To the Republicans, What Counts as Impeachable Conduct?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
To the Republicans, What Counts as Impeachable Conduct?
The Senate Republicans came up with a new strategy over the weekend to defend the president against accusations of abusing the authority of his office for personal gain.
The plan goes like this: OK maybe it was quid pro quo when Donald Trump asked Ukraine’s president to investigate his American rivals in exchange for military aid, but it wasn’t the bad kind. The bad kind is corrupt. The good kind is what America has been doing since World War II, nudging nations toward just governance. Trump was only asking Ukraine to fight corruption. The Bidens just happened to be in the mix is all.
“Cleansing the office” isn’t good enough.
Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said, per the Post, that “there’s lots of quid pro quos” in US foreign policy. “We’ve done quid pro quos a lot of times,” he said. “The question isn’t whether it was quid pro quo; the question is: Was it corruption?” Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said the US puts conditions on foreign aid all the time. “Those are legitimate reservations. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s not impeachable.”
Well, it turns out the president’s hand-picked ambassador said nuh-uh. Actually, he said Tuesday to House investigators, Trump was quite explicit about what he wanted from Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s new leader. In fact, Trump didn’t want him to really investigate Joe and Hunter Biden for corruption. All he wanted was for him to merely say he was. The key was Zelensky himself saying it publicly and loudly, probably so Trump could later point to it as evidence of whatever false accusation he invents.
Gordon Sondland is Trump’s ambassador to the European Union. “I now recall speaking with Mr. [Andrey] Yermak, where I said that resumption of U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks,” Sondland said in an update, referring to an aide to the Ukrainian president. “Soon thereafter, I came to understand that, in fact, the public statement would need to come directly from President Zelensky himself.”
So, yeah, that’s the bad kind of quid pro quo. It’s, you know, what they call extortion.
When all is said and done—that is to say, when the Republicans have stopped lying so much—a pattern should become clear. This is how Donald Trump operates. It’s what he’s done since taking office. It’s what he did as a businessman. It’s what he did just days ago when he floated the idea of shutting down the federal government unless the House Democrats quit trying to impeach him. For the president, all quid pro quo is corrupt quid pro quo, because every exchange is to benefit him personally. This pattern is difficult to see under a mountain of Republican lies. But that’s not the only pattern.
The Republicans said recently that the impeachment inquiry was illegitimate as long as the House hasn’t authorize it. So the House authorized it. Is it now legitimate? Nope. Then they said Trump’s actions were impeachable if they were corrupt. So we know they were sooper corrupt. Are they now impeachable? Don’t hold your breath.
The Republicans can’t be trusted to commit to a clear standard of what counts as impeachable conduct. You could say their faithlessness was pre-ordained. Lindsey Graham, the president’s staunch defender, led the GOP’s prosecution of Bill Clinton’s Senate trial in 1998 when he was a House member. The standard then was lying. Lying!
Some appear ready to look treasonous.
Clinton lied to a grand jury about his sexual relationship with an intern. Then he dragged his feet when cooperating with investigators. That counted as obstruction! So lying and obstruction (sorta) were enough for Graham to lead the way in “cleansing the office.” “Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office,” he said. “Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.” And now? “I've written the whole process off,” he said. “I think this is a bunch of BS.”
Given that Donald Trump has lied more than 13,000 times since 2017, and given that even the US Department of Justice is actively obstructing justice, it’s fair to ask at what point would Trump meet the Republican standard of impeachable conduct. The signs are not encouraging. Some Republicans appear willing to look treasonous to save the president, suggesting that even treason would fail to meet their so-called standard.
Rand Paul said he’d be willing to name of the whistleblower whose complaint is at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. That would be illegal, for one thing. For another, Paul’s statement appeared coordinated with Russian state news outlets. Julia Davis, an expert of Russian media, wrote in the Daily Beast Wednesday that as soon as Paul asked the US press corps Tuesday to unmask the whistleblower, the “Kremlin-controlled heavy hitters—TASS, RT, Rossiya-1—disseminated the same information.”
The move, she said, was “a 2019 re-play of ‘Russia, if you’re listening.’”
How far are the Republicans willing to go? It doesn’t look good.
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Something was agreed upon at Helsinki. The only Americans that know what it was is the president and the stenographer. And of course Putin and his translator, who are not American citizens.
This action by the president is beyond impeachment---depending on the agreements made.
