At Least One Republican - Mitt Romney- Still Has A Spine And Moral Compass

I never thought I'd say it, or admit it, but one Republican in the Senate actually showed yesterday he has the balls and intestinal fortitude to stand up to Dictator Donnie Dotard and his cult of criminals, traitors and enablers.  In a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Mitt Romney said he would vote to convict Donald Trump on the first article, becoming the first senator in U. S. history to vote to remove a president of his own party in a Senate impeachment trial.See his full speech here.

Full speech: Romney speaks on senate floor, plans ... - YouTube

The Senator from Utah said:

"The grave question the constitution tasks senators to answer is whether the president committed an act so extreme and egregious that it rises to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor. Yes, he did.”

Adding:

“With my vote I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty.  What the president did was wrong. Grievously wrong.”

And with those words he torpedoed the insipid meme  that Trump got "total vindication: or any vindication. True, only four Senators were in attendance but the fact Romney is the first and only Senator to break with his party on an impeachment votes seals his place in history. Alas, it also means the vipers and vermin in his own party - starting with the Traitor-in-chief and his spawn and ass lickers will now come after Romney with blades drawn.  After all, the Republicans have almost entirely devolved into a cult and we know what happens when members of a cult dare to disagree with the leader or the zombie members who adore him.(Donald Trump Jr has called for Mitt Romney to be expelled from the Republican party.)

Romney’s move was rightly praised by several leading Democrats including primary House impeachment manager, Adam Schiff, who had led the team that made the case for Trump’s impeachment during the trial.

Romney’s speech reportedly came as a surprise to the Dotard Traitor White House, which abruptly cancelled a planned press event with Trump and Venezuela’s opposition leader.  Trump Jr,  Dotard's oldest maggot spawn, who recently tried to peddle a preposterous and churlish book, e.g.  

Trump Jr's Book Shows He's As Much A Lying Mudslin...

 Wasted no time tweeting his deranged venom, accusing Romney of being “forever bitter that he will never be president",  i.e. after losing the 2012 presidential election to Barack Obama.  Don't these losers ever get off their one track moron minds that it isn't about elections, or "overturning" previous ones, but holding to some moral compass and code, say as defined by the Constitution?  Of course not, because they have no moral capacity or sensibility themselves!  They are simply out for their own personal gain - whether robbing the country blind with their sleazy cons and gimmicks, or violating every norm and law on which the nation is based.

Like the typical cultist he is,  Donnie Jr. then  called for Mitt to be expelled from the Republican Senate conference. Such a move is very unlikely, but hey, we can't put anything past these cockroaches.  Joni Ernst has already vowed that within days - if Biden is elected- impeachment proceedings will begin if the Reeps regain the House.  Not to be outdone, Kevin McCarthy has insisted the Dems impeachment will be "expunged" if the Reeps retake the House.

Which makes me believe McCarthy must be on some pretty potent MJ candy or maybe opioids, or a mix.   So also I suspect is Lisa Murkowski, whose brain appears so addled she can't tell the good guys from bad.  She actually said in a speech on the Senate floor that the chamber “should be ashamed by the rank partisanship that has been on display here,.” 

Adding later: “It’s my hope that we’ve finally found bottom here.” She voted to acquit Mr. Trump.

Lady, the only thing to be ashamed of is the moral blindness and cowardice of those like yourself who would don the specious mantle of "rank partisanship" to try to find cover for your own crimes of protecting and enabling a depraved traitor.  How do you even manage to sleep at night after  acquitting this mutt?  Must take a hell of lot of Ambien

Trump, meanwhile, tried to strike back at his moral superior, Romney,  by posting an idiotic video that is as lame as he is  - especially if he now believes he will transcend the black mark on his presidency.  

Which will be there long after his orange offal of a body is eaten by orange (and yellow) maggots. 

See also:

Impeachment | Mitch McConnell

Moscow Mitch Completes His Cover-up, but Not Without Some Hitches and Real Jeopardy Ahead

And:

Romney knew a storm was coming over his vote. How long it lasts will be up to Trump.

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Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, quickly tweeted, accusing Romney of being “forever bitter” that he will never be president after losing the 2012 presidential election to Barack Obama, and then calling for him to be expelled from the Republican Senate conference. Such a move is very unlikely.

