THE TESTIMONY!
Transcripts of closed-door testimony were released Monday and Tuesday: those of Maria Yovanovitch and Michael McKinley on Monday, and those of Kurt Volker and Gordon Sondland on Tuesday.
One of the most disturbing aspects arising from the content of the transcripts is the smear campaign and frightening set of circumstances that Ambassador Yavonovich found herself in. She stated that she was told to "watch her back," and she told lawmakers that she felt threatened; that she was in fear for her safety by her own country. She still feels at risk for retaliation. Shocking and shameful.
Ambassador Yavonovich testified that when she sought help from one of the three amigos, E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland, he told her to tweet out something flattering of the president*. She summarized Sondland's advice: "You need to, you know, tweet out there that you support the president and that all these are lies and everything else." She didn't do it. And this 30-year veteran of the foreign service lost her job.
Michael McKinley, who was an aide to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, corroborated her account and was distressed at the treatment of her. He described it as "bullying tactics," saying it "had a very serious effect on morale."
Tuesday's release of Volker's testimony pretty much re-stated the facts as we know them. Volker's testimony went into the depths of Rudy Giuliani's involvement in the shadow diplomacy efforts with Ukraine. Volker testified that he himself texted a Ukrainian official a script for President Zelensky to use to publicly announce an investigation into Burisma, the firm that Hunter Biden worked for, and the conspiracy theory about the 2016 election interference. Volker corroborates most of the other facts, but downplays the illegalities – or his understanding of the illegalities – of all the shadowy dealings. But he's not in the position to decide the illegalities nor the degree of gravity of this blatant abuse of power. That's up to Congress.
Gordon Sondland, who remember is not a "never Trumper," but a pro-TЯUMP, bought-his-ambassadorship, no-experience official – decided to amend his testimony. It seems his memory was "refreshed;" possibly refreshed by the prospect of perjury charges after it was clear that testimony from Bill Taylor and Tim Morrison contradicted his own! Sondland's revision indicates that Ukraine was clear on the knowledge that there was a quid pro quo, having delivered himself that message about military aid being contingent on an announcement of investigation into the Bidens. This is pretty big stuff. It outlines the quiddiest of quid pro quos out of the mouth of a Trumper, not at all part of the Deep State. Not a "radical left Dem," or for that matter any kind of Dem. It's a guy who donated one million dollars to 45's inauguration. A guy who found his conscience, stood for country, and told the truth.
If you want to read the full transcripts, they are here:
Yavanovich
McKinley
Volker
Sondland (amendment at the end)
Someday maybe I'll get a chance to read them.
The depositions were at least nine hours each, and the transcripts are hundreds of pages long. If I were retired, or say, employed as a Member of Congress, I would read them, but I have a full life, so I depend on our free press to read and report on the content.
I would love to read the transcripts! And after clamoring for the closed-door committees to "let them in!" you'd think GOP members of Congress would want to read them, too, right? You'd be wrong.
Most bizarrely, SCROTUS tweeted that "Republicans should give their own transcripts." As if congressional stenographers are part of the Deep State. So weird. And so propaganda-y.
There were four no-shows to the impeachment inquiry hearings on Monday. To my mind, it doesn't matter for the evidence: the facts are pretty straight-forward and they aren't being contested. Defying subpoenas gives the impeachment committees reason to write up articles of impeachment for contempt and gives fuel to the idea that obstruction of justice may be considered consciousness of guilt.
Upcoming witnesses: A couple of biggies, whose participation is questionable: Mick Mulvaney, acting chief of staff, who has already admitted a quid pro quo on television, and former national security advisor John Bolton. Lev Parnas, one of the thugs that is close to Giuliani, agreed to cooperate with Congress. He has been indicted on campaign-finance violations.
And next week! Public hearings will be televised on Wednesday, November 13 and Friday, November 15. Guess who has two thumbs and is going to arrange her schedule accordingly? This girl! Tune in Wednesday for Bill Taylor, one of the most compelling witnesses. You'll remember him as a career public servant and Vietnam veteran, Master's degree from Harvard and BS from West Point. Taylor has served under Presidents Bush II and Obama.
The Don continued to try to pressure for the publication of the whistleblower's name, and smarmy Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has implored the press to publish the individual's name. Even Faux News has rejected that idea.
Paul has stated that he thinks he knows who it is and "probably will" out the individual himself. He's all mixed up about the Constiution, too (surprise). He asserts that it's 45's 6th Amendment right to face his accuser. Pssst... Rand... that's for criminal trials, not impeachment proceedings. 45's accusers will be we the people, represented by the House of Representatives, and we'd luuurve to have him face us. So, while you're on break this week, go back to Kentucky and study up!
It's immoral to identify the whistleblower, and it's dangerous to do so, too, which is probably why Paul and Agent Orange want to do it. They don't really want to hear from him. After all, his knowledge is not "
THE PIVOT!
In the face of overwhelming evidence about the president's* abuse of power, Repugs are pivoting from "but there was no quid pro quo!" to "Ok there was quid pro quo and that's inappropriate but it's not impeachable!" Wanna bet? Just watch.
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| Tom Toles |
To remind you, "impeachment" is not removal from office. The Senate may very well decide not to remove him from office, but they will have no choice if public opinion demands it. That's why the upcoming public hearings will be so important. Also important are your phone calls to your Members of Congress.
Strike that. Why don't you fax instead? Monday it was reported that the Republican National Committee funded efforts to jam Democratic representatives' phone lines. Aw, come on, really? Shaking my head. The depths of despair drives dumb deeds.
But that shall not impede public discourse. Use resist.bot to fax your members of Congress. It's super easy – do it from text or Messenger!
THE FIRES!
In the past few weeks, California has been decimated by multiple wildfires up and down the state. SCROTUS has threatened to withhold aid to California in their fight against wildfires. In a bizarre string of tweets on Sunday, he again asserted that somehow California is "pouring out water into the Pacific ocean" and should "clean the forest floors." WTF does that even mean?
We get it, you hate liberal California. You are a petty, vindictive man, who governs only the reddest of places (domestic and foreign, if ya know what I mean). Yeah, California is not worth the assistance to fight wildfire, but apparently, Russia is. Last summer, the Kremlin reported that TЯUMP offered assistance in fighting wildfires in Siberia.
What the hell does Russia have on their White House agent? Someday we'll know.
THE POLLS!
New opinion polls came out on Monday. Increasing numbers of Americans support impeachment, especially among independents. 45's approval ratings continue to slide while disapproval ratings increased, for a net underwater rating of negative 13.6. The Dems are looking good in races throughout the United States. Here is raw poll data from FiveThirtyEight. Here is an analysis about the Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Meanwhile, SCROTUS keeps making up polls that only live in his head, which he has done since day one. This time, he says he has "the real polls," but he still doesn't share them.
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| Dave Whamond |
Voters went to the polls in a few states on Tuesday. There were big Democratic victories in Virginia and Kentucky! Virginia flipped the state house and senate, giving Democrats control of both bodies for the first time in almost 25 years. Kentucky elected a Democratic governor. <LSR peers at the horizon. Yep, a blue wave is a-comin'!>
And here is a fun victory. Remember the woman who was photographed flipping off the presidential motorcade? Juli Briskman won a seat on her Virginia county's Board of Supervisors, beating an eight-year Republican incumbent.
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| May more strong women put activism into action! |
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