News Dump

Judge halts all scheduled federal executions, says Barr’s lethal injection protocol is at odds with the law
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/21/william-barr-death-penalty-halted-federal-judge/

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was formally charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust on Thursday, making him the first Israeli premier to be indicted while in office and sending Israel’s already stalemated political system into further disarray. Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit capped almost three years of investigation and months of speculation by handing down a 63-page indictment against the country’s longest-serving prime minister and its center of political gravity for the last decade.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-indicted-on-charges-of-bribery-fraud-breach-of-trust/2019/11/21/ef396fee-0bc2-11ea-8054-289aef6e38a3_story.html

Former Baltimore mayor Democrat Catherine E. Pugh pleads guilty to fraud and tax-evasion conspiracies tied to sales of her Healthy Holly books, reports
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/former-baltimore-mayor-catherine-e-pugh-has-reached-an-agreement-to-plead-guilty-two-people-familiar-with-the-deal-say/2019/11/21/d3e8499e-0bd7-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html

When aid is withheld, it's to advance the interests of the United States, not the President personally.

U.S. Senate PASSES government funding through December 20, 74-20. https://cs.pn/2QA8yj8  Now heads to President. Funding expires at midnight.
https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1197576388729016320

Bolsonaro, Facing Blame for Surge in Amazon Deforestation, Says Destruction Won't End Because "It's Cultural" | The Brazilian president's new comments came after data confirmed that "2019 has been a dark year for the rainforest in Brazil."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/20/bolsonaro-facing-blame-surge-amazon-deforestation-says-destruction-wont-end-because

Israeli leaders failing to form a new government and select new PM: The "Knesset majority can choose anybody" bit was never used because it has never happened before that both camps failed to form a government; it's a contingency in the law for such cases but the situation never happened until now.

Diamond & Diamond, a national personal injury law firm in Canada, is spearheading a $500 million class-action lawsuit against various Roundup makers, including pharmaceutical company Bayer, the owner of Roundup maker Monsanto.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/class-action-lawsuit-roundup-1.5366184?cmp=rss

Reminder: Trump is lying about the ‘new’ ‘Apple’ factory | It is neither new nor an Apple factory | Apple CEO Tim Cook REFUSED TO CORRECT THE LIE.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/20/20974999/trump-is-lying-about-the-new-apple-factory

Trump hosted Zuckerberg for undisclosed dinner at the White House in October
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/trump-hosted-zuckerberg-undisclosed-dinner-white-house-october-n1087986

Newspaper goes undercover to show realtors' discrimination against African-American homebuyers
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/What-Happens-When-Black-People-Search-for-14845162.php

Victory for Brazil tribe as hotel group cancels plans for luxury resort - A Brazilian tribe that has been fighting for 15 years to preserve land they use to gather food won a victory
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-brazil-hotel/victory-for-brazil-tribe-as-hotel-group-cancels-plans-for-luxury-resort-idUSKBN1XS2OP

China vents fury at US over Hong Kong Human Rights Act
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/21/asia/china-us-hong-kong-act-intl-hnk/index.html

The Catholic charity set up by Mother Teresa in India is being investigated over allegations that it was involved in selling children in its care including a 6-month-old boy, for as little as $730
https://www.newsweek.com/mother-teresas-charity-being-investigated-child-trafficking-1027780

Phil Arballo. That is the name everyone needs to hear today. He is the democratic contender going against Devin Nunes’s re-election campaign for California’s Central Valley. Here is his campaign homepage where you can donate and learn more about him.
https://philarballo.com/

Reminder: Lev Parnas Helped Rep. Devin Nunes’ Investigations
https://www.thedailybeast.com/lev-parnas-helped-rep-devin-nunes-investigations

@DevinNunes “got caught” working with an indicted Ukrainian.
https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1197521315244265477

I just rewatched Trump’s meeting with President Zelensky. It’s insane to watch it with the benefit of hindsight. Trump literally indirectly, when asked about Joe Biden, Trump states Hunter Biden was the epitome of corruption in Ukraine and that needs to be investigated. Just rewatch it. Everyone. It also makes me respect the shit out of President Zelensky because he cleverly tries to get a meeting with Trump by cornering Trump when Zelensky says “Oh hey, we never did get that date for the White House meeting. When is it?” Trump points to a random person and says “Oh, he’ll give you that date.” You really get to see how Trump gets played like a fiddle by a world leader, and holy hell I wanted to deck Trump for nonchalantly saying “I hear you are working things out with Putin and he wants this over with too. Y’all will be able to work things out, right?” Fuck Trump. President Zelensky is the Ukranian President, and it’s clear President Zelensky is meeting with Putin’s Siberian Candidate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLAdt7K9LpQ&feature=youtu.be

