Pelosi announces impeachment inquiry of Trump

Emperor Trump asked Vladimir Putin to find Hillary's missing emails in 2016. He asked the Australian Primie Minister to help him discredit the Mueller investigation. He asked Ukraine's President to help him dig up dirt on Joe and Hunter Biden. But enough about Emperor Trump. Let's see what his Attorney General has been up to.

Attorney General William Barr personally asked foreign officials to aid inquiry into CIA, FBI activities in 2016

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...016/ar-AAI4Q6S

Has the swamp been drained yet?

I'm starting to think we need a separate thread for all the hundreds of political polls. Here is one that is quite telling:

Donald Trump's approval rating is six points lower than support for his impeachment: Poll

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-appro...nipiac-1462267

A few Repuublicans are starting to realize that they don't dare try to shut down the investigation of the whistleblower's complaint the way they tried to shut down the Mueller investigation. After all, if Emperor Trump is totally innocent of wrongdoing (as he claims to be), then Republicans have nothing to fear, right?

Senator Chuck Grassley: Whistleblower should be 'heard out and protected'

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/chu.../01/id/935152/

The Tweeter-In-Chief has once again shared incorrect and inaccurate information – but, hey, he's the Emperor! Facts are whatever he says they are.

Fact-checking Trump's 'Impeach this' map
CNN, Oct 1 2019 6:!5 PM ET

President Donald Trump today tweeted a map his daughter-in-law Lara Trump had shared on Saturday. The map purports to show county-by-county results map of the 2016 election, filled with red for counties Trump supposedly won. The words "Try to impeach this" were plastered across the middle.

The Trumps did not produce this map themselves. It was published in 2016 on HuffPost but it is not correct. The map inaccurately displays multiple blue counties won by Hillary Clinton as red counties won by Trump. It was also not the first time Trump has displayed an inaccurate county-by-county election map; he also displayed one in early 2018. And it was far from the first time that Trump has tweeted information from others without verifying it himself.

As numerous analysts have pointed out when Trump has previously touted county-level maps, such maps provide incomplete information. Specifically, they do not distinguish between a county with millions of residents and a county with a few thousand. Clinton earned nearly three million more votes than Trump even though he won far more counties.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/01/polit...eck/index.html

Further proof that partisanship, hypocrisy and double standards are alive and well:

It's time: Newspapers should demand Trump resign. That's what they told Bill Clinton.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/1889240

Emperor Trump vowed to "make America great again," although he never explained when America was great or why it was great or what caused it to cease being great. Well, we know Emperor Trump is the biggest reason why America is not great in October 2019. Here is an insightful letter from Alexander Rivkin of Los Angeles in today's Los Angeles Times:

"My family left Ukraine in 1975 when it was still in the Soviet Union. We left because the corruption of the Soviet system forced every citizen to live a life of theft, grift and lying. We heard that America was about justice and equality, not grift and anti-Semitism. And we were right. Until now. Soliciting election interference as military aid for a desperate nation is being held back? Threatening the legislator investigating him with arrest for a crime whose punishment includes execution? I thought I had left all of this behind. It is ironic that as Trump bludgeons the rule of law with impunity, as he tries to bring Soviet-style kleptocracy to America, it is little ex-Soviet Ukraine that is likely to destroy his regime."

If Emperor Trump is impeached, it is almost a certainty that no Senate Republican will vote to remove him from office. Trump said he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and not lose any support. That boast turned out to be prescient and it applies not only to Trump's blindly loyal supporters but also to Congressional Republicans. They are Trump's enablers, standing by silently and letting him say and do whatever he wants, no matter how immoral, how unethical or how unConstitutional. But if a Democrat committed any of the offenses Trump has committed, Republicans would be demanding an impeachment or a resignation. So Trump will likely be impeached and the spineless Republicans who care about Trump and their party and little else will just shrug and say Trump did nothing wrong. They will ensure Trump remains above the law – and voters will remember this on Election Day 2020.

Impeachment rules say Senate must act – but its act might be a swift dismissal of the accusations

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...sal/ar-AAI7VHX

It should surprise no one that the Republicans' longstanding policy, "See no evil in Trump, hear no evil about Trump, speak no evil about Trump," remains in effect.

Poll: Only 4 in 10 Republicans think Trump mentioned Biden on Ukraine call even though he admitted doing so

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...-so/ar-AAI7xTM

Emperor Trump has decreed that he is not the target of an impeachment. No, he's the target of a coup. Not only that, but the whistleblower's complaint, which the Trump-appointed Inspector General regarded as "urgent" and "credible," is actually a "Democratic hoax" by a "partisan hack." Does Trump know the identity of the whistleblower? No – but that doesn't stop Trump from spewing insults and accusations. And the Secretary of State is trying to intimidate potential witnesses from the State Department and keep them from testifying on Capitol Hill. Can you say "obstruction of justice"? I knew you could.

Trump ratchets up anti-impeachment rhetoric as troubles mount

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/10/02/pol...peo/index.html

Emperor Trump yesterday accused Democrats of trying to stage a "coup" which would take away Americans' "freedoms, their Second Amendment, religion, military, border wall." Wow. The Los Angeles Times' Jon Healey explains why an impeachment is not a coup, nor is it about the Second Amendment, religion, the military or a wall. It is about Trump. Period.

