StarfishSaver
StarfishSaver's JournalA reminder of why keeping this impeachment inquiry spread across several committees is brilliant
I wrote this back in May ...
...
T]hey don't want Schiff and the House Intelligence Committee rooting around in Trump's foreign entanglements while, at the same time, Ways and Means obtains and analyzes his tax returns while Waters and her Financial Services Committee are going through his banking records and calling in Deutsche Bank executives to testify about them and Cummings and the Oversight Committee are hauling administration officials in to explain themselves ...
Instead of dealing with several House investigations, Trump's people want to focus like a laser beam only on the Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry and to narrow that focus on the Mueller Report so that the Articles of Impeachment are limited to those specific issues, which are already known to the public, who haven't been swayed in great numbers by it. They want and need to make the impeachment inquiry the boogeyman, instead of dealing with several different investigations on several different fronts.
They want nothing more than for the Democrats to rush in before they've completed their other investigations and impeach Trump on a fairly limited scope of wrongdoing and they want them to do it soon so that the Senate can acquit by the end of the summer and then leave Trump more than a year to refocus the argument away from impeachment and leave him plenty of time to throw out 400 or so new outrageous distractions and make his impeachment an irrelevant distant memory come November 2020.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=12087849
Pelosi has known this all along and played her cards just right. And now, she's managed to expand the impeachment inquiry across six separate committees.
And let's remember what these committees have been looking at (and this is an old list - I'm sure there's much more since this list was compiled:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212157411
JUDICIARY: Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
Oversight of the administration's family separation policy
Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitakers appointment, his involvement in the Mueller investigation, and his conversations with Trump and involvement with World Patent Marketing
Voting rights and Department of Justice actions on voter ID, census cases
Easing of sanctions on companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
Trump's national emergency declaration
The president's "threats to the rule of law," covering three main areas:
Obstruction of justice, including the possibility of interference by Trump and others in a number of criminal investigations and other official proceedings, as well as the alleged cover-up of violations of the law;
Public corruption, including potential violations of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, conspiracy to violate federal campaign and financial reporting laws, and other criminal misuses of official positions for personal gain;
Abuses of power, including attacks on the press, the judiciary, and law enforcement agencies; misuse of the pardon power and other presidential authorities; and attempts to misuse the power of the office of the presidency.
Trump's interference in Time Warner merger
Threats to relocate migrants to sanctuary cities
Reports that the president said he would pardon acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan if he illegally closed the southern border to migrants
Firings of senior leadership at DHS
The administration's decision to stop defending the Affordable Care Act in court
OVERSIGHT AND REFORM: Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md.
Oversight of the Trump administrations family separation policy
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker's involvement with World Patent Marketing
Reports that the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman was failing failing to carry out statutory duties to help those applying for legal immigration programs
White House security clearances
Inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 census
Easing of sanctions on companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
Delayed back pay for federal workers impacted by the government shutdown
Michael Cohen hush-money payments
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' efforts to replace her agency's acting inspector general
Transfer of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia
Child separation actions at DOJ, DHS and Health and Human Services
Communications between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump
Michael Cohen's claims that Trump was improperly inflating financial statements
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt's schedules
Trump's threats to relocate migrants to sanctuary cities
Use of private email accounts by Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and other White House officials, and use of messaging apps like WhatsApp
Gag orders on White House staff
Title X gag rule regulatory review process
Potential lobbying conflicts of interest involving Environmental Protection Agency head Andrew Wheeler
Interior Department's handling of FOIA requests
Abandoning plan to move FBI HQ building from Washington to suburban location
Firings of senior leadership at DHS
Trump Administrations response to hurricanes in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands
Trump Administrations decision to stop defending ACA
INTELLIGENCE: Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Russia investigation, including the scope and scale of the Russian government's operations to influence the U.S. political process, and the U.S. government's response, the extent of any links and/or coordination between the Russian government, or related foreign actors, and individuals associated with Trump's campaign, transition, administration or business interests, whether any foreign actor has sought to compromise or holds leverage, financial or otherwise, over Trump, his family, his business, or his associates; whether Trump, his family, or his associates are or were at any time at heightened risk of, or vulnerable to, foreign exploitation; and whether any actors foreign or domestic sought or are seeking to impede, obstruct, and/or mislead authorized investigations into these matters
Whether lawyers for Trump and his family obstructed committee's Russia probe
Trump's personal finances, including loans from Deutsche Bank
Use of intelligence to justify building a wall at the southern border
Easing of sanctions on companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
Communications between Putin and Trump
WAYS AND MEANS: Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass.
