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After Gordon Sondland donated $1,000,000 to Trump's inauguration, Trump appointed him Ambassador to the European Union. Just last month, Trump praised Sondland as "a really good man and great American." Today, Trump told reporters, "I don't know him very well." He's distancing himself after Sondland testified there was indeed a clear "quid pro quo" made at the "express direction" of Trump. Pompeo, Pence, Mulvaney and other officials were aware of it. The noose is tightening.
Impeachment hearing live updates: Sondland says 'We followed the President's orders' on Ukraine
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...ine/ar-BBX2Rms
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Sondland's self-preservation instinct has taken over. He now realizes it was wrong to lie to protect Donald Trump. As CNN editor-at-large Chris Cillizza notes, Sondland's testimony has destroyed the "no quid pro quo" argument of Trump and Republicans:
Analysis: Gordon Sondland just saved himself – and jeopardized Donald Trump's Presidency
https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/11/20/pol...quo/index.html
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It's becoming increasingly difficult for the hosts at Fox News, a.k.a. The Trump Cheerleading Channel, to continue to support and defend the President.
Fox News anchor Bret Baier says the latest impeachment witness testimony is 'very damaging' to the GOP
https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-...ng-gop-2019-11
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When you can't dispute the facts, attack the credibility of those who present the facts. I've watched enough episodes of Matlock and Perry Mason to know that tactic is not always effective.
Republicans try to undercut ambassador who testified Ukraine quid pro quo came at Trump's 'express direction'
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-ne...-19/index.html
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"Oh, the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round....."
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace: Sondland just ran the bus over Trump, Pence, Pompeo, Giuliani and Mulvaney
https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-ne...i-and-mulvaney
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Emperor Trump lies. Emperor Trump lies constantly. When Emperor Trump says he wants "nothing," he is lying. He wants something.
Trump keeps saying 'I want nothing.' Here's what's behind his new slogan.
Marshall Cohen, CNN, Nov 20 2019 2:39 PM
"I want nothing" seems to be Trump’s new mantra. He said it repeatedly in a gaggle with reporters today. He tweeted the phrase as well and re-tweeted Republican lawmakers who used the quote. And Republicans on the House Intel Committee are displaying a large sign with the quote ahead of the evening hearing with State Department official David Hale and Pentagon official Laura Cooper. Here's what it means: The phrase comes from Trump’s September 9 phone call with Gordon Sondland, when Sondland asked him what he wanted from Ukraine in exchange for lifting the freeze on US military assistance.
"It was a very short, abrupt conversation," Sondland said. "He was not in a good mood. And he just said I want nothing. I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. Tell Zelensky to do the right thing." Despite the rhetoric, Trump's "I want nothing" mantra doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Sondland himself testified that there were conditions on official actions, like a White House invitation for Ukraine's new leader Volodymyr Zelensky. The conditions were that Zelensky publicly announce investigations into the Bidens and into conspiracies about the 2016 election.
Other witnesses — like former White House aide Alexander Vindman and US diplomat Bill Taylor — testified that they understood that those public announcements needed to happen before the White House would release the military aid. Also, the "I want nothing" defense falls flat when compared with comments last month from White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaeny, who brazenly admitted that the military aid was withheld until Ukraine helped with the investigation into 2016. It could be a strong talking point – it's a simple phrase that Trump can inject into the conversation. But it’s not accurate.
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-ne...8555af5d2f24ed
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Elie Honig was a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, 2004-12, and a prosecutor for the state of New Jersey, 2012-18. He now serves as general counsel to a law firm and writes legal anaylsis for CNN. Today he speculates that Trump now has only one way out of the Ukraine mess: blame Giuliani.
Trump's defenses are almost entirely gone
https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/11/20/opi...nig/index.html
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We now know when Trump told Sondland to declare that Trump wanted no quid pro quo: it was after Trump learned of the whistleblower's complaint and after Trump had already demanded a quid pro quo. His "I want nothing" declaration was an attempt at damage control. It was also a lie.
In an echo of Watergate and John Dean, an adviser points to Trump
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...ump/ar-BBX4hyB
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Pompeo is a graduate of West Point and Harvard Law School. Pompeo heard the July 25 Trump-Zelensky phone call. Pompeo knew the quid pro quo offer was wrong: A United States President should not withhold Congressionally-approved military aid and demand a foreign country investigate American citizens. Pompeo knew it was wrong – but said nothing. Pompeo has also refused to submit documents subpoenaed by House impeachment investigators. Now there are calls for him to resign. He was reportedly planning to leave the State Department next year in order to run for the Senate in Kansas. Owing to his involvement in the Ukraine scandal, he may wind up leaving much sooner than he'd planned – and he shouldn't get his hopes up about winning a Senate seat.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is searching for a safe exit ahead of Senate run, GOP sources say
https://time.com/5732232/mike-pompeo...un-state-exit/
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Republicans know Emperor Trump is guilty of bribery and abuse of power but they don't dare admit it. The Emperor would have their heads. They can't deny or dispute the facts so instead they attack the witnesses. Emperor Trump also attacks the witnesses – viciously. He even attacks Fox News now because some of their hosts no longer worship him as much as they used to.
Republicans seek to muddy impeachment evdence as their defense of Trump
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...ump/ar-BBX6nrd
Trump lashes out at Fox News amid impeachment fight
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/1...achment-072393
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Russia expert and former White House adviser Fiona Hill told House impeachment investigators today she had warned Sondland that his effort in Ukraine "is all going to blow up." She believed he was conducting foreign policy on his own, without the knowledge of the NSC. Then she learned the truth: Sondland was acting on behalf of Trump in pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. David Holmes, an aide at the US embassy in Ukraine, is also testifying today. And Emperor Trump, as usual, is attacking Democrats and attacking the witnesses.