Yes- If Repuke Senators Ignore Bolton's Revelations & Acquit Trump They Are Guilty Of Treason Too

"The idea that the Democrats, not Mr. Trump’s campaign staffers, conspired with foreign operatives is more than “conspiracy theory.” It is a fascist ploy to turn lies into truth. This is why I said recently that Mr. Trump’s crime is so much worse than abuse of power. It’s treason."  - John Stoehr, ('When Does Ordinary Republican Partisanship Become Treason' ,   The Baltimore Sun)

Barely hours before former national security adviser  John Bolton released blockbuster contents on Trump's quid pro quo vis -a -vis the Ukraine (in his soon to be published book) the orange maggot traitor tweeted this about Adam Schiff Sunday:

"Shifty Adam Schiff is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN and probably a very sick man. He has not paid the price yet for what he has done to our country!"

Schiff, appearing on 'Meet the Press' Sunday correctly interpreted this as a threat.  Of course,  given Trump consistently projects his own vile attributes onto others (mainly critics, Dems)  his tweet must be reversed to read  i.e. 

"I, Donald Trump am a CORRUPT POLITICIAN (and TRAITOR!) and am a very sick man.  I have also not yet paid the price for what I have done and am doing to this country!"

But will this human vermin pay? As the Senate trial winds on, in the midst of the criminal resident bragging openly about obstruction, e.g.

• Trump brags: ‘We have all the material, they don’t’                     

and two days earlier, caught on a video bellowing "Take her out!" - referring to Marie Yovanovitch - barking the order to henchman  Lev Parnas .  e.g.

Donald Trump

Trump Talks Like a Mafia Don on Tape Calling for Removal of Ukraine Ambassador

There is more than ample evidence to hold this swine to account, and even hang him as the traitor he is, especially after Bolton's revelations, namely that Trump wanted to continue freezing nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine until it helped to investigate the Bidens.

  See e.g.

• Analysis: Bolton’s bombshell gives the GOP a glimpse of its nightmare scenario
• Analysis: Bolton’s book undercuts Trump defense team’s claims that there are no firsthand witnesses

This directly contradicts what the Traitor's defense team has been arguing, i.e. that "there is no connection between security assistance and investigations."    They peddled this bunkum yesterday along with the Kremlin -generated codswallop (by Trump stooge Pam Bondi) that Ukraine was the real culprit in 2016, in conjunction with Burisma & the Bidens.  Then there was the addle-pated Alan Dershowitz again repeating the canard that impeachment required an actual violation of a federal criminal statute. (Never mind none were even written at the time the Founders inserted the impeachment clause).

   But now, with John Bolton's material ("like a grenade exploding" according to one pundit)  Trump and his team of liars...errr, lawyers,  are boxed into a corner.   (Trump of course denies he told Bolton anything about withholding aid, but we already know this orange Orang lies like he breathes.)  At the very least, Bolton's ms. confirms all we've seen and heard from earlier House inquiry witnesses, like Fiona Hill and Gordon Sondland.  That means the decision of whether to allow Bolton as a witness puts the Repuke Senators on trial along with the traitor.    Got nothing to hide? Then demand Bolton appear as a witness! 

If they refuse to allow Bolton to appear as a witness - at least - far less remove their criminal traitor Overlord,  then yes, they are also traitors. They can be nothing less. Especially in the guise of Trump's derelict lawyers now accusing Democrats of "trying to overturn the 2016 election" - echoing the orange pestilence himself.

Of course, today's  WSJ editorial ('John Bolton's Report', p. A16) insists the Bolton revelation being a "bombshell" is mere "media hype."  Also, if Trump did do it there's still no impeachable offense given "Ukraine never opened an investigation and the U.S.  aid was delivered on time."  Failing to grasp, as usual, that an attempted crime is still a crime.  If Mr. X attempts to embezzle $1m from his company then changes his mind midway through, he's still committed a crime and can be locked up for years.   So the WSJ's "arguments" - like those of Trump's stooge lawyers- amount to balderdash and bare bollocks.



