Cross-posting
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The House Drops Bombshell Evidence Of Trump’s Ukraine Guilt From Giuliani
The House Intelligence Committee sent new evidence to Senate from arrested Giuliani associate Lev Parnas that Trump knew about and directed the Ukraine scheme.
Chairs Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Eliot Engel (D-NY) said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:
Since the House voted to impeach President Trump, we have continued our investigation so the House Managers can present to the Senate the most complete factual record possible before the trial on the Articles of Impeachment. Despite the President’s unprecedented and sweeping obstruction of our impeachment inquiry, we have continued to collect additional evidence relevant to the President’s scheme to abuse his power by pressing Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election for the President’s benefit.
Today, additional new evidence will be provided to the House Judiciary Committee for its transmittal to the Senate along with the Articles of Impeachment.
During the impeachment inquiry, we issued a subpoena to associates of Rudy Giuliani who were involved in the President’s scheme. One of those individuals is Lev Parnas, who responded to his subpoena by turning over a trove of documents that provide more information about the effort to coerce Ukraine into helping the President’s reelection campaign.
These documents—and those recently released pursuant to Freedom of Information Act—demonstrate that there is more evidence relevant to the President’s scheme, but they have been concealed by the President himself. All of this new evidence confirms what we already know: the President and his associates pressured Ukrainian officials to announce investigations that would benefit the President politically. There cannot be a full and fair trial in the Senate without the documents that President Trump is refusing to provide to Congress.
We will continue our investigative work and will make available to the Senate and the American people any additional evidence of the President’s misconduct as it is revealed.
The most damning evidence was a letter signed by Rudy Giuliani:
There is enough evidence in the House packet to convict and remove Donald Trump from office. Trump doesn’t want a trial because each new piece of evidence adds to his guilt. The proof that Trump is guilty is coming from his own lawyer. There have been no documents or witnesses offered on Trump’s behalf. The president has no one to tell his side of the story because he is guilty.
Senators had a bombshell dropped into their laps, and ignoring it will serve to confirm their complicity in the Trump cover-up.
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McConnell courts GOP hard-liners, moderates and Trump as impeachment trial looms
During the 30-minute session, Cruz pitched McConnell on the idea of witness reciprocity — if Democrats want to hear from former Trump national security adviser John Bolton on the Ukraine scandal, then Republicans get to hear from Hunter Biden. McConnell was open to that message, said a source familiar with the discussion. Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) later raised the strategy to the broader Senate GOP Conference.
Then shortly after, and echoing Cruz and Paul’s message, McConnell publicly warned Democrats that if they want to call additional witnesses during the proceedings, Republicans will counter with some of their own, and Democrats won’t like who’s on the GOP list.
“We’ll be dealing with the witness issue at the appropriate time into the trial,” McConnell told reporters. “And I think it’s certainly appropriate to point out that both sides would want to call witnesses if they wanted to hear from them. So if you get to that issue, I can’t imagine that only the witnesses our Democratic colleagues want to call will be called.”
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Cross-posting 
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Ukraine prosecutor offered information related to Biden in exchange for ambassador’s ouster, newly released materials show
New materials released by House Democrats appear to show Ukraine’s top prosecutor offering an associate of President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, damaging information related to former vice president Joe Biden if the Trump administration recalled the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
The text messages and documents provided to Congress by former Giuliani associate Lev Parnas also show that before the ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, was removed from her post, a Parnas associate now running for Congress sent a series of menacing text messages suggesting he had her under surveillance in Ukraine. An attorney for Yovanovitch said Tuesday that the episode should be investigated.
The cache of materials released by House investigators late Tuesday exposed a range of previously unknown details about efforts by Giuliani and his associates to obtain material in Ukraine that would undermine Trump’s Democratic opponents.
Their emergence on the eve of the Senate impeachment trial spurred Democrats to renew calls for the White House to turn over documents related to the Ukraine pressure campaign that it has refused to share with Congress.
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KAPOW! 
This is what Pelosi was waiting for! She is brilliant.
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Agreed. I’ve been saying the same thing all over twitter. This is a knockout blow.
