The CBS panel had been discussing Impeachment on Thursday when Turley said, “I think that this is one where the House is completely unmoored by history and by the law. And I think that this will go down as one of the greatest historic blunders of a House of Congress.”
The statement has been made, not just by these witnesses, but Chairman Schiff and others that this is a clear case of bribery. It’s not and Chairman Schiff said that it might not fit today’s definition of bribery, but it would fit the definition back in the eighteenth century. Now putting aside Mr. Schiff’s turn toward originalism, I think it might come as a relief to him and his supporters that his career will be a short one. There’s not an originalist future in that argument. The bribery theory being put forward is as flawed in the eighteenth century as it is in this century.
_______
If you make a high crime or a misdemeanor out of going to the courts, it is an abuse of power. (He turns toward the Democrats.) It’s your abuse of power. You’re doing precisely what you are criticizing the President for doing. We have a third branch that deals with conflicts of the other two branches. And what comes out of there and what you do with it is the definition of legitimacy.
So this is a liberal constitutional scholar. He doesn't like Trump, and very likely doesn't care to be on his side. But the overwhelming reality is that the law, logic, and common sense is on the side of the President. Meanwhile, legal gymnastics, twisted logic, and idiocy represents the main arsenal of the Democratic articles of impeachment.
Unless you are a partisan hack (and Turley is definitely not a partisan hack) you would agree with the obvious take here. Impeachment is massive blunder. It undermines everything about our constitutional system, and will negatively affect the future of both the Presidency and out entire system of Government. There is quite literally not a single reasonable argument to be made that Schiff and Nadler are anything but jokes pushing complete nonsense for entirely political purposes.
38 comments:
Julie Kelly
@julie_kelly2
I thought Schiff was brilliant in his presentation ???
Or was that the Russian judges
guess I should have included this...
Lol Trump job approval is 47% — 58% approve of his job handling the economy. Heckuva job Schiff https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1CpUPZwYYsqSKzcFdExi1xOllSJGcR-XQZk9pVfnRAFY/htmlview#gid=0…
Now go look again at what Neopolitano says about what should be done with Trump, constitutionally speaking, and how wrong he thinks the Republicans are to be cowering before so obviously flawed a man.
Joe Concha
@JoeConchaTV
CNN’s Axelrod to Erin Burnett just before: I was in a focus group in Chicago w/ “Democratic voters & it was chilling to hear them talk about this, because impeachment didn’t come up, no one volunteered it, for 80 minutes into the focus group, and we’re in the middle of the trial”
wait till Trumps defense speaks
but for now it's an epic failure for dems who should be severely punished.
James said...
Now go look again at what Neopolitano says
Who cares ??? He's been bitter over Trump ever since he didn't get the Supreme Court seat.
THANK GOD
Last 3 polls 47,47,49
can you find 3 consecutive any higher in Trumps entire term ???
btw 45 is considered the re-election "hurdle"
Real Clear Politics Direction of Country Polling Aggregate
RIGHT DIRECTION 39.3
WRONG TRACK 54.7
Trump has basically doubled the right track from Obama's last year
GREAT PROGRESS, too bad dems are fighting progress or it would be much better.
do you have any idea what you paste?????
SLATE Trump Is Not Shamed
As the Senate hears his case, Trump is recommitting some of the same offenses that got him impeached in the first place.
By DAHLIA LITHWICK
One of the reasons House Democrats ultimately impeached Donald Trump is that they recognized that if they didn’t try to stop him from doing crimes, he would be emboldened do more of them. Or to put it another way, if the Congress makes an institutional decision to cede all of its oversight power back to the Executive Branch, the president will come to believe, quite correctly, that he is in fact ABOVE THE LAW. Recall that the “perfect” phone call asking the president of Ukraine to announce that he would investigate corruption around Burisma took place the day after Robert Mueller let Trump OFF THE HOOK in House testimony about Russian election interference. So, after weeks (and months and years) of trying to avoid impeachment entirely, House Democrats realized they had almost NO OTHER CHOICE but to go ahead, even though the chance of Trump being removed from office was still essentially zero. Impeachment, put plainly, was undertaken not just to punish past misconduct, but to attempt to DETER more of it.