Rep. Devin Nunes’ attorney is representing one of the congressman’s former aides in a new defamation lawsuit against the news organization Politico.  Kashyap “Kash” Patel, a lawyer who worked for Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee when Nunes was the committee’s chairman, is suing Politico over an Oct. 23 story with the headline “Nunes Protege Fed Ukraine Info to Trump.” Fox was the first news organization to report on Patel’s lawsuit.  Patel is represented by Virginia attorney Steven Biss, who has filed five lawsuits on behalf of Nunes this year alleging that news organizations, Twitter, anonymous social media users and political consultants conspired against the California congressman. Four of the cases are active.
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/regional/the-west/article237500834.html

FEMALE REPUBLICAN SENATOR Joni Ernst blocks vote on House-passed Violence Against Women Act because it's the House Democrats' legislation
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/471386-gop-senator-blocks-vote-on-house-passed-violence-against-women-act

#WhiteSox have agreed to terms on a four-year, $73-million contract with free agent All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal (@YazmanianDVL08). Under terms of the agreement, Grandal will receive $18.25 million per year from 2020-2023.
https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/1197560310237999110?s=21

UK Tories set up fake Labour manifesto website as party's disinformation spree continues - The governing party paid Google to promote its website, labourmanifesto.co.uk, to the top of its search results for people searching for the opposition plan.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-fake-labour-manifesto-website-fact-check-general-election-a9212076.html

Boris Johnson blocks publication of a report on Russian interference in UK elections. The next week his party accepts £200,000 from the wife of the former Russian Finance Minister
https://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-election-campaign-funded-wife-putin-ally-lubov-2019-11

Bill Gates says high-income countries should figure out ways of bringing down the extra costs of being green before criticizing middle-income countries for their policies
https://twitter.com/tictoc/status/1197575682286653446

US immigration officials, including asylum and refugee officers, were told Thursday that they would be fired for leaking information to the media, according to an email sent to staff and...leaked to BuzzFeed News.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/us-immigration-officials-threatened-media-leaks

In the wake of the 2013 West, Tex. fertilizer plant fire that killed 15 people, EPA adopted stricter safety rules. The agency just rolled those standards back saying they burdened industry and more public disclosure could aid terrorists, meaning because the Obama Administration is responsible for the EPA adopting those stricter rules so therefore they had to be eliminated.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/11/21/trump-reverses-safety-rules-adopted-after-deadly-chemical-explosion/

MSNBC's telecast of last night's Democratic debate captured one of the smallest audiences for the current cycle of these events, according to early Nielsen data: 6.5M total viewers, about 1.67M in the 25-54 demo
https://twitter.com/bristei/status/1197589620806094848

Trump also told this Michigan radio station that many Japanese auto companies are building new plants in Michigan because he told Abe that they had to. No Japanese auto company has announced any new plant in Michigan under Trump.
https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1197600535643348993

RNC purchased at least 3,100+ copie of Don Jr's Triggered to ensure it made the NYT Best Seller List: New FEC disclosures show a single large RNC payment of $94,800 to Books-a-Million in October, a few days before "Triggered" was released. An RNC spokesman confirmed that the expenditure was connected to their promotion of Don Trump Jr.'s book.
https://twitter.com/nickconfessore/status/1197599033503756288

Secret Service spent quarter of a million dollars at Trump’s properties in first five months of his term, records show
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/secret-service-spent-quarter-of-a-million-dollars-at-trumps-properties-in-first-five-months-of-his-term-records-show/2019/11/21/ea66d588-0c80-11ea-8397-a955cd542d00_story.html
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Bill Belichick has high praise for Dak Prescott: "He’s super impressive.. Very accurate.. Got great poise in the pocket.. He can extend plays. He’s got good weapons.. He’s been super impressive.. Great quarterback.. Where do you want to start, they do it all. And he does it all."
https://twitter.com/chelsimmcdonald/status/1197204336071364608

Most avoided tackles by a QB.
1. Lamar Jackson 29
2. Josh Allen 13
3. Jacoby Brissett 7
4. Kyler Murray 6
https://twitter.com/pff_fantasy/status/1197251745635807232

Deshaun Watson finished his rookie year with a 103 passer rating. He finished his sophomore season with a 103.1 passer rating. 10 games into 2019, he currently has a 103.3 passer rating giving him a career passer rating of 103.1

