membership ahead of the public impeachment hearings:
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is considering changing the lineup of the House Intelligence Committee to include some of President Trump's most vocal defenders in Congress.
"If Democrats are going to turn Intel into the impeachment committee, I am going to make adjustments to that committee accordingly, for a short period of time," McCarthy told Politico on Tuesday. A spokesman for McCarthy confirmed his comments to NPR.
Who, you may ask, are these legislative heavyweights the Republicans are turning to in this most dire time? Behold, the GOP All-Star team:
At the top of the list for possible temporary appointments are Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina. The two lawmakers sit on the House Oversight Committee, which is taking part in the closed-door deposition phase of the investigation, but neither lawmaker sits on the House Intelligence Committee, which will lead upcoming public impeachment hearings.
A GOP aide confirmed that Jordan and Meadows are "top choices" for temporary slots.
I'm sure the Democrats are shaking.
Also, in order for McCarthy to add Jordan and Meadows to the committee, he'd have to remove two other Republicans. I'm guessing none of the current GOP committee members are gonna be too happy about being removed and made to seem like they are not sufficiently behind Trump.
That_GuyI don't wanna be that guyRegistered Userregular
I am so FUCKING SICK of my district's representative (Meadows) being in the news for licking Trump's boots. Does anyone want to join me in a call-in campaign to fill up his voicemail box? I've already filled out all the shifty fucking surveys he's put out. It's not helping.
Sr. White House official: "Pam Bondi and Tony Sayegh are expected to join the White House communications team to work on proactive impeachment messaging and other special projects as they arise. The roles within the White House will be temporary..."
You might know her as the Florida AG Trump made illegal contributions to and was accused of dropping an investigation into Trump University as a favor.
Sr. White House official: "Pam Bondi and Tony Sayegh are expected to join the White House communications team to work on proactive impeachment messaging and other special projects as they arise. The roles within the White House will be temporary..."
You might know her as the Florida AG Trump made illegal contributions to and was accused of dropping an investigation into Trump University as a favor.
Yeah I love that someone who is directly implicated in another bribery thing for Trump will now defend him. He needs to stop hiring criminal lawyers.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
It looks like the House GOP is going to make some changes to its Intelligence Committee membership ahead of the public impeachment hearings:
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is considering changing the lineup of the House Intelligence Committee to include some of President Trump's most vocal defenders in Congress.
"If Democrats are going to turn Intel into the impeachment committee, I am going to make adjustments to that committee accordingly, for a short period of time," McCarthy told Politico on Tuesday. A spokesman for McCarthy confirmed his comments to NPR.
Who, you may ask, are these legislative heavyweights the Republicans are turning to in this most dire time? Behold, the GOP All-Star team:
At the top of the list for possible temporary appointments are Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina. The two lawmakers sit on the House Oversight Committee, which is taking part in the closed-door deposition phase of the investigation, but neither lawmaker sits on the House Intelligence Committee, which will lead upcoming public impeachment hearings.
A GOP aide confirmed that Jordan and Meadows are "top choices" for temporary slots.
I'm sure the Democrats are shaking.
Also, in order for McCarthy to add Jordan and Meadows to the committee, he'd have to remove two other Republicans. I'm guessing none of the current GOP committee members are gonna be too happy about being removed and made to seem like they are not sufficiently behind Trump.
There are two Republicans on the Intel Committee that are retiring- if they swap anyone out I believe it will be one or both of the retirees that goes. One is someone whose name I forget, from NY iirc. The other is Will Hurd. You know, the only black GOP member in the house (I think) and a former CIA analyst. Oh, he's also spoken out against Trump a time or two. I would hate to see him removed.
Sr. White House official: "Pam Bondi and Tony Sayegh are expected to join the White House communications team to work on proactive impeachment messaging and other special projects as they arise. The roles within the White House will be temporary..."
You might know her as the Florida AG Trump made illegal contributions to and was accused of dropping an investigation into Trump University as a favor.
Yeah I love that someone who is directly implicated in another bribery thing for Trump will now defend him. He needs to stop hiring criminal lawyers.
Sr. White House official: "Pam Bondi and Tony Sayegh are expected to join the White House communications team to work on proactive impeachment messaging and other special projects as they arise. The roles within the White House will be temporary..."
You might know her as the Florida AG Trump made illegal contributions to and was accused of dropping an investigation into Trump University as a favor.
