Mega-Thread: Impeachment Proceedings & Inquiry of Trump

[solinari6]

Castor is preparing to throw Rudy under the bus.

I hope they do it. I seem to remember an article from last week where Rudy had mentioned casually to his friends that "trump would never throw me under the bus, I have protection and know too much" or something to that effect.

[Breccia]

you're not pinning this on me.

Official Trump 2020 slogan confirmed. Narrowly beating out "I don't know him".

It's the latest walk-back from the president about his relationship with Sondland, who donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee.

Trump tweeted last month that Sondland was "a really good man and great American" who he would love to see testify before the impeachment inquiry.

Trump then said earlier this month — after Sondland revised his closed-door impeachment testimony to be more damaging to the president — that he "hardly [knows]" Sondland but added that "this is the man who said there was no quid pro quo."

Today, as Sondland testified before the House Intelligence Committee, Trump said, "I have not spoken to him much. This is not a man I know well. He seems like a nice guy though."

Sondland refused to testify whether he believed Trump's assertion in a Sept. 9 phone call that there was no quid pro quo involving the military aid. While he texted Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, to that end after the call, he testified: "I was just trying to convey what [the president] said on the phone."

Sondland also said that he worked with Rudy Giuliani "at the express direction" of Trump on matters involving Ukraine.

[Casterbridge]

...anyone else starting to feel sad for Nunes and Castor? They seem flustered and without a goal.

I tried to feel some sympathy for Nunes earlier when he was floundering about bringing up literally nothing relevant, but then I kept laughing instead and I gave up.

[Gelannerai]

I hope they do it. I seem to remember an article from last week where Rudy had mentioned casually to his friends that "trump would never throw me under the bus, I have protection and know too much" or something to that effect.

Sort of. It was Mulvaney that made the crack about “knowing too much.” Rudy said something along the lines of having lots of “insurance” covering his ass in case Trump threw him under the bus.

[cubby]

Even Ken Starr thinks today is bad for Trump
https://www.axios.com/ken-starr-trum...6271ea9f8.html

How bad?

This bad -
Ken Starr, lead prosecutor in Clinton impeachment hearings: “There is now proof that the President (Trump) committed the crime of bribery...This has been one of those bombshell days.”

https://twitter.com/someknew/status/...594109953?s=19

On Fox no less.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Ken Starr has been briefly outspoken (no, I'm not sure what that phrase means either) about the Democrats targeting unfairly Trump and his administration. IIRC, this is the first time Starr has come out and said, "wow, that's bad - maybe Trump shouldn't be in office anymore".

[kaelleria]

I hope they do it. I seem to remember an article from last week where Rudy had mentioned casually to his friends that "trump would never throw me under the bus, I have protection and know too much" or something to that effect.

It's the only reasonable play they have left.

I guess they're not very reasonable so we'll see what happens!

[cubby]

More on Ken Starr's statement on Fox...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ken-st...imony?ref=home

Oh. My. God.

Kaelleria you are killing it with these Starr quotes.

I would love to be a fly on the wall in McConnell's inner sanctum right now.

[Drutt]

Starr has to be a bellwether for the mood of the GOP senators. He's as partisan as they come.

[Casterbridge]

So let me see if I can summarize the day so far.

The GOP including Sondland all had a footrace to a bus, Sondland got their first, ran over Trump and Guilliani, threw the bus in reverse and did it again, with Nunes and co. looking on in shocked horror.

On the sidelines, you have Pelosi and Schiff watching with Grinch-like smiles on their faces.

That about sound about right?

[Breccia]

That about sound about right?

There's an especially famous episode of Big Bang where a couple of the characters say "Wait, if Indiana Jones didn't show up, the Nazis never would have found the Ark, and even if they did, they would have opened it and died. Indiana Jones and Marian didn't need to even be there."

That's Schiff and Pelosi. Did they crack whips and shoot flashy swordsmen? Yes. Would the Nazis still have melted and died, because they peeked into something in public, if they weren't there? Yes.

[Huntingbear_grimbatol]

You know shit's real when Wolverine is lurking in the back.
https://imgur.com/g1k3bZg

[Edge-]

https://www.newsweek.com/resurfaced-...ewsweekTwitter

More old video of Lindsey Graham from the Clinton impeachment days. I think the Lindsey Graham of 1998 would have big problems with the Lindsey Graham of 2019

Members of the Senate have said, ‘I understand everything there is about this case and I won’t vote to impeach the president.’ Please allow the facts to do the talking.

[Justank]

Holy balls Jim Jordan is retarded, this is painful to watch.

[Breccia]

This TheHill list shows exactly how Trump has disavowed the various people testifying, strongly suggesting either

a) he doesn't know the majority of people he hires and does not work with them, or
b) he's lying.

Pick one. Neither trait is redeeming.

[Thekri]

I LOVE how all the Republicans are literally parroting exactly what Trump wrote in Sharpie. They decided that was their best hope for something they could hang on here.

Also, listen to Gym Jordan's tone right now. Does that sound like the voice of someone that is in control of the situation?

[kaid]

Holy balls Jim Jordan is retarded, this is painful to watch.

He is going all in forgetting that the only reason this thing failed is because the whistleblower ratted them out before it happened. Hell even fareed zakaria said he had a spot with zelinksy all setup that fell apart at the same time that the whistleblower info came out and then congress forced the money it had already appropriated through. Trying asking for bribes and trying to bribe somebody is still a crime if you fail it is the attempt that matters. If you go into a bank with your gun and ask for the money being stopped before you actually get the money does not make the rest of it not a crime.

[Huntingbear_grimbatol]

Holy balls Jim Jordan is retarded, this is painful to watch.

He's just repeating talking points the Republicans have relied on for weeks.
Trump team tried to make a Quid Pro Quo ..."but nothing happened!"
Trump team offered a meeting between the Presidents in the White House ..."but the meeting never happened!"
"how can it be a quid pro quo if nothing happened?" ...because attempt to bribe and attempt to abuse power is still a serious misuse of the Presidents power.

[Elegiac]

So what did I mi--

*notices a trail of mangled bodies with Gordon Sondland freewheeling a school bus in the distance*

Oh, okay then.

For those of you less familiar with the history of impeachment, Ken Starr suggesting GOP Senators "take a trip" to the White House is significant. Because the last such trip of this type was the one the GOP Senators conducted to inform Nixon that they wouldn't protect him in the Senate.

[D Luniz]

Is Castor really the best lawyer the GOP could find?

Where'd he get his certificate, a cereal box mail in promotion?

Tripped on a table leg and so was last to the door when the rest fled

[Redwyrm]

*notices a trail of mangled bodies with Gordon Sondland freewheeling a school bus in the distance*

You guys paint the prettiest pictures