Here's the bottom line: If their guy has nothing to hide, and they themselves want the full evidence they've been claiming the House Dems didn't provide- they have no choice other than to call Bolton to testify.  If they do not, they are in the same cover up, stone wall and obstruction mode as their master.

 One must then ask, if these Trump cultists punt,  if the 'Grand Old Party'  has transitioned from hyper -partisanship to treason.  A recent Baltimore Sun article  ('When Does Ordinary Republican Partisanship Become Treason' by John Stoehr), argues this has been done, e.g.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-1205-treason-republicans-trump-20191204-b4r43waqcfbtfe7hhjfgjcsixu-story.html


Let's go through Stoehr's essay and assess how close he is to the truth in his assertion. He writes:

"It bears repeating: Donald Trump was not only press-ganging Volodymyr Zelensky in an illegal scheme for partisan gain. He was rewriting the history of 2016 in order to wound enemies (Democrats) and help friends (Vladimir Putin) — as well as to give Kremlin operatives room to strike again. It is in no way overstating the case to say the president of the United States is the head of an international conspiracy to defraud the American people. "

There should be no issue on this, period. We have the evidence, the documents and Trump himself threatening  and even bragging about his alliance with Putin in a criminal conspiracy. 

If anyone is into valid conspiracies (like the one behind the JFK assassination)  this is indeed the one to accept because it is closest to the truth of all the ones out there right now.  We know  the Trump team had  more than 100 meetings - that we know of -  with Russians, including GRU intelligence agents.  Specifically in "Trump and His Associates Had More Than 100 Contacts With Russians Before the Inauguration,"   The NY Times tracked down "more than 100 in-person meetings, phone calls, text messages, emails and private messages on Twitter," all made by "at least 17 campaign officials and advisers [who] had contacts with Russian nationals and WikiLeaks, or their intermediaries."

Robert Mueller not only defined a conspiracy in the case of an indictment filed against 12 GRU agents in 2018, but made it public, E.g.   

[Read the indictment here.]

Mueller  also - if you read part one of his report-  made it clear Trump was involved in this  conspiracy.  As Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe elegantly summed up earlier this year ('Last Word' with Lawrence O'Donnell):

"What we have here is a situation where the Mueller report shows without any doubt that a hostile foreign power attacked the United States in this (2016) election.  That Donald Trump welcomed that attack, benefited from it and then - the last couple of years - tried to cover it up every possible way. "

Text messages, phone records, foreign intercepts, emails  - other documentation of the meetings, e.g. of Carter Page-   point to clear conspiracy with the Russkies to alter  the 2016 election. 

Even more explicit is the take from Mimi Rocah, former federal prosecutor, appearing January 25th last year on 'All In':

"There's just so many facts in this indictment about the coordination of the Trump campaign with Wikileaks, through Roger Stone. Remember that GRU indictment - if you go back to that- one of the objects of the conspiracy is not just hacking but hacking and disseminating.  You can't look at them alone, you have to go back to everything we know, the Trump Tower meeting, the calling out by Trump to Russia (to grab Hillary's emails)...there's just so many other things."

A de facto conspiracy by any other name. Then there are Traitor Trump's own words to hang him,  e.g.

"I will tell you this, Russia if you're listening, I hope that you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. You will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let's see if that happens."

The very next day the Russkies hacked the DNC - and the traitor 'Pukes have the nerve to try to lay the 2016 election interference on the Ukraine.  Worse, to invoke the Ukraine- Crowdstrike- Burisma nonsense to try to deflect attention and get Trump acquitted.

 Stoehr again:

"It has remained to be seen how far the Republican Party is willing to go in defense of Mr. Trump’s conspiracy. But now, as the impeachment process enters a new and dangerous phase, we are seeing new GOP behavior, though we have witnessed plenty of hints. One reporter wrote recently that Republicans decided the best way to defend the president is to embrace “the claim" of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election. Let’s be clear. 

There was no Ukrainian interference. That’s according to the special counsel’s report, which cited one and a half dozen national security agencies. That’s according to the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report. That’s according to every career official in the State Department who testified under oath last month.The idea that Ukraine, not Russia, attacked the U.S. originated in the Kremlin."

