There will be many in Congress weighing in on what articles of impeachment will be drafted, but they will certainly be drafted. Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, couldn't say which ones specifically but did say that it is clear that abuse of power and obstruction of Congress were two that were certainly clear. The latter is without question something that the president is guilty of as Mr. Trump has instructed his administration officials to refuse to testify or to hand over any documents pertaining to his seeking Ukrainian help leading up to the 2020 presidential election. This blanket refusal is something that no administration has ever done. Donald Trump has obstructed the Congress's Constitutional right, by law, to conduct oversight of the executive branch.
The Washington Post's Robert Costa explained that Republicans behind the scenes are weary of how an impeachment trial will go, with vulnerable Republican senators and evidence that is clearly not in Mr. Trump's favor. Regarding such evidence he also explained that he spoke with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) who said that if the evidence and the Senate trial isn't going the president's way that he would call a vote to dismiss. The 'take the ball and go home' strategy. The Republican-controlled senate may have to employ such a strategy as they have no counter evidence and only attack the process, which if you're paying attention in the slightest is bogus on its face.
There is also the counter argument by Republicans that Ukraine also meddled in the 2016 election, which the intelligence community has widely condemned as a false narrative, but today we have Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) saying that he believes that Ukraine meddled citing an OpEd piece as evidence. Senator Cruz is definitely no profile in courage, that much is clear. Mr. Cruz supports a man who defamed his family, who he himself called a sniveling coward, but here we are. The political animal that he is, Texas right now goes for Trump so therefore Mr. Cruz is on board.
Mr. Cruz also said the Chuck Todd called Senator John Neely Kennedy (R-LA) a stooge for Russia, to which Mr. Todd refuted. However, this column will resolve that by saying that Mr. Kennedy by repeating Kremlin talking points is indeed a stooge. We'll get to Congressman Denny Heck (D-WA) more in a minute, but he said he is tired of politicians on the opposite side of the aisle continually taking views that are absent of truth.
Speaking of an absence of truth, there is fmr. New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani who is at the center of this scandal in Ukraine this week concocting evidence to what end, no one seems to know. Under investigation by the very office he used to lead, the Southern District of New York, Mr. Giuliani's fall from grace and respect has washed away all good deeds in his past. Supposedly, he intends to present his findings to Congress and to this end, Speaker Pelosi should review the coming articles of impeachment and sit on them and compel other potential witnesses to testify, namely fmr. National Security Advisor John Bolton who would effectively render Mr. Giuliani's finding void. Kristen Welker explained that once the articles go to the Senate, majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could set a rule that bars any additional evidence from being presented or considered once the trial has started. However, Mr. McConnell should be weary of setting such a rule because if new evidence/ testimony comes up given the light and attention of the American people during an impeachment, it could easily steep public opinion away from his party, jeopardizing the Republicans slim majority in the Senate.
This brings us to the Congressman Denny Heck's (D-WA) retirement from Congress, who said he is tired and that his soul is weary from all the investigations but really it is from what he called the absence of the greater sense of decency and truth from Republicans. He also cited the lack of Constitutional principles on behalf of Republicans who have abdicated their responsibility to country. He said that the reelection of President Trump is a nightmare scenario, one that this column feels is an all too real possibility. If Mr. Trump is reelected, there is little doubt that American democracy will be changed forever for the worse. The equal rule of law will no longer apply to those in the president's favor.
Panel: Stephanie Cutter, fmr. Democratic campaign manger; Kristen Welker, NBC News; Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Carlos Curbelo, fmr. Republican Congressman of Florida
One more thing...
It's looking like that the Saudi national that shot 3 people at a Naval base in Pensacola, FL was an act of terrorism. We'll see how the investigation plays out but an apology from the Saudi government is hollow at the least and disingenuous at the worst. What's really disgusting is the president of the United States being the apologist in chief from despotic regimes.
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