We all, as Americans, have allowed Trumpism to take some hold. Trumpism is of course based on the acceptance of lying. As these years have gone by and Trump has paid little price (he retains his 38 or 40% "base", rock solid) our national standards for what constitutes unethical and immoral conduct have been slipping.
The evidence that Trump engaged in an effort to extort improper behavior from the president of Ukraine is irrefutable. The question now is basically "what does it mean"? With so many Americans happy enough to see Trump lie repeatedly every day, about a true cross- section of the momentous and the trivial, we are at a point where we are questioning our national common sense.
What I wonder about and worry about is just how much damage has been done. When will this all stop? We have a president of the United States caught in plain sight having violated his oath of office. The abuse of power is obvious. Yet many like it.
"Civil War" may be at hand but we dont realize it yet.
Don't start something you can't finish.
Civil War over Trump? The left really can't be that stupid.
Non-shooting civil war.
War usually implies a fight to the finish in some form. There can be no compromising with trumpism. It has to be defeated.
We have a clearly guilty man here, and his followers look the other way en masse. Their loyalty is not to America, it is to their cult.
Right... Walk back that comment real damn fast. Better keep walking.
So how are you planning on defeating the millions of Trump supporters? Who the left has been pushing since before Trump won the election. How about Bernie supporters? Chinese reprogramming camps? Gas chambers? Maybe taking away their right to vote? How are you going to stop them for voting for anyone else you don't agree with?
Why are you talking about Joe Biden? Or isn't his public admission good enough for you? He even said he had the full backing of Obama for it. Shove your loyalty to America BS. The left is even worse with this impeachment BS.
When he is legally indicted, tried and found guilty in a proper court of law other than the court of public opinion that the left likes so much, then I will agree with you. Until then it is all just hearsay and innuendo from the sore loser progressive liberal left.
"The left really can't be that stupid."
Want to bet on that?
First of all that is called perjury. Clinton perjured himself to get a verdict that would be beneficial to him; and also protect his political career.
Secondly, Clinton did far more to obstruct than simply "dragged his feet when cooperating with investigators". Clinton also influenced (lied to/coerced) witnesses, who lied for him under oath.
The perjury cost Bill Clinton in the end.
Seems the left has different standards for Republicans than they do for one of their own.
If the left wants Trump gone defeat him in a fair and open election. That is if the left understands how the electoral college actually works.
It's funny to see democrats just glide right past their support of a President who committed a felony in office and claim to have the moral high ground..
Absolutely right. A married man should never lie about a sexual liaison.
Yes. ignorant democrats believe there's an exception in the statute book that allows Democrats to commit felonies when they are sued for sexual harassment.
Yes. Perfect example of the "so what" defense Democrats used to excuse a President committing a felony while in office.
Choose. Choose wisely.
Typical leftist bullshit.
Clinton lied under oath, period. That is called perjury. He tampered with witnesses, which is obstruction.
But Trruuummmmppppp!!!!!! That is all the left has. Pathetic.
If Trump had pulled the same shit Clinton did he would have already been impeached.
Hillary not only covered for Bubba Bill, but publically attacked the victims of his unwanted attention.
And we all know of his many trips (and liaisons ?) on the Lolita Express.
Let's step back and think about this for a moment. What would have happened had the whistleblower not blown the whistle and Zelensky complied with Trumps extortion? Right now it's likely the news cycle would have been about the President of Ukraine announcing his countries deep desire to root out corruption and so was starting an investigation specifically into Burisma, Hunter Biden and an investigation into whether Ukraine was behind the illicit and illegal election hacking during the 2016 election that every other intelligence source has blamed on Russia. Zelensky wouldn't actually have had to spend any resources on an investigation or actually had to find anything, just the announcement was enough for Trump to release the halted funds and sales of military weapons. Fox News would then be coming up with all sorts of "what if's" and "it's likely" conjecture about Joe Biden and suggesting the whole world got it wrong on Russia so maybe Trump would be justified in removing the sanctions and getting all buddy buddy with the murderous foreign dictator who helped Trump win in 2016 and the real backscratching could begin.
There is no doubt Republicans would be using the Ukraine announcement to suggest all Democrats are somehow tainted by Biden and Obama and that it was all a deep state conspiracy, heck, they do that now with no evidence what-so-ever so with just a foreign leader announcing an investigation they would have wet their pants in excitement. That was Trump and his handlers plan. Thankfully, we still have some patriotic Americans working in the government that have refused to go along with such a despicable political plot. It's still sad though that apparently so many Republicans simply don't care about the rule of law and are just angry at the missed opportunity to smear and attack Democrats, wishing the Presidents unethical, illegal and immoral extortion plan had worked.