Indeed, this specious - already debunked narrative -  claiming it was Ukrainians who meddled in the 2016 election instead of the Russians- was  totally refuted by Dr. Fiona Hill in her House Impeachment hearings appearance, e.g.

Fiona Hill Schools Russian-Bought Reepos To Disda...

In her own words, from my Nov. 22nd post:

"This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.”


Further, an intel report released the next day (and issued to the Republicans as well ) noted the Ukraine - CrowdStrike BS was being peddled by Putin and the Russians to frame Ukraine.  But the Reptiles have continued to invoke it because they are traitors first and sowers of  propaganda and lies second.  Fifth columnists who consistently place party and obeisance to Trump,  over country. Recall also Traitor Trump's lies at the time,  issued in a tweet, e.g.

"The F.B.I. went in, and they told them, ‘Get out of here, we’re not giving it to you,’ They gave the server to CrowdStrike, or whatever it is called, which is a company owned by a very wealthy Ukrainian. I still want to see that server.”

Hell, even Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocey (two of the FOX 'n Friends trio) had their mouths agape. Kilmeade - once he caught his breath - even had the sense to ask the Traitor- in -chief for his sources.  All he could do was bark 50 more minutes of lies. 

Mr. Stoehr again:

"The idea that the Democrats, not Mr. Trump’s campaign staffers, conspired with foreign operatives is more than “conspiracy theory.” It is a fascist ploy to turn lies into truth. This is why I said recently that Mr. Trump’s crime is so much worse than abuse of power. It’s treason. And the Republicans, like lemmings, are heading for a cliff. "

Indeed, these rats are headed over a cliff, and with a huge grenade (the Bolton disclosures) in their sorry paws as well.  Set to blow up just as they vote to acquit Herr Hitler Jr.  And as I noted earlier it was  the Trump team that had  more than 100 meetings with GRU agents. It is the Reepo-Trump alliance who are the traitors and attempting to overthrow the nation's founding principles and Constitution and replace them with a hostile, alien authoritarian fascist stamp.   Once more we learn from Mr. Stoehr:

"It’s quite another thing, however, to know what you’re doing is wrong and do it anyway. The Republicans can’t not know. First, because intelligence officials briefed Senate Republicans, telling them explicitly the Ukraine-attacked-us story is pure Putin disinformation. Second, because Fiona Hill, a former member of the White House National Security Council, and a Russia authority, was clear about what House Republicans were already doing. She said: 

“In the course of this investigation, I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests. I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine — not Russia — attacked us in 2016.”

 Again, repeating what I wrote earlier in regard to Dr. Hill's House testimony.  And now the coup de grace:

"And now we have another reason why the Republicans can’t not know they are participating in a conspiracy to defraud the American people. Rudy Giuliani, who is not regarded for his discretion, confessed to knowing the Ukraine-attacked-us story was bunk. Not only that, the president’s personal attorney actually said he decided to pursue “evidence” of Ukraine’s attack in order to undercut Robert Mueller’s report.

Is that where the Republicans want to go? Well, yes, if Tucker Carlson is any indication. The Fox News host is on the bleeding edge of attempts by Trump partisans to expand what the American people think is acceptable behavior. On his show recently he said: “I’m totally opposed to these [US] sanctions [on Russia] and I don’t think we should be at war with Russia and I think we should take the side of Russia if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.” He went on to say the Democrats hate America more than Vladimir Putin does.   At some point, we must face what it means for Republicans to know the truth but to advance Kremlin lies anyway, even when doing so slowly burns down the republic.

At some point soon, we must stop calling them dupes, and start calling them the enemy."

So by carrying water for the already discredited GRU, Putin and their conspiracy codswallop - like the Senate Reeps plan to do (unless they prove otherwise) -   we can declare  they are indeed the enemy.  Worse, all these misfits who swore to protect and defend the Constitution against "all enemies foreign and domestic"  are de facto traitors. 
   
They are openly using debunked material from a hostile foreign security service to undermine our Republic and indeed to destroy it. Thus, each specious argument made by Trump's lawyers to protect him  - and the Republican party - amounts to one more nail in their treasonous coffins.  The people,  representing the court of final appeal (guided by the Constitution) - will make their final verdict known in November.  Unlike the GOP's cowardly Senators they will oust all these Reepo snakes:  from the presidency, and the Senate.  Giving us a chance to disinfect both from the pestilence that's nearly destroyed them - and our nation.