Now, we find ourselves in the middle of an impeachment trial whose outcome is essentially pre-ordained. And as Republicans in the Senate are rewarding Trump for his blanket obstruction of Congress, the president has been chortling in Davos that he IS OBSTRUCTING CONGRESS. In other words, Senate Republicans’ refusal to exercise their oversight muscles means that those muscles are atrophying before our very eyes, and this administration continues to flout the law in real time as a result. Senators who mistakenly think this is all about this president’s single call to Ukraine fail to comprehend that it’s about ALL KINDS OF LAWLESSNESS on the part of all of his enablers and appointees that they are also choosing to let slide. That lawlessness isn’t a static thing; it begets MORE AND MORE OF THE SAME.
Under cover of the fog of impeachment, in large ways and small, other lawbreaking, other refusals of oversight, and other overt criming keeps on happening. What other bad acts has this president and members of this administration undertaken this month alone?
Well, on Tuesday, the Commerce Department announced that it would refuse to obey a congressional demand for the release of a 2018 investigation into national security risks around imports of autos and auto parts, citing a presidential claim that it would “interfere with the president’s ability to protect confidential executive branch communications and could interfere with ongoing negotiations.” (Republican Sen. Pat Toomey “blasted the decision.”)
Just last week, without any explanation, the Trump administration abruptly canceled four classified briefings related to the Iran crisis,
and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused a House request that he speak at a public hearing on the assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. This, after there remain profound questions about whether the killing of Soleimani without congressional approval was itself unlawful.
Earlier this month, Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s treasury secretary, tried to block disclosure of how much taxpayer money has been spent on Secret Service protection for presidential travel for Trump and his adult children until after the 2020 election.
Last week, the FBI failed to comply with U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton’s order to turn over, by Jan. 17, summaries from interviews with Jared Kushner in Robert Mueller’s investigation to CNN and BuzzFeed.
The FBI missed the deadline, then claimed this week that a member of the intelligence community “needs to ensure the material has been properly redacted.” It’s not clear when the summaries will be turned over.
Also this week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection deported an Iranian student on a valid visa who was returning to Boston for school. Despite the fact that a federal judge had issued an emergency stay ruling his removal be stayed for two days pending a hearing in his case, CBP ignored this order and sent him home Monday night. Politico is reporting that a CBP officer is now alleging that their staff in the Seattle field office was told to target Iranian-born travelers for such questioning as of early January.
On Thursday, a panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals excoriated the Board of Immigration of Appeals for overt defiance of an earlier court order, reminding the BIA that “The Board seemed to think that we had issued an advisory opinion, and that faced with a conflict between our views and those of the Attorney General it should follow the latter.”
It perhaps bears mention that William Barr and Pat Cipollone—both of whom have participated in the acts at issue in the impeachment—are involved in defending Trump’s conduct in these proceedings.
Also this week, D.C.’s Attorney General Karl Racine charged the Trump inaugural committee and the Trump Organization with using $1 million of charitable funds to enrich the Trump family during the inauguration.
If you’re interested in more, CREW has more and more.
This list isn’t by any means comprehensive, by the way. It’s more a tasting menu. None of this is normal, none of it OK, all of it is sliding by, as oversight moves away from government to journalists and private watchdogs, and as defiance of the law becomes the new normal.
It’s easy to look at all of this and insist that it’s all just Trumpian business as usual. That’s the same impulse that suggests that this impeachment effort is just an effort aimed at removing a despised president who has done nothing wrong.
But to do each of these things requires defining unlawfulness down and also defining oversight down. The president’s defense team, in asserting the broadest possible claims that nothing the president does is illegal or impeachable, and also that Congress has no role in checking him, are actively fostering congressional obsolescence.
Senators who agree to this as they play with fidget spinners and launch podcasts are greenlighting more law breaking as they limit their own ability to check it.
Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe this “trial” that allows for no witnesses, no evidence, hollow oaths, and fewer and fewer vertical jurors, is a perfect construct by which to end the illusion that there is such thing as unlawful conduct and also that there is such thing as oversight. And maybe the voters agree. This latest report from the Pew Research Center found that 63 percent of Americans believe Donald Trump either has definitely or probably done illegal things, while 70 percent believe Trump has definitely or probably done unethical things.
