This is worrisome. As soon as Friday? Is this bluster or did something happen? It says here McConnell has no inside knowledge.
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Ah here we go,
McConnell backs changing Senate rules over Pelosi impeachment delay
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signed onto a resolution by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) seeking to change the rules of the Senate to dismiss articles of impeachment if they are not transmitted within 25 days of their approval — in this case, Jan. 12.
Why it matters: The constitutionality of such a move, which 12 other co-sponsors have signed onto, is not clear. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated on Thursday that she is waiting to see what the Senate trial will look like before she names impeachment managers and transmits the articles.
- McConnell has said he has the GOP votes to approve a resolution on trial rules without support from Democrats, and has repeatedly criticized Pelosi for attempting to interfere with the Senate process.
- The Senate would require a two-thirds majority in order to change the rules, unless McConnell were to invoke the “nuclear option” and decide the issue by a simple majority vote.
Between the lines: A senior Democratic aide told Axios last week that aside from the procedural and constitutional questions it raises, Hawley’s resolution would likely be politically damaging for moderate Republicans — noting that polling showsa majority of Americans want Trump to let his top aides testify in the Senate trial.
Here’s the original text for comparison,
Here’s the Clinton Impeachment Trial Senate Rules.
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It is absolutely incredible how far they are willing to go to avoid a real trial and protect Trump, even to undermining the Constitution.
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House Votes to Restrain Trump’s Iran War Powers
The House voted on Thursday to force President Trump to go to Congress for authorization before taking further military action against Iran, in a sharp rebuke of his decision to ratchet up hostilities with Tehran without the explicit approval of the legislative branch.
The vote was 224 to 194, almost entirely along party lines, to curtail Mr. Trump’s war-making power. It followed a bitterly partisan debate in which Democrats insisted that the president must involve Congress in any escalation against Iran, and Republicans — following Mr. Trump’s lead — accused Democrats of coddling the enemy by questioning the commander in chief at a dangerous moment.
Democrats, joined by two Republican senators, have raised questions about Mr. Trump’s rationale and justification for ordering the drone strike last weekthat killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, casting doubt that there was an imminent threat that warranted a deeply provocative action.
In pressing forward with the War Powers Resolution, they reignited a bitter dispute that pits presidential power against congressional prerogatives and voiced grave concern that if they did not step in to check Mr. Trump, he could careen toward war with Iran without consulting Congress.
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Cross-post 
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This is just oversight but it’s happening in the middle of his impeachment so now it’s just become part of the impeachment story. 
House Passes and Votes 224-194 to Limit President’s Military Actions Against Iran
The U.S. House of Representatives passes and votes 224-194 on a War Powers Resolution, to limit the President’s military actions against Iran. In this clip, House members debate the issue before the recorded vote takes place.
Featured Clips:
Nancy War Powers
Schiff WPR floor speech
Gaetz War Powers Resolution Floor Speech
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Schiff throws cold water on bringing Bolton to House committee before Senate trial
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff told CNN on Thursday that his committee has no plans to hear testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton before President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate, arguing there’s “little to be gained” by going that route at this moment.
Schiff, a California Democrat, said “we have not” had discussions with Bolton or his team since the former White House aide announced this week that he’d be willing to testify before the Senate if subpoenaed.
With Republican senators resisting calls to bring him in before their chamber, some have suggested that House Democrats should instead compel testimony from Bolton, who previously warned the House Intelligence Committee he’d fight any subpoena in court.
But Schiff said Thursday that Bolton should testify before the Senate – not the House.
"We haven’t taken anything off the table," Schiff said, leaving a meeting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. "But if we are proceeding in a rationale way where we are trying to be fair to the President and fair to the American people, he should testify before the triers of fact, which are the senators."
Schiff added: "There’s little to be gained by having him testify separately and then have the Senate get the stale records. If we’re doing this rationally and we’re trying to achieve a fair trial, he should testify before the Senate."
Whether Schiff later calls in Bolton if senators ultimately decline to subpoena him remains uncertain.
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His sycopahnts are getting really out of control.
Senator Roberts Introduces Resolution Praising Successful Mission to Eliminate Qasem Soleimani
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‘We’ve Upped the Ante.’ Why Nancy Pelosi Is Going All in Against Trump
On Dec. 17, the night before the full House would debate and vote on Trump’s impeachment, Pelosi met behind closed doors with top caucus members on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. She hinted, for the first time, that she was contemplating a curveball: declining to immediately transmit the impeachment articles to the Senate after the House passed them. “The rule empowers the Speaker to be able to decide how to send the articles and when to send the articles over to the Senate,” she said, according to an aide who was in the room. “My view is we don’t know enough about what they are going to do. We want to see what [is] their level of fairness and openness and the rest.”
Pelosi, according to an aide, had been mulling the tactic since she heard former Nixon White House counsel John Dean float the idea on CNN on Dec. 5. In the committee meeting, she added that she believed McConnell would be motivated to move. “Somebody said to me today that he may not even take up what we send. [But] then [Trump] will never be vindicated,” she said, according to the aide in the room. “He will be impeached forever. Forever. No matter what the Senate does.”
The following day, Pelosi presided over the floor vote on impeachment, wearing a striking black suit to project solemnity, accessorized with a large gold brooch of the Mace of the Republic, a symbol of the House. When scattered cheers broke out inside the chamber after the first article was approved, she sternly and silently shushed them with a glare and a sharp gesture. After the vote, she announced that she did not plan to transmit the articles right away, saying she could not determine how to appoint House impeachment managers until the Senate decides on its rules for the trial.