Yeah I love that someone who is directly implicated in another bribery thing for Trump will now defend him. He needs to stop hiring criminal lawyers.
So Donald Trump Jr. decided to drop the alleged name of the whistleblower on his twitter account today. (I'm guessing to drum up publicity for his new book) Basically he linked back to the same name the right wing blogs have been shopping around for the last couple weeks, and it all goes back to that "Real Clear Investigations" report.
Also neither ignorance of nor incompetence at the law doesn't not make it a crime.
Trump still wanted made up incriminating evidence in exchange for delivering his previously-agreed upon money to Ukraine. Just because he's bad at it and unsubtle doesn't mean he suddenly is free of all charges, Graham.
Because of the way the law was written, ignorance of the law is actually what got Trump Jr off the hook for seeking help from the Russians.
I don't see that flying a second time.
I sort of wonder now if that really should just be the Democratic default strategy going forward. Republicans gaslight. Democrats just try to bait the stupid people into unknowingly incriminate themselves.
I wonder if we could've saved two years of this nonsense if we just egged Trump into proving just how above-board and legitimate he is.
Also neither ignorance of nor incompetence at the law doesn't not make it a crime.
Trump still wanted made up incriminating evidence in exchange for delivering his previously-agreed upon money to Ukraine. Just because he's bad at it and unsubtle doesn't mean he suddenly is free of all charges, Graham.
Because of the way the law was written, ignorance of the law is actually what got Trump Jr off the hook for seeking help from the Russians.
I don't see that flying a second time.
I sort of wonder now if that really should just be the Democratic default strategy going forward. Republicans gaslight. Democrats just try to bait the stupid people into unknowingly incriminate themselves.
I wonder if we could've saved two years of this nonsense if we just egged Trump into proving just how above-board and legitimate he is.
That won't work, because the stupid people who vote(d) for him won't understand why the things he did are crimes, or care as long as he's "owning the libs".
And as long as Congress can't or won't do anything that would upset those people, none of this goes anywhere.
We keep saying it, but it remains true. This rhetoric is fucking dangerous in a democracy. Like it ain't a joke these guys worship north korea, they literally do.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
It’s “more honest” but still a blatant lie. Trump and his team knew exactly what they were after in Ukraine.
Trump wanted to hurt Biden in case he was his opponent, and he’s also dumb as shit and believes any conspiracy theory he hears.
Trump wanted the press statement about the investigation. On TV. More then he wanted the actual investigation.
He knew EXACTLY what he was doing.
Yup, Trump wanted another Comey "We're reopening the investigation into her emails" type of public announcement just to tank Joe Biden in the polls ahead of the 2020 election.
I mean, the Trump administration even had a pre-prepared script for Zelenskiy to read off of, for chrissakes.
I am so FUCKING SICK of my district's representative (Meadows) being in the news for licking Trump's boots. Does anyone want to join me in a call-in campaign to fill up his voicemail box? I've already filled out all the shifty fucking surveys he's put out. It's not helping.
Could be worse. You could be like me and have McCarthy as your rep.
I am so FUCKING SICK of my district's representative (Meadows) being in the news for licking Trump's boots. Does anyone want to join me in a call-in campaign to fill up his voicemail box? I've already filled out all the shifty fucking surveys he's put out. It's not helping.
Could be worse. You could be like me and have McCarthy as your rep.
Now now, it's not a competition.
To quote a previously intuitive and soberminded Senator once said...
"It's like being shot or poisoned," the South Carolina Republican said. "What does it really matter?"
For those who can't remember, that was Sen. Graham talking about who he'd prefer be nominee, Trump or Cruz.
Prior to that, he had a complete gem of a statement.
"Donald Trump I think is the most unprepared person I've ever met to be commander in chief. And when it comes to Sen. Cruz, he's exhibited behavior in his time in the Senate that make it impossible for me to believe that he could bring this country together," Graham said.
It's a shame what happened to him. It's also a shame that Trump has forgotten. Sure would be a shame if someone reminded Trump.
President Trump wanted Attorney General William P. Barr to hold a news conference declaring that the commander in chief had broken no laws during a phone call in which he pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate a political rival, though Barr ultimately declined to do so, people familiar with the matter said.
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Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Looks like Barr has a self preservation instinct at least.
Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
Sr. White House official: "Pam Bondi and Tony Sayegh are expected to join the White House communications team to work on proactive impeachment messaging and other special projects as they arise. The roles within the White House will be temporary..."