See also:

Goldberg: Trump’s defenders have adopted a doctrine of infallibility »

And:

John Bolton | Ukraine

If a Bombshell Explodes in the Forest and No One ...

And:

• Trump team warns GOP senators, 'Vote against the president and your head will be on a pike'  

And:

The Editorial Board

Surprise, Mr. President. John Bolton Has the Goods

Adam Schiff Delivers Performance Of A Lifetime - But It Mostly Fell On Closed Minds, Deaf Ears

Even as we learned Trump yesterday tweeted 142 times (141 of them outright lies)  we  got to see and hear the stirring words of Adam Schiff ringing loudly and clear in the Senate Chamber:

“You are left with no choice but to demand to hear from each witness with firsthand knowledge” of Trump’s pressure campaign, A fair trial requires nothing less.”

The historic trial, only the third of its kind in U.S.  risks devolving into a farcical Potemkin sham unless the 53 Republicans pull their collective heads out of their asses and attend to the case and the arguments presented by those like Schiff.   They ought to be reminded they are also on trial  - along with Trump - as history suffuses the chamber including the presence in the room of John Roberts, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme court.

Just after 1pm, Adam Schiff stepped to a lectern between the tables to narrate the sordid story of Trump’s wrongdoing. Schiff and the other 6  House impeachment  managers laid out their case in stages, to powerful effect.  (At least for anyone of normal sentience - as opposed to the Repuke kool aid drinkers and Dotard asslickers like Lindsey Graham).  In meticulous detail they presented Trump’s corrupt scheme in narrative form, with a factual chronology and video of past witness testimony, to move thereafter to a description of the constitutional framework for impeachment.

But Schiff's presentation blew everyone away with its powerful combination of appeal to the Constitution, Senators' moral conscience and the future welfare of the nation.  At a break in the trial, the minority leader, Chuck Schumer, called Schiff’s performance “a tour de force”.  He said:

“I think a good number of my Republican colleagues for the first time heard the argument against the president – powerfully, succinctly and completely– and I hope that can begin to change minds,” 

Both wifey and I concurred that Mr. Schiff delivered an argument for the ages, in clear, concise terms given he had to bring all the evidence to bear on Trump's extortion of the Ukrainian president and his subsequent obstruction. Hell, the orange, pus-filled maggot even bragged while still in Davos of his crime, keeping the materials hidden, e.g.

• Trump brags: ‘We have all the material, they don’t’                         

Polling released on Wednesday by the Pew Research Center indicated public backing for the Democratic call for witnesses and found that 70% of respondents said Trump “definitely or probably acted unethically” while 51% said Trump “should be removed from office”.

“We’re trying this case over two juries,” Schiff said. “The Senate and the American people.”

But have any Republican Senators been moved to action?  Hardly!

“I didn’t hear anything new today,” said Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

 Errr... were you really conscious then, Toomey, or on an MJ candy high?

“I haven’t heard any evidence in there that the president’s done anything wrong,” said Josh Hawley of Missouri. 

Then you need to take remedial American Government classes again, Hawley, with emphasis on Article 1 of the Constitution.

Lisa Murkowski, (R-Alaska) then reportedly chafed at Jerry Nadler's remark that any Senator who refuses to allow witnesses is effectively assisting Trump in the "cover up".  Miffed at any such suggestion, Murkowski whined: "I am very offended!  I took it as very offensive since I am listening attentively and working hard to ensure a fair process."

Spare me the faux offense, Senator. If you are not prepared to allow witnesses - especially relevant ones to this supposed trial - then all you're doing is posturing for FOX News zombies.   And that also means, logically, you are assisting in Trump's obstruction!  Which also means collaborating in the cover up. (See news link above how he bragged about withholding materials.)

Meanwhile, Lindsey Graham yelped about a "crusade" by the Dems to get his master, Dotard.  After seeing this dishonorable puke  cry, bark and barf,  one had to wonder if he was missing his latest Trump ass lick fix.  Or maybe he's on some kind of brain -frying junk, given he also congratulated Schiff on a "job well done".  Which is it, Lindsey?