There are some disturbingly unpleasant truths Americans dont want to face and they are leading to tragic consequences for America.
First and foremost, Donald Trump is psychologically unstable. He bases major US foreign policy on conspiracy theories. And uses those conspiracy theories to try and destroy his domestic political opposition. This is literally the stuff of fiction such as Seven Days In May , The Contender, the Parallax View, or Dr. Strangelove. The American people should not be forced to live out paranoid conspiracies in real life just because a crazy reality tv show host has made his way into power.
Lying about a blowjob? Yes.
Extorting a foreign government to win a US election? No.
Con "logic".
"To the Republicans, What Counts as Impeachable Conduct?"
Nothing the Democrats are selectively proposing FOR SURE .....Emphasis on …. " SELECTIVELY PROPOSING" !
SECTION 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of , Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
For one.....TRUMP hasn't been "CONVICTED" of anything !
1. treason
[ˈtrēzən]
NOUN
the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government.
Nope….hasn't happened !
2. bribery
[ˈbrīb(ə)rē]
NOUN
the giving or offering of a bribe.
Nope….. Hasn't happened !
3 . high crimes and misdemeanors
covers allegations of misconduct peculiar to officials, such as perjury of oath, abuse of authority, bribery, intimidation, misuse of assets, failure to supervise, dereliction of duty, unbecoming conduct, and refusal to obey a lawful order.
Nope…...Hasn't Happened !
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Trump asked ......still gave ..... hasn't received ONE FUCKING THING from it !
Nothing more to really say on this issue, unless one is a "Liberal' ! Then there is STILL tons of "STUPID NONSENSE" to spout !
The only thing that counts to the R's for impeachment is that it would be a D.
Same for the D's. Or are you leaving out their blind support for Bill Clinton?
using the national intelligence apparatus to spy on and fabricate evidence to remove a political opponent
Democrats need to stop stalling and get on with it. I'm sure the country will be mesmerized over the holidays while Democrats try to create a crime that Congress is not authorized to prosecute. Impeachment is a political process conducted by a political body for the purpose of obtaining political benefit.
There wasn't a cover-up. The string of 'witnesses' and 'whistleblowers' shows that a lot of people throughout the executive branch knew what was going on. And not all the people with knowledge of what was going on have been politically supportive of the President. What the testimony reveals is that the non-partisan technocratic bureaucracy is most certainly political; non-partisan is not the same as non-political.
The recall of Marie Yovanovitch provides clear evidence that the diplomatic corps is highly political. Yovanovitch is alleging a political campaign to discredit her and justify her recall. However, a President has the authority to recall an ambassador for any reason. The political infighting within the diplomatic corps is to convince the President to recall. Keep in mind that President Obama removed William Taylor as ambassador to Ukraine after assuming office in 2009. A President has the authority to appoint and remove ambassadors for political justifications.
The President has the authority to make quid pro quo demands. In fact, Congressional approval of military aid contingent upon purchase of US military goods is, itself, a quid pro quo transaction. Joe Biden's boast about making a quid pro quo demand for removal of Viktor Shokin provides clear evidence that such demands are simply business-as-usual for diplomacy.
So, the Democrats' primary accusation of an impeachable offense was an attempt to coax (or coerce, as some claim) a foreign government to investigate a political rival. That allegation is laughable following the Obama administration's counter intelligence investigations and surveillance of a rival political campaign. And that politically motivated activity by the Obama administration is the central issue that needs to be addressed during impeachment proceedings. Democrats have used the FBI, international intelligence activities, and the Dept. of Justice for political purposes.
Whatever Trump has done is certainly not unprecedented. It's only necessary to review the actions of the previous administration to refute the claim of 'unprecedented' political use of Presidential authority. The only gripe the Democrats have is that Democrats are now the target of that 'abuse of power' instead of Republicans. Democrats seem to be trying to convince the public that Democratic political corruption is proper while their political rivals are being held to a much higher standard.
Stop stalling Democrats. Get on with the show. I'm sure everyone wants their holiday season ruined by politics. And we know the public is breathlessly awaiting the mud, dirt, and nonsense that will be the main attraction for the 2020 election.