12 Quotes That Signal Democrats Are Primed To Impeach Trump

[Guest]

By the end of this week, we should have a lot more clarity on what is about to happen. But at this point, all of the signs are pointing in one direction.  The following are 12 quotes that show that the Democrats are getting ready to impeach Trump…

FULL ARTICLE

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dam-could-break-thursday-here-are-12-quotes-signal-democrats-are-primed-impeach-trump

–House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff: “I have been very reluctant to go down the path of impeachment, for the reason that I think the founders contemplated, in a country that has elections every four years, that this would be an extraordinary remedy, a remedy of last resort, not first resort. But if the president is essentially withholding military aid at the same time that he is trying to browbeat a foreign leader into doing something illicit, that is, providing dirt on his opponent during a presidential campaign, then that may be the only remedy that is coequal to the evil that that conduct represents.”

–Congressman Jim Himes: “Of course it’s an impeachable offense.”

–Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney: “I first called for impeachmemt back in June. These latest revelations re: POTUS and Ukraine are absolutely outrageous – they take impeachable offenses to a whole new level, and emphasize the urgency for IMMEDIATE action.”

–Congressman Al Green: “”It is time for the Congress to do its job and start the impeachment process, not an inquiry.”

–Representative John Larson: “The Director of National Intelligence must comply with the law on Thursday. If not, the Trump Administration has left Congress with no alternative but for the House to begin impeachment proceedings, which I will support.”

–House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “The Inspector General determined that the matter is ‘urgent’ and therefore we face an emergency that must be addressed immediately.”

–House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff: “This would be, I think, the most profound violation of the presidential oath of office, certainly during this presidency, which says a lot, but perhaps during just about any presidency. There is no privilege that covers corruption. There is no privilege to engage in underhanded discussions.”

–Congressman Al Green: “We are at the crossroads of accountability. Either we will hold the president accountable, or we will be held accountable.”

–Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “At this point, the bigger national scandal isn’t the president’s lawbreaking behavior – it is the Democratic Party’s refusal to impeach him for it.”

–Congressman Dean Phillips: “I came to Congress on a mission to clean up corruption and restore America’s trust in our government. The President’s pattern of behavior is corrupt at best, treasonous at worst, and puts our rule of law at risk.”

–Representative Pramila Jayapal: “It is a deeply serious time, and I think we have a constitutional crisis and I think there is only one remedy at this point.”

–Congresswoman Angie Craig: “We have a responsibility to ensure that no one is above the law — particularly our elected leaders. Yesterday, the President and his personal counsel confessed to asking the Ukrainian government to interfere with a political rival. Additionally, President Trump threatened to withhold military aid to our ally if they did not comply. It is clear that the sitting president of the United States placed his own personal interests above the national security of the United States. We must safeguard our electoral process and our very democracy from outside threats. For this reason, the current investigations into corruption must continue. And when there is an abuse of power of this magnitude, it is our responsibility to stand up for what is right. This is why I am calling to open impeachment proceedings — immediately, fairly, and impartially.”

 

That (Thursday) is the day when acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is scheduled to testify to the House Intelligence Committee, and Democrats on that committee are going to make it exceedingly clear that they want the whistleblower complaint that is at the center of this latest political firestorm.  It is being alleged that President Trump repeatedly pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter at a time when Ukraine was desperate for military aid from the United States.  President Trump has publicly admitted that he discussed Joe Biden’s corruption with the Ukrainian president, but he insists that he never actually pressured him to do anything.  Trump is offering to release a full transcript of the call in order to prove his point, but that is not going to satisfy the Democrats.  They want the whistleblower complaint, and they want it immediately.

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

Stripped to its essence, "Impeachment" is a political process for political goals.  In the USA today, the Democrats control the House of Representatives, and the Republicans control the Senate.  Those impeachment proceedings start in the House, where a Bill of Impeachment has to be passed by vote.  If the Bill is passed, then it goes to the Senate for the Impeachment Trial. 

The reality of Washington today is that no removal from office is possible because the Republicans control the Senate, and no matter the distaste some members might feel towards The Donald, he is and remains the Party standard-bearer and so a Bill of Impeachment will fail in the Senate.  Thus, faced with that reality, proffering a Bill of Impeachment in the House is a fool's errand. 

The political reality is that for the Democrats to advance a Bill in the House is political suicide for the Party.  Will that reality slow them down?  Of course not.  Parties are notorious for doing seriously dumb things.  Look at England and Brexit!

[Guest]

Didn't even wait until Thursday. Desperate. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by Guest

[Gerry Maddoux + 3,627]

11 hours ago, Jan van Eck said:

The reality of Washington today is that no removal from office is possible because the Republicans control the Senate, and no matter the distaste some members might feel towards The Donald, he is and remains the Party standard-bearer and so a Bill of Impeachment will fail in the Senate.  Thus, faced with that reality, proffering a Bill of Impeachment in the House is a fool's errand. 

