An impeachment trial in the senate would presumably be run through the Senate Judiciary Committee (presiding judge John Roberts), unless there are constitutionally permitted process rule changes.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham begins to get specific about what he will and will-not allow as part of the senate trial. Graham notes the ‘hearsay rule’ will be applied to the House evidence within the article(s) as presented. Additionally, Graham notes that anonymous witnesses (ie. “whistleblower”) will not be permitted.
Day One of the Pelosi, Schiff and Lawfare effort to publicly construct support for the impeachment of President Trump ends. Within the questioning of State Department officials George Kent and Bill Taylor the value of adding Jim Jordan to the hearings became clear.
Jim Jordan, Elise Stefanik and John Ratcliffe methodically deconstructed the false premise advanced by the impeachment crew. It became clear that both Kent and Taylor held no specific and direct knowledge of the substance behind the claims made by the democrats leading the effort. Here’s a few highlights starting with Jim Jordan:
Jordan pressed Taylor on how he came to have a “clear understanding” that the U.S. aid to Ukraine was dependent on opening an investigation into Trump’s political rivals. Jordan said there was no “linkage” and Ambassador Taylor said he came to his “clear conclusion” based on what other people said about what other people heard about conversations with other people.
The House Intelligence Committee will begin holding public hearings to impeach President Donald Trump today at 10:00am EDT. The hearings are carefully scripted, organized and planned. Day One begins with Ambassador William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent. To support the Democrat impeachment effort all major media networks are carrying the event live, and promoting their anticipation of drama.
Impeachment Chairman Adam Schiff has threatened severe punishment if any member of congress speaks publicly about the CIA helping to organize the ‘whistleblower‘ effort.
Mr. Taylor currently serves as the Chargé D’affaires for the U.S. State Department in Ukraine. Mr. Kent serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the European and Eurasian Bureau at the U.S. Department of State. Both State Dept. officials disagree with President Trump’s foreign policy which they hope will lead to his removal from office. Fox News Livestream – Fox Business Livestream – CSPAN Livestream – HPSCI Livestream
ICIG Michael Atkinson is the link that connects Spygate to the Schiff Impeachment Effort
Chad Pergram noted that Intelligence Community Inspector General (IGIC) Michael Atkinson was spotted today going into HPSCI Chairman Schiffs’ basement bunker for discussions with the impeachment inquisitors.
This is interesting because it was reported today that ICIG Atkinson has now received an ethics complaint about a GoFundMe account set up by the CIA ‘whistleblower’ attorney, Mark S. Zaid, to finance the ongoing efforts of CIA operative Eric Ciaramella.
The dirty dealing is getting thick. Attorney Mark Zaid has claimed to be working pro-bono for his CIA client. Meanwhile Adam Schiff is threatening anyone and everyone about keeping the CIA client hidden and anonymous; and the media is all-in with efforts to support the protection. A narrative created by a CIA operative favorable to the coup.
So what exactly is this current $228,000 for? (goal $300k) And who is this group “Values United” who is organizing it? That’s where the letter to ICIG Atkinson comes in: (more…)
Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case: “DHS -vs- Regents of University of California“, also known as the DACA case: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA was instituted by a President Obama ‘executive action’, not an ‘executive order’.
The Obama Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) did not fully support the constitutional framework around the effort to protect a sub-set of illegal aliens; and therefore the originating presidential action was not an official ‘executive order’, a technicality that could end up as part of the argument(s). The same issue existed within DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Arrivals), and was ruled unconstitutional by a divided SCOTUS.
Amy Howe at SCOTUS Blog has a great encapsulation of the case and current status:
In 2012, the Obama administration established a program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allows undocumented young adults who came to the United States as children to apply for protection from deportation.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the ongoing details within the legislative impeachment process. As part of his remarks Leader McCarthy states: “this is a calculated coup orchestrated by Adam Schiff”…
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Sometimes we get so far into the weeds we forget to evaluate our location. The minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives has just stated the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is “orchestrating a coup” against the sitting President of the United States of America… And, McCarthy is correct. (more…)
The closed-door sessions with Adam Schiff and his Lawfare-contracted legal aide, Daniel Goldman, were pre-planned. The process was designed last year. The current HPSCI legislative impeachment process, and every little aspect within it, is the execution of a plan, just like the DOJ/FBI plan was before it in 2016, 2017 & 2018.
Today democrat Representative Eric Swalwell appears on Face The Nation to discuss his ongoing efforts as part of the impeachment agenda. Within the interview Swalwell has a little Freudian slip highlighting how the House is manufacturing witness testimony:
[@01:17] REP. SWALWELL: These witnesses have been fairly consistent. And for the most part, they’ve not been coordinating or talking to each other.
Whoops: “for the most part“? Thereby Mr. Swalwell admits the witnesses are coordinating some testimony. [Transcript Available Here]
In a refreshing change from Fox News Interruptus interviews, where the pundits talk more than the guests, HPSCI ranking member Devin Nunes appears for an interview with Mike Huckabee on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) to discuss the impeachment dynamic.
Within the interview Mr. Nunes walks through the Chairman Schiff impeachment team and then expands with details of the prior witnesses brought to the committee.
HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff responds to the republican witness request list. In the final paragraph of the letter, Schiff announces the “whistleblower”, the person Chairman Schiff coordinated with to initiate the impeachment, will never be called to deliver testimony:
