The 158th Weak of Impeachment of DJ Drumpf

[JackLuis]

Trump attorney Sekulow’s impeachment defense of president blown out of the water with Lindsey Graham statement

On Saturday, one of the biggest opening arguments made by President Donald Trump’s legal team at the impeachment trial was that there was, in fact, a risk that Ukraine had meddled in U.S. elections.

“Mr. Schiff and his colleagues repeatedly told you that the intelligence community assessment that Russia was acting alone, responsible for the election interference, implying this somehow debunked the idea there might be in — you know, interference from other countries, including Ukraine,” said Trump counsel Jay Sekulow. “This is basically what we call a straw man argument.”

But MSNBC’s Brian Williams knocked down this defense with a clip from none other than one of President Donald Trump’s biggest allies: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

“Forgive the looking glass. That’s basically what we call a ‘false flag’ argument — the whiff, the notion that these Republican — these Russian talking points could be correct and it was Ukraine that meddled in our election,” said Williams. “Here is Lindsey Graham from just this past Thursday on this very point.”

“The president believes that the Ukraine interfered in our election,” said Graham in the clip. “I can tell you without any doubt, it was the Russians who hacked into the DNC. It was not the Ukrainians.”

Who are you going to believe, Donald or Dipshit?

 

[JackLuis]

‘Fear and laziness’: CNN’s Avlon exposes Republican motives for blocking Trump impeachment witnesses

On CNN Saturday, fact-checker John Avlon broke down all the reasons Senate Republicans still appear to be firmly in President Donald Trump’s camp in the impeachment trial.

“This is a jump ball moment in American history,” said Avlon. “Democrats have finished laying out all the evidence, and today the president’s team will begin making its case. But there’s a debate going on behind the scenes in the Senate that’s just as important as what’s in front of the camera. It’s whether the Senate will agree that facts and evidence matter, or whether this will be the first Senate impeachment trial in history to never have witnesses. Now, the vast majority of Americans believe there should be witnesses, but this is a Senate that has a habit of putting party over country. Now, we’re already hearing three arguments designed to convince Republican swing state senators to become supine.”

As was pointed out, Senators aren't used to listening, they are used to pontification! BUt as Seth said, "Sit down and shut the fuck up, you pussies!"

 

[JackLuis]

Republicans fear 2020 election wipeout if more Ukraine bombshells drop after they clear Trump of impeachment

Thus far, nothing indicates that Senate Republicans have been persuaded to vote against President Donald Trump in the impeachment trial. If any Republicans vote to remove the president, it almost certainly will not be the required 20. Indeed, many of them appear to be looking for excuses to be offended by the Democrats’ presentation.

But according to Politico, that doesn’t mean Trump and his GOP allies believe they have won just yet.

Some Republicans reportedly fear that even if Trump is acquitted in the Senate, that will not be the end of the Ukraine scandal — because Democrats will continue to hold investigation after investigation, questioning more and more people, requesting more and more documents, throughout the election cycle. And all of that could take its toll, with the public learning more and more each week.

I doubt the Democrats will give up if Trump is not removed. They still have court cases that hit the SC in June, so why would they not dump more subpoenas on the Repubs and Rudy? The Tax Returns are still out there, remember Al Capone?

 

[JackLuis]

Economists warn Trump policies will result in lost jobs and lower wages for American workers

The 20-year-old San Diego bakery Con Pane Rustic Breads & Cafe went out of business this month after an audit by US authorities found immigrants working there illegally.

In April, a small Nebraska town lost a potato processing plant, and the local revenue it generated, in the wake of an immigration raid on its facilities. A restaurant in New York appears to have suffered similar fate in August.
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Farmers say they are planting less, turning to automation, eliminating some crops, leaving them to rot in the field or contemplating selling out of the business altogether — all because they cannot find enough immigrant labor.

Trump and others who favor tighter immigration controls say low-skilled migrant workers compete for American jobs and drive down wages for all workers.