A majority of the 32 percent of Republicans who say Trump has likely done illegal things either during the campaign or while in office also say he should remain in office. (59 percent of those Republicans say he should stay in office, while 38 percent say he should be removed.) That means there’s a not-small swath of Republicans who seem to agree that illegal or unethical conduct is OK for a president.
Which, conveniently, is Trump’s argument too.
Nobody should be fooled into believing that Trump himself would be deterred from lawless or improper actions just because he’s in the midst of a Senate impeachment trial. Indeed, as Stephen Collinson has pointed out, given that Trump has never once moderated his conduct in the face of being caught out, we might also recognize that even impeachment won’t stop him and in fact, the possibility of acquittal in the Senate may actually embolden him.
“It’s unthinkable that Trump will emerge from his impeachment drama chastened,” Collinson wrote. “He is instead likely to perceive validation for his conduct, and may consider, since he is branded with a historic badge of honor, that he has not got much more to lose and could shed even more restraints.”
The purpose of this trial wasn’t really to change Trump’s behavior; everyone knows that’s not possible. Perhaps it was always at most an attempt to jealously guard congressional prerogatives to define and monitor what the outer boundaries of presidential misbehavior might be. In which case those boundaries are vanished. In giving up on those prerogatives, Senate Republicans are inviting more defiance of any oversight, more blanket claims of immunity, and an ever-expanding class of actions that if taken by the president, cannot be illegal. That’s not something that will happen next month or next year. IT’S HAPPENING AS THE IMPEACHMENT ITSELF UNFOLDS.
Democrats Have Tape of Trump Ordering Diplomat’s Firing
January 24, 2020 at 8:08 pm EST
Lev Parnas told the New York Times that he had turned over to congressional Democrats a recording from 2018 of President Trump ordering the dismissal of Marie Yovanovitch, the United States ambassador to Ukraine at the time.
The recording emerged as Democrats are pressing the Senate to call more witnesses and seek additional evidence for the trial, saying there is more to be learned about the pressure campaign against Ukraine.
Parnas located the recording after its existence was first reported by ABC News.
Well I'd say get help but you are apparently past that point. The last years of your life are likely going to be very tough on you.
And after what, 20,000 "posts" ? You haven't changed anyone on a single issue I can remember nor brought over anything anybody cared about.
Definition of failure.
Excellent, Trump should have fired her on day one. Who cares ???
Enuf
So firing someone is now an action Democrats believe is apparently criminal.
But according to some, they haven't gone off the deep end.
If Trump had simply replaced her without comment, there would be no problem. Instead, he without cause stupidly bad mouthed a diplomat whose record was impeccable.
Well, not really without cause. He and his cronies sensed that she would not go along with slipshod self serving political activities outside the usual diplomatic channels.
Lol@James
Front Runner Bernie.
"During a portion of an interview with “CBS Evening News” released on Friday, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stated that it “is impossible to predict” how much his healthcare plan will cost, but healthcare costs in the status quo “will be a lot more expensive than a Medicare-for-all single-payer system.”
Blogger James said...
If Trump had simply replaced her without comment, there would be no problem. Instead, he without cause stupidly bad mouthed a diplomat whose record was impeccable.
So that's your definition of an impeachable offense? Hurting someone's feelings.
You know the great irony of the Democrats' theory of impeachment is that Barack Obama has committed every impeachable offense that is outlined in the two articles of impeachment and then some.
1. Sending plane loads of cash to the Iranian mullahs in hopes they'll scale back their nuclear program? That's bribery.
2. Directing the IRS to go after conservative 501c's? That's abuse of power.
3. Ignoring subpoenas over the "fast and furious" scandal? That's obstruction of Congress.
Hopefully Trump's lawyers will point this out.
is that Barack Obama has committed every impeachable offense that is outlined in the two articles of impeachment
Really????? BWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! Instead you had trey gowdy investigating EVERYTHING and wasting millions of dollars while coming up empty!!!!
Despite Denny's bluster he could not deny the truth.