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More on Robert F. Hyde from a local paper within his Congressional district. Hats off to small town reporters willing to dig deep like Emilie Munson from Middleton, CT.
Here are the photos that accompany the article – the first two are exclusive from this reporter - Hyde sent them to her.
The article also contains a detailed recounting of the chilling texts that Hyde sent to Parnas as he was having Ambassador Yanvanovitch stalked by a Ukrainian security agency and, this is really disturbing to report, possibly proposing a hit on her – there could be other interpretations, but the “tough guy” language is truly incriminating.
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Robert Hyde (left), a Republican candidate for Congress in Connecticut’s 5th District, smokes a cigar with Lev Parnas (right), Soviet-born businessman and associate of Rudy Giuliani indicted on campaign finance violations.
Robert Hyde (right), a Republican candidate for Congress in Connecticut’s 5th District, smiles with Rudy Giuliani (center right), the president’s personal lawyer, and Giuliani’s indicted associates Igor Fruman (center left) and Lev Parnas (left).
Trump and Hyde
Robert Hyde (left), a Republican candidate for Congress in Connecticut’s 5th District, takes a selfie with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada in this photo Hyde posted on his Instagram.
Roger Stone (right), a Trump ally convicted of lying to Congress, posted this photo on Instagram with Robert Hyde (left), a Republican running for Congress in Connecticut’s 5th District, in May 2019. Stone was born in Norwalk, Conn.
New impeachment evidence released by House Democrats on Tuesday included texts sent between Connecticut congressional candidate Robert Hyde and Soviet-born businessman Lev Parnas in 2019.
It appears Hyde worked with Parnas to monitor the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch’s movements in Ukraine, as a campaign unfolded to remove her from her post. The texts suggest that Hyde worked with a Ukrainian team to track Yovanovitch, possibly with the goal of interfering with her work in some fashion.
“If you want her out, they need to make contact with security forces,” Hyde wrote to Parnas on March 26, 2019.
“They are willing to help if we/you would like a price,” Hyde wrote in one chilling message. “Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money… what I was told.”
Hearst Connecticut Media first reported Hyde’s relationship with Parnas, his associate Igor Fruman and the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in November 2019. Parnas recently turned over thousands of new documents to House impeachment investigators regarding his work for President Donald Trump in Ukraine.
Hyde is a generous Republican donor who has been photographed with President Trump on multiple occasions since 2016. He has also been photographed with Vice President Mike Pence, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other GOP members.
He is currently running for Congress in Connecticut’s 5th District, where Democrat Jahana Hayes is the incumbent.
Hyde did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Hyde tweeted on Tuesday night: “Please click the link to make a contribution to our campaign so we can help get the House from Adam Bull Schiff and find the 12 billion dollars that disappeared in Ukraine under Maria [sic]Yovanovitch.”
Early in the text exchange, Hyde and Parnas shared many links to news articles about growing calls for Yovanovitch’s removal in March 2019. Hyde wrote to Parnas, “Wow. Can’t believe Trumo [sic] hasn’t fired this bitch. I’ll get right in [sic] that.”
Hyde and Parnas exchanged numerous messages about Yovanovitch’s precise whereabouts.
“She under heavy protection outside Kiev,” Hyde wrote to Parnas.
Two days later, he wrote to Parnas: “They are moving her tomorrow.”
Hyde followed up, “The guys over there asked me what I would like to do and what is in it for them.”
Then he provided more details about Yovanovitch’s movements, noting her computer was off and she was outside the embassy.
“They will let me know when she is on the move,” Hyde wrote.
Parnas responded, “Perfect.”
Hyde has repeatedly refused to answer questions about his connection to Parnas, Giuliani and other Republican figures. But in November 2019, Hyde texted three photos of himself to this reporter. [see above]
One was a picture of Hyde leaning in for a photo with Giuliani, Fruman and Parnas, now indicted on charges that they used foreign money to buy political influence. All of the men are smoking cigars.
Another photo featured Hyde taking a selfie with Parnas, who wore a Trump yarmulke and crossed his arms over his chest making peace signs with his fingers. Hyde smoked a cigar and wore a Trump tee-shirt. In a third image, a tuxedoed Hyde smiles in a group shot with Fruman.