But a growing body of research suggests the contrary: that removing immigrant workers can be destructive, resulting in lost jobs, lower wages, canceled investments and less affordable services — even for Americans.

 

[JackLuis]

Desperate Trump looking for a Dem senator to vote to acquit him in effort to soften blow of impeachment

According to a report from the Washington Post, President Donald Trump is hoping to find at least one Democrat who will vote to acquit him as Senate majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attempts to wrap the president’s impeachment trial up as quickly as possible.

The report notes that the President has targeted Sen. Joe Manchin (R-WV) as a likely candidate and the White House focus behind the scenes is the hope they can count on his one vote that would give the anticipated acquittal a partisan sheen.

I think they meant bi-partisan.

Manchin is "Blue Dog" enough to do it unless Chuck shows him that the DNC will primary him if he bails!

 

[BoyNextDoor]

Time for Manchin to go

 

[JackLuis]

John Bolton’s manuscript confirms Trump’s bribery of Ukraine: report

Details of Bolton's book leak out, Trump is guilty, guilty, FUCKING GUILTY!

Former national security adviser John Bolton revealed in his manuscript that President Donald Trump told him as early as August 2019 that he wanted to continue freezing the military and security assistance to Ukraine until they could get officials to go after the Biden family.

New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman Michael Schmidt reported Sunday that the $391 million in aid to Ukraine was contingent on Ukraine officials agreeing to help “with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens.”

The report said that Bolton’s manuscript was sent to the White House to undergo a review process typical of past White House officials. Bolton took several dozens of pages to outline how the Ukraine incident unfolded. He also recalled the president’s hatred of Ukraine, detailing the ways in which Trump would trash the country in front of staff. He also revealed, “senior cabinet officials who have publicly tried to sidestep involvement.”

 

[JackLuis]

Bolton’s firsthand evidence puts senators in the difficult position of believing ‘bizarro’ Trump team argument: Legal experts

Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal and Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe agreed that the recent revelations from John Bolton, puts Republicans in a difficult position. Bolton’s manuscript confirmed that President Donald Trump’s bribery scheme puts senators in the difficult position of being faced with firsthand witnesses they’ve tried to block.

Republicans were given multiple opportunities to agree that they would like to hear witnesses and new evidence as part of the impeachment trial in the Senate, but each time, they voted against it. But with the news Bolton released Sunday night, it forces senators to acknowledge they deny even firsthand evidence of Trump’s guilt.

“It’s hugely devastating for the president,” said Katyal. “So, Article I of the impeachment against President Trump is an abuse of power, and the allegation is that he tried to cheat in the 2020 election and pressure the Ukrainian government to get dirt on Joe Biden. And the Bolton revelations today, if true, and of course we haven’t seen the book, but if true, corroborates all of that story and say that Trump did pressure the Ukrainians and held the aid in order to get dirt on Biden.”

And that's a fact!

 

[JackLuis]

Frantic Trump tries to block Senate from calling Bolton after bombshell book blows up his Ukraine defense

President Donald Trump went to bed fretting about John Bolton, and he woke up worried about his former national security adviser.

Excerpts from Bolton’s new book leaked Sunday, claiming that Trump told him that Ukraine aid was tied to an investigation of Joe Biden and his son — putting new pressure on Republican senators to approve additional witness testimony in the impeachment trial.

Trump denied Bolton’s explosive claims after midnight.

“I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens,” Trump tweeted. “In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book.”

“With that being said, the transcripts of my calls with President Zelensky are all the proof that is needed, in addition to the fact that President Zelensky & the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said there was no pressure and no problems,” he tweeted. “Additionally, I met with President Zelensky at the United Nations (Democrats said I never met) and released the military aid to Ukraine without any conditions or investigations – and far ahead of schedule. I also allowed Ukraine to purchase Javelin anti-tank missiles. My Administration has done far more than the previous Administration.”