Jimmy Garoppolo on the 10 drives for 49ers following his INTs this season: 32/35, 288 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs and a 120 passer rating
https://twitter.com/JoshDubowAP/status/1197335659347730432

Brady: I really haven’t liked the Cowboys since coming out of the womb as a 49ers fan
https://www.twitter.com/MarkDanielsPJ/status/1197268228541734913

Dak Prescott is 2-0 against the #1 ranked defense. Tom Brady is 4-0 against the Cowboys

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred just acknowledged that the investigation into the Houston Astros will involve looking into the 2018 and 2019 seasons as well as 2017.
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Fiona Hill tells Devin Nunes to his face that his Ukraine conspiracy theory is harmful: Based on questions and statements I have heard some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct against our country. And that perhaps, somehow for some reason, Ukraine did. This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves. The unfortunate truth is that Russia was the foreign power that systematically attacked our democratic institutions in 2016. This is the public conclusion of our own intelligence agencies, confirmed in bipartisan Congressional reports. It is beyond dispute, even if some of the underlying details must remain classified. The impact of the successful 2016 Russian campaign remains evident today. Our nation is being torn apart. Truth is questioned. Our highly professional and expert career foreign service is being undermined.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/21/fiona-hill-will-tell-devin-nunes-his-face-that-his-ukraine-conspiracy-theory-is-harmful/

Fiona Hill's opening statement reminded me of something that really should be plastered everywhere where anybody can read it. These hearings are in front of the House Intelligence Committee. The members of this committee have had closed door classified briefing from members of the intelligence community regarding Russian efforts to wage war on western democracy. They have seen classified evidence. They are privy to information that the general public may never see in any non-redacted form. In the face of this, the Republicans still push a narrative that they know is false. They know that it was not Ukraine who attacked the United States in 2016 and continues to attack us to this day. They know it was Russia. They saw the evidence that it was Russia. But they stand there before the American people and the world and they attack our ally, an ally which is instrumental in our efforts to curb the aggression of Russia as the Russian government tries desperately to stop its slow decline into a failed state. The Republican party is attacking Ukraine, a United States ally, in order to benefit Russia, our enemy, knowing full well that their attack is utterly and entirely baseless. When you hear the Republicans speak in these hearings, it's easy to think that they're just some idiot who got elected by idiots. They sound like a racist uncle ranting on Facebook and so you want to dismiss them. We laugh at Nunes and Jordan and the Karen demanding to see the manager of impeachment. But they're not just a bunch of idiots who came in off the street. They have access to America's secrets. They know what our intelligence community has been able to root out from spies and sources and technology that we have no idea exists. WE THE PEOPLE know that Russia attacked us because our intelligence agencies have told us that. These people have seen the evidence. But they still promote Russian interests.

Statement from attorney for Parnas:  “Mr. Parnas is prepared to testify completely and accurately about his involvement in the President and Rudy Giuliani’s quid pro quo demands of Ukraine.”

In that video of Biden “bragging” about withholding funds from Ukraine; he did so, with the APPROVAL of Congress and our foreign allies, because he was dealing with a completely different and corrupt Ukrainian regime BACK THEN. Trump unilaterally withheld funds that were ALREADY APPROVED by Congress and our foreign allies. YUGE DIFFERENCE.

Also, what is so hard to understand about the fact that the reason this impeachment process is going on is NOT because Trump withheld aid to Ukraine so they would investigate a Ukrainian company. But BECAUSE TRUMP WITHHELD AID TO UKRAINE SO THEY WOULD INVESTIGATE A UKRAINIAN COMPANY DIRECTLY TIED TO HIS CHIEF 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OPPONENT JOE BIDEN AND HIS SON?!?!!?

Dems should put up a sign saying 'Yes, 0 days since Schiff followed house rules' just to see the confused look on the Republicans' fat, stupid faces. (Meaning Adam Schiff followed the rules yesterday and the day before and so on, it means he has followed House rules every single day since the term began)

This two hour recess correlates to how far the goalposts needed to be dragged by the GOP

Nunes thinks he’s in an impeachment over Clinton about the Steele Dossier

Nunes is holding an entirely different hearing

Nunes had a chance to face 'deep state' and he bone spured out

Dr. Hill has an impressive poker face while listening to Nunes...he's also terrified of her....

Nunes has nothing to say. He’s defeated.

It so annoys me that a little twerp like Nunes gets to ask this brilliant, patriotic woman questions

Nunes: did you read my Breitbart articles? No? Ok... Mr Castor.