Opinion: Impeachment is a 'coup'? Trump and Giuliani flunk civics class.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...iuliani-tweets

"This is worse than McCarthy," Giuliani complained. Yeah, how dare anyone attempt to hold Emperor Trump accountable for his abuse of power, his obstruction of justice and his many unConstitutional actions!

Giuliani suggests suing House Democrats over Trump impeachment probe

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...obe/ar-AAIalwm

In an essay for CNN, four historians who have researched every United States President note that "Trump's documentary record differs dramatically from his predecessors. A worrisome thread runs through each conversation. Trump appears laser-focused on his own fortunes to the exclusion of the national security of the United States. Unfortunately, this is part of a larger and startling pattern of Trump promoting his personal agenda ahead of the nation's interests." In conversations with Vladimir Putin, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison, Kim Jong-un, Volodymyr Zelensky, Enrique Peña Nieto and other world leaders, Donald Trump wants one thing only: Whatever will benefit Donald Trump. He's not trying to "make America great." He's trying to make himself great. Three hundred ninety-seven days till Election Day.

Historians on Trump: We've never seen anything like this

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/02/opini...uri/index.html

Trump's rage is building so rapidly, an apoplexy could be in his near future. His constant squawks of "Hoax!" and "Witch hunt!" and his non-stop attacks on Adam Schiff, Joe Biden, House Democrats, the whistleblower and others are not really bolstering his case that he's done nothing wrong.

Trump's private fury over impeachment spills into the public
CNN, Oct 2 2019 5:46 PM ET

When President Donald Trump erupted in rage during two appearances today, it foreshadowed a dark and unsettled impeachment season ahead. There was little strategy evident as Trump railed against Democrats and the media during public events with Finland's president. And there were few new answers that might help alleviate the situation he finds himself in after asking a foreign counterpart to investigate a political rival. "This is the greatest hoax. This is just a continuation of what's been playing out since my election," Trump said during an East Room press conference that became progressively more heated as Trump faced questions about his predicament. "This is a fraudulent crime on the American people."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/02/polit...ger/index.html

We now know why Mike Pence is called "Vice President" – he aids and abets the President's many vices.

Trump involved Pence in efforts to pressure Ukraine’s leader; aides say Vice President was unaware of pursuit of dirt on Bidens

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/...e-14487239.php

Attorney Mark Zaid, who represents the whistleblower, confirmed to CNN that no one from the House Intelligence Committee helped write the complaint. Emperor Trump, who never lets facts, truth and reality interfere with his delusions, believes otherwise. He wants "Shifty Schiff" arrested for treason. Committee spokesman Patrick Boland said the whistleblower did ask for "guidance on how to report possible wrongdoing" but nobody on the Committee assisted in the writing of the complaint or saw it in advance. Asking a committee for guidance in writing a report is a common practice in both parties.

Trump claims, without evidence, that Rep. Adam Schiff 'helped write' the whistleblower complaint

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/02/tru...wer-complaint/

The "propaganda" consists of notes and documents relating to now-debunked conspiracy theories involving Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, CrowdStrike, Ukraine and former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. They provide further evidence that Emperor Trump and Rudy Giuliani have been using the resources of the State Department to further Trump's political interests and discredit his opponents. Can you say "abuse of power"? I knew you could.

Democrats say State Department watchog turned over 'package of propaganda'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...nda/ar-AAIcu1n

Emperor Trump falsely claimed the rough transcript of his phone call to Zelensky was a "word-for-word, comma-for-comma" account. It now appears much of the 30-minute conversation was not documented – unless they were speeeeakiiiing verrrry slowwwwly. The transcript also includes some ellipses: series of dots which may indicate parts of the call were omitted from the record. But, hey, Trump has nothing to hide. He keeps insisting the phone call was "perfect."

Odd markings, ellipses fuel doubts about the rough transcript of Trump's phone call

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...all/ar-AAIcuCU

If Trump is impeached, 20 Senate Republicans would have to side with Democrats in order for the Senate to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to remove Trump from office. I can't envision even one Republican voting against Trump. The Republican party comes first. But being impeached will make Trump a branded man, so to speak. CNN's Stephen Collinson analyzes Trump's total tailspin into terminal testiness, terrible tantrums, temerarious taunting and toxic tweets:

Trump's foul mood leads him deeper into darkness
While current political conditions seem unlikely to lead to his ouster from office, Trump appears powerless to save himself from the historical scar of impeachment.

https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/10/03/pol...iry/index.html

Have you ever heard a high-school student ask a teacher, "Could you please not give the test today? I know I would get an F on it." No? Well, how about this:

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy calls on Pelosi to suspend impeachment inquiry

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4...chment-inquiry

"I'm the Emperor! I'm above the law! I can ask Ukraine to help me politically if I want to, okay? Same as I asked Russia. And Mexico. And Australia. And.....let me think. What country can I ask next? Oh, I know."

Impeachment pressure: Trump says China should investigate Joe Biden, family

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ly/3850191002/