 

[JackLuis]

Bolton book leaked after the White House made copies of the single manuscript they were given: report

NBC News correspondent Carol Lee reported Monday that one copy of Bolton’s manuscript was given to the White House — where copies were made.

Bolton reportedly believes that “the process was corrupted” by the administration.

“So it suggests that there are multiple copies floating around, and from the Bolton team’s perspective, they’re saying we gave them one copy — what they did with it, we don’t know, but clearly it’s gotten out there and it’s not coming from us,” Lee reported. “They really want to distance themselves from the idea that he is somehow behind leaking this.”

It's as if there were some in the White House that don't like Trumplethinskin?

 

[JackLuis]

CNN panel cracks up laughing at Trump lawyers trying to make Rudy Giuliani into ‘the coffee boy’

President Donald Trump’s legal team fought Monday to try and claim that Rudy Giuliani had nothing to do with the president’s efforts in Ukraine.

It’s a claim that flies in the face of the documents, testimony, text messages and more that have been revealed throughout the course of the investigation that hangs the albatross around Giuliani’s neck.

In fact, Giuliani crafted his own letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that he was authorized to speak on behalf of President Donald Trump as a “private attorney.” If the president cared so much about corruption in Ukraine, why would he be doing a shadow foreign policy using Giuliani instead of through Congress, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the United Nations, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund or a slew of other international groups interested in the issue.

The excuse from the Trump team was that Giuliani was a nobody.

 

[JackLuis]

George Conway lists all of Trump’s most hilarious geographic blunders after the president whines about being mocked

But on Tuesday, conservative lawyer and Trump critic George Conway pointed out that the president has indeed never shown any aptitude for geography — and listed off some of his most well-known and mocked blunders:


George Conway @gtconway3d
Replying to @gtconway3d

I have to say that really is my personal favorite. @realDonaldTrump is there trashing the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia for the breakup Yugoslavia, and they’re like, WTF. And then it dons on them—Balkans, Baltics ... buffoon. https://slate.com/news-and-politics...-leaders-of-estonia-latvia-and-lithuania.html …

 

[jaF0]

Mitch McConnell just conceded he might not have the Republican votes to block witnesses from testifying in Trump's impeachment trial
Business Insider|44 minutes ago
McConnell reportedly compiled a list of "yes," "no," and "maybe" votes, but didn't show the whip count to his fellow senators.

 

[domroger]

Mitch McConnell just conceded he might not have the Republican votes to block witnesses from testifying in Trump's impeachment trial
Business Insider|44 minutes ago
McConnell reportedly compiled a list of "yes," "no," and "maybe" votes, but didn't show the whip count to his fellow senators.

Hurrah .

 

[JackLuis]

Former Trump official worries about the president’s mental state: ‘How long can this be ignored?’

President Donald Trump’s mental fitness for office was called into question after a campaign rally in New Jersey.

During his speech, Trump began to slur his words, causing somebody at Fox News to laugh on a hot mic as the network cut away from the speech.

Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci was concerned by the clip.

“Wondering how long this can be ignored,” Scaramucci posted.

 

[JackLuis]

John Bolton and John Kelly turn on the boss at last — and Trump loyalists respond with fury

It’s far more likely that ego is driving Bolton. His is almost as large as Trump’s, and when the president refused to listen and insulted him publicly, Bolton decided to fight back rather than submit as everyone else has done. On Tuesday he got a little back-up from another former insider, former White House chief of staff John Kelly.

Kelly told a Florida audience on Monday:
" If John Bolton says that in the book, I believe John Bolton. Every single time I was with him … he always gave the president the unvarnished truth."

It’s nice of Kelly to weigh in on Bolton’s behalf, but let’s face it: He, like so many others, could have blown the whistle long before now. Instead, he’s chosen to make vague references to Trump’s incapacity while never really putting himself at odds with the president’s ferocious defenders. You can say the same thing for former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats or any number of others who have intimate knowledge of the Trump administration’s internal chaos and could have stepped up at any time but chose not to.

