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Video and Audio Title: Nancy Pelosi Announces Formal Impeachment Inquiry of Trump WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who for months resisted efforts to launch impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, announced a formal inquiry on Tuesday, saying that the president’s growing Ukraine scandal marked a “breach of his Constitutional responsibilities.” “This week the president has admitted to asking the president of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically,” Pelosi said. “The actions of the Trump presidency revealed the dishonorable fact of the president’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections,” she continued. “Therefore, today I am announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.” Pelosi said she was formally directing the House’s six committees that have jurisdiction over impeachment, oversight and other related matters to “proceed with their investigations under that umbrella.” “The president must be held accountable,” she said. “No one is above the law.” Pelosi’s change of heart comes as dozens of House Democrats — now more than two-thirds of the caucus — have come out in support of an impeachment inquiry in the wake of reports that Trump may have withheld aid to Ukraine to pressure officials there to investigate the son of political rival Joe Biden. The impeachment drive follows days of revelations surrounding Trump’s apparent push to have the Ukrainian government investigate the former vice president’s son Hunter Biden, who had business dealings in the country. On Monday, The Washington Post and other media outlets reported that Trump instructed his acting chief of staff to place a hold on about $400 million in military aid for Ukraine in the days before a late July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump responded on Twitter within moments of Pelosi’s announcement, calling it “Witch Hunt garbage.” “They never even saw the transcript of the call. A total Witch Hunt!” he wrote. Earlier, Trump told reporters that an impeachment inquiry would help him in the 2020 election but would harm the country. “If she does that they all say that’s a positive for me in the election. You could also say who needs it, it’s bad for the country,” he said. Top Republicans expressed frustration at Pelosi’s move. “Washington Democrats have been searching for ways to reverse their 2016 election defeat since before President Trump was even inaugurated,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement. “The result has been a two-and-a-half-year impeachment parade in search of a rationale. When investigations by Special Counsel Mueller and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence deflated their breathless accusations of a campaign conspiracy with Russia, Democrats have simply shifted to new arguments for their predetermined conclusion,” he added. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said on Twitter that Pelosi’s announcement “changes absolutely nothing.” “Merely claiming the House is conducting an impeachment inquiry doesn’t make it so. Until the full House votes to authorize an inquiry, nobody is conducting a formal inquiry,” he said. Later, in brief remarks to reporters, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., criticized Democrats for “investigating this president even before he got elected.” “I realize 2016 did not turn out the way Speaker Pelosi wanted,” he said. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 175 Democrats supported some type of impeachment action — more than three-quarters of the 235-member caucus. An op-ed article by seven freshman House Democrats in The Washington Post calling for impeachment hearings to address allegations about Trump and Ukraine had been expected to give Pelosi the “cover” she needed to back a more formal impeachment proceeding against the president, three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News on Monday night. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he felt Pelosi was handling the situation “appropriately.” The late July discussion between Trump and Zelensky has been scrutinized following a whistleblower complaint by a member of the U.S. intelligence community that media reports said was tied to the call between the two leaders. The administration is refusing to turn that complaint over to Congress. Over the weekend, Trump admitted he discussed Biden, a possible 2020 challenger, with Zelensky. On Tuesday, he said he would release the transcript of the call and confirmed reports that his administration temporarily froze almost $400 million in aid to Ukraine. But he gave a new reason for doing so: He said he wanted European countries to contribute money, too, and did not want the United States to do so alone. Pelosi, for her part, said Tuesday that Trump’s alleged intervention marked actions that “undermine both our national security and our intelligence, our protections of whistleblowers.” Trump on Tuesday denied putting any pressure on the Ukrainian leader to probe a political rival. “I put no pressure on them whatsoever,” he said. “I could have. I think it would probably, possibly have been OK if I did. But I didn’t. I didn’t put any pressure on them whatsoever.” Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, however, has engaged in a months-long effort to have Ukraine probe the Bidens — an effort aided by the State Department. That effort centers on Biden’s calls, widely backed by the international community, for Ukraine to crack down on corruption during his time as vice president. That included a call to remove a Ukrainian prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was seen as ineffective and was later removed by the country’s Parliament. One of the cases that Shokin was investigating involved Burisma Holdings, a natural gas company, whose board at the time included Biden’s son. Earlier this year, Bloomberg News, citing documents and an interview with a former Ukrainian official, reported the Burisma investigation had been dormant for more than a year by the time Biden called for the crackdown on corruption. The then-Ukrainian prosecutor general told the news agency he found no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden and his son. And PolitiFact reported it found no evidence to “support the idea that Joe Biden advocated with his son’s interests in mind.” Poster Comment: As you may know, I'm not a huge fan of Trump, but this is bullshit and the real traitors are Pelosi and her lynch mob. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest When the Republicans did this to Clinton, the people warned them in sign after sign that they were angry. The Republicans did it anyway, and for the first time in a century and a half the party of a seated lame-duck President made substantial GAINS in Congress in the mid-term elections. The American people politically punished the Republicans for their impeachment stunt by stripping them of seats in Congress. If the Democrats press ahead and actually impeach Trump, they will lose control of the House in 2020, and ensure his re-election.
#2. To: Vicomte13 (#1) When the Republicans did this to Clinton, The fool who thinks raising animals from the dead is stupid. Clinton commited perjury a crime. I know as an alleged Catholic you have to swallow a lot of lies. That is probably why you are such a fool.
#3. To: Deckard (#0) I'd like Stretch to cite the specific laws the old sow alleges were broken. Now, which of the clowns in the 'Rat candidate short bus will have enough sense to say this is bullshit? I bet none, but maybe Tulsi.
#4. To: A K A Stone, Vicomte13 (#2) Clinton commited perjury a crime. But the Clinton impeachment was a foreseeable political failure. Despite the show in the House, everyone knew there was no chance of conviction in the Senate. The public rejection of the political show drove Clinton's popularity up, and got him reelected. From the positive point of view, the current Dem impeachment show will redound to the benefit of President Trump next year and help get him reelected. When the majority of the people make known their objection to impeachment, proceeding with a show is political suicide.
#5. To: nolu chan, Vicomte13, TooConservative (#4) But the Clinton impeachment was a foreseeable political failure. Despite the show in the House, everyone knew there was no chance of conviction in the Senate. The public rejection of the political show drove Clinton's popularity up, and got him reelected. From the positive point of view, the current Dem impeachment show will redound to the benefit of President Trump next year and help get him reelected. When the majority of the people make known their objection to impeachment, proceeding with a show is political suicide. The difference between Clinton and potentially a Trump impeachment? Republicans in the Senate. The Dems circled the wagons even though Clinton was guilty as charged with hard evidence against him. None of the Dems voted for removal. Even GOP senators voted no because they did not want to set a precedent of removing a president even though he was guilty of perjury with hard evidence. The difference is there may just be enough "never Trumpers" in the GOP senate to make this a 'bipartisan' vote in the Senate (maybe the House). Not enough to remove but just enough for the Dems to point and say it was bi-partisan. The GOP does not circle the wagons...they cave. That will be a problem for Trump if this goes forward. He won't be removed because it takes 66 senators. Not even Trump has that many enemies in the Senate. High bar I would say 55-58 given some of the wet noodle spines in the GOP. But anyone who votes against him will have to endure Twitter bomb after Twitter bomb from him. :) Senate Republicans split over Trump urging Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden
#6. To: redleghunter, Vicomte13, TooConservative (#5)
The difference is there may just be enough "never Trumpers" in the GOP senate to make this a 'bipartisan' vote in the Senate (maybe the House). Not enough to remove but just enough for the Dems to point and say it was bi-partisan. The GOP does not circle the wagons...they cave. That will be a problem for Trump if this goes forward. He won't be removed because it takes 66 senators. Removal takes 67 senators, assuming 100 are there. Those voting to convict would become former members of the Republican Party. They are also currently party members as that is the only way they can get elected where they are at. They would become members of the Justin Amash party. Removal would be a different level of hardball.
#7. To: redleghunter, BobCeleste (#5) The difference is there may just be enough "never Trumpers" in the GOP senate to make this a 'bipartisan' vote in the Senate (maybe the House). Not enough to remove but just enough for the Dems to point and say it was bi-partisan. The GOP does not circle the wagons...they cave. That will be a problem for Trump if this goes forward. He won't be removed because it takes 66 senators. Not even Trump has that many enemies in the Senate. High bar I would say 55-58 given some of the wet noodle spines in the GOP. McConnell has plenty of margin to let a few GOPs vote against Trump. Collins of Maine comes to mind. If he were still here, I'm sure BobCeleste would have a choice comment or two. You may recall he didn't exactly hold her career in high esteem. : )
#8. To: Tooconservative (#7) McConnell has plenty of margin to let a few GOPs vote against Trump. Collins of Maine comes to mind. If he were still here, I'm sure BobCeleste would have a choice comment or two. You may recall he didn't exactly hold her career in high esteem. : ) LOL no Bob was a devout adherent of getting Collins out of office. Collins Murkowski Romney Would be the firm for removal. I know I must be missing some fake Republican in name only.
#9. To: A K A Stone (#2) The fool who thinks raising animals from the dead is stupid. Clinton commited perjury a crime. I know as an alleged Catholic you have to swallow a lot of lies. That is probably why you are such a fool. Tiresome and off base, as always.
#10. To: A K A Stone (#2) caTholics the chernobyl of TruTh in 12 hundred levels deep If you ... don't use exclamation points --- you should't be typeing ! Commas - semicolons - question marks are for girlie boys ! #11. To: redleghunter (#8) Would be the firm for removal. I know I must be missing some fake Republican in name only. I'd say Sasse but he's had a sudden election year warmth toward Trump, no more mavericky stuff from him, ever again. And Trump has reciprocated. So everyone has made nice for Sasse's 2020 primary. After which he'll probably get away with trashing Trump and most other Republicans again. Very tiresome, his 6 years of complaints about the Senate's conduct of its business and how backward they all are according to Ben Sasse. He just hated to lower his standards and be forced into rank partisanship and get his hands dirty. Yet he still voted for Trump's agenda well over 90% of the time. And never stopped complaining about Trump, the Senate, how it all was just a little beneath him, yada yada. Sasse really annoyed a lot of people. The more they saw him, the less they liked him.
#12. To: BorisY (#10) Banjo Boy, still trying to make sense after all these years.
#13. To: Fred Mertz (#12) in The piTch black
you could glow a liTTle in The dark love If you ... don't use exclamation points --- you should't be typeing ! Commas - semicolons - question marks are for girlie boys ! Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
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