It’s not clear where or when the photos were taken and Hyde repeatedly claimed he did not remember those facts.
In the text messages with Parnas, Hyde referred to Parnas as “bud” and “broski.”
Soon after his indictment, Parnas agreed to turn over a trove a documents, including handwritten notes and phone records to the House Intelligence Committee. Parnas was one of several associates of Rudy Giuliani who was subpoenaed by the committee.
The evidence, which was not published publicly until Tuesday, will be transmitted by the House to Senate for use in the Senate impeachment trial, expected to start next week.
“We will continue our investigative work and will make available to the Senate and the American people any additional evidence of the President’s misconduct as it is revealed,” said four House Committee chairmen in a statement Tuesday evening.
Yovanovitch was ambassador to Ukraine from August. 2016 to May 2019, when she was abruptly recalled by the Trump administration. The seasoned diplomat has suffered harsh criticism by Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and other Republicans for months, before and after the end of her ambassadorship, she testified to the House Intelligence Committee.
While Yovanovitch publicly testified in November, Trump attacked her on Twitter. The day Yovanovitch testified Hyde tweeted “She (Maria swampthing uavonibeiotch) was fired before the phone calls… why is she even there?”
A resident of Simsbury Connecticut, Hyde is challenging U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5, for her seat in Congress.
In December, Connecticut Republican leaders called on Hyde to drop out of the race after he made a vulgar comment about U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., on Twitter.
Hyde told Hearst Connecticut Media on Jan. 6 “We will be ending our campaign November 4, 2020. The day after we win.”
Hyde has given tens of thousands to Trump’s campaign, inauguration and other Republican causes. He attended Trump’s inauguration, as well as that of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On Hyde’s campaign Instagram, Hyde shared a photo of himself and Trump in Manhattan in 2016. Hyde posted another photo of the president and himself in golf apparel and USA hats at Trump International Golf Club at West Palm Beach, Fla. in 2018.
Hyde was photographed speaking to Trump and golfer Tiger Woods in March 2019. He shared a selfie of him and Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Easter the next month. In May 2019, Hyde bowled at the White House, according to videos he shared on Instagram.
Note from @Keaton_James: Wow, Hyde gets around. In addition to Trump, Giuliani, Parnas, and McCarthy, check out the list of Republicans who will be furiously distancing themselves from him come tomorrow:
Hyde has also shared photos of himself with Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump.
…
Hyde has also been photographed with Trump-ally Roger Stone, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, as well as former Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Reps. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio.But few people on Capitol Hill knew who Hyde was in November. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who was photographed with him, said he had “no idea” who he was.
“I was never really into politics until Trump,” Hyde said in November.
In December 2018, the Simsbury resident started a public affairs and government relations firm Finley Hyde and Associates (Finley is Hyde’s middle name) in Washington, D.C., Connecticut business records show.
A former U.S. Marine, Hyde owns a two-bedroom villa in Delray Beach, Florida, where his parents live full-time, he said in November.
Parnas and Fruman are also Florida residents.
And it was in Florida that Hyde first met Roger Stone at a diner, he said, but declined to provide any other specifics. On May 11, Stone shared a photo of himself and Hyde with the caption “I enjoyed a fine cigar with @rfhyde1 one of @realdonaldtrump’s most loyal supporters. We are both Connecticut natives and we laughed about what assholes liberals are.”
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And now this from Mother Jones. Yes, Robert F. Hyde is truly a bizarro guy:
New Figure in Ukraine Scandal Was Taken Into Police Custody at Trump Resort Last Year
This landscaper-turned-lobbyist claimed the Secret Service and a hit man were after him.
It makes sense that a guy who uses language that sounds like he’s suggesting a hit, might himself be afraid of hit men.