You might know her as the Florida AG Trump made illegal contributions to and was accused of dropping an investigation into Trump University as a favor.
She's also a registered lobbyist for the government of Qatar...
Barr already looked awful during the last hearing where he so blatantly stalled for time. But I do hope this signals people who previously stumped for Trump might be starting to turn on him.
I am so FUCKING SICK of my district's representative (Meadows) being in the news for licking Trump's boots. Does anyone want to join me in a call-in campaign to fill up his voicemail box? I've already filled out all the shifty fucking surveys he's put out. It's not helping.
Could be worse. You could be like me and have McCarthy as your rep.
Now now, it's not a competition.
To quote a previously intuitive and soberminded Senator once said...
"It's like being shot or poisoned," the South Carolina Republican said. "What does it really matter?"
For those who can't remember, that was Sen. Graham talking about who he'd prefer be nominee, Trump or Cruz.
Prior to that, he had a complete gem of a statement.
"Donald Trump I think is the most unprepared person I've ever met to be commander in chief. And when it comes to Sen. Cruz, he's exhibited behavior in his time in the Senate that make it impossible for me to believe that he could bring this country together," Graham said.
It's a shame what happened to him. It's also a shame that Trump has forgotten. Sure would be a shame if someone reminded Trump.
I highly suspect Trump remembers. He never forgets a grudge.
I would love to see a reporter ask Trump if Lindsey's assesment that he's too incompetent to know that he was trying to do quid pro quo.
Honestly all reporters should, because then Trump would instinctively claim ownership. "I'm too smart for you idiots to understand my corruption."
Didn't Trump already essentially pre-empt this? Could have sworn I remember him saying that he was totally competent enough to do the quid quo pro if he wanted to.
It concerns me that both Trump's approval rating and the support for impeachment in public polling has stalled for the past couple of weeks despite a steady onslaught of new evidence against him. I hope the public hearings will get the needle moving again.
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
I am so FUCKING SICK of my district's representative (Meadows) being in the news for licking Trump's boots. Does anyone want to join me in a call-in campaign to fill up his voicemail box? I've already filled out all the shifty fucking surveys he's put out. It's not helping.
Could be worse. You could be like me and have McCarthy as your rep.
Now now, it's not a competition.
To quote a previously intuitive and soberminded Senator once said...
"It's like being shot or poisoned," the South Carolina Republican said. "What does it really matter?"
For those who can't remember, that was Sen. Graham talking about who he'd prefer be nominee, Trump or Cruz.
Prior to that, he had a complete gem of a statement.
"Donald Trump I think is the most unprepared person I've ever met to be commander in chief. And when it comes to Sen. Cruz, he's exhibited behavior in his time in the Senate that make it impossible for me to believe that he could bring this country together," Graham said.
It's a shame what happened to him. It's also a shame that Trump has forgotten. Sure would be a shame if someone reminded Trump.
I highly suspect Trump remembers. He never forgets a grudge.
It would be completely on brand, that if polling doesn't have him anywhere close to winning, or if he can't shake the stink of the impeachment, that he completely tanks Graham in the South Carolina primary (June 9th). Because scorpion will do what scorpion do.
I find it kinda funny that the list of endorsements for Graham has Pence, but not Trump.
Posts
Honestly what I appreciate about impeachment is that fucking finally fucking finally the shoe is on the other foot. Its super easy to explain what Trump did/does/is doing is wrong, and the defenses require so much "well actually..." that no one is buying it other than Chuck Todd.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Worth noting that the specific action he was calling for was that the Ambassador was holding things up because of Trump.
Like other advice given by the bureaucrats of Washington its wasnt wrong. Cowardly sure, but it could be reasonable to prioritize aid for a struggling nation over “just one more illegal thing the president is doing”
CBSNewsRadio person:
I imagine there's a part of him, carefully kept under wraps, that would love to say "look, he's a fucking idiot who can't wipe his own chin, okay? if we weren't all covering for him, because we have to, he'd be screwed."
Trump wanted to hurt Biden in case he was his opponent, and he’s also dumb as shit and believes any conspiracy theory he hears.
Trump still wanted made up incriminating evidence in exchange for delivering his previously-agreed upon money to Ukraine. Just because he's bad at it and unsubtle doesn't mean he suddenly is free of all charges, Graham.
