BREAKING: House impeachment investigators release transcripts of first two deposition testimonies

I am seriously concerned about the damage being done to our Constitutional government by Trump & his cohorts. I don't hate Trump or anyone. I care about the damage they are doing.

 

I never imagined I'd ever live to see any President abuse their powers for personal gain. But I was wrong. And there are similarities between Trump & Hitler, or Trump & Putin, or Trump & any other authoritarian leader anywhere. Many of Trump's behaviors are in direct alignment with theirs. That's a first in American history. And, it definitely poses as a danger to our Constitutional system of governance. I'm not happy to say this. It's painful to see & painful to accept. But I'm deeply concerned about the danger Trump & his cronies represent toward our American democracy. I'm also concerned for the incredible blindness & reluctance to face facts by Trump supporters. The nation will dissolve before them before they'll face the truth, & I'm seriously concerned that by that time it may be too late.

 

Except Sondland didn't say that, did he?

The Democratics stomp on The Constitution by blocking actions which are reserved to the executive branch.

The Democratics hated Comey and wanted him gone! Trump fired him. That is entirely up to him. He could fire Comey for having bad breath. Then the Democratics turned it into a huge debacle aimed at disenfranchising the voters.

 

Keep going. This is great stuff!

 

it's inherently beneficial, however you need to prove that it was his intent & not biz as usual for the ongoing investigation into the russian collusion hoax started by obama's administration, namely biden himself...

 

Setting aside that the Russia investigation into potential collusion was not a hoax and setting aside that Trump's attempt to get Ukraine to investigate that "Crowdstrike Server" was also an attempt to obtain a personal political advantage against his domestic political opponents...

The fact that the only names which Trump explicitly referenced in that phone call were Joe and his son Hunter is fairly damning as to his intent and that he was focused solely on the personal political gain. And there were plenty of known instances of corruption in Ukraine, including the acts being performed by two Giuliani associates who were just arrested while trying to flee the country. And that information is further confirmed when you realize that the statement which Sondland was dictating to the Ukrainian President included a reference to Burisma oil - a company that had not been under investigation for years, but was at the heart of the Trump/Giuliani conspiracy theory against Hunter Biden.

As for the "business as usual" theory, I think this write up does a decent job. I apologize if you are unable to get around the Washington Post paywall.

Republicans say that Trump’s quid pro quos were normal. Here’s why they’re wrong.

 

The way Sondland’s testimony is “evolving” is precisely the reason they took depositions in a grand jury-like environment.

 

How do you know they're all there, it was held in the star chamber? But, seriously I will read them.

 

1) The hearings were conducted in Schiff for Brains secret star chamber.
2) Schiff made up quotes that Trump never said.
3) There was NO transparence to the star camber hearings, they'll need to be done over again in front of C-Span Cameras so we the people can watch the questions and responses.

 

You do realize all false reality hatred by the left can and will be turned against them once a Democrat wins something. You can't hate Trump the day after he wins the presidency and demand that he be removed from office now and not expect the same treatment when your guy wins.

 

Oh so when the FBI announced they were reopening the case on Hilary months before the elections you did not think that impacted anything?

 

It works for Lindsey - so why not?

 

Before sending that text, Ambassador Sondland had a phone call with the President.



https://twitter.com/Jim_Jordan/status/1191801307314688000

 

When asked about Gordon Sondland’s “no quid-pro-quo” text to Bill Taylor, Kurt Volker stated, “Gordon was repeating what we all understood.” - which was no quid-pro-quo.

https://twitter.com/RepScottPerry/status/1191796705441832960

 

Clearly you know you can't win a debate on it.

 

I'm confused. How does supporting Comey against Trump disenfranchise the voters?

 