Impeachment hearings live updates: Trump calls Democrats 'human scum' as two more witnesses testify in inquiry
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...iry/ar-BBX6tSG
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Golly gee, the Trump White House intends to abide by the Constitution of the United States of America. What a novelty!
White House backs full Senate trial if House impeaches Trump
White House officials and Republican senators agreed the Senate should not immediately dismiss any articles of impeachment against the President.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/1...s-trump-072578
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Adam Schiff today noted that Donald Trump, on the day after Robert Mueller released the report detailing Russian interference in our 2016 election, asked a foreign nation to interfere in our 2020 election. Schiff concluded, "There is nothing more dangerous than an unethical President who believes he is above the law."
CNN is reporting that House Democrats say they now have enough evidence to impeach Donald Trump. They would love to hear testimony from Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, Mick Mulvaney and Rick Perry, all of whom heard the July 25 Trump-Zelensky phone call, but Trump has ordered them to not testify. Democrats will not seek their testimony and will move forward with impeachment. As MSNBC's Ari Melber points out, if any of those four could have offered any defense of Trump, we would have already heard from them. He also theorizes they don't want to lie to protect Trump (like Michael Cohen did) and wind up in jail (like Michael Cohen).
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The idiotic conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, meddled in our 2016 Presidential election has been completely debunked. Emperor Trump's advisers told him so – but of course he never listens to his advisers. Trump continues to believe the conspiracy theory. He says he wanted Ukraine to investigate it. He also said he wanted to work with Ukraine to "root out corruption" but, as every impeachment witness has testified and no impeachment witness has denied, Trump didn't care about corruption or Ukraine but only about getting damaging information about the Bidens. Unfortunately for our nation, Trump's blindly loyal lackeys in Congress continue to support him and defend him, no matter how many lies, false accusations, personal attacks and conspiracy theories it takes.
AP FACT-CHECK: Trump, GOP claims on Ukraine corruption
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factc...ion/ar-BBX8vlK
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Withholding Congressionally-approved military aid and demanding a foreign country dig up dirt on a political opponent is, as Adam Schiff put it, "far more serious than a third-rate burglary of Democratic headquarters," referring to the 1973 Watergate scandal. Congressional Republicans have now heard all the testimony and they still march in lockstep in support of Emperor Trump, who is a dangerous, deranged, delusional, irrational, erratic, self-serving cult leader – and they are the blindly loyal followers who worship him almost as much as he worships himself. Trump has destroyed the Republican party and Trump is destroying America – and the Republicans let him do it. This is one of the darkest periods in our nation's history.
'The picture has been painted': Hearings unite Democrats behind impeachment
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...ent/ar-BBX8WXN
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"This was a great week for the hoax. You know the hoax? The impeachment hoax." Thus spake Emperor Trump. He obviously knows absolutely nothing about the Constitutional process of impeachment. All he knows is: it's about him. Everything is about him. A lengthy phone interview this morning on Fox News' Fox & Friends was filled with falsehoods. Trump said Ukraine is corrupt. A lie. Trump said Ukraine meddled in our election. A lie. Trump said his call with Zelensky was perfect. A lie. Trump said the whistleblower's complaint was false. A lie. Trump said he hardly knows Gordon Sondland. A lie. Trump said Obama spied on his campaign. A lie. What is sad is that the blindly loyal Trump supporters who watch Fox News believe everything he says.
Trump attacks impeachment inquiry and accuses a witness of lying
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/u...interview.html
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Letter from Terry Sternberg of West Hills in today's Los Angeles Times:
"Trump supporters fall all over themselves to honor our service members, thanking them for their service at every opportunity. Given Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's statements, it seems their gratitude now might need to come with a qualifier: 'Thank you for your service – unless, of course, you testify, truthfully or not, in a manner harmful to the President.'"
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Joe Biden made a false assumption: He assumes Lindsey Graham has a conscience. Actually, I don't think any Congressional Republicans have a conscience. If they did, they would value the Constitution, the rule of law and the integrity of our elections more than they value Trump and the Republican party. Sadly, every one of them – every one – puts Trump first. They absolutely worship the leader of their cult.
Biden: Lindsey Graham will 'regret his whole life' doing Trump's bidding on Ukraine
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/polit...ntv/index.html
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The hearings may not be over. There is speculation that former National Security Adviser John Bolton will finally agree to testify before House impeachment investigators. Indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas has "first-hand information" and wants to testify. House Democrats hope to file articles of impeachment before Christmas. A trial would then be held in January in the Senate.
Lev Parnas offers impeachment investigators 'hard evidence' of Trump administration wrongdoing
Parnas is begging to testify as top Ukrainian official puts him at Giuliani meeting central to impeachment probe.
https://www.salon.com/2019/11/22/lev...mp-wrongdoing/
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Trump loves Russia. Republicans love Trump. Russia loves Trump and Republicans because Trump and Republicans gladly and eagerly spread Russian propaganda. Bсе они предатели Соединенных Штатов Америки.
To defend Trump, Republicans spew wacky, wild-eyed conspiracy theories
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/opini...zer/index.html
Charges of Ukrainian meddling? A Russian operation, U.S. Intelligence says
Moscow has run a years-long operation to blame Ukraine for its own 2016 election interference. Republicans have used similar talking points to defend President Trump in impeachment proceedings.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/u...erference.html