Between Laura Cooper and Fiona Hill - the women are really crushing these hearings. Speaking with eloquence, precision, and unflappable professionalism

CSPAN CALLER: "Howdy. I just want to apologize first & foremost for all the morons on the calls earlier, especially from Alabama. Secondly, I just want to say impeach the fucker. Have a great day!"
CSPAN HOST: "That's it for phone calls right now." 😂
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1197573672313200640

Nunes and Castor have fallen from clown show to mere directionlessness.

Important to note that this whole line of questioning about whether it was suspicious that evidence of Paul Manafort's corruption in Ukraine became public.

Myles Garrett was willing to scar another man’s reputation for his own benefit. Sad state of affairs His suspension should increase as a result.

Republicans to expand oil drilling on over three-quarters of the nation’s largest piece of unprotected wilderness, overhauling a Obama Administration's 2013 plan that limited development on the Alaskan reserve. | The Obama administration had put half of the reserve off limits to development six years ago, on the grounds that specific areas provided crucial habitat for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds and tens of thousands of caribou. But it is also the site of significant oil deposits, and recent discoveries suggest that it could hold as much as 8.7 billion barrels in undiscovered oil.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/new-trump-administration-plan-could-boost-oil-drilling-on-remote-alaska-reserve/2019/11/21/532883e2-0ae1-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/salazar-plan-puts-half-of-alaska-petroleum-reserve-off-limits-to-drilling/2012/08/13/d542863c-e57f-11e1-8741-940e3f6dbf48_story.html

No, Hill’s testimony was what we needed because, man by man she stared deep into the soul of each partisan player in this game and exposed them. And she did it using only the power of truth, the earnest belief in America that only comes from the zeal of our immigrants, and the flick of an eyebrow that brought mortal men to their knees.
https://thebulwark.com/fiona-hill-impeachment-queen/

A powerful line from Fiona Hill explaining why she left Brookings and joined the Trump administration, a move that had many in Washington scratching their heads: I heard President Trump say that he wanted to improve the relationship with Russia. I believe we have to. We can't be in this undending confrontation with Russia. We have to find a way to stabilize our relationship and to professionalize that relationship as well as to stop them from doing what they dud in 2016 and again in 2020.

I obtained an IG report from FEMA via #FOIA that shows the agency investigated an employee for looking at child pornography on a govt computer. Case referred for prosecution but rejected b/c the few "images of minors did not show genitalia"
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1197671262933241856
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6556868-LEOPOLD-FEMA-OIG-FOIA.html

Navy SEAL facing possible expulsion from elite commando force was told proceedings against him would go forward despite President Trump's tweet to the contrary, defense lawyer says.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-seals/trump-vows-u-s-navy-will-not-oust-commando-who-posed-with-corpse-from-seals-idUSKBN1XV1LH

Pelosi made clear it will be up to the Senate to decide whether to get key witnesses (Mulvaney, Pompeo, Bolton) because Dems won’t battle it out in court
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1197671173674471424

Four Syracuse University students suspended after racist, anti-Semitic incidents | Four of the 14 people involved were Syracuse students and have been suspended, Syverud said Wednesday. He said the rest attend other schools that have been informed of the incident. | However, the Navy’s top SEAL, Rear Admiral Collin Green, commander of naval special warfare, followed Trump’s move by convening a “trident review board” to weigh whether Gallagher was fit to remain in the SEAL corps. Gallagher was formally notified on Wednesday that he was under review, with a hearing set for Dec. 2. | A short time later, Gallagher was told face-to-face by a representative of the Green’s special warfare command at Naval Base Coronado, near San Diego, that the trident review board hearing would go forward as planned, according to Gallagher’s lead defense attorney, Timothy Parlatore.
https://nypost.com/2019/11/21/four-syracuse-university-students-suspended-after-racist-anti-semitic-incidents/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/syracuse-university-kent-syverud-reports-of-racist-manifesto-likely-hoax-chancellor-says/

WH chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has retained former DOJ official Bob Driscoll to represent him. In 2018, Driscoll represented Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty to acting as a Russian agent. Butina was released from prison last month and deported.
https://www.axios.com/mulvaney-fiona-hill-testimony-gordon-sondland-ukraine-e40c856b-55ed-470a-85f0-f2a69ad11c4a.html

Devin Nunes is digging himself a hole here. Pushing Holmes on the black ledger — Holmes says wasn't used by Mueller but was used in other criminal investigations.

It's so fun watching Devin Nunes get unraveled by smart, competent people. It's honestly astounding that the guy can get dressed by himself.

Fiona Hill is operating on a different level than Castor. Consequently, it seems as if he’s just strengthening her credibility as a witness.

Castor is sitting there like "Oh, shit... she's right. We're the baddies..."

Dr. Hill is a Savage, Castor in shambles

Castor's brain right now: WHY DID I ASK THAT QUESTION OH G/D, Blew up like a drug deal.

Castor (in Adam Schiff's voice): "The time has expired. the witness will stop talking."

Hill explains she came to reconsider her frustration with Sondland upon realizing he'd been instructed to go around the NSC. "I said to him. . . I think this is all going to blow up - and here we are."

Fiona Hill describes Sondland's suggestion a day earlier that he was keeping relevant people in the loop on his activities. "It struck me yesterday--he was absolutely right because he was being involved in a domestic political errand and we were being involved in foreign policy"

Fiona Hill: “I had a couple of testy encounters” with Sondland. “What I was angry with is he wasn’t coordinating with us.” Sondland said he was dealing with Mulvaney and others. “He was involved in a domestic political errand,” Hill said, saying it conflicted with nat sec policy. Hill told Sondland she was frustrated he wasn’t looping in the NSC on his Ukraine efforts. He replied: “But I’m briefing the president. I’m briefing chief of staff Mulvaney. I'm briefing Secretary Pompeo. And I’ve talked to Ambassador Bolton. Who else do I have to deal with?"

The Nunes/Castor questioning of Hill is hurting Trump more than Schiff/Goldman's earlier questioning for Dems.

Fiona Hill was asked about Hunter Biden, but her answer seems to be probably about Trump's kids: I think any family member of any member of the US government, Congress or the Senate is open to all kinds of questions about optics and of perhaps undue outside influence if they take part in any kind of activity that could be misconstrued as being related to the parent or other family members' work.

“By this point, I could see that Biden is code for Bidens,” Hill said. “I could see why Col. Vindman was alarmed.”

Fiona Hill clears up inaccurate claim that she questioned Lt. Col Vindman's judgment. She said he was excellent and an expert, but she was concerned how a military officer would handle the increasingly political tone of Ukraine policy talks.

Hill takes the testimony and subsequent exaggerations that there were serious questions about Lt Col Vindman - was he a leaker? Could his judgement be trusted? - and shreds them

Fiona Hill undercuts arguments by several witnesses—including Volker and Sondland—that they weren’t aware that a Burisma investigation meant a Biden investigation. By July 10, she says, “it was clear that Burisma was code for the Bidens, because Giuliani was laying it out there."

This is not boring

The GOP counsel, Steve Castor, is again floating this notion that @VP Pence was "sent to Canada for a USMCA event instead of going to the Ukraine" for Zelenskiy's inauguration. Inauguration was May 20. The Ottawa trip was May 30th -- I know, I was on it.
https://twitter.com/josh_wingrove/status/1196823074072670208

Holmes is waiting for Gym Jordan to finish so he can clap back. I hope

Can anyone understand him he is talking so fast that he is trying to confuse people. Jim was born to be a SoundCloud rapper.

Holmes doing his best not to laugh in Gyms face

LOL she's using their own material against them. bsolute fucking gold. She's throwing their own bullsh!t articles at them.

What never ceases to amaze me is not that Gym Jordan is a barely coherent, bullshit-spouting, fast-screaming kiddie-diddler enabler allowed to roam Congress along such fine company as King, Gaetz and Nunes. What amazes me is that 164,640 people thought last year that this used car salesman was their man.

Republicans are afraid to ask Hill questions at this point. Gym didn't even look in her direction.

For everyone's benefit, a GIF of Holmes imitating how Sondland held the phone during his July 26 call with Trump.
https://twitter.com/nicholaswu12/status/1197557303362424832

On Sondland testifying privately that she was "sort of shaking" in anger after one of their interactions, Fiona Hill says, “Often when women show anger, it’s not fully appreciated. It’s often, you know, pushed onto emotional issues perhaps, or deflected onto other people."

Schiff, after Jim Jordan interrupts David Holmes: "Mr. Jordan, you may not like the witness's answer, but we will hear it."

Jordan wants to know why there were 13 conversations Taylor detailed when deposed but he didn’t reveal the Trump call Holmes overheard. Holmes makes clear he thought Taylor knew about it.

David Holmes: Everyone is nodding, of course, that's what's going on. Of course the president is pressing for a Biden investigation before he'll do these things the Ukrainians want. there was nodding ... Everyone by that point agreed it was obvious what the president was asking for.