With the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, having succeeded the night before in winning approval for a speedy trial, the House prosecutors have limited time in which to plant seeds of doubt in Republican minds about the conduct of the president.  But for realists, the odds of getting any such seeds planted are about the same as Tau Ceti aliens abducting Dotard before he leaves bellows another lie.

There is also the issue here of Mitch McConnell's "rules" which appear to have any force at all.  One often beheld the Senate Repukes visibly frustrated at the long hours of the trial, appearing at times to be on the verge of mild mutiny, openly flouting rules requiring them to remain at their desks and instead circulating in a cloakroom off the Senate floor. They drew no rebuke from Roberts.  My take? Roberts correctly saw the truth was gradually infiltrating their neurons risking about one trillion neural embolisms - so gave the Reeptards a break.

The seven House managers selected to present the articles of impeachment have about 16 remaining hours spread over two days to present their case to convict and remove Trump from office. Then the Dotard team has its opportunity to rebut the charges.   Translation:   Jay Sekulow and Co. will strain to see how many lies and concocted bullshit they can come up with (mainly using Russian tropes) to  appease their master, Dotard - and to hell with the Constitution and country.

Trump of course is not expected to appear at his own trial.  He bragged in Davos he'd like to come, but of course those are the empty words of a con man.  You take everything this twit says or tweets with less than a National Enquirer headline.

 Moderate Republican senators (e.g. Susan Collins, Murkowski, Cory Gardner, and Mitt Romney )  have made cooperative noises and also expressed discomfort with rushing the proceedings.  But this is likely all political posturing - especially for those up for re-election -  like the weasels Gardner and Collins.  Point:  none of the "moderates" voted with Democrats on several motions on Tuesday that would have cleared the way for new witnesses and testimony.  Clearly, Trump has their brains and spines locked up firmly in the remote recesses of his fat behind - never to see the clear light of day.

Winding up his oratory, Schiff warned that democracy was on the line. “Our future is not assured. A fair trial, with impartial consideration of all of the evidence against the president, is how we keep our republic.”

As Ben Franklin once told a woman who asked what kind of government we had: "A Republic, if you can keep it."    Right now it appears that owing to the cowardice of the Republicans, and their placing party over nation, we may not keep it - but lose it to an authoritarian Trumpocracy.

See also:

Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff: A True Hero for Our Times

And:

• Lindsey Graham goes into hiding just before Jerry Nadler calls him out—with receipts 

And

Impeachment | Mitch McConnell | Senate

Impeachment in Wonderland: First the Trial, Then the Evidence.

And:

Impeachment | Republicans

Republican Senators Are Betraying Their Oaths and Embarrassing Themselves Before Our Eyes

And:

Donald Trump

Trump Is Abusing His Power and Obstructing Congress Right Now While Impeachment Trial Continues

Clarifying The Basis For The Limited Articles Of Impeachment - Which The Media Couldn't

Leaders of House Committees announce two articles of impeachment yesterday morning.

In a momentous event yesterday, Democratic congressional leaders unveiled articles of impeachment against Donald J. Trump, a historic move set in motion by a whistleblower complaint warning the president was using the power of his office to solicit foreign interference in a US election.

Democrats outlined only  two articles of impeachment: I) abuse of power and II) obstruction of Congress. The charges were announced by House judiciary chair Jerry Nadler, flanked by speaker Nancy Pelosi, intelligence chair Adam Schiff and other members of the Democratic leadership.

Nadler said: 

“Today in service to our duty to the constitution and to our country the House committee on the judiciary is introducing two articles of impeachment, charging the president of the United States, Donald J Trump, with committing high crimes and misdemeanors.”

The articles were unveiled after almost three months of investigation of wrongdoing by Trump, including openly and brazenly admitting his perfidy and crimes.  Despite his public admissions of high crimes (including one memorandum to staff ordering a total stonewall of congress, and the published transcript of his extortion of Vlodymor Zelenskiy), seemingly skirted over by most of the media, the House Dems brought the hammer. Hence Trump  is accused of withholding military aid and an Oval Office meeting from Ukraine in exchange for investigations into the former vice-president Joe Biden, his political rival, and a baseless conspiracy theory which says Ukraine intervened in the U.S. election in 2016.

