Thoughts on Impeachment
There is now very little doubt that President Trump has committed impeachable offenses and will very likely be impeached in the House of Representatives. These include asking the President of Ukraine to smear his strongest rival for the 2020 Presidential election and holding up security assistance and a White House visit as inducements for them to help him in his election campaign. As Ambassador Sondland made clear this was not a rogue operation, but included many members of Trump’s inner circle. The facts are compelling, simple and strong; the witnesses have been powerful and unshakeable. We saw some of the best of what the US has to offer to the world on display in these witnesses.
We also heard about some of the worst behaviors of modern journalism from the Hill’s John Solomon for example, politics from Giuliani, Nunes and Jordan, and Presidential behavior. It is ultimately up to the American people to decide who they want to be. We can admire the courage of the population of Hong Kong in a bi-partisan fashion, can we take a long look at our fractured selves in the mirror?
It is clear that for the time being, there are not enough votes in the Senate to convict President Trump. There would need to be 20 or more Republican votes to convict him, even if all Democrats voted aye. Republican Senators are not going to impeach the President unless the voters in their own states and their biggest donors tell them they must do so. If Mitch McConnell is in re-election trouble in Kentucky, and John Cornyn is in difficulty in Texas, and Cory Gardner is in Colorado, and Joni Ernst is in Iowa, they will then do the right thing and show the President the door. Otherwise no. This is now a political judgment for them to make. It is vital to keep expressing your views to your elected officials, whether red or blue, in Congress.
The potentially impeachable offenses include obstruction of Congress, abuse of Presidential Authority, bribery, and perjury. We’ll have to see which ones have the requisite votes in the House Judiciary Committee and then on the House floor.
There may yet be more shoes to drop. The President’s long time adviser, Roger Stone, has just been convicted and will be going to jail for lying to Congress and obstructing a federal investigation. The trial released new testimony and information about the Trump Campaign’s connections to WikiLeaks, using Stone as the go between as they released the DNC and Podesta e-mails which Russia had stolen to help Trump. Stone will join Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager, in jail.
It is not clear that the President’s closest henchmen on the Ukraine matter want to commit perjury to Congress for the President. They are under order from the President not to testify or provide any requested documents to Congress. His ex-National Security Adviser, John Bolton, has hinted he has new information that he wants to reveal or is this just a feint and delay tactic?
Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, may be facing charges for corruption along with his two Ukrainian American associates for illicit campaign contributions to the Trump Re-election Super Pac. The source of those funds is thought to be yet another Ukrainian seeking favors from Trump’s Administration. Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Froman have been seeking favorable treatment from the Barr-led Justice Department for Dimitri Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch and reputed crime boss, who is facing federal charges for bribery and racketeering. They were all boarding planes to meet Firtash in Vienna when Parnas and Froman were arrested. Firtash is being represented by Joseph DiGenova and Victoria Toensing, long time friends of Trump and Giuliani. https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/01/politics/parnas-firtash-giuliani-ties/index.html
Earlier Giuliani was apparently also representing a Turkish gold trader accused of money laundering. He was allegedly trying to persuade the Trump Administration to do a prisoner swap and turn over the Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen (whom Turkey’s President Erdogan wants to execute for treason) to secure his client’s freedom from prosecution. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/11/rudy-giuliani-trump-oval-office-turkey-iran-prisoner-swap Trump’s first National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, was involved in earlier efforts to expel Gulen to Turkey at Erdogan’s behest – an effort that then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson blocked. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/giuliani-trump-fethullah-gulen-erdogan-turkey_n_5da67099e4b02253a2fa236a Trump last month betrayed our allies, the Kurds, and gave Erdogan the green light to invade their towns and communities in Northern Syria. What the heck is going on with Turkey?
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 11/22/19