"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.
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.
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:
