Light News Dump

They keep asking for fact witnesses. Trump is welcome to testify.

To the naked eye, there was nothing out of the ordinary at the oil and gas sites @jonah_kessel and I visited in West Texas. But an infrared camera sees what the human eye can’t: massive leaks of methane, a gas that’s warming the planet at an alarming rate
https://twitter.com/HirokoTabuchi/status/1205096192557944835

The 73-year-old president of the United States is attacking a 16-year-old who is on the autism spectrum. He started his morning tweets attacking a child.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1205100602025545730

H.Res.757 - Calling for the resignation and disbarment of United States Attorney General William P. Barr, and for other purposes.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/757/text?r=18

H.Res.755 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/755/text

H.Res.759 - Expressing that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the Russian Federation interfered in the 2016 United States Presidential election and deliberately spread false information to implicate the Republic of Ukraine.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/759?s=2&r=16

Adam Schiff Submits Pence Aide's Classified Letter To Judiciary Committee
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/adam-schiff-classified-letter-pence-aide_n_5df173e6e4b0b75fb53750c2

H.R. 3 is a huge win for American consumers, providing price reductions on prescription drugs & putting money back in their pockets. This bill also funds provisions from my Community Health Centers legislation providing critical, quality health care in hard-to-reach communities.
https://twitter.com/WhipClyburn/status/1204909378786222080

I have been consistently proud of my former student @RepSwalwell throughout this past year for his preparedness, professionalism, legal skill, spot-on examination of witnesses, and ability - as here - to cut through to the simple heart of complicated matters and speak truth.
https://twitter.com/Sifill_LDF/status/1205086928640581633

.@RepSwalwell tells story of his dad, a police chief, who was fired for writing parking tickets for the mayor and a few council members. "My dad believed no one was above the law and held firm. He lost his job and we packed up our little family and moved west."
https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1204947488488210433

Betsy DeVos ignored her own staff, forced students defrauded by for-profit colleges to pay | DeVos overruled findings calling for full debt relief. Now she wants to gut the debt relief program entirely
https://www.salon.com/2019/12/12/betsy-devos-ignored-her-own-staff-forced-students-defrauded-by-for-profit-colleges-to-pay/

Rendon deal done with angels . 245M . 7 yrs.
https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1204968808797990913?s=19

Monday: Stephen Strasburg gets $245 million from the Nationals. Tuesday: Gerrit Cole gets $324 million from the Yankees. Wednesday: Anthony Rendon gets $245 million from the Angels. Over three days, Scott Boras negotiated $814 million worth of deals.
https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1204969633624793089

Trump’s Ukraine Extortion Scheme Was Financed by Russia
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/report-parnas-russia-ukraine-trump-impeachment-giuliani-money.html

Pentagon to Investigate Legality of Trump’s Use of Military Personnel Along Southern Border
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/pentagon-to-investigate-legality-of-trumps-use-of-military-personnel-along-southern-border/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/us/politics/trump-border-wall-investigation.html

Trump’s war on the poor - The economy continues to generate jobs that won’t support a family. That’s why so-called poverty programs — from CHIP to food stamps to public housing to low income heating assistance to Medicaid — are so necessary.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2019/12/9/21003796/minimum-wage-medicaid-war-poor-poverty-jesse-jackson-chip-student-loans

Former Reublican Kentucky governor Bevin pardoned convicted killer whose brother hosted campaign fundraiser
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/474247-outgoing-kentucky-governor-pardons-convicted-killer-whose-brother-hosted

Tomorrow SCOTUS is set to make a move in trumps financial documents case. From 'I want to release my taxes! But I can't cause of this audit, see?' To 'Please, please, pretty please SCOTUS, do not release my taxes because I don't want anybody to see my financial corruption and crimes!'
https://www.lawfareblog.com/trump-litigation-round

Andrew Yang’s Campaign Fires Staffer Over Alleged Misconduct As Alyssa Milano Pulls Out of Fundraiser
https://www.thedailybeast.com/andrew-yangs-campaign-fires-staffer-over-alleged-misconduct-after-alyssa-milano-pulls-out-of-fundraiser

AT&T Said Trump Tax Cuts Would Create Thousands Of Jobs - Instead, AT&T's Laying Off Thousands
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191211/10503943556/att-said-trump-tax-cuts-would-create-thousands-jobs-instead-atts-laying-off-thousands.shtml

Brynne Kennedy (D) is running against Tom McClintock
https://brynneforcongress.com

Canadian Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer to resign imminently | His resignation comes as a direct result of new revelations that he was using Conservative Party money to pay for his children’s private schooling
https://globalnews.ca/news/6288286/andrew-scheer-resignation/

The Brooklyn Nets are waiving guard Iman Shumpert, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Nets were 9-4 with Shumpert and reluctantly released him due to full roster guarantees.
http://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1205167091839582210

Queensland school runs out of water as commercial bottlers harvest local supplie - "The government is buying water back from Coca-Cola to bring here, which is where it came from in the first place.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/12/queensland-school-water-commercial-bottlers-tamborine-mountain

On Colin Kaepernick and what went into the FA workout, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “It was about opportunity, a credible opportunity. ... He chose not to take it, and I understand that.” And the league has moved on.
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1204880364155617282

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday the league has "moved on" from former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who changed the venue last-minute for an NFL sponsored workout and held his own workout last month.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/11/us/colin-kaepernick-roger-goodell-moved-on/index.html

The Air Force has released video of its intermediate-range ballistic missile test today at Vandenberg AFB. The missile had been banned by the now-defunct INF Treaty
https://twitter.com/dave_brown24/status/1205193767508201474

YEP, ditto for Sanders: Pete Buttigieg senior advisor @Lis_Smith fires back: “Sen. Warren's idea of how to defeat Trump is to tell people who don’t support her that they are unwelcome in the fight and that those who disagree with her belong in the other party. We need to move beyond...divisiveness."
https://twitter.com/aseitzwald/status/1205192696937275394

Former GOP Rep. Charlie Dent: "As a former chair of the House Ethics Committee is that if any of them had used their office to call a foreign head of government to investigate their campaign opponent, they know the Department of Justice would be crawling up their backside."
https://twitter.com/JesseCharlesLee/status/1205192257026084864

Senate recognizes Armenian genocide over objections of Trump and Turkish government
https://twitter.com/dshesgreen/status/1205190321543380992

What kind of president bullies a teenager? @realDonaldTrump, you could learn a few things from Greta on what it means to be a leader.
https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1205201622483243009

Warren attacks Buttigieg and Biden, Buttigieg dodges protesters, Yang plays basketball and Biden goes after Trump.
https://twitter.com/michaelscherer/status/1205201990260801537

A blizzard has paralyzed parts of Iceland after bringing 149 mph winds, and possibly up to 10 FEET of snow (hard to measure in such winds!). It prompted the first-ever "red alert" weather warning in that country.
https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/1205201504317116416
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/12/12/iceland-blizzard-brings-mph-winds-up-feet-mountain-snow/

"The facts here are not in dispute. Donald Trump abused his power by putting his pure personal gain over our country... This is no longer about what the president did. We know what he did. He admitted it. This is about what will WE do." —@RepSwalwell http://trumpandimpeachment.com
https://twitter.com/JenSheltonn/status/1204945134154133504

Make sure your family and friends see the evidence for themselves: The president asked a foreign power to interfere in the 2020 election for his own political gain. Americans deserve free and fair elections. He must be held accountable.
https://trumpandimpeachment.com/

The two killers who stormed a kosher market in Jersey City were driven by hatred of Jews and law enforcement, New Jersey’s attorney general said Thursday, adding that the case is being investigated as domestic terrorism. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal also disclosed that the man and woman had five guns, including an AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun that they were wielding when they burst into the store in an attack that left the scene littered with several hundred shell casings. They also had a pipebomb in their van. “The outcome would have been far, far worse” if not for the Jersey City Police, Grewal said. Authorities noted that a Jewish school is next to the market, and a Catholic school is across the street.
https://apnews.com/20dbf0854c6fb812fcf4b979986492d7

Big anti-vaxx crowd showing up to protest a bill that would remove religious exemptions to vaccines. But they went to the wrong room ... and won't leave.
https://twitter.com/BrandyZadrozny/status/1205205167320260610

Reminder that her 'Be Best' campaign was an attempt to one up Michelle Obama's 'Be Better' campaign. They actually stole the press kit art and edited it for themselves.
https://www.newsweek.com/people-share-melania-trumps-anti-bullying-best-slogan-after-president-mocks-teenager-greta-1476935

It is inhumane and unthinkable that our government would deport those who represent the very best of who we are. The outpouring of support for Jesus from the community is a testament to the way in which he positively impacted the lives of those around him.
https://twitter.com/TomSteyer/status/1205220469097414656
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/las-vegas-father-whose-college-student-daughters-had-pleaded-for-his-release-is-deported-to-mexico

LEV PARNAS told a $250k investor in FRAUD GUARANTEE that he would promote the investor's proposal to bring Middle East peace by constructing a 3rd temple over Jerusalem (depicted here). The investor has since been subpoenaed, & now wants his $250k back.
https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/1205168895721644032

U.S. negotiators have reached the terms of a phase-one trade deal with China that now awaits Donald Trump’s approval
https://twitter.com/business/status/1205209933521858560
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-12/u-s-reaches-deal-in-principle-with-china-awaits-trump-sign-off

We’re also suing to release Treasury’s communications with the office of Sen. McConnell, who had supported lifting sanctions on Rusal just months before the $200 million investment in the Kentucky plant was announced.
https://twitter.com/weareoversight/status/1205224039129735169
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-a-mcconnell-backed-effort-to-lift-russian-sanctions-boosted-a-kentucky-project/2019/08/13/72b26e00-b97c-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html

If the left believes Obama is a corporate sell out fraud, while Black voters nationally approve of him at 95%, seems like a big problem for the left
https://twitter.com/marcushjohnson/status/1205172040761856000

Boeing removed a feature that protects its 787 planes during lightning strikes as a cost-cutting measure, even after FAA experts objected
https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-removed-lightning-strike-safety-feature-787-dreamliner-faa-report-2019-12

A report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revealed that the Arctic itself could now be contributing to climate change. As frozen Arctic ground begins to thaw, it releases carbon, which turns into a greenouse gas.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/12/12/21011445/permafrost-melting-arctic-report-card-noaa

Federal Judge Grants Citizenship to American Samoans
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/12/federal-judge-grants-citizenship-to-american-samoans/

Matt Gaetz, Arrested For DUI, Attacks Hunter Biden Over Substance Abuse
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/12/matt-gaetz-hunter-biden-dui

US voting rights: Governor lifts lifetime ban on voting for more than 100,000 former felons in Kentucky. Ban disproportionately affected black Kentuckians, due to disparities in the criminal justice system. Roughly a quarter of black voting age population in the state was kept from voting.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kentucky-governor-voting-ban-felons-andy-beshear-democrat-a9244631.html

Among British Labour party voters, the leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson is 10 pts *more popular* than the party's own leader Jeremy Corbyn. An amazing stat that shows how Corbyn's cult has taken the Labour party hostage at one of the country's most perilous moments.
https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/1171122315024850945

REMINDER: While the House Judiciary Committee has been taking up impeachment, the House has passed legislation to:
☎️ Stop robocall scams
🗳 Restore voting rights protections
💰 Lower prescription drug costs
https://twitter.com/RepKarenBass/status/1205217973914537984

There’s been a flurry of editorials calling for Trump’s impeachment -- WaPo, LA Times, Boston Globe, USA Today -- but still far less than the 115+ newspaper boards that called for Clinton’s resignation two decades ago. My piece:
https://twitter.com/mlcalderone/status/1205226266774908928
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/12/newspapers-swing-states-impeachment-083810

https://thebulwark.com/if-trump-is-a-unique-danger-why-arent-democrats-acting-like-it/

Photo from this morning of a New Zealand military helicopter preparing to fly to the White Island volcano. Troops are now on the volcano, on a perilous mission to recover eight victims' bodies. Vulcanologists say there is 50-60 percent chance of another eruption in the next 24h
https://twitter.com/AndrewBeatty/status/1205226821958152204

I can remember when Bill Weld was a g-od among Massachussetts Republicans...: Bill Weld Won't Appear On Mass. Primary Ballots If The State's GOP Has Its Way
https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/12/12/bill-weld-massachusetts-primary-massgop-galvin

They're right, I've been screaming endlessly: ‘This lit up our base’: Trump campaign says impeachment will help him win reelection
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/this-lit-up-our-base-trump-campaign-says-impeachment-will-help-him-win-reelection/2019/12/12/7275d0e2-1d15-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html

American Airlines pulls Boeing 737 Max from its schedules until April 7, making it more than a full year since the grounding before it expects to fly the planes again.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/12/american-airlines-takes-boeing-737-max-off-schedule-until-april.html

Construction of Texas Border Wall Stalls Over Fights With Landowners | Three years into Trump administration, virtually no new wall has been built as farmers, ranchers and a Catholic diocese resist federal efforts to claim their land | In the three years since, the government has built 80 miles of border wall, according to CBP, most of which has replaced existing fencing in California. In the Rio Grande Valley, the government has funding for up to 110 miles of new wall but has yet to obtain the land needed for most of it or to complete construction on the rest. | The only way Texas landowners who don’t want a wall on their property have avoided a court fight is through congressional intervention. La Lomita Mission, a 154-year-old mission that sits on the banks of the Rio Grande and is part of the Diocese of Brownsville, was specifically excluded from wall construction along with several South Texas wildlife refuges in border-security legislation last year.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/construction-of-texas-border-wall-stalls-over-fights-with-landowners-11576154415

Rep. Frederica Wilson to Betsy DeVos: "I've had some honest disagreements with my friends in the Republican party about how to move education forward but I've never, not one time, believed that they were out to destroy public education until I met you."
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1205234686919925760

Matt Bevin pardoned a Kentucky man who beheaded a woman and stuffed her in a barrel
https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article238320918.html

House passes sweeping Pelosi bill to lower drug prices
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/474294-house-passes-sweeping-pelosi-bill-to-lower-drug-prices

Saudi Arabia is quietly spending millions on a fresh lobbying effort in the US, hoping to finally put to bed Jamal Khashoggi's brutal murder
https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-spends-millions-washington-lobby-campaign-tensions-2019-12

Chinese city turns into ghost town after Samsung shifts operation to India.
https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/chinese-city-turns-into-ghost-town-after-samsung-shifts-operation-to-india-vietnam-11576091583501.html

What they should have done in the first place. The shitstain parents opted to meet Trump instead. Parents of U.K. teen killed in car crash to file lawsuit in Virginia against American woman
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harry-dunn-parents-ready-to-sue-anne-sacoolas-in-virginia/

A team of salmon farmers rescued a bald eagle trapped in an octopus' grasp off Canada's Vancouver Island
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1205251008806432769

“It’s unclear what steps, if any, Congress could or will take to rein in the FBI’s power under the surveillance law, and it remains to be seen whether outrage over the way a Trump ally was treated will extend to less overtly political investigations”
https://apnews.com/9d79f3d1beb1e552d57e0a17d9cd8e28

“I’m still trying to get my arms around the proposition that a whole bunch of conservative Republicans who’ve logged years blocking bipartisan FISA reforms are now somehow privacy hawks,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
https://apnews.com/9d79f3d1beb1e552d57e0a17d9cd8e28

🚨 Stephen A. Smith says he and Jay-Z/Roc Nation were behind scenes getting @Kaepernick7 the NFL workout. Smith says half the NFL owners were against it. 🎥: Matt_Barnes9’s IG... Matt says he will post the full video Thursday 🔥
https://twitter.com/RzstProgramming/status/1204952734891425793

Rudy has worked as Trump’s lawyer for “free,” but Parnas paid him half a million dollars for his work. If Parnas himself was being paid by Russian sources, this means the Russians were essentially subsidizing Trump, paying for the work themselves so he didn’t have to lay out a dime of his own money.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/report-parnas-russia-ukraine-trump-impeachment-giuliani-money.html

Republicans: "It's terrible what the Democrats are putting the American people through."
Also Republicans: "The American people don't care about this."

"My children, who were taught at home and in church and at school that honesty and integrity do matter, have witnessed the president of the United States shamelessly lie to the American people."
"No person stands above the law. All Americans -- no matter how rich, how powerful, how well connected – should be held accountable for their actions. Every American must be held accountable." –Steve Chabot (R) Ohio, 1998, speaking about Bill Clinton.

