The gaping hole in Trump’s impeachment defense

Washington Post logoHis legal team spent very little time actually vouching for his Ukraine conspiracy theories. Instead, they watered them down

President Trump’s defense team ended an extended opening argument Tuesday in which it laid out that Trump had legitimate reasons to ask Ukraine for specific investigations.

But it spent almost no time vouching for the actual investigations he wanted.

To the extent that Trump’s team tried to argue that the investigations were legitimate, it focused mostly on the idea that Hunter Biden’s employment at a Ukrainian gas company was problematic. It spent considerably less time arguing for the theory that Trump actually raised with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on their July 25 phone call: that then-Vice President Joe Biden sought to help his son by pushing out Ukraine’s top prosecutor. Continue reading.

GOP Senators Propose ‘Classified’ Look At Bolton Book

As pressure mounts to have former national security adviser John Bolton testify in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, a pair of Republican senators is proposing an idea to stall and possibly block Bolton from speaking publicly about his knowledge of the Ukraine scandal.

In The Room Where It Happened, his forthcoming memoir about his time in the Trump White House, Bolton says Trump told him that he was withholding congressionally appropriated military aid to Ukraine until the country’s leadership announced an investigation into his political rivals. That is exactly what Democrats charge Trump with doing, calling that quid pro quo an abuse of power.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and James Lankford (R-OK) suggested a deal that would allow senators to review Bolton’s book in a classified setting before deciding on whether to have him testify. Continue reading.

Republicans signal renewed confidence they’ll avoid witness fight

The Hill logoSenate Republicans emerged from a closed-door caucus meeting on Tuesday voicing renewed confidence that they will bypass a nasty witness fight in the impeachment trial.

“The consensus is that we’ve heard enough and it’s time to go to a final judgement,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters.

Asked if the trial proceedings should go past Friday, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), another member of Senate GOP leadership, said it “shouldn’t.” Continue reading.

Schumer slams ‘absurd’ GOP proposal to read Bolton manuscript in classified setting

The Hill logoSenate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday slammed a proposal floated by GOP senators to review former national security adviser John Bolton’s unpublished book manuscript in a classified setting, calling the idea “absurd.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) on Monday night said the White House should give senators access to Bolton’s draft book, which claims President Trumplinked security assistance for Ukraine with an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden. Lankford said the manuscript could be viewed in the Senate’s sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF).

The highly secure room located in the basement level of the Capitol Visitor Center is usually used for classified briefings or to review sensitive intelligence and national security documents. Continue reading.

‘Bizarro world’: Trump baffles the internet by sending Pam Bondi to defend him — after she gave a pass to his fake university

AlterNet logoFormer Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, possibly best-known for refusing to join a fraud investigation into Trump University that ultimately led to the President of the United States forking over $25 million, is right now defending President Trump on national TV during the Senate impeachment trial.

As many on social media noted, Bondi refused to join that investigation that led to a $25 million payment from the president, but was only too happy to accept a $25,000 donation from Donald Trump for her re-election campaign, just as she was deciding on whether or not to investigate him.

Bondi rocketed to the number two trending item on Twitter within minutes of speaking. Continue reading.

McConnell struggles to maintain GOP unity post-Bolton

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is struggling to maintain control of President Trump’s impeachment trial following news of former national security adviser John Bolton’s bombshell manuscript. 

McConnell on Monday deflected growing calls, including from fellow GOP senators, to allow testimony from Bolton and other potential witnesses, which could prolong the trial and deal a massive blow to Trump and Republicans.

Senate debate over whether to call additional witnesses was upended Sunday following a New York Times report revealing that Bolton claims in a draft of his forthcoming book that Trump told him directly he wanted to freeze U.S. assistance to Ukraine to spur an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden. Continue reading.

Trump’s impeachment defense: Who is paying the president’s lawyers?

Washington Post logoAs President Trump faces mounting legal bills from his impeachment trial, he is drawing on national party coffers flush with donations from energized supporters — unlike the last president to be impeached, who left the White House “dead broke.”

The Republican National Committee is picking up the tab for at least two of Trump’s private attorneys in the ongoing trial, an arrangement that differs from the legal fund President Bill Clinton set up, only to see it fail to raise enough to cover his millions of dollars in bills before he left office.

The law firms of Trump’s lead lawyer, Jay Sekulow, and attorney Jane Raskin have received $225,000 from the RNC through November, according to the most recent campaign finance reports. The party will pay the duo for their work this month and probably into February as the trial continues, according to people familiar with the arrangement who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal financing. Continue reading.

Rep. Meadows Threatens ‘Repercussions’ If Senators Vote Against Trump

A member of Donald Trump’s official impeachment team warned Monday that Republican senators who vote against Trump at the impeachment trial will pay a serious political price.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), a close Trump ally, told CBS News, “I mean listen, I don’t want to speak for my Senate colleagues. But there are always political repercussions for every vote you take.”

“There is no vote that is higher profile than this,” he added. Continue reading.

Mitt makes his move

The occasional Trump critic is in the middle of an internal GOP fight over the impeachment trial.

After staying relatively quiet throughout the House’s impeachment inquiry, Sen. Mitt Romney now finds himself in the middle of an increasingly bitter debate in his own party.

The Utah Republican has long been open to hearing from former national security adviser John Bolton and other witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, a position shared by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). The trio has searched for a fourth crucial vote to win a majority, but up until Sunday, those appeals seemed to be going nowhere.

Yet following a New York Times report that Trump told Bolton that frozen Ukrainian aid would be restored only if officials in Ukraine announced an investigation into Joe Biden and his son, Romney’s push for witnesses has some life — and some Republicans are displeased. Continue reading.

A ‘minor player’ and a ‘shiny object’: Trump’s legal team tries to explain away Rudy Giuliani

Washington Post logoFor months, there have been whispers and prognostications about whether President Trump’s impeachment legal team would throw his most visible personal attorney under the bus. It got to the point where Rudolph W. Giuliani quipped that if it did, he had very good (health) insurance.

Trump’s legal team may not have thrown Giuliani under the bus Monday, but it sure seemed to try to push him to the side — somewhat implausibly.

Trump lawyer Jane Raskin appeared on the Senate floor to offer a lengthy defense of Giuliani’s work, all while emphasizing that he was a “minor player” and a “shiny object” that Democrats were using to distract people. Continue reading.