The Impeachment of President Donald J. Trump

anon95374541 · June 10, 2019, 7:06pm

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/06/10/politics/russia-investigation-start-doj/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FyuT3vGichu%3Famp%3D1

Attorney General William Barr’s review of the beginnings of the Russia probe will be “broad in scope and multifaceted” and will examine actions by US and foreign intelligence agencies, “as well as non-governmental organizations and individuals.”

The description was contained in a letter from the Justice Department to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler and released Monday just as the committee began a separate hearing on the Mueller Report.

The attorney general, while not specifying in this letter, has previously signaled that his review will include an examination of ex-British spy Christopher Steele’s work compiling research about President Donald Trump and his associates and commissioned by Fusion GPS, a research and investigative firm.

Keaton_James · June 10, 2019, 8:14pm

What a transparent attempt to distract from what we really should be focusing on. Our country is in mortal peril – our democratic elections are under attack and instead of concentrating on that, the head of our Justice Department (along with the Republicans who installed him) are investigating the whistle blowers? Say what??? – On top of that, they’re casting about for legal technicalities to get the traitors off the hook.

I’ve posted this before, but I swear I’m printing it out and tacking it on the wall above my desk so I can look at it every time I see an article about Barr’s “investigation of the investigators” – And as long as Trump and Barr are in charge, you can bet there will be a lot more of them. Grrrrr…

Windthin · June 10, 2019, 8:37pm

THIS is interesting video, based apparently on the Muller Report and today’s testimony with John Dean:

Former US attorney and now Michigan law professor Barb McQuade just had an interesting interaction with Florida Democrat and committee member Ted Deutch.

They talked about events detailed in Robert Mueller’s report that Donald Trump asked then White House counsel Don McGahn to call then deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and order him to “get rid” of special counsel Mueller. And then the president asked McGahn to lie about that, despite multiple urgings from Trump that he “change his recollection” about their exchange.

McQuade tells the committee that Mueller’s report that Trump asked McGahn to create a false document about their exchange regarding Mueller is “the most serious allegation.”

“This constitutes obstruction of justice” by the president, McQuade says.

anon95374541 · June 10, 2019, 9:14pm

Anyone else having trouble with http://c-span.org ? Seems to be down…

It’s back.

Watch part 2 here

https://www.c-span.org/video/?461399-3/house-judiciary-hearing-lessons-mueller-report-part-2&live

Keaton_James · June 11, 2019, 6:50pm

The Daily Beast buried the lead here. The big takeaway is that even though the Judiciary Committee can now view documents from the Mueller investigation, Trump can still block access to crucial evidence by claiming “privilege.”

The Beast calls this a “hiccup” – I’d call it another major roadblock and an opportunity for more obstruction by the President. Will Trump play the “privilege” card once again – this time to negate Nadler’s recent victory in gaining access to the Mueller documents? We need to keep an eagle eye on how this plays out. I hope Judiciary Committee members immediately start culling through the documents in order to test this potentially obstructive maneuver by Trump and Barr. If they’re going down that road, let’s call them out right now.

Members of the House Judiciary Committee will be able to take notes on Mueller investigation evidence, and keep those notes after viewing the closely held documents, The Daily Beast has learned.

There may be a hiccup, however: A source familiar with the situation cautioned that the White House will likely have access to any evidence that could implicate its equities and executive privilege, and may try to step in and block members of Congress from seeing material it deems privileged.

anon95374541 · June 11, 2019, 4:26pm

Watch

House Session

The House debates and votes on a resolution authorizing the Judiciary Committee to pursue court action on subpoenas issued for former and current Trump administration officials.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?461461-3/us-house-debate-enforcing-subpoenas

anon95374541 · June 11, 2019, 4:27pm

Cross posting

Keaton_James · June 11, 2019, 10:38pm

Watching the live House floor feed now…

It’s a done deal. It passed!

Yea: 229
Nay: 191

Democrats now have a powerful new tool to fiercely fight Trump’s shameful, ongoing obstruction of justice.

Keaton_James · June 11, 2019, 6:40pm

The appearance of the President’s eldest son Wednesday comes after a lengthy and contentious fight that spilled into public view after the committee issued a subpoena to Trump Jr. and he initially balked at testifying for a second time. …

The committee is interested in hearing again from Trump Jr. because of discrepancies between his testimony in 2017 and what other witnesses have told both the committee and the special counsel’s office.

Trump Jr. appeared before the Senate Intelligence, Senate Judiciary and House Intelligence Committees in 2017, and the release of the Mueller report prompted a new round questions about what Trump Jr. told the Senate Judiciary panel, which released a transcript of his interview.

Trump Jr. testified he only told Kushner and campaign chairman Paul Manafort ahead of time about the Trump Tower meeting in which a Russian attorney promised dirt on Hillary Clinton. But then-campaign deputy Rick Gates, who pleaded guilty in the special counsel probe, told Mueller that Trump Jr. talked about a lead on negative information about the Clinton Foundation at a campaign meeting in the days before the Trump Tower meeting.