The European Union is the largest donor to Ukraine, and Ukraine is the largest recipient of EU macro-financial assistance to any non-EU country. The European Union has given, on average, over $710 million (€650 million) per year to the country since 2014—almost twice as much as the United States average
https://www.csis.org/analysis/not-contributing-enough-summary-european-military-and-development-assistance-ukraine-2014

Rep. Pramila Jayapal: "'Us' was not about America. The president was not putting America First. This wasn't official policy. This wasn't what was right for our country. Every witness told us that, too. This was personal. It was all for Pres. Trump's personal, political gain."
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1205271245027258370

Immigrants held in ICE jails received medical care so bad it resulted in 2 preventable surgeries, inc. an 8-yr-old who had to have part of his forehead removed, & contributed to 4 deaths, according to a complaint from a whistleblower.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/ice-immigrant-surgeries-deaths-jails-whistleblower-secret

"They said that 8.8 million voters who were “very enthusiastic” about Mr. Trump in 2016 did not show up for the 2018 midterm elections because the president was not on the ballot. But they said those voters remained enthusiastic about Mr. Trump..."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/us/politics/trump-2020-campaign.html

Another wrinkle: the Liberal Democrats - the wokest of them all - collapsed. Their leader Jo Swinson couldn't say what she believes a woman is. She may even lose her seat. Great victory against the "social justice" cult.
https://twitter.com/sullydish/status/1205260500780666880

Covered the UK election on my show very carefully for weeks w/ good guests. From a distance, it would seem to me that Labour lost because they were *radically* left-wing, incoherent on Brexit, run by bigots and bigot-coddlers...and the Tory leader/message was pretty appealing.
https://twitter.com/guypbenson/status/1205271256494424064

Every morning I walk past this wall that honors journalists who gave their lives in the service of AP. Today we added journalist YC Jao and photojournalist Mohamed Ben Khalifa. It is a humbling reminder that the words we read and pictures we see come with a price.
https://twitter.com/jdavidake/status/1204804332031553536

Tonight the White House celebrated Hanukkah, which—wait for it—does not begin for another two weeks

13 countries were ranked as more corrupt than Ukraine, yet still received aid:    According to USAID, Ukraine in fiscal 2018 ranked 25th in the amount of U.S. aid it received — economic, military and other. Of the 24 countries who received more aid, 13 ranked as more corrupt than Ukraine on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/30/trumps-highly-selective-concern-about-corruption-ukraine/

Republicans in Congress in 2016 wrote a letter in support of Biden's efforts
https://www.portman.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/portman-durbin-shaheen-and-senate-ukraine-caucus-reaffirm-commitment-help

___________________________

Deutch: "We're all dumber after listening to the Ranking Member (Doug Collins) now." LMAO

Trump has tweeted/retweeted 50+ times in the past 60 minutes

It’s almost 1pm. The president has tweeted or retweeted 100 times today.
https://twitter.com/spettypi/status/1205184175420166145

Donald J Trump is the definition of a coastal elite, Wall Street NYC "millionaire/billionaire", he owned a BANK BUILDING SKYSCRAPER ON WALL STREET

"I WANT TO ANSWER HER QUESTION"
It's not your turn.

It's now your turn.
"I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE."

A remarkable thing about all of this is that Zelensky and Putin had a meeting recently. Zelensky was hoping to go into the meeting with a WH visit under his belt and some leverage. Trump has done everything to hobble Zelensky: delaying aid, trying to blackmail him, denying this meeting and not issuing a single tweet in Zelensky or Ukraine's defense. And then on Tuesday he gave the Russian foreign minister the Oval office meeting Zelensky was desperate to get. He sent Putin and Zelensky an unmistakable sign. The executive branch and GOP stand unquestionably with Russia and against democracy.

Hank Johnson responds to Gaetz: “The pot calling the kettle black is not something we should do,” he says, adding if someone had a DUI, it’s not something he would bring up.
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1205172546062209025
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/rep-hank-johnson-rep-gaetz-pot-calling-kettle-black-bringing-up-hunter-biden-s-dui-74975813753
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6FkdDINctc

"The pot calling the kettle black is something we shouldn’t do. I don’t know what Members have had issues with substance abuse, or been busted with DUI. But if I had, I wouldn’t raise it against anyone in this committee. It’s not proper." - MVP Rep. Hank Johnson to Rep. Matt Gaetz
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/rep-hank-johnson-rep-gaetz-pot-calling-kettle-black-bringing-up-hunter-biden-s-dui-74975813753
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6FkdDINctc

