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Remember When Nancy Pelosi Talked About Trump “Self-Impeaching”?

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They all laughed. But it appears the often-maligned Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (and I count myself among the maligners), was on to something when she consistently brushed aside calls for impeachment and instead talked about Trump “self-impeaching.”

Back in May, Pelosi said,  “The point is that every single day, whether it’s obstruction, obstruction, obstruction — obstruction of having people come to the table with facts, ignoring subpoenas. … Every single day, the president is making a case — he’s becoming self-impeachable, in terms of some of the things that he is doing.” She added, “So, he’s doing our work for us in a certain respect.”

Pelosi knew time was on her side. If she gave Trump enough rope, the self-destructive man-child would eventually hang himself.

And so it has come to pass that with Trump’s attempted strong-arming of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to “uncover” dirt on Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, Donald Trump has in effect impeached himself.

If Pelosi had initiated impeachment proceedings right after Robert Mueller issued his report, a divided country, and Democratic Party, may have remained divided. This was essentially the case after AG William Barr tainted the jury pool of public opinion by falsely summarizing the contents of Mueller’s report.

Yes there was great pressure on Pelosi, especially from the Party’s progressive wing, but the veteran leader knew the timing wasn’t right. She knew it would take time to get the American people to understand the Mueller report was not a “complete and total exoneration” of Donald Trump. As it has turned out, even after Mueller’s damning testimony before the House and his 448-page report, a large segment of Americans still believes Trump beat the rap.

But with the current Ukraine scandal, the facts are so simple; the corruption so pure. Trump used the power of his office to get a foreign country to help bolster his re-election prospects (sound familiar?) by withholding money already earmarked by Congress for that country’s defense. He not only has publically admitted as much but the “transcript” of his telephone conversation with Zelensky confirms the attempted extortion.

The fact is that Trump felt so emboldened by Mueller’s flop of a performance in front of the House Judiciary Committee that the following day is when he talked with Zelensky about digging up (creating?) dirt on the Bidens. Talk about hutzpah!

Pelosi was shrewd enough to know that the narcissistic Trump, after the Mueller dud, would be even more secure in his invincibility that he would eventually do something so utterly stupid, so brazenly corrupt, that it would be easy for the American public to grasp …  and would unite House Democrats behind formal impeachment.

Madam Speaker, pardon me for ever doubting you.

P.S., as of this writing, 218 House Democrats have come out in favor of the impeachment process … just enough votes to sustain articles of impeachment.

Photo | washingtonpost.com

 

 

DOJ Clamps Down On Mueller Prior To Congressional Testimony

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Just two days before his much anticipated appearance before two congressional committees, the Department of Justice has sent Robert Mueller a letter warning him to be careful about what he says in public.

“Any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege, including information protected by law enforcement, deliberative process, attorney work product, and presidential communications privileges,” wrote Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer.

Mueller was reminded by Weinsheimer that DOJ policy prevents him from commenting on the legal conclusions his office made “with respect to uncharged individuals, other than information contained within the portions of your report that already have been made public.” Weinsheimer also said Mueller should not testify about portions of the public report that have been redacted or about uncharged third parties.

It’s unlikely Mueller will go outside the four corners of his report in any event, with or without the DOJ’s last minute admonition. He specifically said he would do so in his brief press conference in May.

Democrats on the House committees are hoping Mueller will be more forthcoming than he has stated he would be. But the straight-laced Mueller, who is only testifying because he was subpoenaed to do so, will most likely disappoint those Democrats holding out hope he will go rogue.

About the only suspense on Wednesday will be which Trump congressional lapdog will make the biggest fool of himself trying to discredit the former Eagle Scout and ex-Marine.

The bottom line is even if Mueller only reads from his 448-page report, the damage to Donald Trump could be significant as the American public will hear, many for the first time, the true, unvarnished-by-Barr version of his investigative findings.

