House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) indicated that the case to impeach President Donald Trump is already strong enough to the point where additional hearings may not be necessary on Sunday.
Schiff is absolutely right, if this was a case based on evidence the case would already be closed. It’s apolitical case though, and we haven’t had an event that crossed through all media and made an impact…though, to be fair, I’m not sure that’s possible anymore. There were plenty of things that should have, but the right wing hate machine is good enough to ignore everything and spin it into a win for Trump, despite the truth laid out for all to see.
We’ll see if they get anyone else to testify voluntarily, or if the McGahn case forces the hand on subpoenas to get someone like Mulvaney under oath. I’m not sure anything is going to get the Senate to eject Trump though, no matter what Republicans are going to stick together, despite all evidence…hopefully that boomerangs on them in 2020.
Schiff can do more.
Schiff should subpoena every Trump regime thug. Then vote them in contempt when they ignore the subpoenas. Then publicly go to the US attorney’s office in DC and request they all be hauled to jail.
When the US attorney for DC refuses to do her job, Schiff can direct the Capitol Police to arrest and imprison them in DC jail.
Is this a stunt? Sure. But it would publicly show the Trump regime is lawless. The last thing Schiff should do is quickly hand the matter to Moscow Mitch, who will turn it into a mendacious circus.
While the evidence is overwhelming, there is no one smoking gun like a Nixon tape-recording yet. That might not ever turn up, but it seems rash to proceed to impeachment now without waiting a bit for some more evidence to come out. Dems have done a very good job making it impossible for witnesses to testify contrary to people like Fiona Hill and Yovanovitch without risking a perjury charge. They need to wait a bit, and it would be good to get McGahn’s testimony, which could open another front–Mueller-era obstruction of justice. The best argument against executive privilege there is that it’s already waived, because Trump let McGahn talk freely with Mueller’s team.
“hearings may not be necessary on Sunday”.
That is OK. That leaves out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for hearings with one extra day off for you guys for good behavior.
Overwhelming? No, it’s not. The ship hasn’t sunk and the rats don’t need to flee.
If Republicans absolve Trump, then he will escalate, as he did after the Mueller Report. He will learn there is nothing to constrain him from anything, and there will no longer be a rule of law for him or the ruling party. No more free and fair elections, no more duty to country. We will be worse than the banana republics we used to mock, because we would still be a powerful country, but without any morals, values, or leadership. While this sounds dire, I don’t think it’s overstating the situation. However, I have to believe at some point, the fever will break.
Have you been in a coma?
This all started with the smoking gun—Trump admitted his crime in public, on national TV, and did so more than once.
Exactly!
Dems must at least demand that the Repubs do the right thing. Then if they don’t it’s on them. If Dems don’t even ask that Reputs or DOJ do the right thing, Barr will say, nobody referred any criminal activity for prosecution, but, of course he would have acted had anyone done so. Dems not referring criminal activity to the DOJ is professional and political malpractice. It lets Barr off the hook. Dems must make all the crooked Repubs go on record and when Dems return to power, all the crooked, enabling Repubs, including DOJ officials, should be cashiered out of office, put in jail, or both.
The fever will only break when the GOP loses badly in multiple elections and many of Trump’s top henchmen go to prison, including him. Otherwise the GOP will stay an enemy to freedom and the Constitution.
I am dismayed at the response when I ask Trumper friends how, if multiple apolitical professionals testify, under oath, to the details of the Ukraine shakedown, they can shrug their shoulders and insist that they see no wrongdoing. How likely is it that you’re going to hear, “Ukraine, before you get the military aid, show me that you plan to announce an investigation of my chief rival, Joe Biden, in time for me to smear him for election 2020?” You make your decision on the preponderance of evidence you see. This doesn’t seem to have registered with the Trumpers, or maybe it’s just the case that they plug their ears. Either way, very dispiriting.
That sums it up neatly.
Schiff and company are still gathering evidence and hopefully they let this drag on for awhile just to keep tRump and other Rethugs uncertain about their future.
So, he gets impeached by the House, but we have the Senate not removing him from office. Then, we’ll be enduring the talk of tRump’s innocence non-stop for months while he continues to dismantle the country, runs for office and possibly gets to extend his stay in the WH.
If people don’t see that this guy is corrupt and should be out of office at this point, they never will. That’s what makes this so discouraging.
All tRump’s supporters are people that would have gone ballistic if anyone had been a Russian supporter 20-40 years ago. Now it’s all fine with them. People really don’t have a clue as to what’s going on.
Yeah, I get that. What I meant was, something from Trump or someone else that shows that Trump’s intention is to benefit himself. We all know what his intention was, but a smoking gun is something that leaves no doubt, no other interpretation for people not already persuaded That is what I am talking about. It’s worth waiting a bit to see if something like that comes out. It took sixteen months to gather all the evidence needed in Watergate.
I don’t want to be overly pessimistic, but if Trump is absolved of, basically interfering in the 2020 elections after cheating in the 2016 election without repercussions, what makes anyone think any future election would play out on a fair playing field? Why would Republicans allow that when they know they can’t win that way, and they know there are no consequences to cheating? I think this has to stop now or it will be too late.
It’s how Andrew Jackson ruled.
“We don’t foreclose the possibility of more depositions, more hearings,” Schiff replied.
“Paging Mr. Bolton, Mr. John Bolton, please pick up the white courtesy phone.”
Oh well.
If Trump isn’t expelled from office by the Senate, I agree the GOP and Dear Leader will break any laws to cheat their way to victory in 2020. That’s why Schiff shouldn’t hand impeachment to Moscow Mitch too early. Let it drag on for a while and extract all of the truth about Trump and his regime.