LISTEN: President Trump is now distancing himself more than ever from lawyer Rudy Giuliani, claiming he did not direct Giuliani to act on his behalf in Ukraine in a new interview with Bill O’Reilly. pic.twitter.com/6JaP9oOLMI — TheBeat w/Ari Melber (@TheBeatWithAri) November 26, 2019 Funny, but also deeply absurd, based on the known facts: Trump told Zelensky on July 25 call: … Read More
The Lawfare L’Affaire Ukraine Report
Breaking — some more to add to the timeline. The Office of Management and Budget’s first official action to withhold $250M in aid to Ukraine came on the evening of July 25—the day of the now-infamous call between Trump and Ukrainian president Zelensky. The Office of Management and Budget’s first official action to withhold $250 million in Pentagon aid to … Read More
No Absolute Executive Privilege, Rules Judge
It might seem like ages ago that former White House Counsel Don McGahn blew off the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena seeking his testimony related to the Mueller report. That’s because, well, it was ages ago. On Monday evening, a federal judge resolved the dispute between the executive and the legislature. And D.C. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nearly 120-page ruling couldn’t … Read More
Lev Parnas Has Tapes Of Trump/Giuliani Conversations, And Now The House Impeachment Committee Has Them
ABC News: The House Intelligence Committee is in possession of audio and video recordings and photographs provided to the committee by Lev Parnas, an associate of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who reportedly played a key role in assisting him in his efforts to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News. The … Read More
House Impeachment Hearings Over: What Now?
I join everybody else in believing that President Trump will be impeached by the House. Sadly, I think two or three Democrats will not join the rest of the party, but I doubt there will be any Republican defectors, and the GOP will make mincemeat of that. In the Senate, I had hoped there would be signs of adulthood, but … Read More
Live Impeachment Testimony: Hill and Holmes Bring Up The Last Day Of Public Testimony
Another bad day for Republicans. Here are the key takeaways: Holmes’s succinct explanation of two quid pro quos The explanation by Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, of how the Ukraine quid pro quos worked got lots of attention Wednesday — remember “2 plus 2 equals 4?” Sondland’s point was basically that everyone understood why a White … Read More
Nunes In The Loop Too
“I thank the gentleman, always, for his remarks,” a bemused committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said to laughter in the hearing room after Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), ranking member, completed his remarks after a long day of impeachment inquiry testimony. Nunes hits all his marks during these now-familiar derisive opening and closing speeches before the House Permanent Select Committee … Read More
Nail In The Coffin: Sondland Testifies And Throws Trump (and Pence and Pompeo) Under The Bus
People will remember today as they remember say John Dean’s testimony. It’s a historic moment. Kind of fun to take a breath and register that. — Harry Litman (@harrylitman) November 20, 2019 Yup. Is there a mercy rule for congressional hearings? — Justin Amash (@justinamash) November 20, 2019 Nope. It’s over. Gordon Sondland’s devastating testimony must end the Trump presidency. … Read More
Live Impeachment Testimony: Vindman, Williams, Morrison and Volker
Busy day on the hill. But here were the key takeaways: Colonel Vindman and Ms. Williams both testified that they were never aware of any other national security officials in the United States government who supported the decision to withhold nearly $400 million in security aid for Ukraine, which both said was directed by the White House chief of staff, … Read More
Monday Morning Impeachment Update
Well, let’s start off with Trump’s latest tweet on the subject: Newsflash: he won’t do this, but the tweet is giving his lawyer’s heartburn, I’m sure. Now that Trump has said he'd willingly testify, I'm sure he's willing to free Pompeo, Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, Rick Perry, and John Eisenberg to testify? — emptywheel (@emptywheel) November 18, 2019 But the weekend … Read More
RNC Scandal: Pay For Play
CBS News: A CBS News investigation has uncovered a possible pay-for-play scheme involving the Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the Bahamas. Emails obtained by CBS News show the nominee, San Diego billionaire Doug Manchester, was asked by the RNC to donate half a million dollars as his confirmation in the Senate hung in the … Read More
Document Dump: Depositions of Jennifer Williams and
As Special Advisor to VP Pence on Europe and Russia, Williams testified that the President’s requests were ‘unusual and inappropriate’ and shed light on ‘possible other motivations behind a security assistance hold.’ She also confirmed, like Lt. Col. Vindman, that the Ukrainian President specifically mentioned ‘Burisma’ during the call, even though the White House call record does not reflect that. Importantly, Ms. Williams also testified … Read More
Impeachment Deposition: Opening Statement of David Holmes
David Holmes, the guy who overheard Trump when he called Sondland in a restaurant, spilled a lot more than that. Holmes says he clearly heard the President’s voice and Sondland made clear he was talking to the President. Sondland told Holmes the President didn’t “give a shit about Ukraine” and only cared about the “big stuff” like the “‘Biden investigations’ that Mr. … Read More
Verdict in Roger Stone Case:
Hectic news day. During a break in the Ukraine Impeachment hearings, we got news of Roger Stone’s verdict. A jury has now found Stone guilty of committing crimes to hide the Trump campaign’s efforts to optimize the release of emails stolen by Russia. — emptywheel (@emptywheel) November 15, 2019 Guilty on all counts. Russia hoax? I think not. REUTERS: TRUMP … Read More
Live Impeachment Hearings: Day 2
WE start with a Trump tweet: He makes a rare point about the Foreign Minister of Ukraine’s statement (the President did not say anything). This is what he was referring to: Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Thursday that U.S. ambassador Gordon Sondland did not explicitly link military aid to Kiev with opening an investigation into former Vice President … Read More