Firstly, I want to thank my readers for following along with me. I'm a political news junkie these days, and I am truly compelled to follow this story and record it. I depend on our journalist warriors to give me the truth, which I simply pass along to you. I'm not at all unbiased in my mission, but I do try to be truthful. Journalism, even my version, is essential for preserving our liberty. Thanks for sharing my journey!
We're barreling toward impeachment! Tomorrow, Monday November 11, is Day 49 of the Congressional impeachment inquiry, started just a few days after the public learned about the whistleblower complaint filed about 45's behavior. The House is hoping to vote on articles of impeachment by Christmas.
By way of contrast, it took a year and four months after the Watergate break-in for Congress to begin an impeachment inquiry on Richard Nixon, and another ten months before Nixon resigned. Bill Clinton's impeachment process took more than a year from the time Ken Starr began his investigation until the Senate voted to acquit.
The 116th Congress's desire to finish this quickly is shaping some of the investigation. There are material witnesses that Congress would like to question, but many are defying subpoenas, preferring to defer to 45's prohibition of testimony.
There was a bit of testimony since I last wrote. Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Pence had listened in on the phone call and was expected to testify about the phone call itself and also Pence's involvement and knowledge. But last week, committees had more no-shows than witnesses.
Former national security advisor John Bolton did not show up to testify, and the committees have decided not to force compliance from him or any of the other witnesses who are defying subpoenas. Congress wants to move ahead quickly and does not want to take the time to have a court decide on whether witnesses can be compelled to testify. But tantalizingly, Bolton's attorney issued a letter to Congress saying Bolton "was personally involved in many of the events, meetings, and conversations about which you have already received testimony, as well as many relevant meetings and conversations that have not yet been discussed in the testimonies thus far." Yet he wants to be subpoenaed. And he has stated he will not comply with a subpoena, preferring to have a court decide. Dude, come on. Just go and tell them what you know. This is our country at stake. Geez.
Acting Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Management and Budget (the office, by the way, that disperses funds such as the Ukraine aid) Mick Mulvaney was also a no-show. He was at the center of the scheme and he knows a lot, but he ain't talkin'. Don't forget, though. We do have public admittance from him that "there was a quid pro quo and get over it!" Mulvaney also wants to have the court decide on his obligation to testify.
More transcripts were released, and I'm thankful that Chairman Schiff is releasing them in drips, because as it is, it's hard to keep up with all of the information that is emerging from them. Thank you, Founding Fathers, for the First Amendment guaranteeing a free press, so that we may have many ears and eyes on the government.
On Wednesday we got Bill Taylor's testimony transcript and that of George Kent, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, one of the officials who was supposed to be overseeing Ukraine but was pushed aside by the "second channel." Both of these gentlemen will testify in public on the first day of televised hearings.
Mr. Taylor will be the first to testify in public on Wednesday, November 13. We learned a lot from his bombshell opening statement, which was released in advance of his private testimony to the committees. In his testimony, he outlined the shadow diplomacy led by 45's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and described his "clear understanding, security assistance money would not come until the president (of Ukraine) committed to pursue the investigation (into the Bidens)." He described Rudy Giuliani's role and the fact that John Bolton tried to derail the second channel's efforts to establish a quid pro quo. He also describes a possible nightmare scenario where Ukraine commits to the quid pro quo but has the aid denied anyway, to the great benefit of Russia. See? This, pupils, is why we depend on seasoned, knowledgable diplomats to steer foreign relationships, and not insane presidents, whack-job lawyers, and mega-donors. See a summary of Taylor's testimony here.
Mr. Taylor is a compelling witness. A career public servant, he has served in the foreign service under every administration since 1985. He has a lifelong habit of making detailed extemporaneous notes for every meeting and phone call. He is well-respected in the foreign service world. I look forward to welcoming this patriot into my living room on Wednesday.
Mr. Kent is also poised to be a star witness. He is another long-time foreign service official, serving in the State Department since 1992. We can trust George Kent. You can always trust a man who wears a bow tie.
On Friday we received the transcripts of the private testimony of Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who served on the National Security Council as a Ukraine expert, as well as Fiona Hill, 45's former advisor on Russia and Europe. Ms. Hill will testify in public on Friday, November 15. (SCROTUS, save your "Never Trumper" diatribe. These people were in YOUR administration). You can read about the highlights of their testimony in the New York Times.