All it took to switch Trump Chumps to Anti-Trump was meeting Donny J. Trump!

 

[KeithD]

But then, Trump doesn't know who John Kelly is and never met him.

 

[jaF0]

I'd venture to say Donny would disavow knowledge of KellyAnne if she turned on him. Probably Mel too.


Rarely has such a complete and total shitbag soiled the surface of the Earth.

 

[JackLuis]

I'd venture to say Donny would disavow knowledge of KellyAnne if she turned on him. Probably Mel too.


Rarely has such a complete and total shitbag soiled the surface of the Earth.

Has he never been a shitbag? Our survey says, "Nope!"


Been watching the Q&A in the Circus... er, Senate.

Adam and the Resistance has been fast and accurate.

This guy Philbin is a lot easier to listen to lie, than Suck-u-low or The Big Onion. He actually sounds like a lawyer!

 

[JackLuis]

Trump trade blunder results in US’s ‘biggest strategic defeat’ since WW2: Newt Gingrich

This Tuesday, UK prime minister Boris Johnson and other European leaders ignored the warnings of President Trump to drop ties with the Chinese telecoms company Huawei and went ahead with allowing the company to develop the 5G network on the continent — a move that could trigger similar decisions from other world leaders, Business Insider reports.

Johnson’s move comes in the wake of Trump warning America’s European allies to enact a blanket ban on the company.

According to former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, the development amounts to “the biggest strategic defeat for the United States since the early days of World War Two.”

“I think people have got to wake up and understand this is a huge failure of our government bureaucracies to respond to a challenge we have seen coming,” he told the BBC in an interview.

How fucking bad do you have to fuck up, before Newt calls you out?

 

[JackLuis]

Trump White House sends formal threat to John Bolton — and warns him not to publish his book: CNN

CNN is reporting that the Trump White House has sent a formal threat to former national security adviser John Bolton aimed at blocking the publication of his upcoming tell-all book about his time working for the president.

The threat against Bolton marks an escalation for the Trump White House, which has resisted allowing Bolton to testify in the president’s Senate impeachment trial. The president himself attacked Bolton in a tweet on Wednesday morning, and claimed that he fired him as national security adviser because he wanted to start “World War Six.”

 

[phrodeau]

Trump White House sends formal threat to John Bolton — and warns him not to publish his book: CNN

Trump is surely innocent.

 

[JackLuis]

Meanwhile:

Palestinians protest against Trump’s Mideast peace plan

The Israeli army announced an increased presence in the West Bank and near Gaza Wednesday evening, as US President Donald Trump’s controversial peace plan sparked outrage among Palestinians.

The plan, seen as overwhelmingly supportive of Israeli goals and drafted with no Palestinian input, gives the Jewish state a US green light to annex key parts of the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces clashed in various locations in the West Bank and further Palestinian protests are expected in the coming days.

The Israeli army announced Wednesday it would deploy additional troops in the West Bank and the near the Gaza Strip.

“Following the ongoing situation assessment, it has been decided to reinforce the Judea and Samaria and Gaza Divisions with additional combat troops,” the army said in a statement, using the Israeli terms for the West Bank.

Well, nothing has changed.

 

[bhurry]

how's it going girls

 

[JackLuis]

Trump’s tax cuts have been a miserable failure even by his own standards: Washington Post business columnist

The latest report on economic growth in America showed that the U.S. economy grew at just 2.1 percent in Q4 2019, and at 2.3 percent overall last year.

This less-than-stellar economic growth came two years after the passage of a massive tax cut that President Donald Trump touted as a surefire way to push economic growth up past 3 percent.

Washington Post business columnist Catherine Rampell writes that the latest mediocre GDP numbers reveal what a miserable failure the Trump tax cut has been, even by the president’s own standards.

Miserable fucking failure of Trump. Yep!