Hill's entire presentation is an open invitation to John Bolton to testify -- and an implicit rebuke to him if he fails to do so.

Here's the Politico/Ken Vogel article from Dec 2016 that just got entered into the impeachment record
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/russia-ukraine-trump-manafort-232101

That was a pretty extensive takedown by Fiona Hill of the idea that Ukraine's election interference was in any way comparable to Russia.

Master class in diplomacy from Fiona Hill.

Ratcliffe just said that Sondland testified yesterday that investigations didn’t come up in his meetings in Kyiv on July 26. In his opening statement, Sondland said in his meeting with Yermak that day, “I believe the issue of investigations was probably a part of the agenda."

Hard to watch these hearings and not feel great pride in the quality of these NSC career people. And then think how maddening it must be for them to staff an imbelic toddler POTUS (and all the Team Trump Republicans......) who doesn’t read briefing books, lacks any intellectual curiosity, and only trusts fawning cronies.

"Ratcliffe still confused about how phones work"

Watching these guys Republicans interferance while questioning these witnesses is pretty sickening and absolutely scary.

Ratcliffe’s opponent: https://twitter.com/RussellFosterTX

It's almost like the Republican members are avoiding questions of Dr. Hill...

They literally can't ask her anything, she's not putting up with the bullshit.

Hill: on Bolton calling Giuliani a 'hand grenade': "What he meant by this was pretty clear to me ... That the investigations he was promoting, that the storyline he was promoting, the narrative he was promoting was going to backfire.d I think it has backfired."

Fiona Hill is drawing a distinction between the scattered comments of different Ukrainian officials during the 2016 campaign, and an orchestrated, top-down campaign to alter the outcome of the election.

I strongly feel that A$AP Rocky & Kim Kardashian should testify.

At the end of a long monologue from Republican Rep. Mike Turner in which he says asks if the witnesses if they "want to be the laughingstock of history," Hill's lawyer asks: "Is there a question for Dr. Hill?"

It is incredible watching these yo-yos from the GOP not asking questions. They get to their turn, get on a soapbox and monologue for five minutes. It is obvious they have nothing. They can't defend Trump and they can't justify his actions. Their only option is to deflect and obfuscate, and it shows with the questions they ask, or not ask, as the case may be.

Then last 3 Republican lawmakers have decided not to ask the witnesses any questions.

YEP: I have no questions for you because you might rip my face off.
https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1197601706512715781

SPEIER asks Fiona Hill about when she was 11 and a schoolboy set Hill's pigtails on fire while she taking a test. Hill snuffed out the fire and then finished her test.
HILL: "It is a true story ... It had some very unfortunate consequences ... My mother gave me a bowl haircut."
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1197601697532727301

This is vile but a representative example of Trumpist logic. Public service—even to the point of being injured in combat—is irrelevant. Unquestioning fealty to Trump is all that matters.
https://twitter.com/EmeraldRobinson/status/1197555003210289152

SCHIFF after GOP Rep. Conaway interrupts David Holmes: "Mr. Conaway, it's unfair. It's unfair, Mr. Conaway, to interrupt the witnesses as you have done repeatedly ... We allow the witnesses to answer the question even if those asking the question don't want to hear the answer."

Republicans realized their mistake and removed the "0 days since Adam Schiff Followed House Rules" sign LOLLLLL. It took them at least 2 hours to realize their sign PRAISED Schiff for following House rules.

CASTRO: If the Congress allows a president of the U.S. now or later to ask a foreign gov't ... to investigate a political rival, what precedent does that set for American diplomacy ... for the future of our country?
HILL: Sets a very bad precedent.
HOLMES: Very bad precedent.

It's a-shame Fiona's insults use big words, the Republicans will never understand them and will only be mad at their own confusion.

Ms. Hill is absolutely KILLING it up there. She is beyond sharp, and I am thankful to have had her serve our country.

Glad to see the Dems got back on track and just let Dr Hill speak.

This is devastating, attacking the entire Russian apparatus.

Krishnamoorthi: I'm sorry you've been wrapped up in these crackpot conspiracy theories.

I'd love to hear her sit down and talk about her experiences and views. Very interesting woman.

Meanwhile, Trump's trashing Iran on Twitter, defending an American war criminal ... and retweeting debunked impeachment talking points.

"Speaking of crackpot conspiracy theories, let's turn to Rudy Giuliani..."

Dr. Hill is just off the charts amazing

I hope she writes that book. And reads the audiobook.