In 2008, Gaetz was arrested under a charge of driving under the influence (DUI) as he was driving back from the Swamp, a nightclub on Okaloosa Island, Florida. Police recorded Gaetz driving 13 mph over that area’s speed limit.[86] Police noted that Gaetz had shown physical signs of intoxication, initially denied that he had drunk alcohol, but later admitted to drinking two beers. Gaetz failed an eye test twice, then declined field sobriety tests. After Gaetz was arrested, he refused to take a breathalyzer test.[87] | In 2008, Gaetz was arrested under a charge of driving under the influence (DUI) as he was driving back from the Swamp, a nightclub on Okaloosa Island, Florida. Police recorded Gaetz driving 13 mph over that area’s speed limit.[86] Police noted that Gaetz had shown physical signs of intoxication, initially denied that he had drunk alcohol, but later admitted to drinking two beers. Gaetz failed an eye test twice, then declined field sobriety tests. After Gaetz was arrested, he refused to take a breathalyzer test.[87]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Gaetz
https://heavy.com/news/2019/02/matt-gaetz-dui-arrest-mugshot/
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/07/how-matt-gaetz-used-daddys-money-to-become-trumps-favorite-congressman/

Rep. John Ratcliffe (R): "Is it ever okay to invite a foreign government to become involved in an election involving a political opponent? The answer is yes. It better be, we do it all the time."
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4838383/user-clip-watch-rep-john-ratcliffe-treason-okay

If Hunter Biden and Burisma and the Ukraine "hacking DNC servers" were legitimate concerns, why was Giuliani and his sidekicks and a corrupt Ukrainian ex-prosecutor and two Ukrainian leaders (the current and former) the go-to people instead of the State Department or FBI or CIA or DoJ or a Senate investivative committee? Remember that there were multiple articles about Hunter Biden joining Burisma's board in early 2015. It was public knowledge, and the GOP didn't do a single thing about it even though they had the majority. They did agree with Joe Biden firing the corrupt prosecutor though. Hunter Biden was never investigated, and the company that he work for that was investigated was being investigated for things that occurred allegedly before Hunter Biden was even working at the company. Republicans are just playing six degrees of Kevin Bacon to try to slander Joe Biden

Really feeling the “Prestige around the world” when Trudeau, Macron, and Boris fucking Johnson were laughing at Trump.

Whether Hunter Biden is guilty or not, Trump went outside of the official channels and held back congressionally approved funding without approval from Congress, and asking for "a favor, though" that would personally benefit him. That is the abuse of power. Not "asking for an investigation of an innocent person". Hunter Biden's guilt or innocence is irrelevant.

Finally. Thank you Swalwell for bringing how many years this "corruption" was never investigated by republicans!

"The Yankees are now paying their ace starting pitcher $36M per year for the next 9 seasons in a division where the Tampa Bay Rays spent $68M on their entire payroll in 2019 (& won 96 games)".
https://www.twitter.com/spotrac/status/1204631329910001664

All Trump had to do was keep his idiot head down after the Mueller report but no, he just couldn't help but commit more crimes on speakerphone with the door open.

Trump supporters are a special kind of stupid.

CSPAN callers are almost all Republicans: "Republicans won't say trump did something wrong but the democrats and both sides are the same they must be defending Joe Biden too". Fuck 90% of these callers.

Poor Ukraine. A country literally fighting for its existence with citizens dying in a war now being smeared on the global stage as being a corrupt cesspool.

Graham wrong that House impeachment inquiry denies Trump ‘due process
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/oct/28/lindsey-graham/graham-wrong-house-impeachment-inquiry-denies-trum/

Oh look, the people complaining about Cohen’s props have brought props

The dumpster fire will be impeached inthe House. That will be on the record. House Democrats will have done their duty to defend the constitution against a domestic enemy.

Impeachment proceedings estimated to cost $32KK.
Trump golfing tournament estimated to cost $140KK (so far).
That caller can fuck right off.

Even if Hunter Biden is guilty, it does not get Trump off the hook. What Trump did is STILL WRONG.

Friendly reminder that Ukraine already had long announced that corruption claims against the Bidens related to Burisma were unsubstantiated. Corruption allegations against the Biden's are unsubstantiated.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/ukraine-prosecutor-says-no-evidence-of-wrongdoing-by-bidens
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-09-29/former-ukraine-prosecutor-says-no-wrongdoing-biden

Democrats should really hammer the point that nobody is opposed to an investigation on Joe Biden or his son. If DJT wants to order the FBI - his own FBI - to investigate those individuals, he is welcome to. If there is relevant information that the FBI needs from the Ukraine, then the FBI and CIA will get that information. It would not have been illegal to do that. Donald Trump could have avoided this whole thing if he used the tools provided to him as President.

Ivanka, Jared, and Don Jr have partaken in more egregious nepotistic behavior than Hunter Biden.

As GOP members now baselessly allege impropriety over the the firing of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin -- a reform backed by the EU, IMF, and US at the time -- a reminder that GOP supported it in 2016 too.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/03/politics/gop-senators-echoed-biden-on-ukraine-reforms-kfile/index.html

When Hunter Biden was on the board of Burisma and when Shokin was fired, Geoffrey Pyatt was the ambassador to Ukraine at the time. Pyatt closely coordinated with Biden on Ukranian policy.
If there was "corrupt behavior", then why has Trump appointed Pyatt as the ambassador to Greece?

The Republicans now arguing that they (when they were the majority) did not hold Biden accountable for his apparent "wrong doing" with Ukraine, so the Democrats shouldn't hold Trump accountable for his same wrong doing (according to Republicans). This is how they defend the indefensible.

Thank you Veronica Escobar: It's NOT a transcript. It's a memorandum of a conversation / MemCon

Note that the Gaetz amendment they are discussing call the hiring of Hunter corrupt in and of itself.

Even when their conspiracy theory bullshit is disproven, they keep repeating it. They keep bringing up the video of Biden even though he was talking about firing a prosecutor that was LESS LIKELY to prosecute his son's company. LESS LIKELY not MORE LIKELY. It's terrifying to me that there is 40% of Americans that don't agree on this simple fact, and simply because of the GOP's fascist propaganda techniques.

The 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (ICA)—written in the wake of President Nixon’s attempt to exert greater control over the budget—extends this reasoning to OMB’s deferral power, or the ability to withhold congressionally mandated money from an executive agency for a period of time. As a routine matter, these types of deferrals do not last longer than 45 days. 2 U.S.C § 682(1), defines a “deferral” as:
(A) withholding or delaying the obligation or expenditure of budget authority (whether by establishing reserves or otherwise) provided for projects or activities; or
(B) any other type of Executive action or inaction which effectively precludes the obligation or expenditure of budget authority, including authority to obligate by contract in advance of appropriations as specifically authorized by law
Part of the ICA (2 U.S.C § 684) mirrors 31 U.S.C § 1512 and states that, like apportionments, “deferrals shall be permissible only:”
(1) to provide for contingencies;
(2) to achieve savings made possible by or through changes in requirements or greater efficiency of operations; or
(3) as specifically provided by law.
This section also clearly states that “[n]o officer or employee of the United States may defer any budget authority for any other purpose.”
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/chapter-17B/subchapter-II
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42633.pdf#page=13.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/682
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/684

17-23, Democrats reject Matt Gaetz amendment to remove Biden reference from the resolution and add “Burisma and its corrupt hiring of Hunter Biden.” This would have amended the section discussing Trump’s ask for Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden

“I’ll ignore Mr. Swalwell’s questions because I know he’s right.”

The idea that Donald Trump was leading an anti-corruption effort is like Kim Jong-un leading a human rights effort." -Cicilline

Rep. Eric Swalwell notes the gulf between House GOP's position that Trump did nothing wrong and their witness Professor Turley's position that his call with Zelensky was "anything but 'perfect." Swalwell asks if any GOP reps agree: "I want to see a show of hands on your side."
https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1205236335499456523

GOP congressman says terrorists in Iraq had more due process rights than Trump. He’s wrong
https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2019/dec/10/greg-steube/gop-congressman-says-terrorists-iraq-had-more-due-/

White House Comes Up with New Explanation for Withholding Military Aid to Ukraine
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/white-house-comes-up-with-new-explanation-for-withholding-military-aid-to-ukraine/

Watch Veronica Escobar Make the Case for Impeaching Trump. With a simple analogy, the representative from Texas takes down Republicans’ argument that Trump committed no wrongdoing.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/12/watch-veronica-escobar-make-the-case-for-impeaching-trump/

"Its very disingenuous to say he mentioned biden multiple times, read the transcript"
Proceeds to read the part of the transcript that mentions Biden multiple times

Won't be the first time Trump Extorted Ukraine or the multiple other times he extorted Ukraine
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/world/europe/ukraine-mueller-manafort-missiles.html
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/trump-extorted-ukraine-2017-2018-impeachment-giuliani-mueller.html

First it's Trump hardly mentions the Bidens and the next it's all about the Bidens