Democrats had weighed as many as four articles, including an obstruction of justice charge relating to Trump’s conduct during special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow.

While the impeachment articles focus on Trump’s conduct in the Ukraine scheme, Nadler said, the articles went to a “pattern” of presidential behavior, meaning they implicated the Trumpies seeking collusion with the Russians for help in the 2016 election as well..

According to the text of the first article, Trump “used the powers of the presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process". He thus ignored and injured the interests of the Nation.  Hence:

“President Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.”

The second article states that “in the history of the Republic, no president has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate his behavior."

Explaining the charges, Nadler said: “A president who places himself above accountability, above the American people and above Congress’s power of impeachment … is a president who sees himself as above the law. We must be clear no one not even the president is above the law.”

The move means that by the end of next week, Trump could become the third president in US history to be impeached. Andrew Johnson survived impeachment in 1868, as did Bill Clinton in 1999. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before being formally impeached.

The House Judiciary committee will vote on the articles, followed by the full House. As Democrats control the lower chamber, a trial in the Senate is likely to follow in January. Republicans are in control there, making Trump’s conviction and removal unlikely.

Alas, by midday much of the corporate media had tied itself into explanatory knots after perceiving the limited nature of the articles, i.e. relative to what was expected.. Chief among the media's obsessions: 1) Why the House Democrats abandoned the use of the stronger language "bribery" or "extortion"... And (2) why the Dems settled on "obstruction of congress" instead of obstruction of justice.

The reason for (1) is straightforward and entails the fact that post-Constitution (and its mention of bribery) a subsequent court ruling narrowed the definition significantly by introducing statutory (legally based, i.e. criminal) components that raised the bar for proof.  Not wishing to open the door for even more Repuke haggling over the existence of misconduct, the Dems chose to leave the terms out, which was a wise move -  as Prof. Noah Feldman pointed out last night on 'All In'.

"All you need to know to realize Trump actually committed these crimes, is the memorandum of the phone call he had with Volodymor Zelenskiy - which makes it super clear he abused the office of the presidency to gain a personal advantage in the 2020 election.  And the letter where the president directed his White House Counsel to say 'I'm stonewalling the whole impeachment inquiry.'  Which shows Trump is impeding or obstructing congress..

If you've got those things that's all the proving you need. It makes these very simple, clear and explicit articles of impeachment."

Regarding the reason for (2), obstruction of justice would have required the higher standard of Trump rejecting all possible court rulings, i.e. to turn over documents, witnesses. But as Prof. Feldman pointed out above, Trump's memorandum to his White House counsel seals the proof for obstruction of congress- so you really don't need anything else.

Also, as Adam Schiff pointed out yesterday at the announcement, they had already waited nearly eight months just for one court ruling on Don McGahn having to testify (which is still almost certainly going to the Supreme Court).  So to avoid Trump's endless court delays - for which he is notorious - the Dems opted to simply cite obstruction of congress - which is still significant.  As Prof. Lawrence Tribe of Harvard has also observed:

"It amounts to contempt of congress, a far more sweeping violation of separation of powers than even Richard Nixon was guilty of, cited in the then Article 3."

Other media talking heads, even on MSNBC, questioned why the Dems couldn't just wait. Adam Schiff's response to that was stark and blunt:

"The argument ‘Why don’t you just wait’ amounts to this: ‘Why don’t you just let him cheat in one more election?’Why not let him have foreign help just one more time?”

An interesting aspect that only appeared in some outlets (e.g. NY Times) later was that some Dem moderates wanted to try to build bipartisan support for a censure of Trump, instead of impeachment.  But this sort of lily-livered response to what this maggot has tried to do is beyond the level of any kind of acceptance. It is, not to exaggerate, more like an appeasement on a level of with Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler, before World War II.(He signed the Munich Agreement in 1938, relinquishing a region of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis.)

Fortunately the censure move was DOA with the House Dem leaders, who recognized that given the Reptiles' dedicated protection of Trump there was no way in hell that wold pass wither. All that would happen is the Dems would be made laughing stocks.

See also:

https://newrepublic.com/article/155655/founding-fathers-impeachment-corruption-president-trump