She's basically saying many of them are racist and anti-Semites. Might be obvious to some, but at a hearing that's big.

She is giving the U.S. public important lessons that the people who most need to hear them will never hear or will totally ignore.

LOL not sure she knew who Bush II and Obama's lawyers were. Rest of the world: We agree. As it should be.

"This is the new Protocols of the Elders of Zion... It's an absolute outrage."

I feel much better knowing that are people like Fiona Hill little showing up every day at work to carry on this country's business. And they'll be there whether presidents of either party come or go. This is great. I feel much better about America.

Sad thing is it does not matter one bit how much evidence accumulates against Trump, the GOP and his idiot base will continue to support him.

Never forget that Nunes, as chair of the Intel committee, once leapt from an Uber after midnight to sneak into the White House and receive instructions. The next day, he announced a bunch of new conspiracy bullshit.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/26/trump-russia-investigation-house-intelligence-devin-nunes

I’m pretty sure Merrick Garland has an opinion on the “Tyranny of The Majority”

Adam Schiff is showing a superhuman level of restraint by not turning to his left and slapping the shit out of Nunes.

Is Nunes literally saying he’s upset that there are no Republican witnesses testifying even though those witnesses were ordered to NOT testify by Trump

Rep. Nunes constantly complains about the House investigation. Now we learn that he had assistance in 2018 from a key figure in that investigation, Rudy Giuliani's recently-indicted Ukrainian client Lev Parnas, who arranged travel and meetings for him. Nunes never disclosed it.
https://twitter.com/RepDonBeyer/status/1197578801334640641

SCHIFF: "We all remember that debacle in Helsinki when the president ... questioned his own intelligence agencies. I wish I heard just some of the righteous indignation we heard in the committee today when the president questioned that ... But of course, they were silent."

Schiff now mocking Republicans in his closing remarks for saying he held “secret depositions” despite more than 100 members of Congress being able to participate in

Pretty impressive he's giving this speech without looking at written notes much.

Hard to believe the eloquent Schiff and the dimwitted Nunes are reps from the same state. Says volumes about the difference between Dem and GOP voters.

How is Schiff this epic of a human being. What do I have to do to become 1/10th of a person this dude is?

This is damning. This is everything I've been thinking for weeks. Said out loud.

You can tell Schiff means what he’s saying because he’s not reading notes and talking points.

Exactly Schiff: Why do we need detectives and forensics witnesses if all a criminal has to do is say, "I didn't do it", Republicans refuse to see the hypocrisy slapping them in the face, and I hope it costs them dearly.

Schiff's argues Ukraine is worse than Watergate because that was a "third-rate burglary" and this is withholding aid from an ally at a time of war. The bigger difference, he argues is that Congress versus this one. (Republicans ultimately supported impeachment then)
https://twitter.com/zbyronwolf/status/1197626621475332122

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NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league looked into Myles Garrett’s allegations that Mason Rudolph used a racial slur last Thursday night before the brawl “and found no such evidence.”
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1197623527878406144

Myles Garrett’s indefinite suspension has been upheld.
https://twitter.com/NFLfootballinfo/status/1197602290976382980

SWAWELL: If Trump is going to block Pompeo, Perry, Mulvaney and Bolton, "we think we already have powerful evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors to include extortion, abuse of power, obstruction of Congress and justice and also the impeachable offense of bribery." @MSNBC
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1197643421399371777

Lawyers for a U.S. House cmte. urged US Supreme Court not to block a subpoena directing Donald Trump's accounting firm to turn over several years' worth of financial documents.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/house-democrats-ask-supreme-court-let-them-get-hold-trump-n1089181?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_np

Trump is blameless? Then release everything. Tax returns, unredacted Mueller report findings, unredacted actual transcript of Zelensky call. Enforce Congressional subpoenas of administration officials. If Trump's conduct is unimpeachable, put it all out there for the American people to see. Words mean nothing. Release the evidence.

