EU-DIGEST: Impeachment

Showing posts with label Impeachment. Show all posts

2/5/20

USA: Donald Trump acquitted by Senate in Kangeroo style impeachment trial, without witnesses, on both charges

U.S. President Donald Trump has been acquitted of both charges in his Senate impeachment trial.

On the first article of impeachment, the charge of abuse of power, the vote was 52 to 48.

On the second article, the charge of obstruction of Congress, the vote was 53 to 47.

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney voted with Democrats to convict on 1st of 2 charges.

Romney called Trump's actions "perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of oath of office that I can imagine."

Romney also sided with Democrats in calling for more witness testimony in Trump's impeachment trial, a move Republicans blocked.

The impeachment drama that has consumed Washington since September comes to an end as the Republican president pivots toward the election in November.

Trump said he would make a statement about the acquittal tomorrow, but tweeted his immediate reaction.

Read more at: Donald Trump acquitted by Senate on both charges in impeachment trial | CBC News

1/22/20

Switzerland - Davos: Trump in his Davos speech plays down the threat of climate change - by Ishaan Tharoor

In the buildup to the World Economic Forum, the focus was all on climate change. On its first day, the forum’s organizers announced an ambitious agenda that would enlist a broad consortium of banks, companies and civic leaders to make this year’s event a “tipping point” for global climate action.

In the hour that preceded an address from President Trump, an envoy from Pope Francis urged the throng of gathered billionaires, corporate executives, politicians and celebrities to recognize their “moral responsibility” to safeguard future generations. Simonetta Sommaruga, the president of the Swiss Confederation, went to the dais and warned of “a world on fire.”

She told the crowd, which included figures such as former U.S. vice president Al Gore and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “We need politicians to take action in their own country and internationally to ensure that the ecological balance is ensured and global warming is stopped.”

In the first of two speeches Tuesday, Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage climate activist, once more scolded political leaders and media elites, accusing them of not making expressly clear the scale of the catastrophe facing the planet. “Without treating it as a real crisis, we cannot solve it,” she said.

Then Trump spoke.

He used his plenary moment — the forum’s first speech by a major world leader — to take a victory lap of sorts, celebrating the U.S. economic “boom” under his watch. “America is flourishing, and, yes, America is winning again like never before,” Trump declared in what was essentially a 30-minute campaign stunt, albeit devoid of the familiar xenophobic demagoguery.

1/6/20

USA - Trump Trump Impeachment: John Bolton says he would testify in Senate impeachment trial if subpoenaed

John Bolton, former national security adviser to Donald Trump, said Monday he is "prepared to testify" if subpoenaed by the Senate in its impeachment trial of the U.S. president.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/bolton-testify-impeachment-1.5416294

Gun Violence in America out of control: as blind-folded political and public followers of Donald Trump, master of deception and deceit on many fronts, are being fooled to believe in his "nonsensical rhetoric" - by RM

Donald Trump the master of deception

If you think of driving to Florida or anywhere else in the US for that matter, think again.

Gun violence is going totally out of control in America and politicians there, many on the payroll of the powerful gun lobby NRA - National Rifle Association, are doing nothing about it.

So far it has led to a large number of innocent people who have lost their lives, a significant loss of income for America from the international tourist business, with large numbers of tourists now avoiding America they consider an unsafe tourist destination, and considerable sums of Public money being spent on security issues, as the result of a lack of proper gun control laws.

For recent statistics on gun violence in America Gun Violence Archive

Just recently in Florida more than a dozen drivers were shot at in three different counties while traveling along two major highways in Central Florida — and deputies are searching for the ones responsible. It happened on New Year’s Day.

The victims were traveling eastbound on Interstate 4 and northbound on Interstate 95 when they were shot at by a passing vehicle, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say the calls came in shortly before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday December 31

In the South Florida Miami area, authorities announced the death of Melissa Gonzalez, 22, on Saturday, January 4 in the afternoon.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Gonzalez was shot while driving southbound on I-95, near the 79th Street exit in the West Little River neighborhood of Northwest Miami-Dade County.

Gonzalez’s passenger, identified by FHP as 26-year-old Julian Cortina, heard the gunfire, looked over and saw she had been hurt.She died a few days later.

On December 5 a police pursuit of a carjacked UPS vehicle ended in a shootout on the streets of South Florida that left four people dead, including two suspects, officials said at a press conference. The victims have not yet been identified.

In a more recent development gun rights advocates and militia members from around the U.S. are urging thousands of armed protesters to descend on Virginia’s capital this month to stop newly empowered Democrats from passing gun-control bills, the Washington Post reports.

What began as a few rural Virginia counties declaring themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries” has become an internet phenomenon. Far-right websites and commenters say Virginia is the place to take a stand against what they see as a national trend of weakening gun rights. Unlike blue bastions like California and New York, Virginia is a former Confederate state with strong rural traditions and lax gun laws. Guns represent the strongest, reddest line against the demographic changes that have seen voters usher in a new era of Democratic leadership.

The State of Nevada-based Oath Keepers said it’s sending training teams to help form posses and militia in Virginia. The leader of a Georgia militia called Three Percent Security Force posted calls to arms on Facebook, urging “patriots” to converge on Richmond. The right-wing YouTube “American Joe Show” warned without evidence that Virginia will cut the power grid to stop the army of protesters. Law enforcement officials are monitoring the situation, including threats to Gov. Ralph Northam, worried about the potential for violence at a rally planned for the state Capitol Jan. 20. State police briefed Northam for two hours last week. The Virginia Citizens Defense League, the grass-roots organization planning the rally, told the state to prepare for as many as 100,000 people.

“There’s a dangerous intersection here of speech and guns,” said Adam Skaggs of the Giffords Law Center, adding that it is “critically important … that we don’t see the sort of armed intimidation and even violence that resulted …in Charlottesville.” Democratic lawmakers who control the General Assembly are considering rules changes to limit where guns can be carried.

In the meantime the impeached US President Trump, who is creating all kinds of diversionary tricks to distract the American public, including a confrontation with Iran, which unfortunately could create a new Middle East war, and is unwilling to provide essential information, re his shady dealings with Ukraine, is also doing absolutely nothing to stop the ever increasing gun violence in the US.

High time America wakes up before it implodes.

EU-Digest

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article238898068.html#storylink=cpy

12/20/19

USA: Donald Trump becomes the first impeached president to run for re-election - Stirring the passions

His acquittal by the Senate seems certain and the impact on his re-election bid unknowable

Read more at:
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/12/19/donald-trump-becomes-the-first-impeached-president-to-run-for-re-election?cid1=cust/dailypicks1/n/bl/n/20191219n/owned/n/n/dailypicks1/n/n/EU/365069/n

12/17/19

USA - A letter from an Ego-Manic gone out of control President - 'Crusade,' 'spiteful,' 'unfettered contempt': Trump lambastes Pelosi over impeachment in blistering letter

12/12/19

USA - the impeachment process: House Republicans' Trump impeachment strategy is simple: Distract, deceive and yell - by Kurt Bardella

House Republicans' Trump impeachment strategy is simple: Distract, deceive and yell

Read more at:
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/house-republicans-trump-impeachment-strategy-was-simple-distract-deceive-yell-ncna1100081

12/10/19

USA - the economy and the nation will face a "perfect storm" politically and economically:the 2020s will see 'real turmoil' as US debt woes come home to roost, says Gundlach - by Julia La Roche

Influential bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach, the CEO of $150 billion DoubleLine Capital, sees trouble brewing in the debt market, despite interest rates hovering near historic lows.

In a recent discussion with Yahoo Finance, Gundlach compared the current expansion to the boom that took place nearly 100 years ago. But the next decade will be the opposite of the roaring 1920s, he said, as the debt bomb the U.S. is sitting on becomes untenable in the next economic downturn.

"It's pretty interesting because the 20s in the 20th century, the 20s were super boom times. And weirdly, I think the 20s this time will be very much different than that, with real turmoil," the 60-year-old billionaire said in a recent wide-ranging interview with Yahoo Finance.

In Gundlach's view, the 2020s will see "the crescendo" of many unattractive trends that have been talked about for years, but finally come home to roost.

"[We're] going to have to face Social Security, health care, all of these things, deficit-based spending — all of that is going to have to be resolved during the 2020s because the compounding curve is just so bad," the billionaire added.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal deficit will top $1 trillion every year beginning in 2022. Yet Gundlach said the agency’s forecast may be too rosy, given that it assumes a "pretty benign future" with no recession and interest rates that are not very high.

Interest costs to the government, as a percentage of gross domestic product are expected rise from 1.25% to at least 3% by 2027. “That's a big, big increase. And that's coming,” the investor told Yahoo Finance.

“And when you do that, it kind of says, ‘Hey, GDP is going to be knocked by 2%-2.5% because we have to pay interest,’” he added.

Note EU-Digest: these economic problems will be compounded by a totally inept Trump Administration, which has turned the Republican party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan into a Trump loyalist party which is now based on State Planning and Crony Capitalism

12/5/19

USA: Trump impeachment:Pelosi to instruct U.S. House to draft articles of impeachment against Trump

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, citing Donald Trump's "failure to faithfully execute the law," said Thursday she will ask the chair of the judiciary committee to proceed with articles of impeachment against the U.S. president.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/impeachment-inquiry-judiciary-committee-1.5385092

12/3/19

USA: Impeachment report outlines what it calls 'significant misconduct' by Donald Trump

News: The House intelligence committee has released a sweeping impeachment report outlining evidence of what it calls Donald Trump's wrongdoing toward Ukraine, findings that will serve as the foundation for debate over whether the 45th U.S. president should be removed from office.

Read more at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/impeachment-report-released-1.5382623

11/27/19

USA Trump Impeachment Probe: Trump denies sending Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to push Biden, election probes - by Christina Wilkie

President Trump tried to distance himself from his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani's efforts related to Ukraine on Tuesday in an interview with radio host Bill O'Reilly. In the interview for BillOReilly.com, O'Reilly asked the president what Giuliani was, "doing in Ukraine on your behalf."

"Well, you have to ask that to Rudy, but Rudy, I don't, I don't even know," said Mr. Trump. "I know he was going to go to Ukraine, and I think he canceled a trip," the president continued. "But, you know, Rudy has other clients, other than me. I'm one person."

Mr. Trump then denied that he had ever directed Giuliani to go to Ukraine on his behalf. However, in May the New York Times reported that Giuliani had planned to go to Ukraine that month, to urge the government there to open several investigations that could aid the president.

Read more:Trump denies sending Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to push Biden, election probes

11/5/19

USA - Ukraine: Pompeo Faces Political Peril and Diplomats’ Revolt in Impeachment Inquiry - by Edward Wong and David E. Sang

As President Trump’s first C.I.A. director, Mike Pompeo was briefed by agency officials on the extensive evidence — including American intercepts of conversations between participants — showing that Russian hackers working for the government of Vladimir V. Putin had interfered in the 2016 American presidential campaign. In May 2017, Mr. Pompeo testified in a Senate hearing that he stood by that conclusion.

Two and a half years later, Mr. Pompeo seems to have changed his mind. As Mr. Trump’s second secretary of state, he now supports an investigation into a discredited, partisan theory that Ukraine, not Russia, attacked the Democratic National Committee, which Mr. Trump wants to use to make the case that he was elected without Moscow’s help. “Inquiries with respect to that are completely important,” Mr. Pompeo said last month. “I think everyone recognizes that governments have an obligation — indeed, a duty — to ensure that elections happen with integrity, without interference from any government, whether that’s the Ukrainian government or any other.”

Read more at: Pompeo Faces Political Peril and Diplomats’ Revolt in Impeachment Inquiry

10/22/19

USA: Trump calls impeachment inquiry a 'lynching' as key witness testifies

Bill Taylor, acting ambassador to Ukraine, to go before Congress as Trump lashes out against inquiry in early-morning tweet series

Read more at:Trump calls impeachment inquiry a 'lynching' as key witness testifies – live | US news | The Guardian

10/18/19

USA "the impeachment": Mulvaney digs a deep hole for Trump: and puts Trump at the center of emoluments and Ukraine controversies

For 39 minutes Thursday, White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney turned the press briefing room into a sort of confession chamber, openly admitting to several acts that could deepen the legal predicament for the president. Trump is facing an impeachment inquiry into whether he has abused his office for personal and political gain.

