Live updates,
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‘Full of unknowns’: Mitch McConnell blocked by his own party from calling impeachment witnesses Trump wants for Senate trial
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The IG Report is out. It decimates all of Trump’s talking points, showing that the Russia investigation was rooted in serious concerns and proper methodology in every single instance.
It shows that, though there were oddities and issues in the wiretap of Trump campaign aide Carter Page, very little info came from that direction and ultimately the Russia investigation in every facet was NOT politically motivated and was rooted in sound, definite knowledge and intel.
The FBI had been entirely vindicated of the wrong-doing and political bias Trump has long accused them of, thanks to an investigation TRUMP insisted on. This could result in a solid third article on Obstruction of Justice.
FBI wiretap of Trump campaign aide was riddled with errors, but Russia probe was legally justified, IG report finds
Inspector general report says FBI had ‘authorized purpose’ to investigate Trump campaign’s Russia ties but finds some wrongdoing
Justice Department watchdog releases report on origins of Russia investigation
AG Barr Made Last-Minute, ‘Highly Unusual’ Decision to Alter OIG Russia Report
In direct opposition to the IG report, “US attorney general Bill Barr says the report of DoJ inspector general, Michael Horowitz, shows that the “FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a US presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions.”
Link to that particular section: https://gu.com/p/cpqy9/stw
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Full OIG Report
And
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What a twist!
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Indeed. It certainly cuts apart the argument that Steele was a partisan out to get the Trumps.
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People are noting that John Durham speaking about the IG report in the middle of his own case is HIGHLY unusual, and some wonder if this isn’t Barr speaking through Durham’s office. It feels utterly political, and there is a consensus it is well outside norms.
https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1204121376619028480
Trump is currently delivering his reaction to the IG report, roping in Pam Bondi and Kellyanne Conway. Unsurprisingly, he is treating it as the exact OPPOSITE of what it says.
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So here is Trump saying the exact OPPOSITE of what the IG report said… and then also saying that Durham report is where it’s at.
Trump says DOJ inspector general report shows ‘attempted overthrow’ of the government
President Donald Trump said a Justice Department’s internal watchdog report examining the origins of the Russia investigation shows an “attempted overthrow” of government, pointing to inaccuracies found in FBI surveillance applications related to his 2016 campaign.
The nearly 500-page report, released Monday by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, found the FBI was legally justified in opening its inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election, but said there were several “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in its surveillance applications to monitor Trump’s former foreign policy adviser Carter Page.
“They fabricated evidence and they lied to the court,” Trump told reporters Monday before a roundtable discussion on education. “This was an attempted overthrow and a lot of people were in on it, and they got caught.”
The report also undercut Trump’s claim that the Obama administration illegally spied on his campaign.
Democrats and Republicans both declared victory upon the report’s release.
In a written statement, Democrats on Capitol Hill said the report debunks conspiracy theories fanned by Trump and Republicans about how the Russia investigation began.
“Those discredited conspiracy theories were attempts to deflect from the President’s serious and ongoing misconduct, first urging Russia and now extorting Ukraine into interfering with our elections to benefit him personally and politically,” said Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, Democrats representing New York and co-chairs of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, respectively.
The report came during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in which lawmakers debated evidence in the impeachment inquiry against Trump. House Democrats allege he sought to pressure Ukraine to announce two investigations that would politically benefit him. Trump has denied the accusations.
The president’s allies were quick to criticize the FBI. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., called the report “deeply disturbing” in a tweet.
“Some former FBI and DOJ officials are about to have some serious explaining to do,” he said.
Attorney General William Barr disagreed with the report’s finding that the FBI was justified in its Russia probe.
“The inspector general’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken,” Barr said.
Barr is overseeing a parallel criminal investigation into the Russia probe, fueling criticism from Democrats that DOJ has become a tool for Trump’s political retribution.
The probe was launched in 2016 after the FBI had learned that another Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, boasted to an Australian diplomat that Russia had offered the campaign damaging information about the Hillary Clinton.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller took over the inquiry in 2017 and found a “sweeping and systematic” effort by the Kremlin to influence the U.S. election in Trump’s favor. But he also concluded that Trump and his campaign did not conspire with the Russians, according to the report.
Trump and his allies have long claimed the FBI investigation into his 2016 campaign was improper and motivated by political bias.
Page, who had longstanding connections in Russia, admitted meeting with Kremlin officials in July 2016, when he was the Trump campaign’s foreign policy adviser. Later that year, the FBI obtained a surveillance warrant on Page as part of its counterintelligence investigation into Russia and possible ties to the Trump campaign.
Horowitz launched his review in March 2018 in response to requests from Republican lawmakers and then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He is scheduled to discuss his findings in a public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
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Here we go
Democrats expected to unveil articles of impeachment against Trump, focusing on abuse of power, obstruction of Congress
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Cross-posting 
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I’m rereading Laurence Tribe’s (tribelaw) excellent book on impeachment, highly recommend it.
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A fair summary of the chaos we saw yesterday.
Impeachment Gets Weird
Democratic Chairman Jerry Nadler virtually lost control of today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing.
There’s also the usual bit about Trump’s mental health, but this seems par for the course by now.
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These are the two times he uses the word “us” in the memo.
In neither case does it make sense grammatically or contextually for it to mean “U.S.”
“I would like you to do us a favor”
“Give us a date and we’ll work that out”
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READ: Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump
The articles of impeachment against President Trump, annotated
Read the Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump
The House Judiciary Committee’s Democratic majority released two proposed articles of impeachment against President Trump on Tuesday, setting the stage for a debate later this week over whether he should be only the third president in American history charged with high crimes and misdemeanors.
The first article charges him with abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine to assist him in his re-election campaign by damaging Democratic rivals. The second article charges him with obstruction of Congress for blocking testimony and refusing to provide documents in response to House subpoenas in the impeachment inquiry. If the committee approves the articles, they would go to the House floor for a debate and vote as early as next week.
The following are the articles of impeachment with context and analysis by Peter Baker, The Times’s chief White House correspondent.
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Rep. Swalwell tears GOP Counsel Castor apart, along with the GOP argument.
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U.S. House Judiciary panel to vote on Trump impeachment no later than Thursday
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee is aiming to vote on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump no later than Thursday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
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