Yesterday, we heard a credible accusation that the vice president, among other top officials, was aware of the conspiracy and evidently did nothing to stop it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/opinion/trump-impeachment-succession.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/us/politics/sondland-says-he-followed-trumps-orders-to-pressure-ukraine.html

Wow. Trump admin paid PR firm more than $2 million to get Medicaid chief Seema Verma, who preaches self-reliance for the poor, into magazines like Glamour, "Power Women" lists, and Kennedy Center Honors gala.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/20/contractor-glamour-magazine-profile-seema-verma-071727

Reminder: RNC spent nearly $100,000 on Donald Trump Jr.'s book just before it topped the NYT bestseller list
https://theweek.com/speedreads/880202/rnc-spent-nearly-100000-donald-trump-jrs-book-just-before-topped-nyt-bestseller-list

More Than 100 Democratic members of Congress call for Stephen Miller's firing following leaked e-mails linked to white nationalism
https://www.newsweek.com/stephen-miller-breitbart-white-nationalism-1473325

Trump launches another real-time attack on an impeachment witness
http://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/21/trump-questions-testimony-impeachment-witness-real-time-072415

Trump golf cart rentals have now cost US taxpayers more than half a million dollars
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/m/8d5f996f-272f-34d3-87ff-0cf6471d8251/trump-golf-cart-rentals-have.html

Group sues Trump administration for action on 274 imperiled species
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/science-and-nature/4779957-Group-sues-Trump-administration-for-action-on-274-imperiled-species

Centuries of Christian anti-Semitism led to the Holocaust, a landmark Church of England report has concluded. In a foreword to the report, the Archbishop of Canterbury said that Christians cannot challenge and reflect on the past honestly, “until we have felt the cruelty of our history”.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/11/21/centuries-christian-anti-semitism-led-holocaust-landmark-church/

Will Hurd now takes his place beside Nikki Haley, and other "thoughtful" Republicans, who--despite not having a re-election to worry about--still can't muster the courage to do the right thing.
https://twitter.com/mattklewis/status/1197613115850055681

If what Trump did isn't impeachable, then nothing is impeachable. If Will Hurd is not now persuaded to vote to impeach Trump, there is no amount of evidence that would persuade him to impeach Trump.
https://twitter.com/mattklewis/status/1197612210207498248

YEP: did not see him shoot the guy on fifth but vy concerned about the jaywalking before and after
https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1197610537732968454

Will Hurd breaks from his colleagues and says proceedings have shown how actions of administration “undermined” national security - and says he “disagreed” with comments from some of his colleagues that undermined Ukraine. He then says they should have deposed whistleblower
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1197608299174277120

But Hurd added: “I have not heard evidence proving the president committed bribery or extortion,” Hurd said.
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1197609566982279168

The Mueller investigation resulted in dozens of indictments, including dozens of RUSSIANS. @Jim_Jordan lies. He lies about the Mueller report. He lies about the whistleblower and accepts no responsibility for the divisiveness he helps to create.
https://twitter.com/BrianKarem/status/1197613356032700416

Haley billed as 'frontrunner' for 2024 GOP nomination | A fundraising invitation by the the Dallas County Republican Party hypes the former UN ambassador's political prospects.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/21/nikki-haley-frontrunner-2024-gop-nomination-072602

Graham literally cried in 2016 recounting how much he valued Biden and how much he thought of him as a person
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1197627927548121093

Graham writes to Pompeo. Asks for all documents related to contacts between Vice President Biden, Hunter Biden, other Obama administration officials and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
https://twitter.com/ChadPergram/status/1197623800713662470

Justice Kennedy asked Trump to put Kavanaugh on Supreme Court list, book says | Please don't forget: Justin Kennedy (the son of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy) lead the real-estate division of Deutsche Bank that gave President Trump over $1 billion in loans when other banks wouldn't. | Kennedy requested a private moment with President Trump to deliver a message about the next Supreme Court opening, Marcus reports. Kennedy told Trump he should consider another of his former clerks, Brett M. Kavanaugh, who was not on the president’s first two lists of candidates.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/justice-kennedy-asked-trump-to-put-kavanaugh-on-supreme-court-list-book-says/2019/11/21/3495f684-0b0f-11ea-8397-a955cd542d00_story.html
https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Ambition-Kavanaugh-Conservative-Takeover/dp/1982123869/

Robocall Scams Exist Because They Work—One Woman’s Story Shows How | One successful spammer stole close to $340,000 from a woman's account by isolating her from her family and clouding her judgement.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/robocall-scams-exist-because-they-workone-womans-story-shows-how-11574351204

Trump has signed the bill to avert a midnight shutdown and fund the Federal Government through December 20, when, unless appropriations bills are enacted, another Continuing Resolution will be required to prevent a pre-Christmas Holiday shutdown.

Eh, he endorsed Ted Cruz on his election against O’Rouke, when O’Rouke was by far the better man. When he could’ve remained neutral. That is who Hurd is: partisan hack with zero integrity, just quieter about it than Jordan, Nunes et al.
https://twitter.com/sbtan/status/1197708838876655618