17
UPDATE: This isn’t a full chapter but more like bits and pieces that can be utilized in other chapters-may well already have been.
What is today-January 28, 2019? And I’m still writing this book! That started back on December 15, 2017. I had 400 pages in February, 2017…
I know I should just have a moratorium-no more new chapters! But stuff keeps happening, for me, I guess it’s like popcorn, I always want just one more piece!
As my recent chapters show, I’m out on the ledge. I have tremendous highs and lows about where we are going next. Sometimes I worry I’ve been a little too tough on the Congressional Dems. But not really-better safe than sorry. It’s true enough that if this is what the Dem leadership is thinking then they may well be on very solid ground.
“Here I will also note that certain politicians may well believe that the best way to politically set things up for a potential impeachment is to convince people that, at this point, they’re still keeping an open mind and waiting for more evidence.”
True if they really are considering impeachment but want to set themselves up as openminded that’s a good strategy. But then you have Greg Sargent’s aside that he thinks that even if Trump is found guilty the leadership won’t want to impeach him then because of some mysterious political calculus that the country will never forgive them for impeaching ‘President Trump.’ In truth roughly half is already there-while the GOP impeached Bill despite 81% supporting him in the Gallup poll the week they tried to convict him in the Senate.
Then there were Barney Frank’s comments about ‘wait for the next election’ which hit me like a ton of bricks. They never seem to ask themselves if maybe failing to impeach him if there’s a strong case for it could hurt them politically-they appear to fear and respect Trump’s voters more than their own.
If they really are openminded to either possibility then that’s as it should be. But while I love Sargent his one stray comment has gotten me panicked and I’m still not sure what the truth is-is the Dem leadership openminded-or have they already decided they will not impeach Trump no matter what, even if he: shoots someone on 5th Avenue.
If so that would mean that Republican Presidents can’t be impeached for any reason as the GOP is willing to impeach a Democrat on a party line vote while for basically jaywalking while the Democrats are only willing to do it on a bipartisan basis.
As noted in (Chapter A) Michael Isikoff made a strong case the Democrats need to stop deferring to Mueller points out that’s not what the Watergate Democrats did with Leon Jaworski. The Watergate 2.0 Democrats on the other hand often seem to think Mueller somehow takes precedence.
I hear you and you may well be right. I'm just SO FRUSTRATED by now. It's been 2 years and we have not had a single public hearing on Russia yet. Mueller is great but the PUBLIC has a right to know not just Robert Mueller
— Expand the Court (@ProChoiceMike) January 24, 2019
Then there is the case of Michael Cohen who had planned to testify before the House Oversight Committee on February 7 but then changed his mind apparently due to threats by Trump and Rudy Giuliani. Congressman Stephen Lynch seemed to suggest the solution could be behind closed doors to protect Cohen. If so, Trump has won.
And what are the Democrats going to do about it? They must subpoena Cohen if necessary. I understand his legitimate fears for his family. But like Cummings says if Trump can successfully threaten witnesses he may as well close up shop @RepSwalwell @RepCummings @RashidaTlaib
— Expand the Court (@ProChoiceMike) January 24, 2019
Lot's of love and respect to @AriMelber for getting 4 of Trump' co-conspirators on the show at once. No one should scoff-it's the only thing close to a PUBLIC hearing we've had so far in over two years
— Expand the Court (@ProChoiceMike) January 24, 2019
But to me the big question is what about the Oversight @OversightDems? The Senate IC is GOP controlled and it won't be public. Is this subpoena related to Cohen's refusal to testify before House Oversight?
— Expand the Court (@ProChoiceMike) January 25, 2019
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/23/former-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-delays-house-testimony-1121391
https://twitter.com/ProudResister/status/1088289019044098048