McConnell has mocked the idea that Pelosi or Schumer can shape the Senate trial to their liking. But he’s also said he won’t start it until Pelosi sends the articles, and it’s clear from Trump’s tweets and statements that the unresolved situation bothers him. Moreover, the delay is allowing facts to emerge. Over the two-week holiday break, newly unredacted emails showed Pentagon officials worrying about the legality of Trump’s effort to withhold military aid from Ukraine. And on Jan. 6, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, potentially a key witness to Trump’s alleged actions toward Ukraine, announced he would testify before the Senate if subpoenaed. On Jan. 7, McConnell announced that he had enough Republican votes to begin the trial, and Democrats in both chambers appeared to be getting restless–but still Pelosi refused to budge.
The gambit is reminiscent of another Pelosi maneuver designed to exploit Trump’s insecurities. Pelosi retook the speakership a year ago amid a government shutdown triggered by Trump’s demand for border-wall funding. She refused to negotiate on the matter until the government reopened. As the stalemate dragged on, Pelosi seized on an unexpected source of leverage: she postponed Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress, knowing that he prized it as a televised set piece showcasing his power.
Then she stubbornly waited out her adversary. “The President tried to break us in January [2019] by throwing us into a government shutdown at the same time we were transitioning into the majority,” says Hakeem Jeffries, a Democratic Congressman from New York who serves as caucus chairman. “We held together, and instead of breaking us, we broke him. It ended in unconditional surrender.”
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Dear Colleague on Next Steps on Impeachment
JANUARY 10, 2020
PRESS RELEASE
Dear Democratic Colleague,
For weeks now, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has been engaged in tactics of delay in presenting transparency, disregard for the American people’s interest for a fair trial and dismissal of the facts.
Yesterday, he showed his true colors and made his intentions to stonewall a fair trial even clearer by signing on to a resolution that would dismiss the charges. A dismissal is a cover-up and deprives the American people of the truth. Leader McConnell’s tactics are a clear indication of the fear that he and President Trump have regarding the facts of the President’s violations for which he was impeached.
The American people have clearly expressed their view that we should have a fair trial with witnesses and documents, with more than 70 percent of the public stating that the President should allow his top aides to testify. Clearly, Leader McConnell does not want to present witnesses and documents to Senators and the American people so they can make an independent judgment about the President’s actions.
Honoring our Constitution, the House passed two articles of impeachment against the President – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – to hold the President accountable for asking a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 elections for his own political and personal gain.
While the House was able to obtain compelling evidence of impeachable conduct, which is enough for removal, new information has emerged, which includes:
- On December 20, new emails showed that 91 minutes after Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky, a top Office of Management and Budget (OMB) aide asked the Department of Defense to “hold off” on sending military aid to Ukraine.
- On December 29, revelations emerged about OMB Director and Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney’s role in the delay of aid, the effort by lawyers at the OMB, the Department of Justice and the White House to justify the delay, and the alarm that the delay caused within the Administration.
- On January 2, newly-unredacted Pentagon emails, which we had subpoenaed and the President had blocked, raised serious concerns by Trump Administration officials about the legality of the President’s hold on aid to Ukraine.
- And on January 6, just this week, former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton announced he would comply with a subpoena compelling his testimony. His lawyers have stated he has new relevant information.
I am very proud of the courage and patriotism exhibited by our House Democratic Caucus as we support and defend the Constitution. I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate. I will be consulting with you at our Tuesday House Democratic Caucus meeting on how we proceed further.
In an impeachment trial, every Senator takes an oath to “do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws.” Every Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the President or the Constitution.
No one is above the law, not even the President.
Thank you for your leadership For The People.
Sincerely,
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Speaking of, here’s their latest argument.
Osama bin Laden & al-Awlaki were terrorists, like al-Baghdadi. Which is why no Democrat protested al-Baghdadi’s death. Muammar Gaddafi was killed by his own people, NOT Obama. This is a patent falsehood; if Obama had, it would have been illegal. Like killing Soleimani was.
Trump’s Deputy Press Secretary Mocked After Falsely Claiming Obama Killed Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi: ‘Just do a Google Search’
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Cross-posting
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Trump wants to invoke executive privilege when and if Bolton ever testifies.
Mitch wants to outright ban witnesses and documents in the trial.
Their fear says everything.
Hannity Appears to Threaten to Give Out GOP Senators’ Phone Numbers if They Allow Impeachment Witnesses
“Don’t make me start giving out the phone number!"
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U.S. Warns Iraq It Risks Losing Access to Key Bank Account if Troops Told to Leave
Loss of access to New York Fed account, where international oil sale revenue is kept, could creating cash crunch in Iraq’s financial system
And here is Trump bluntly stating our troops in Syria are there to take the oil.
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Do it
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Esper Says He ‘Didn’t See’ Specific Evidence Iranians Planned to Attack 4 Embassies
Despite admitting he had NO evidence to support this, Defense Sec. Mark Esper says he believes Iran was planning an attack on 4 embassies and that Trump believed it.
This is basically Trump’s sycophants yet again circling the wagons to support a Trump lie, only unlike #SharpieGate it resulted in real deaths and international turmoil instead of amusing memes.
The original lie was a planned attack on our Baghdad embassy; Trump later added 3 more without naming specific locations.
President Trump had claimed that a planned attack on four American embassies was a justification for the strike on an Iranian general.
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We are now the world’s largest protection racket. Trump Mob Inc.
A brief moment of levity that is also very, very sadly accurate:
The UK is abandoning its alliance with Trump as the United States ‘withdraws from its leadership around the world’
In a statement certain to shock nobody, Trump is entirely in favor of the Senate flat dismissing the charges without a trial.
I suspect he doesn’t comprehend that if the Senate does this, he’s still impeached. This would explain his persistent argument that he shouldn’t be.
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