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According to an “incident/investigation” report filed by the Doral, Florida, police department, on May 16, 2019, an officer was dispatched to the Trump National Doral Miami to deal with a “male in distress fearing for his life.” That man was Hyde. The report noted that Hyde explained to the police officer that “he was in fear for his life, was set up and that a hit man was out to get him. Mr. Hyde spoke about e-mails he sent that may have placed his life in jeopardy. Mr. Hyde explained several times that he was paranoid that someone was out to get him.”The report stated that Hyde cited “a variety of different names, contacts and provided information in reference to why he felt his life was in danger.” After being taken into custody by the police, according to the report, “Mr. Hyde continued to act paranoid telling us not to stop next to certain vehicles…[H]e explained that he was scared due to several painting workers and landscape workers trying to do harm to him because they weren’t working. Additionally Mr. Hyde explained that his computer was being hacked by Secret Service. And then went on to further explain that the secret service [sic] was arrival [sic] on the premises watching him.”
The police report said that “it was determined that Mr. Hyde was suffering from a [redacted],” that he was “transported to [redacted] for further evaluation,” and that a “crisis form was filled and filed.”
…
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#KievenMcCarthy is trending on twitter. Some have noted he pulled a Trump:
Fun fact: claiming not to know Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman is WHY Parnas flipped on Trump.
#KievanMcCarthy better hope that Lev doesn’t have anything on him either.
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This feels like a really, really good time to re-visit my thread on Amb. Marie Yovanovitch, now knowing that she was being stalked and lined up for a potential assassination by a corrupt, craven Trump toady:
Lev Parnas and Rudy Giuliani have demolished Trump’s claims of innocence https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/15/lev-parnas-rudy-giuliani-have-demolished-trumps-claims-innocence/
The Crossing: What to watch as impeachment heads to Senate
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It looks like Iran’s missile strike wasn’t their real answer to the Soleimani assassination. Their true response is far more savvy any anything Trump could devise.
IN COLD BLOOD
Iran reveals plan to file terrorism case against Trump over Soleimani killing
Impeachment managers are named.
https://www.denverpost.com/2020/01/15/jason-crow-impeachment-manager-trump/
Adam Schiff Immediately Puts Mitch McConnell On Trial With Trump
Basically Schiff called McConnell out on his efforts to undermine the trial.
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Watch: Speaker Pelosi Announces Impeachment Managers
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced the names of the seven House Democrats who would serve as impeachment managers in the Senate trial against President Trump. The seven members included House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (CA), Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (NY), Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (NY), and Administration Committee Chair Zoe Lofgren (CA), who previously served as a Judiciary committee staffer during the Nixon impeachment trial and as a Judiciary committee member during the Clinton impeachment proceedings. The remaining members included Reps. Val Demings (FL), Jason Crow (CO) and Sylvia Garcia (TX).
https://www.c-span.org/video/?468170-1/speaker-pelosi-announces-impeachment-managers
Featured Clip:
Speaker Pelosi Names Managers for Impeachment Trial
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Watch LIVE Now: House to Vote to Send Articles of Impeachment to the Senate
https://www.c-span.org/video/?468083-2/house-vote-send-articles-impeachment-senate
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House Votes to Send Impeachment Charges to Senate, Approving Managers
The managers are scheduled to reconvene in the Capitol at 5 p.m. to finalize the articles with Ms. Pelosi in a formal “engrossment ceremony” that will mark the beginning of an elaborate, and highly orchestrated, ritual. From there, accompanied by the House clerk and sergeant-at-arms, the managers will file from the House, through the old House chamber and the Capitol Rotunda to the Senate, where Democrats will present the articles to the secretary of the Senate.
But the trial itself is not expected to start until Thursday, when the managers will most likely exhibit the articles inside the Senate chamber.
It’s so rare that we get to see this ritual. I’m kind of excited.
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Tune in tonight as Rachel Maddow interviews Lev Parnas.
THIS I MUST SEE.
The Trump Administration’s Contacts with Ukraine
The evidence has mounted of President Trump’s troubling attempts to coerce a foreign government into helping attack his political rivals. American Oversight is investigating the extent of those efforts as well as the involvement of Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and administration officials like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The paper trail will only get longer.
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Watch: House Delivers Articles of Impeachment to Senate
Impeachment managers deliver the articles of impeachment to the secretary of the Senate.
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