Impeach Trump Y/N

is it too much to ask for mr. trump's tax returns?

um, do you realize he's in the middle of audit right now? you can't release tax returns in the middle of an audit! and he gets audited 100% of the time, so

cause Obama weaponized the IRS against his opponents

after the conclusion of the opening argument, everyone was suddenly allowed to speak again.

Senators Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, bipartisan allies who have twice worked together to bring an end to government shutdowns, were deep in conversation. Ms. Collins is likely to break with her party to call for witnesses to testify.

In the back corner of the chamber, Senators Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee were also having a lively talk; both could be seen gesturing. Ms. Sinema is viewed as someone who might cross party lines to vote to acquit Mr. Trump; Mr. Alexander has expressed openness to joining with Democrats to subpoena witnesses. They sat together for nearly 10 minutes after the proceedings concluded — sadly, out of earshot of the reporters staring from the gallery up above.

"psst. psst! hey, manchin! wanna play a little game called "who is more evil?"

take california

Breaking: Sen. Dianne Feinstein became the first Democrat to suggest that she could vote to acquit President Trump despite serious concerns about his character. https://t.co/82GoQkmpAB

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 28, 2020

the whole "we're not here to upend the will of the voters" argument is so goddamn stupid. if Trump is removed it's not like the office goes to Hillary Clinton (who, I might point out, got a lot more votes than Trump)

just being reasonable and bipartisan

It's a bullshit argument, they'll use it to justify whatever they want to do. Need to block a SC nominee? Well ya see we believe the American people should have a say in it. No, not the American people who voted in 2012, fuck them; I'm talking about the American people who will vote in 2016. Need to keep your guy in office? Well ya see we believe the American people should not have their vote overturned. No not the American people who voted in 1996, fuck them: I'm talking about the American people who voted in 2016.

Why........ would Feinstein do this

Maybe she's sick of being a senator

because she's an amoral institutionalist

She does not say she is "leaning towards" acquittal. Not even close. pic.twitter.com/sM6LULrRL7

— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) January 28, 2020

that headline is ... a bit weird. she's always said she was likely to acquit and did not support impeachment by the house. the statement that is new is her saying she is *less* likely to acquit based on what she's heard.

she's terrible though, don't get me wrong.

the people should judge, if they're not struck from the voting rolls

can we replace her with Annette Bening

and yeah that header is deliberately misleading

xps

has she announced her retirement yet btw?

I think she wants to die in office

https://www.jweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/beningWEB.jpg

The LA Times misunderstood what I said today. Before the trial I said I'd keep an open mind. Now that both sides made their cases, it’s clear the president’s actions were wrong. He withheld vital foreign assistance for personal political gain. That can’t be allowed to stand.

— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) January 28, 2020

new script pages from The Report

what a pro`

because she's an amoral institutionalist

An amoral institutionalist would be gung-ho to eject the person most singularly responsible (or tied with McConnell) for trashing the integrity and norm structure of the institution!

I think the @latimes has this story backwards. I was the reporter who asked @SenFeinstein these questions. She told me she was initially going to vote against impeachment "before this"

But when I asked her to clarify, she said she's changed her opinion https://t.co/sJeYl2VkNl

— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) January 28, 2020

An acquaintance posted this about Feinstein and CA politics in 2018:

It was odd that Republicans voted more for De Leon (running against Feinstein, and more liberal than she was) than Democrats did. Vote for a Mexican-American liberal to...own the libs. But then who ever said that most R voters are bright bulbs?

Feinstein is something of a relic of pre-Wilson California; she first won her seat in 1992. And seems to want to be carried out feet first.

The problem was 1) a lot of people in CA didn't want to vote out a very senior Senator with Trump in office and 2) De Leon was kind of the best of an otherwise terrible lot opposing her; De Leon is president pro tempore of the CA State Senate. Other than De Leon, it was Alison Hartson (who runs the Wolf PAC, Cenk Uygur's PAC, 'nuff said) and a whole bunch of other also-rans and never-weres.

Shakey, etc can confirm, deny, etc

One time, I met Dianne Feinstein at an event and she introduced me to Dick Durbin as "an erstwhile reporter." I said, "No, I'm still a reporter." And she said, "Right, an erstwhile reporter." And I said, "That means that I'm a former reporter." And she said, "No, it means...

— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) January 28, 2020

"...that you're now a reporter." And I said, "I'm pretty sure 'erstwhile' means 'former.'" And she said, "Really? It does?" And then she turned to Dick Durbin and said, "Dick, did you know that 'erstwhile' means 'former'"? Which is all to say that maybe Feinstein misspoke.

— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) January 28, 2020

An amoral institutionalist would be gung-ho to eject the person most singularly responsible (or tied with McConnell) for trashing the integrity and norm structure of the institution!

the institution I was referring to was the Senate. all of the Senate's wounds in recent years have been self-inflicted.

re: Alfred's post - idk who voted for De Leon but he's a good guy and should definitely (and probably eventually will) take her seat

GOP votes for De Leon were because the GOP weren't even able to field a candidate for that seat, none of their candidates qualified for the general election ballot lol

the GOP is dead in this state

good news: apparently mcconnell doesn't have the votes to block witnesses/additional evidence.

there's only gonna be one witness and it'll be Hunter Biden

Witnesses will not affect the preordained outcome or shift public opinion

What if those witnesses are nekkid?

De Leon is running for cd14 in LA this year and sounds like he might run for mayor if the timing works out. So he might not run for senate for a while He’s also not a good guy based on what I hear now he’s back in LA but still ... Feinstein.

My best hope now is that this fucks the GOP up and they lose the senate.

McConnell will happily do any fucking evil or ignoble thing he has the power to do and the only way to make his misrule of the Senate even a tiny bit less egregious is for 51 senators to vote down whatever sick piece of crap he has put to a vote. So, any time it happens, it is a Good Thing, even when the good it accomplishes is simply to diminish McConnell's power by a barely perceptible amount. It proves it is possible.

A democratically controlled senate would be 1000x better, no matter how asinine its top leadership may be.

Important distinction between a “democratically elected Senate” which is an oxymoron afaik, and a “Democrat-controlled Senate” which is in the realm of possibility

it's high time why we learned why hunter biden's $1,000,000 annual sinecure with burisma is so much more corrupt than jared kushner's 666 5th avenue mortgage arrangement with qatar. this will blow the lid off benghazi

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/02/qatar-666-5th-ave-jared-kushner

I would prefer Collins and Gardner vote to acquit and then lose their seats to some scenario where they make a show of bipartisanship/vote to convict and then keep their seats (and McConnell in power)

so you prefer not to hear from witnesses, and you prefer that republican senators vote to acquit

that seems like something republicans would be willing to agree with too

I would prefer he be impeached, but there arent enough GOP “swing” votes.

I dont really care about the witnesses.

I would like the GOP to lose their Senate majority. GOP “swing” Senators being revealed as partisan hacks makes that more likely.

I care about witnesses because a lot of rightwing idiots love Bolton. Most/all of the witnesses and expert testimony can be dismissed by conservatives Democratic partisan stooges. I like the idea of them listening to Bolton explain what went down

Wait til it turns out that he was a Democratic partisan stooge all along! Just like Mueller

well, yeah

Just insane stuff happening on Lou Dobbs tonight pic.twitter.com/2RD8A3CpS4

— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) January 28, 2020

This, beyond all else, is why I will never understand why anyone boards this crazy train. No one on the right is safe when and if the rest of the GOP degenerates decide it's time to cut bait.

You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

just don't say trump has republican heads on a pike - because that is just INSULTING

joe fucking manchin re-earns his middle name

Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he would be willing to vote with Republicans for testimony by Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Mr. Manchin’s party has been stridently opposed to doing so, arguing that Mr. Biden is not only not relevant to the charges against Mr. Trump but a distraction put forward by Republicans trying to muddy the waters around his wrongdoing.

“I think so; I really do,” Mr. Manchin said when asked if he would support testimony from Hunter Biden. “I don’t have a problem there because this is why we are where we are. I think he could clear himself, from what I know and what I’ve heard. But being afraid to put anybody that might have pertinent information is wrong, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican.”

I don’t have a problem there because this is why we are where we are.

grrrrrrr

Well, I suppose the flip is that if Biden is irrelevant, then let him be called to testify. He'd be a sacrifice at the altar of stupidity.

that's not the flip