Impeachment Day 24- Reality TV Meets Reality After One Thousand Days in Office
Holy Cow! Just when you think things could get any worse in Trumpland, another day ending in “y” passes, leaving more wreckage of what used to be the United States in its wake.
Although the President’s decision to move troops in Syria is not (yet) a part of the impeachment process, his behavior in recent days has people questioning his mental state. The 25th Amendment, the process for removing a chief executive who’s incapacitated, has once again entered into discussions around Washington DC.
The House of Representatives voted 354 to 60 to oppose Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria. The President was reportedly furious.
A confrontation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the White House was one for the record books. What was supposed to be a briefing on what’s happening abroad ended with ranking Democrats walking out. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who has served in Congress since 1981, said afterward that he’d never seen such disrespect from a president.
Check out the close up photo of the executive staff before you believe the White House spin trying to flip the course of events to make it seem as though Pelosi was the one who was bonkers.
https://twitter.com/johnpavlovitz/status/1184644789045731328?s=20
The House Speaker didn’t back down as Trump blustered, criticizing him by saying Russia has always wanted a "foothold in the Middle East" and now it has one. "All roads with you lead to Putin."
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Sen. Chuck Shumer to Trump: "Is your plan to rely on the Syrians and the Turks?"
Trump: "Our plan is to keep the American people safe."
Pelosi: "That's not a plan. That's a goal."
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"He was shaken up by it," Pelosi says on the House's overwhelming vote to condemn White House withdrawal from Syria.
"And that’s why we couldn't continue in the meeting, because he was just not relating to the reality of it."
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When Pelosi and Hoyer were getting ready to walk out of the meeting, Trump said to them: “I’ll see you at the polls”
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From the Washington Post:
“I think now we have to pray for his health,” Pelosi said back at the Capitol. “For this was a very serious meltdown on the part of the president.”
At about the same time, Fox Business anchor Trish Regan released a copy of an official letter sent by Trump to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Oct. 9. It said, in part:
Let’s work out a deal! . . . [History] will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen. Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool! I will call you later.
Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), who left the Republican Party in July, reacted to the letter on Twitter by typing: “This is insane.”
In response to the letter, Turkish presidential sources told BBC: "President Erdogan received the letter, thoroughly rejected it and put it in the bin." Erdogan launched Syria offensive the next day.
"I" am the only person…
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1184690356027297793?s=20
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This morning Trump Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is breaking with the administration’s promised code of silence by testifying that he opposed the president’s request to run Ukraine policy through Rudy Giuliani, according to Politico.
From his opening statement:
“I did not understand, until much later, that Mr. Giuliani’s agenda might have also included an effort to prompt the Ukrainians to investigate Vice President Biden or his son or to involve Ukrainians, directly or indirectly, in the President’s 2020 reelection campaign.”
I suspect this is more like a Cover Your Ass move, given some of the other news about Sondland making the rounds.
Here’s tidbit #1 via NBC News:
Sondland’s meeting with the Ukrainians just steps away from the White House Situation Room came minutes after a larger West Wing meeting that included then-National Security Adviser John Bolton, who had been noncommittal about scheduling a meeting between Trump and new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Sondland directly contradicted Bolton by telling the Ukrainians that in fact, Trump was committed to meeting with Zelenskiy on the condition he open a corruption investigation, two people told about the matter tell NBC News.
Bolton abruptly ended the meeting.
But, the individuals say, Sondland then invited the Ukrainian officials to continue the conversation separately, escorting them to a private room in the White House basement, the individuals said. That’s when Sondland was overheard discussing Burisma Holdings, whose board of directors former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden joined in 2014.
And number 2, via the Washington Post:
Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union and a central figure in the House impeachment inquiry of President Trump, is overseeing a nearly $1 million renovation of his government-provided residence, paid for with taxpayer money, that current and former officials have criticized as extravagant and unnecessary.
The work on the ambassador’s home on the outskirts of Brussels includes more than $400,000 in kitchen renovations, nearly $30,000 for a new sound system and $95,000 for an outdoor “living pod” with a pergola and electric heating, LED lighting strips and a remote-control system, government procurement records show.
The State Department also has allocated more than $100,000 for an “alternate” residence for Sondland for September and October, while work is performed.
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Senate Republicans are facing up to the fact that fast-building case for articles of impeachment is serious, and have begun preparing for the trial in their chamber that would follow a House vote.
According to the New York Times, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell briefed fellow lawmakers over lunch about how a trial would work, expressing his hope of conducting it speedily and completing it by the end of the year. He said House Democrats wanted to move expeditiously, possibly approving articles of impeachment by Thanksgiving.
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Today’s GOP Bullshit Revisionist history lesson:
https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1184746252610740224?s=20
Rest in Peace, Elijah Cummings:
https://twitter.com/billritter7/status/1184790257360932865?s=20
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Lead photo via the White House