This impeachment is a sham.
Schiff really shit the bed with his head on a pike remark on his closing. It really pissed off the moderate Republicans like Collins, Murkowski and many others. Even dem Joe Minchin thought he should not have said it.
And the liberal media are outraged that America didn't fawn all over the dem managers like theu did. This thing is 0ver. Now its Trump's turn.
The bone spur dodger called this a headache.....such a douche like the goat fucker...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Friday that 34 U.S. troops were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries suffered in this month's Iranian missile strike on an Iraqi air base, and that half of the troops have returned to their military duties.
Seventeen of the 34 are still under medical observation, according to Jonathan Hoffman, the chief Pentagon spokesman.
President Donald Trump had initially said he was told that no troops had been injured in the Jan. 8 strike. The military said symptoms were not immediately reported after the strike and in some cases became known days later.
Speaking of shitting the bed, feliz Warren dropped a deuce by laughing at that Iowa dad questioning her student debt forgiveness proposal. That'll be in a lot of commercials.
Blogger Commonsense said...
Despite Denny's bluster he could not deny the truth.
BWAAAAAAAA!!!!!! Sure cramps.....the proof is he was not impeached.....Idiot!!!
Seventeen of the 34 are still under medical observation, according to Jonathan Hoffman, the chief Pentagon spokesman
Sounds like regular concussion protocol to me.
Sounds like it was more than a headache to me.....that's the point dumbass.......Bone spur leader has no respect for anything, including the soldiers he leads by stupidity!!!!! Like you!!!!! BWAAAAAAA!!!
Blogger James said...
If Trump had simply replaced her without comment, there would be no problem. Instead, he without cause stupidly bad mouthed a diplomat whose record was impeccable.
so it was trump's style, not the act of firing her which is impeachable.
right.
last night martha mccallum interviewed that little toe-headed senator from delaware. he said that trump firing asshatovich was done with "corrupt intent."
corrupt intent. huh. so now, in addition to being wrong on everything, democrats are mind readers, and are impeaching over "thought crimes."
turley is right. this is getting more absurd by the minute.
Sounds like it was more than a headache to me.....that's the point dumbass.......Bone spur leader has no respect for anything, including the soldiers he leads by stupidity!!!!!
17 were already released and back on active duty. Compared to what could have happen (catastrophic injury and death) that's not a bad outcome.
Moron!
17 were already released and back on active duty
IOW's as a dumb fuck you buy into idiots in chief saying it was just a headache.....what will it take for you to take you head out of a fat white mans ass and think for yourself???????? What might have happened. too bad you weren't there to provide a first hand account instead of in your cheeto infested basement!!!!! God you are a dunce!!!!!!!
In other words you can't rebut the argument so you resort to insult and vulgarity.
You bore me Denny.
The Heresay Impeachy Thingy.
""CBS News reported last night that a Trump confidant said that key senators were warned, ‘Vote against the president and your head will be on a pike.’ I don’t know if that’s true," Schiff said, "
What a public discrace.
"On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” CNN Senior Political Commentator David Axelrod stated that during a focus group earlier that day with Democratic voters in Chicago, no one mentioned impeachment until 80 minutes into the group and that the voters thought that while President Trump’s actions were wrong, “we know how it’s going to turn out. So, we’re not really that interested. We’re ready to move on.”
In other words you can't rebut the argument so you resort to insult and vulgarity.
You bore me Denny.
What else does he have, besides pies
so it was trump's style, not the act of firing her which is impeachable.
Nope. It's the fact that firing her was just to get a seasoned diplomat "out of the way" because it was clear she would never countenance or go along with questionable extra-diplomatic channels of procedure like Giuliani's.
THAT'S impeachable.
What else does he have, besides pies
Fucking loser salesman shows up a day late and a dollar short....just like he is!!!!!!!!!!! BWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Blogger Commonsense said...
In other words you can't rebut the argument so you resort to insult and vulgarity.
BWAAAAAAAA!!! Yep and you still are a dumb fuck thinking a concussion is just a headache, that is your stupid position asshole!!!!!!.....god dayum you are a dumb ass without a clue!!!!!!!
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