Yesterday, the Republican head of the Senate Judiciary Committee said publicly that he was not going to read (or even consider) the evidence against Trump, when the Senate has to decide on whether to convict Trump once he's impeached. That man was Lindsey Graham, an attorney, & Senator from SC. So, I tell you in my post how concerned I am with Trump & his sycophants working behind the scenes to weaken or disable our long-lived, successful governmental institutions, & you make fun of me. Graham is one of those Trump cronies doing exactly what I wrote about. As head of the Senate Judiciary committee, he should be standing up for justice & the Constitution, & ways to improve the honesty & transparency of government in any way he can. But instead, he says he's already decided on Trump's innocence, & won't bother to look at the evidence, since evidence is irrelevant anyway. That is precisely the danger I'm trying to draw your & other's attention to. Graham, Guiliani, Sondland, Barr & others are dedicated Trumpsters now, & are following his orders to the letter. And Trump is now, & always has, wanted to disrupt & dissolve the American Constitutional system & replace it with himself as supreme leader. Trump & Barr have already converted the Justice Dept to a Trump echo chamber, serving Trump instead of America. Trump & Sondland couldn't compel the professional ambassadors working within the Foreign Service to step over the line & betray their personal oaths to the Constitution, so Trump & Sondland & Guiliani simply bypassed them, & set up a shadow foreign service under the direct control of Trump himself. So now, the official Constitutional State Dept is a moot point, & foreign relations are controlled completely by Trump & his immediate henchmen, while professional diplomats & foreign service career experts are being ignored or fired for doing what they swore an oath to do. The other important distinction here is that the official State Dept & its employees, are dedicated to serving the Constitution & America's best foreign interests. Trump's shadow system is geared to serve Trump personally, regardless of how that affects the country. Many of Trump's most often repeated statements at rallies are taken directly from Putin's own personal political handbook. I am amazed Trump supporters have been, & continue being, so impervious to these dangers.

 

Er...

It was used as a trigger for the Mueller investigation. The Mueller investigation was supposedly based on the RUSSIA! hoax. The RUSSIA! hoax investigation manufactured charges of obstruction of justice. The manufactured charges were used to try to gain political support for overturning the election. There wasn't enough support for pushing forward with the attempt.

That it failed in the goal of unjustly removing a duly elected President from office, doesn't negate the attempt.

 

This situation goes beyond any political agendas.

On this issue, I'm past caring about what people's motives are. The simple fact that ordinary citizens are supporting those who are using third-world tactics in order to overturn a free and fair election is shocking, to me.

 

That may be, but I remember McConnell promising on Inauguration Day 2009, to do exactly that against the new President Obama. And, he kept that promise. Democrats didn't start this. Republicans did. I'd like to see it end & have both parties work together on their shared common ground. But from my perspective, Republicans have been increasingly hostile toward working across the aisle since Newt Gingrich in 1994. I'm a Democrat & I believe in compromise. But compromise is, & has to be, a two sided coin.

 

These 2 statements are so different, I can't even begin to believe you would make a post like that.

McConnell (R-Ky.) famously said, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

Febuary 2017. On Joy Reid’s MSNBC show this morning, Dem Rep. Maxine Waters doubled down on her earlier statement that “my greatest desire is to lead [President Trump] right into impeachment.”

 

The process of impeachment is designed to protect the Constitution from abuse of power, NOT to overturn an election. Your claim would have more merit if by impeaching Trump the Democrats could install their own candidate in the Oval Office. But impeachment of Trump leaves another Republican in that office, by the name of Pence. Republicans retain their stranglehold on government, but we eliminate a President Hell bent on abuse of his Presidential power. I support impeachment & removal of Trump from office--not because I hate Trump (I don't), but I care about the Constitution, & I'm concerned over the abusive behavior of Trump toward our Constitutional institutions. I also care about how Trump habitually abandons or mistreats our closest friends & allies whenever it behooves him. I think that reflects badly on America & Americans generally.

 

Removing Trump is NOT based on an attempt to overturn an election. Remember, a Republican team, Trump/Pence, won that election. If & when Trump is removed, that team remains in power. Its new name will be Pence instead of Trump. But the Republicans who won that election will still be in the White House. That's not overturning any election. It's simply cleaning up the dirt.

 

Sure.

What makes a government run by unelected bureaucrats so great?

 

1. McConnell followed up on this statement with 8 years of total obstruction toward everything Obama wanted to do, culminating with McConnell withholding all action of Obama's last nominee for the Supreme Court. I find it highly one-sided when Republicans constantly find fault with how Democrats treat Republicans, but somehow have a way of ignoring or pretending those same behaviors by Republican toward Democrats haven't been happening all along. I'm in favor of the two parties working together better, but it takes two to tango.
2. Maxine Waters is entitled to her personal opinion, & expressing it, but she doesn't speak for the entire Democratic Party. As a Democrat, I support impeachment for Trump as well, but I base my own support for that on all the growing evidence that Trump has abused the powers of his office. I don't hate Trump personally, or the Republican party. I just want to protect & defend the Constitution, & Trump is abusing it.