Tag: Trump extortion

Why the first 3 impeachment witnesses to publicly testify are too credible for Trump supporters to attack: GOP strategist

AlterNet logoHouse Democrats’ impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump is entering a new phase this week, with three witnesses set to publicly testify (all of the previous testimony took place in closed-door hearings). Inevitably, Trump supporters will do everything they can to try to discredit their testimony, but according to GOP activist and Never Trump conservative Susan Del Percio, the witnesses are too credible for Trump allies to successfully discredit.

The three witnesses are diplomat William Taylor, who handled Ukraine-related matters for the Trump Administration; George Kent, an official for the U.S. State Department; and Marie Yovanovitch, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Taylor and Kent are both scheduled to testify on Wednesday, while Yovanovitch’s testimony is set for this Friday, November 15.

Appearing on MSNBC, Del Percio told host Ayman Mohyeldin, “We’ve seen some of what the Republicans have up their sleeves. They are going to try and discredit the witnesses. But as (journalist) Sam Stein said, they are unimpeachable witnesses. These are all government servants, people who have dedicated their lives not just to their post, but in Taylor’s case, he served in Vietnam. These are very accomplished people.”

View the complete November 11 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman to be rotated off National Security Council

AlterNet logoEditor’s note: The headline of this article has been updated to more accurately reflect Vidman’s pending departure from the NSC:

2/ agencies and they eventually go back. That’s true as far as it goes. But he was asked a pretty specific question about whether Vindman was losing his job over the testimony. If he is not it’s pretty easy to say, no he’s not. No NSC appointments from any of these agencies …

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 11, 2019

Original article below:

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified on October 29 concerning his reaction to Donald Trump’s phone call to Ukrainian President Zelensky, was removed from the National Security Council on Sunday. In an interview on CBS “Face the Nation,”  National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, who replaced John Bolton in that position in September, said that Vindman would be leaving his position along with several others as part of a “streamlining” of the National Security Council. Continue reading “Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman to be rotated off National Security Council”

Top 5 Revelations From Ukraine Transcripts Portend Trouble For Trump

It’s been reported for weeks now that Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee in exchange for $400 million in military defense funds that Congress promised the country for its fight against Russia. A meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky was also predicated on Ukraine announcing the investigations.

The rough phone transcript Trump released, text messages between top Trump administration officials, and even an explicit admission from acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney all confirmed the existence of a quid pro quo.

The four witness depositions released last week by the House Intelligence Committee add further direct confirmation of that arrangement.

View the complete November 10 article by Emily Singer on the National Memo website here.

Impeachment week: Trump probe hits crucial point

The Hill logoIt all comes down to this.

House Democrats charging ahead with their impeachment investigation will hit a critical juncture this week, throwing the process into the public spotlight as they fight to convince voters of a verdict they themselves have all but ratified: that President Trump abused the office and should be sent packing.

The shift is a pivotal development in the seven-week-old investigation, one bearing enormous stakes for a Congress and country bitterly divided along partisan lines, while ensuring — even more than before — that the 2020 elections will be a referendum on the mercurial figure in the Oval Office.

View the complete November 11 article by Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.

Pompeo tries to spin himself out of a tricky situation

Washington Post logo“Not — not — not once — not once, George, did Ambassador McKinley say something to me during that entire time period.”

— Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Oct. 20, 2019

“Three probably.”

— former State Department adviser to Pompeo Michael McKinley, after being asked how many conversations he had with Pompeo “about this matter,” interview with congressional investigators, Oct. 16

Was the secretary of state caught in a lie? Or is he just artfully answering questions — or, more to the point, not answering questions?

This is a story of spin. See if you can keep track of the bouncing ball.

The Facts

Michael McKinley was the U.S. ambassador to Brazil when Pompeo asked him to leave his post early in 2018 to act as his senior adviser and liaison to the Foreign Service. McKinley abruptly resigned in October after the controversy over the administration’s dealings with Ukraine erupted, in protest of what he told lawmakers was the use of ambassadors to advance domestic political objectives and a failure by the State Department to support those officials.

View the complete November 11 article by Glenn Kessler on The Washington Post website here.

Republicans plot counterattack for impeachment hearings

The GOP knows Trump will be watching the public testimony.

House Republicans are gearing up for a blockbuster showdown with Democrats as the impeachment probe enters its most visible phase yet, with GOP lawmakers and staffers from key committees plotting with leadership to launch their counterattack.

To prepare for this week’s public hearings, Republican leaders have moved one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest Hill defenders to the House Intelligence Committee and have lined up an explosive witness list for the upcoming proceedings, offering some clues into their defense strategy.

The transcripts released last week from closed-door interviews with impeachment witnesses also provide a window into how the GOP plans to approach the high-stakes hearings. Republicans will try to paint the Democratically led process as politically motivated and minimize Trump’s role in the quest to persuade Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.

Giuliani Associate Says He Gave Demand for Biden Inquiry to Ukrainians

New York Times logoThe claim by the associate, Lev Parnas, is being vigorously disputed.

Not long before the Ukrainian president was inaugurated in May, an associate of Rudolph W. Giuliani’s journeyed to Kiev to deliver a warning to the country’s new leadership, a lawyer for the associate said.

The associate, Lev Parnas, told a representative of the incoming government that it had to announce an investigation into Mr. Trump’s political rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and his son, or else Vice President Mike Pence would not attend the swearing-in of the new president, and the United States would freeze aid, the lawyer said.

The claim by Mr. Parnas, who is preparing to share his account with impeachment investigators, challenges the narrative of events from Mr. Trump and Ukrainian officials that is at the core of the congressional inquiry. It also directly links Mr. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, to threats of repercussions made to the Ukrainians, something he has strenuously denied.

View the complete November 10 article by Ben Protess, Andrew E. Kramer, Michael Rothfeld and William K. Rashbaum on The New York Times website here.

Democratic Rep. Jim Himes calls out Chuck Todd seconds after he lets Rand Paul lie: ‘My head is only now decombusting’

AlterNet logoRep. Jim Himes (D-CT) called out NBC host Chuck Todd on Sunday for allowing Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to spin President Donald Trump’s extortion of Ukraine.

During a Sunday interview on Meet the Press, Paul deflected questions about Trump’s attempt to have Ukraine fabricate dirt on Joe Biden in exchange for military aid by turning the conversation to Hillary Clinton.

At one point, Todd wondered “two wrongs make a right,” suggesting that both Joe Biden and Trump had made errors in judgement when it comes to Ukraine.

View the complete November 10 article by David Edwards from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Trump’s Extortion of Ukraine: A Complete Government Shakedown

Center for American Progress logoFind more about Trump’s Constitutional Crisis as it develops here.

It now appears that President Donald Trump was running an extortion campaign against Ukraine, as well as a complex cover-up to keep the public in the dark about his abuse of power. On July 18, 2019, the Trump administration withheld $250 million of military aid to Ukraine. Seven days later, Trump held a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which he asked Zelensky to work with Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Attorney General William Barr to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

The transcript of this call, which was partially the subject of a whistleblower complaint, reportedly was initially buried by the White House. It has now come out that the phone call with Zelensky wasn’t the only conversation between Trump and a foreign leader that the administration sought to hide; reports say Trump also recently tried to persuade Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to work with Barr to discredit the Russia investigation. Continue reading “Trump’s Extortion of Ukraine: A Complete Government Shakedown”