You're right about the mechanics, but not necessarily about the result. For example, if the transcript of the call suggests that $200 billion in military aid to Ukraine was withheld pending investigation of an opponent's son, you've just defined an impeachable offense. Doing that isn't truly treason, but it lives on the same page. This from the man who barely escaped the Mueller Report! Anyway, I lived through Watergate. Then as now the Senate was controlled by Republicans, Nixon's party. The evidence was so damning that Senator Baker walked over to the Oval Office and sat down with President Nixon, telling him that he, the president's right-hand man, was going to recommend a vote for impeachment. I'm not suggesting that this, whatever it is that was performed by President Trump, falls to that level, but if it does, then even a partisan Senate will eventually cut bait. Like Churchill said, "You can always count on America to do the right thing, after every other possibility has been exhausted." I'm personally hoping for just a cordial call, just the way Trump has framed it to the press, but knowing his rhetoric and proclivity for strong-arm tactics, I'm holding my breath. Call Nancy Pelosi what you will, but she had steadfastly refused to lead the House into an impeachment inquiry . . . until now. She is exceptionally savvy and even more canny. I doubt that she'd put her long-suffering reputation on the line unless she thought she had the goods on Trump. Well, Pence will make a good president.

[Jan van Eck + 7,558]

55 minutes ago, Gerry Maddoux said:

You're right about the mechanics, but not necessarily about the result. For example, if the transcript of the call suggests that $200 billion in military aid to Ukraine was withheld pending investigation of an opponent's son, you've just defined an impeachable offense. Well, Pence will make a good president.

Gerry, you are quite correct in your analysis (until the last sentence!).  The question arises is, in this charged atmosphere, the Republican Senate will give Mr. Trump a "mulligan" and refuse to vote to remove from Office.  As I grasp the impeachment process, first the House does the Inquiry, which is where Rep. Pelosi  (a very shrewd political operator, well rehearsed in putting the political knives in) currently has started.  then, after the Hearings and Inquiries, the House is presented with a full Bill of Impeachment essentially accusing the federal officer (Judge, Cabinet Officer, President) of high crimes, and then if that vote passes, it goes to the Senate for a formal Trial  (which is where the Clinton impeachment, and the (president) Jackson impeachment, died).  

So, after the formal trial, the Senate has to do a Vote.  There is no "reprimand" level where the penalty is a reproachment or a reprimand.  It is either:  (1) you stay in Office  (impeachment defeated on vote); or (2) you are expelled from Office  (Impeachment affirmed by vote).  The difference between this situation with Mr. Trump, and with Mr. Nixon, was that Nixon had his men actually do a burglary of the Democrat Offices, and plant bugs,  Mr. Trump has done nothing of the sort - on American soil.   What he apparently has done is have certain suggestive conversations with a foreign national who was outside the USA.  

Is that objectively "wrong" if that occurred as being set forth?  Objectively, yes.  It is quite poor judgment.  Are the Republicans in the Senate going to crash their Party over that?  I predict No.  There is no Burglary, so without what Americans consider as a common crime, I predict it will fail.  And that is why Pelosi has declined to attempt an Impeachment in the past - it is a purely political, not an ethical or a moral, calculus. Pelosi is a political operator, not some Minister of a church. 

As to your last comment, that Mike Pence would be a great President, that is debatable.  I don't think so.  He was a lousy Governor of Indiana, and he surrounded himself with rabid radical acute right-wingers as staffers when he was in Congress. The Republicans in Indiana were completely disillusioned with him and I doubt he could have received another term, he would not have been nominated by the Party, in my take on it.  Pence understands the mechanisms of Government and actually knows how it works, so he would advance an acutely right-wing agenda.  I would shudder what he would do to personal liberties.  Just awful.

[Gerry Maddoux + 3,627]

Good points, all. Mr. Pence is too rigid for me too. Just trying to bolster myself, I guess. 

My bet? That this thing damages Joe Biden much more than Mr. Trump. 

My persistent worry with Mr. Trump? He loves the high wire. And the Republican Senate isn't so much in love with him but afraid of him. Men who rule from the position of fear very seldom create long-lasting respect. 

I suspect this "whistleblower" is another partisan hack, but he may have something if he is willing to go before Congress. 

One bright light: If the Democrats take a shot, and they fail, we'll have a Republican Senate and House come 2020. 

[Jakridge + 122]

 This is going to turn out just like the Mueller report. A big nothing Burger. These people are overreacting and jumping the gun. Trump is playing them like a fiddle by holding out and then he will release all this so-called evidence that they have and it's going to turn out to be nothing. This smacks of desperation just like the Russia hoax did.  Biden is eventually going to get bit by this just like the Deep State actors in the Russian hoax are going to be exposed as well. Time will tell but it's ticking fast. The Democrats have bitten off more than they can chew on this one.  Fake news Jumping the Shark once again.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Jakridge

[Jakridge + 122]

Many apologies for the cliche fest...