Hill described harassment towards her and Ambassador Yavonovich from within the department and the fact that she has received death threats. It's really distressing that this sort of behavior was conducted against devoted public servants. I guess he really did drain the swamp. Now we're left with a festering, rancid, putrid pile of poo-ooze that flows throughout the Executive Branch offices.
It was reported that Zelensky was indeed going to do TЯUMP's bidding. He was poised to do an interview on CNN, but word got out about the held-up funds in the American press at the last minute. Remember: Ukraine is a vulnerable country. They needed the aid to fight Russia! People were at risk of dying. Zelensky was conflicted but ultimately decided that the aid was too important to lose, and he had an interview scheduled with Fahreed Zakaria. Two days before the interview was able to be completed, word leaked out about the aid being held up. Congress became angry, and the aid was released in early September.
And a little food for thought. Here's the original story about the aid being held up, before the whistleblower filed his report. Holding up the aid for any reason was enough to make us worried about the benefit to Russia of such a hold-up.
And interestingly enough, it has come to light that the aid was released earlier than the "president" said it was. He said that he himself released the aid on September 11, but it was actually released a few days earlier after lawyers determined that it was illegal to withhold the aid - for any reason, quid pro quo or not. This fact may be an extra nail in 45's coffin.
In the meantime, Benedict Donald's "defense" continues to inexplicably be, "READ THE TRANSCRIPT!" He has even outfitted the flunkeys at his rallies with T-shirts saying the same. Am I in another universe? We DID read the transcript and it DOES implicate you in a crime!
If he means the entire transcript, not just the summary that he provided, well, we'd love to read that, too, so hand it over!
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| Mike Luckovich |
And if you still don't understand why the transcript is the strongest piece of evidence pointing to 45's guilt, watch this:
Attacks and calls to out the whistleblower continue. The whistleblower's attorney sent a cease and desist letter to Baby Fingers's lawyer saying, "I am writing out of deep concern that your client, the President of the United States, is engaging in rhetoric and activity that places my client, the Intelligence Community Whistleblower, and their family in physical danger.... I am writing to respectfully request that you counsel your client on the legal and ethical peril in which he is placing himself should anyone be physically harmed as a result of his, or his surrogates', behavior." BOOM!
This attack on the whistleblower is part of his – I'm still struggling to call it defense. What is it? His argument? His song-and-dance? His whitewash? His bullshit? The other part of it is pretty much head-in-the-sand defense. His lackeys in Congress won't read the testimony, and all he can do is proclaim the call "perfect" and use the tired "phony witch hunt" phrase ad nauseam. There has really been no defense at all. Witnesses from the SCROTUS camp have given overwhelming evidence – under oath in front of Congress – of the president's wrongdoing. Other witnesses have been obstructing the processes by not complying with subpoenas to appear. No one is clamoring to give exculpatory evidence. No one has been able to defend the actions one iota. It's pretty open-and-shut.
Devin Nunes – probably the man I dislike the most – has a list of potential witnesses that the GOP wants at the inquiry. The witnesses have to be approved by Chairman Schiff. One of the witnesses is Hunter Biden. Gah. Hunter Biden is irrelevant! The "dirt" that 45 wanted was to be manufactured. There is no evidence of wrong-doing from the Bidens. Nunes also wants to call the whistleblower. For the last time. The whistleblower's identity is protected by law. The individual's testimony has been corroborated by first-hand witnesses. Leave the person alone!
What's next? We move to the next phase. There are no more private hearings scheduled. SCROTUS says he will "probably" release the transcript of an earlier phone call to Zelensky on Tuesday. Public hearings begin on Wednesday. I've got my schedule clear that day. I can't miss this historic event!
Here are some helpful links from the Washington Post. Here is a full timeline of the Ukraine thing, from 2014 to now. And here is a calendar of the impeachment schedule. Handy! And a neat summary from NPR.
And finally, a pitch. You may notice that I use a lot of links from the New York Times and the Washington Post. I subscribe, because a free press is vitally important to our Republic, and these two esteemed publications are hands-down the best source of political news out there. If you're frustrated by not being able to access all of my links, I encourage you to subscribe to one or both. WaPo has a special deal for Amazon Prime members, including one month free. NYT is only $1 a week with this link. And please please subscribe to your local newspaper! If you are in Santa Barbara, pick up the Independent each week, and read EdHat and Noozhawk online, and subscribe to the LA Times. I don't recommend the Santa Barbara News-Suppress!
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| Garry Trudeau |