Trump Jr.'s testimony on the Trump Tower Moscow project has also been scrutinized, in which he said he was “peripherally aware” of the project. But Mueller’s report says Cohen testified he discussed the project on multiple occasions with Trump Jr. and that the discussions were not just "idle chit chat."

Keaton_James · June 11, 2019, 11:15pm

This is a follow up to an earlier report by The Daily Beast above.

Bad news here. Bigly.

When House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced on Monday that he had reached an agreement with the Justice Department to view some of the underlying evidence behind Special Counsel’s Robert Mueller’s report. The announcement was hailed as a major breakthrough for the Democratic Party’s oversight efforts.

But Nadler may get less than expected.

That’s because the Trump White House will work with the Justice Department to decide what exactly the committee gets to see, two senior administration officials told The Daily Beast. And, so far, the White House has not waived executive privilege regarding any of Mueller’s materials, the two officials said.

I’d say there is zero chance that Trump will allow one shred of evidence that is in any way damaging to him to make it into the materials that can be viewed by members of the Judiciary Committee.

Unless Nadler knows something we don’t, I think he just got played. (BTW, sorry to say it since I’m a huge Nadler fan.) If the White House stonewalls here as they have in every single case where Congress has tried to view Mueller evidence, then I don’t see how Nadler’s deal we’ll move the ball down the field one inch. The optimist in me wants to think otherwise. We should soon know the outcome as Judiciary Committee members start viewing the documents. They better do that quickly and squawk loudly if they find crucial evidence is once again out of reach.

anon95374541 · June 12, 2019, 1:44pm

House Intel Committee on Mueller Report Lessons Learned

The House Intelligence Committee holds a hearing to discuss the lessons learned from the Mueller Report

Watch

https://www.c-span.org/video/?461556-1/house-intel-committee-mueller-report-lessons-learned&live
.

anon95374541 · June 12, 2019, 1:45pm

House Oversight Votes on AG Barr & Commerce Sec. Ross In Contempt of Congress

The House Oversight and Reform Committee votes on holding Attorney General Barr and Commerce Secretary Ross in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas related to a citizenship question added to the 2020 Census.

Watch at 10am ET

https://www.c-span.org/video/?461640-1/oversight-committee-vote-holding-ag-barr-commerce-secretary-ross-contempt

Keaton_James · June 12, 2019, 6:27pm

The committee has recessed. They have postponed the vote until 4pm ET.

Cummings does an awesome job as the chair. I marvel at his patience with Meadows and Jordon who, in addition to laying out non-stop specious arguments, are total D heads.

Keaton_James · June 12, 2019, 8:05pm

The link from @anon95374541 above will play the archived video from this morning’s session (Part 1).

If you want to tune into the live stream of the committee as it reconvenes to hold the vote, here’s the updated link (Part 2):

https://www.c-span.org/video/?461640-2/oversight-committee-vote-holding-ag-barr-commerce-secretary-ross-contempt&playEvent

Keaton_James · June 12, 2019, 8:46pm

The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to hold both Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for not complying with subpoenas for documents related to the Trump administration’s controversial decision to add a question on U.S. citizenship to the 2020 census.

The committee passed the resolution by a vote of 24-15. Just one Republican, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, joined Democrats in voting yes.

Cummings held off the vote until later in the day so members could review the Justice Department’s explanation of President Trump’s invocation of executive privilege. A letter from the DOJ announcing the invocation of executive privilege arrived shortly before the hearing began Wednesday morning.

anon95374541 · June 12, 2019, 9:32pm

Thanks for holding down the fort @Keaton_James ! We’re one step closer to checking this ridiculous administration.

anon95374541 · June 13, 2019, 1:22pm

The House Intelligence Committee has issued subpoenas for former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former deputy Trump campaign chairman Rick Gates, two of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s most important cooperators.

anon95374541 · June 13, 2019, 10:51pm

https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2019/06/13/judiciary-committee-mueller-report-1364594

The initial group of lawmakers includes Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and will include committee counsels. It’s the beginning of a round of visits by lawmakers to the Justice Department to see Mueller’s interview transcripts, witness notes and other potentially explosive pieces of information that Mueller used to compile his 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether President Donald Trump attempted to obstruct the probe.

Keaton_James · June 14, 2019, 1:31am

Most important paragraphs:

It’s also unclear which pieces of Mueller’s evidence would be made available and which might be withheld, either under executive privilege or other restrictions. The House on Tuesday authorized the committee to sue Barr for all of Mueller’s underlying evidence, but Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) has indicated he doesn’t expect to initiate that lawsuit until he determines whether the committee is privy to enough information.

“If important information is held back, then we will have no choice but to enforce our subpoena in court and consider other remedies,” Nadler said this week.

Wish I knew the answers to these questions:

How will anyone viewing the material know if a document is missing?
If they do know a document is missing, will they know why it is missing? Was it withheld under “executive privilege” (Trump’s doing) or for another reason and, if so, what is that reason (e.g., some reason arbitrarily made up by Barr or a legitimate reason such as national security)?
Ultimately, how will the public know that Trump’s appointed Attorney General who has been acting like his personal defense lawyer has not tampered with this evidence?

anon95374541 · June 14, 2019, 3:54am

Missed a bunch, sorry guys I’ve had a full plate this week.