Because of the way the law was written, ignorance of the law is actually what got Trump Jr off the hook for seeking help from the Russians.
I don't see that flying a second time.
Seems pretty coherent to me.
The Senate does that... :rotate:
Trump wanted the press statement about the investigation. On TV. More then he wanted the actual investigation.
He knew EXACTLY what he was doing.
Yes, Trump could have probably gotten an investigation going if he truly wanted just that.
But he didn’t, he wanted a public announcement that made one of his potential rivals look bad. That was always the only goal.
He also was doing it over a period of several months, across individuals and Departments. If this was a one off stupid conversation, it would still be terrible but can at least be portrayed as a moment of passion and idiocy. What he actually did took repeated, concerted effort aimed at the same consistent result.
Who, you may ask, are these legislative heavyweights the Republicans are turning to in this most dire time? Behold, the GOP All-Star team:
I'm sure the Democrats are shaking.
Also, in order for McCarthy to add Jordan and Meadows to the committee, he'd have to remove two other Republicans. I'm guessing none of the current GOP committee members are gonna be too happy about being removed and made to seem like they are not sufficiently behind Trump.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2019/11/05/776487737/gop-leader-eyes-intel-shake-up-to-boost-president-trumps-defenders
Washington Post reporter:
You might know her as the Florida AG Trump made illegal contributions to and was accused of dropping an investigation into Trump University as a favor.
Hope for the best, expect the worst
Yeah I love that someone who is directly implicated in another bribery thing for Trump will now defend him. He needs to stop hiring criminal lawyers.
pleasepaypreacher.net
There are two Republicans on the Intel Committee that are retiring- if they swap anyone out I believe it will be one or both of the retirees that goes. One is someone whose name I forget, from NY iirc. The other is Will Hurd. You know, the only black GOP member in the house (I think) and a former CIA analyst. Oh, he's also spoken out against Trump a time or two. I would hate to see him removed.
What sort of lawyers do you think he knows?
MWO: Adamski
I sort of wonder now if that really should just be the Democratic default strategy going forward. Republicans gaslight. Democrats just try to bait the stupid people into unknowingly incriminate themselves.
I wonder if we could've saved two years of this nonsense if we just egged Trump into proving just how above-board and legitimate he is.
That won't work, because the stupid people who vote(d) for him won't understand why the things he did are crimes, or care as long as he's "owning the libs".
And as long as Congress can't or won't do anything that would upset those people, none of this goes anywhere.
Honestly all reporters should, because then Trump would instinctively claim ownership. "I'm too smart for you idiots to understand my corruption."
pleasepaypreacher.net
If you say something bad about Dear Leader, that means you're with the enemy.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Yup, Trump wanted another Comey "We're reopening the investigation into her emails" type of public announcement just to tank Joe Biden in the polls ahead of the 2020 election.
I mean, the Trump administration even had a pre-prepared script for Zelenskiy to read off of, for chrissakes.
Could be worse. You could be like me and have McCarthy as your rep.
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
Now now, it's not a competition.
To quote a previously intuitive and soberminded Senator once said...
"It's like being shot or poisoned," the South Carolina Republican said. "What does it really matter?"
Prior to that, he had a complete gem of a statement.
"Donald Trump I think is the most unprepared person I've ever met to be commander in chief. And when it comes to Sen. Cruz, he's exhibited behavior in his time in the Senate that make it impossible for me to believe that he could bring this country together," Graham said.
It's a shame what happened to him. It's also a shame that Trump has forgotten. Sure would be a shame if someone reminded Trump.
I’m surprised Barr didn’t go through with it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-wanted-barr-to-hold-news-conference-saying-the-president-broke-no-laws-in-call-with-ukrainian-leader/2019/11/06/16d541ec-ff55-11e9-8bab-0fc209e065a8_story.html
She's also a registered lobbyist for the government of Qatar...
I highly suspect Trump remembers. He never forgets a grudge.
Didn't Trump already essentially pre-empt this? Could have sworn I remember him saying that he was totally competent enough to do the quid quo pro if he wanted to.
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
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It would be completely on brand, that if polling doesn't have him anywhere close to winning, or if he can't shake the stink of the impeachment, that he completely tanks Graham in the South Carolina primary (June 9th). Because scorpion will do what scorpion do.
I find it kinda funny that the list of endorsements for Graham has Pence, but not Trump.