Progressives (Liberals)

“Bernie and I have worked together for a very long time and we continue to do so,” Warren said. “I’ve said all I’m going to say about that.”

President Trump is stamping all over American justice and is showing what a crook he is by refusing to let white house employees answer questions about illicit aactivities.

If he is innocent why does he refuse to let the white house employees answer questions put to them by a legally elected house.

He should be impeached for his blocking the house from doing its duty.

I only hope it actually hits home to some of republican senators. Even if not enough to convict, I would be encouraged if a few showed some backbone and a conscience. Not holding my breath.

I have real trouble comprehending the Republicans' complete abandonment of those most fundamental moral and political principles.

How do they imagine they might avoid the consequences?

Even if they prize their jobs and all that attends those jobs, how can they justify their personal complicity in such a clear example of national degradation?

I have real trouble comprehending the Republicans' complete abandonment of those most fundamental moral and political principles.

A recording reviewed by ABC News appears to capture President Donald Trump telling associates he wanted the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch fired while speaking at a small gathering that included Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman -- two former business associates of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani who have since been indicted in New York.

The recording appears to contradict statements by President Trump and support the narrative that has been offered by Parnas during broadcast interviews in recent days. Sources familiar with the recording said the recording was made during an intimate April 30, 2018, dinner at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Trump has said repeatedly he does not know Parnas, a Soviet-born American who has emerged as a wild card in Trump’s impeachment trial, especially in the days since Trump was impeached.

"Get rid of her!" is what the voice that appears to be President Trump’s is heard saying. "Get her out tomorrow. I don't care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it."

On the recording, it appears the two Giuliani associates are telling President Trump that the U.S. ambassador has been bad-mouthing him, which leads directly to the apparent remarks by the President. The recording was made by Fruman, according to sources familiar with the tape.

“Every President in our history has had the right to place people who support his agenda and his policies within his Administration,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said.

During the conversation, several of the participants can be heard laughing with the president. At another point, the recording appears to capture Trump praising his new choice of secretary of state, saying emphatically: “[Mike] Pompeo is the best.” But the most striking moment comes when Parnas and the president discuss the dismissal of his ambassador to Ukraine.

Parnas appears to say: "The biggest problem there, I think where we need to start is we gotta get rid of the ambassador. She's still left over from the Clinton administration," Parnas can be heard telling Trump. "She's basically walking around telling everybody 'Wait, he's gonna get impeached, just wait." (Yovanovitch actually had served in the State Department since the Reagan administration.)

It was not until a year later that Yovanovitch was recalled from her position -- in April 2019. She said the decision was based on “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives” that she was disloyal to Trump.

The latest GOP excuse for helping Trump’s coverup is a scam

Right now, the most urgent task for GOP senators is to prevent new witnesses and evidence from shedding fresh light on the most corrupt act at the center of President Trump’s Ukraine scheme: his freezing of military aid to extort its president into carrying out Trump’s dirty political deeds.

Given that Trump and his defenders continue to insist that this act — like everything else he has done — is entirely above reproach, this is a difficult argument to make, even for Republicans practiced in the most comically disingenuous arguments imaginable.

And their newest excuse is a total scam. CNN reports:

Quote:

A growing number of Republicans are pointing to President Donald Trump's threat to invoke executive privilege in order to make their case against subpoenas sought by Democrats for key witnesses and documents, a development that could bolster Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's goal of a swift end to the impeachment trial.

As CNN reports, GOP senators are “raising concerns” that a court fight over such subpoenas “will only serve to drag out the proceedings.” McConnell is warning of an “infinite” delay, an argument that, according to CNN, is “gaining traction within his conference."

Bottomless bad faith
First, let’s marvel at the laughable bad faith here. If McConnell doesn’t want any “delay,” it’s because he wants a quick trial to minimize the political damage to Trump — and to his vulnerable members — in keeping with his vow to run the trial in absolute conformity with Trump’s legal and political needs. So this “justification" actually gives away the whole sordid game.

And if this idea is “gaining traction” among GOP senators, what that really means is that they increasingly see it as a way to obscure their real motive for voting against new witnesses and documents, which they’ve always intended to do anyway...

Adam Schiff's closing remarks point to the precise and critical dangers now facing the US