I don’t know what Rudy Giuliani has been up to in the Ukraine, but it doesn’t sound good: Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, two foreign-born donors who gave money to a political action committee supporting President Donald Trump, were arrested Wednesday night and face charges tied to campaign-finance violations, two law enforcement officials confirmed to NBC News. The pair are … Read More
Trump Formalizes Obstruction In Letter To Congress
He won’t cooperate, period. And now we are officially in a constitutional crisis. The missive sprawls over eight pages, but its message can be boiled down to just five words: You’re damn right we’re obstructing. I need to discuss the legal issues here — there are very few in this letter. They are tucked away in footnotes. And they are terrible. … Read More
The Call
CNN has a great story on the call which set L’Affaire Ukraine in motion: By the time President Donald Trump’s line with Volodymyr Zelensky went quiet, the scramble began. In the hours and days after the Ukrainian President signed-off — “Thank you Mr. President, bye-bye” — nervous word spread among national security aides about the contents of the July 25 call, … Read More
It’s Going To Get Uglier
Greg Sargent talks to Rep. Adam Schiff about what’s coming from the impeachment inquiry: Public opinion is shifting precipitously against President Trump, with a new Post-Schar School poll showing that 58 percent of Americans support the House’s impeachment inquiry, and 49 percent support outright removal. But even more ominously for Trump, 62 percent say Trump’s pressure on the Ukrainian president, the topic … Read More
Whistleblower Goes Plural
The news of a second whistleblower has the media abuzz. This whistleblower, unlike the first one, reportedly hand “firsthand” knowledge of the July 25 Trump-Zelensky phone call. I personally don’t think that is a big issue, unless Whistleblower #2 can talk about things that came up that (for some nefarious reason) did not come to light in the non-transcript “transcript” … Read More
Exactly WHO Was Shaking Down Ukraine For Money?
It doesn’t seem to be Hunter Biden: As Rudy Giuliani was pushing Ukrainian officials last spring to investigate one of Donald Trump’s main political rivals, a group of individuals with ties to the president and his personal lawyer were also active in the former Soviet republic. Their aims were profit, not politics. This circle of businessmen and Republican donors touted … Read More
Document Dump: Prepared Opening Remarks Of Kurt Volker, Former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations
From yesterday. It is very unconvincing in several places, particularly read in conjunction that makes it clear there was a quid pro quo tied to security assistance and aid. Most charitably, it reads like the narrative of someone whose intentions were good, but in denial about his actions in service of an ultimate outcome — the continued provision of aid … Read More
Discouraged
I have doubts that Trump will be impeached, let alone removed. The bar is so low, but it has moved incrementally. He almost would have to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue before Republicans in Congress get a backbone. I mean, here’s the latest: Two of President Trump’s top envoys to Ukraine worked on a statement for the country’s new president … Read More
The Packet That Seems To Be The Rudy Dossier
I don’t understand this story, so bear with me. The cryptically worded request marked urgent from the State Department’s independent watchdog set Congress on edge. The message, according to Steven A. Linick, the department’s inspector general, was that he needed to meet — and right away — with senior congressional staff members to give them copies of documents related to … Read More
Trump Clings To Debunked Facts, Just Like His Supporters
It’s not complicated. He is just plain dumb. He really is. Shortly after taking office, Donald Trump asked his aides whether Ukraine, and not Russia, might have hacked Democratic National Committee emails as part of a false-flag operation. Then–Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert tried to stop the idea in its tracks. “It’s not only a conspiracy theory, it is completely debunked,” … Read More
More On “The Coup”
Many developments in the past 12 hours. Let’s start with Trump: 11 tweets in the last hour. 12 if you count the one he delooted. — The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) October 2, 2019 Yeah, he’s been busy. I will get to the “delooted” tweet in a moment ….People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and … Read More
Trump Defense Still Muddled
Mere minutes ago, Trump tweeted this: He’s still with this perplexing defense. It doesn’t matter that the whistleblower had second hand information about the call. We’ve now seen the transcript of the call, and IT IS TROUBLING. How we got here is irrelevant. But even then, the House committees will talk to first hand sources about the call, and there … Read More
Impeachment Weekend
Compared to last week, there was little development over the weekend on the impeachment inquiry, but for a lot of eyes on the Trump team’s defense, as well as GOP reaction in Congress. From the talking heads on Sunday’s news shows, it looks like the Trump team defense is going to be… ineffective. On this particular day, the GOP decided … Read More
Trump Throwing Everything At The Wall Seeing What Will Stick
Trump sounds upset this morning: Donald Trump’s day so far: – Attacks CNN for removing the apostrophe from Liddle’– Refers to the apostrophe as a “hyphen”– Makes up word “discribing”– This is somehow happening– He’s cracking under the pressure of impeachment– Trump is going to prison– It’s still only 7am — Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) September 27, 2019 Yeah, I won’t … Read More