Mulvaney’s retort to those charges came in a three-word mantra that now forms the central theme of the White House impeachment response: “Get over it.”

In admitting that Trump had personally intervened to award a multimillion-dollar summit to his own company, and that the president had also used taxpayer money as leverage to push a Ukrainian investigation into Democrats, Mulvaney embraced a classic Trumpian tactic: saying the quiet — and potentially illegal — part out loud.

“Did [Trump] also mention to me in the past the corruption related to the DNC server?” he said. “Absolutely, no question about that. But that’s it, and that’s why we held up the money.”

The reference to the hacked Democratic National Committee’s email server elevated a Trump-backed conspiracy theory that Ukraine was involved in election interference in 2016, something U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly attributed to Russia.

In admitting that Trump had linked politics with his Ukraine policy, Mulvaney said that critics were simply overreacting.

“I have news for everybody: Get over it,” he said. “There is going to be political influence in foreign policy.”

"BINGO"

Read more atb ‘Get over it’: Mulvaney’s twin admissions put Trump at the center of emoluments and Ukraine controversies

10/12/19

USA : The Impeachment drama : a challenge that puts to the test the very foundation of American democracy

When White House lawyer Pat Cipollone sent a letter to Democrats this week, informing the House of Representatives that Donald Trump would not co-operate with their impeachment inquiry, it was a challenge that puts to the test the very foundation of American democracy, some constitutional scholars say.

10/6/19

USA - the Trump impeachment process: second whistle blower comes forward

10/4/19

USA: Eratic White House Political Decissions: Trump now trying to get China involved in his blame game as Impeachment troubles increase

4/23/19

USA: Democrats are warned that trying to impeach Trump too soon would boomerang on themselves

'You can't impeach,' Trump says. Don't expect Democrats to try to prove him wrong.

4/19/19

USA-MUELLER REPORT: Result worse for Trump than Barr let on-but probably will not lead to him being impeached

Mueller's report is worse for Trump than Barr let on — but likely not as ruinous as Trump feared

3/22/19

USA The Mueller Report: Here’s What’s Next Now That Mueller Has Turned In His Report - by Chris Strohm and Larry Liebert

Now that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has closed up shop and submitted his long-awaited final report, an explosive chain of events is sure to follow.

There will be a struggle in Congress, on cable TV and social media -- and probably in the courts -- over how much evidence must be disclosed from Mueller’s 22-month inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

There’s also likely to be an epic political fight over whether anything from the inquiry directly or indirectly implicates President Donald Trump in wrongdoing that may merit his impeachment, as some Democrats say, or whether it clears him after an investigation

Here’s a look at how the Mueller report is likely to play out:
Why It Starts Out Secretthat he and Republican supporters regularly call a “witch hunt.”

Justice Department regulations call for a special counsel to provide a final report to the attorney general, who decides what to tell Congress and make public.

The only exception under the regulations is that Congress must be told if the special counsel was prohibited from taking any specific action. “There were no such instances during the Special Counsel’s investigation,” Barr wrote in a letter to lawmakers Friday.

Barr may send his own summary of the findings to Congress, rather than Mueller’s actual report. He said in the letter that he was reviewing the report and may be able to advise lawmakers of Mueller’s “principal conclusions as soon as this weekend.”

He said he also was consulting with Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed the special counsel, “to determine what other information from the report can be released to Congress and the public.”

Why Barr May Keep Trump Out of It

While Barr pledged “as much transparency as possible,” he has previously suggested that promise has its limits. At his confirmation hearing in January, Barr cited Justice Department policies that a president can’t be indicted while in office -- and that prosecutors shouldn’t comment on someone who isn’t indicted.

But a precedent may have been set by former FBI Director James Comey, when he made public comments about Democrat Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, even though his investigation didn’t result in any charges against her. His comments brought criticism at various points from Democrats and Republicans.

“If you’re not going to indict someone, then you don’t stand up there and unload negative information about the person,” Barr told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

It also isn’t clear how many details Mueller put in his report, especially about Trump.

Read more: Here’s What’s Next Now That Mueller Has Turned In His Report

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