Contributed by Paige Barnett.
Trump violates campaign finance laws by paying hush money to two women and instructs his attorney to lie about it to congress; an indictable offense.
Resistance: Impeach now? Pelosi: No.
Trump refuses to divest himself of his daily on-going business deals, which are conflicts of interest to his oath of office to the presidency; a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S.Constitution.
Resistance: How about now? Pelosi: No.
April 18, 2019 – The Mueller Report is released. The report clearly establishes 10 ways in which Trump potentially obstructed justice. Mueller testifies that Trump is indictable and that Trump is not exonerated.
Resistance: NOW?! Pelosi: No. Resistance: Geez! Come on already!
If you’ve read the Mueller report, you know it’s damning. It left many wondering what it would take for the House Speaker to initiate impeachment hearings if these offenses weren’t enough. Pelosi continually said that she needed public consensus to build the case for impeachment, and now, that is happening. At the time this piece was written, there’s been a 9 point surge in support of impeaching Trump according to a Monmouth University poll.
Finally, on September 24 Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry of Trump would begin with multiple House Committees joining forces under one inquiry. The trigger? A whistleblower’s report of Trump’s “perfect call” with the Ukraine President Zelensky wherein Trump implies a quid pro quo; a favor to investigate his 2020 presidential opponent. In effect, for his own personal gain, Trump is using his power as President of the United States to withhold aid to the Ukraine in exchange for dirt on Biden and his son, Hunter. You can read the transcript here.
Ever since, a flood of news breaks nearly hourly about the Trump/Zelensky call, ranging from the RNC’s inadvertent email highlighting talking points to downplay the intent and context of the call to the storing of the hiding the transcript on a separate, classified server, Trump’s threats (an impeachable offense in and of itself) to the whistleblower and to arrest House Intelligence Committee Chair, Adam Schiff – another impeachable offense. Let us not forget Trump saying Pelosi is no longer Speaker among his tsunami of twitter rants, and so much more our heads are spinning.
Now, Trump is calling for Civil War if the impeachment continues. For fun, check out the #CivilWarPotLuck threads on Twitter. I’ll be bringing peach cobbler. How about you? On Tuesday night he called the impeachment hearings an attempt at a coup.
The House Judiciary, Intelligence and Oversight Committees are tasked with investigating the allegations against Trump. Details here. Schiff and the other chairman are fast tracking the inquiry by subpoenaing Trump’s inner circle for documents and testimony. However, as has happened in the past, key witnesses are being told to refuse to testify or answer the subpoenas. Secretary of State Pompeo is accused of witness intimidation as he attempts to block or at least delay State Department employees from testifying.
As of this moment, Grassley (R-IA) broke rank with Trump stating the whistleblower’s identity should be kept confidential. Former Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) is calling upon all Republicans to “save their souls” and do the right thing. According to sources, there are a number of Senate Republicans who would vote to impeach Trump if the vote were kept secret.
All the while, US Attorney General William Barr flew to Italy probing Australia, the UK, the Ukraine and Italy. No one really knows why but conjecture it’s to prop up a conspiracy about who or what associated with the US Intelligence community or the Democratic party motivated the Mueller investigation as an attempt to impugn the report’s credibility.
What’s more, overall consensus by the public to impeach is developing daily and the “wall” around Trump appears to be crumbling. Suffice it to say, news is coming at a breakneck pace. We shall see how this all plays out. One thing is for sure, a President, the Attorney General and the Secretary of State are not above the law.
…..to be continued.
Sources:
–https://www.wsj.com/articles/heading-for-a-clash-house-democrats-vs-trump-11556875801