Photo | nbcnews.com

 

 

 

 

 

Attorney General Needs To Be DisBarred

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After yesterday’s shameful performance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and after today’s refusal to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, there are calls from many Democrats for William Barr’s resignation or impeachment.

While such demands are justified (the man flat-out lied to the American people and to Congress about the Mueller report) neither of these avenues will get rid of Barr.

William Barr will not resign. After all, he is doing exactly what he was hired to do … be Trump’s “Roy Cohn.” Said Trump during an interview on Fox Business, “He did a fantastic job today, I’m told. I got to see some of it. He did a fantastic job.”

Impeachment would almost certainly be a dead end.  The same rules apply for impeaching an attorney general as for a president. The House starts the proceedings; the Senate votes to remove. The only difference is that the trial in the Senate would be presided over by the Vice President instead of the Chief Justice.

While many legal scholars agree that Barr’s knowing misrepresentation of the Mueller report’s findings and his lying to Congress rise to the level of impeachable offenses, many believe the Republican-controlled Senate would never vote to remove him.  Harvard constitutional law professor, Laurence Tribe, doesn’t believe the process will ever get started.  Said Tribe, “While Barr’s behavior ‘might in theory’ warrant calls for removal, it ‘seems exceedingly unlikely’.”

A far better and more effective way of getting rid of the man who has no business being the people’s attorney is through disbarment.

While the Attorney General need not be a licensed lawyer to hold the position, necessity requires it. Two main duties of the Attorney General are to: 1. Represent the United States in all legal matters and 2. Furnish advice and opinions, formal and informal, on legal matters to the President and the Cabinet and to the heads of the executive departments and agencies of the government, as provided by law.

In order to represent the United States in legal matters and/or to provide legal advice, the Attorney General must be qualified to do so. In the U.S., in order to provide legal advice, you need to be a licensed attorney.

Needtoimpeach.com has started an online petition calling for Barr’s disbarment:

Attorney General William Barr knowingly misled the public and Congress about the Mueller investigation’s findings, in direct violation of Rule 4.1 of the Virginia State Bar. Barr’s conduct warrants disbarment.

This seems to be the most practical way of ridding our government of this Trump sycophant and legal hack.

Photo | nbcboston.com

Breaking News … Two Dems push D.C., Virginia bar associations to investigate Barr

 

 

Dems Ain’t Buying Barr’s Summary Of Mueller Report

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Let’s see. The man handpicked by Donald Trump, specifically for the purpose of undermining the Special Counsel’s report, exonerates him of obstruction of justice.

It doesn’t matter that Mueller’s report does no such absolving of Trump.

William Barr, Trump’s new Attorney General, is the man who auditioned for the job by sending out an unsolicited 19-page memo to Justice Department officials criticizing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s focus on obstetrician of justice.

Surprise, surprise!

While Mueller’s report does not conclude Trump committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him, no matter the spin put out by Barr and jubilant Republicans.

Of course the Dems want to see the entire Mueller report and all the supporting documents. They are not going to accept a dinky 4-page letter concocted by Trump’s AG.

House Judiciary Committee Chair, Jerry Nadler, wants to haul Barr before his committee to do some testifying.

Tweeted Nadler, “In light of the very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department following the Special Counsel report, where Mueller did not exonerate the President, we will be calling Attorney General Barr in to testify before House Judiciary in the near future.”

While Trumpites are partying like it’s 1999, rest assured this is not over by a long shot.

John Dean, former White House counsel to Richard Nixon, has warned that William Barr may be hiding something “very ugly” inside the report filed by Mueller.

In an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, Dean said, “ We haven’t really seen the underlying report but I have some suspicions that the reason he boiled this down the way he did is because it’s not very attractive, Don, (Mueller’s) words are different than Barr’s, I suspect.”

We will soon get to hear Barr’s words, under oath, in front of a congressional committee.

Let’s see how good Barr is at “splainin’.

Photos | ideastations.org, www1.cbn.com

 

 

 

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