Easing of sanctions on companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
Trump administration's use of user fees generated by the Affordable Care Act
Rule on short-term insurance plans
Trump administrations decision to stop defending ACA
The president's personal and business tax returns
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.
Communications between Putin and Trump
Trump administration's failure to produce Russian sanctions report
FINANCIAL SERVICES: Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
Easing of sanctions on companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
Trump's personal finances, including loans from Deutsche Bank
Trump administration's failure to produce Russian sanctions report
Reported ransom demand from North Korean government related to Otto Warmbier
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/house-investigations-trump-his-administration-full-list-n1010131
Jennifer Rubin: "Pelosi was right to wait"
A fact pattern as complicated as the Trump campaigns solicitation of Russian help and Trumps attempt to cover it up was destined to lose the publics attention. It took special counsel Robert S. Mueller III 22 months and 448 pages to explain it. Moreover, in that set of circumstances the Trump-appointed attorney general could get his hands on it first, massage the facts and then instruct executive branch witnesses not to cooperate. Congress did not have the right facts nor the right powers to dislodge the truth in a compelling fashion. The public remained staunchly opposed to impeachment for Russia-related issues.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) can read the polls and knows her members. Moreover, she knows a thing or two about public sentiment and how to sway it. Holding off on impeachment until the Ukraine scandal popped up gave her several advantages.
...
A skilled leader doesnt go plunging into the abyss of impeachment without her party, the public and a concise narrative all lined up. She learns from past errors (e.g., dont rush to court to compel testimony, a process that takes months, and dont let members conduct factual inquiries at hearings) and adjusts her strategy accordingly. One can see just how skillful Pelosi has been by the lack of a coherent response from Republicans. By picking the right fight at the right time and withstanding outside pressure to act precipitously Pelosi has positioned her members to make the best possible case against Trump while defending their majority. In retrospect, it certainly is fortunate her members didnt push her out of the way in favor of a novice leader.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/25/pelosi-was-right-wait/
If the House Dems had pushed impeachment right after the Mueller Report, it would have died
As we've seen, Republicans dug in their heels, DOJ hid the ball and the public just wasn't there. We didn't even have enough Democrats to secure impeachment. That would have been the end of it.
But now that more information has come out and it's very damning, unequivocal and not subject to obfuscation and manipulation, we're in a very different place. And the various committees tasked with impeachment didn't just start their work yesterday. They've been investigating and gathering information for months and probably have some pretty solid proof of some pretty serious wrongdoing.
Not only will there be more than enough Democrats to vote for impeachment, I think it's possible to peel off a few Republicans. And, depending on how ugly the information revealed by the committees and what ends up in the Articles of Impeachment, it's very possible that a few Republican Senators could also vote to convict.
Who knows? It could get just close enough to scare him into resigning. I don't think that's likely, but now, for the first time, it's actually enough of a possibility that the speculation isn't crazy.
Here's why I think Trump was willing to release the "transcript "
I have little doubt that Trump directly colluded with Russia in the 2016 election , and probably did it in much the same way as he's now dealing with Ukraine. Mueller didn't exonerate him of such behavior, but only reported that he couldn't come up with sufficient evidence to prove collusion.
Trump's too stupid to understand the distinction and may think that Muller gave him a free pass to continue that behavior, so he thinks it's perfectly fine to continue doing it in plain sight.
Wow! Rep. Debbie Dingell just said 52% of the Democratic Caucus
serve on the 6 committees conducting the impeachment investigation.
That also means that a large proportion of the Republican caucus also served on those committees, making it more likely that the Dems can peel some of them off.
As I said -Wow!
The "transcript" Trump tried to sell Pelosi is the WH version of Barr's Mueller Report "Summary"
Fortunately, Mama ain't stupid and while she may have been born on a Tuesday, she wasn't born last Tuesday.
I don't think the last week's moves by Pelosi, leadership and Members were random
This has all of the marks of a carefully planned rollout.
Why is Ari Melber demanding to know whether there will be a floor vote to impeach?
Talk about moving the goalposts ...
Nancy Pelosi Appreciation Thread
Thank you, Madame Speaker, for standing strong, thinking strategically, timing your moves perfectly, and for showing us what true leadership is.
Damn! Nancy just sicc'ed ALL 6 of her major committees on Trump
It's ON!
I hope people are FINALLY satisfied ...
Profile Information
Member since: Mon Apr 22, 2019, 03:26 PMNumber of posts: 18,486