Розділ: Політика
House Democrats Set to Impeach Trump Next Week
U.S. House Democrats are one big step away from impeaching President Donald Trump. After 14 hours of contentious partisan debate, the House Judiciary Committee on Friday approved formal charges alleging Trump abused the power of his office and obstructed congressional efforts to investigate him. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson looks ahead to the final vote on impeachment on the House floor
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By Polityk | 12/14/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Judge: 234K Wisconsin Voter Registrations Should be Tossed
A Wisconsin judge on Friday ordered that the registration of up to 234,000 voters be tossed out because they may have moved, a victory for conservatives that could make it more difficult for people to vote next year in the key swing state.The judge sided with three voters represented by a conservative law firm who argued the state elections commission should have immediately deactivated any of the roughly 234,000 voters who didn’t respond to an October mailing within 30 days. The voters were flagged as having potentially moved.Ozaukee County Judge Paul Malloy denied a request by elections commission attorneys to put his decision on hold. He ordered the state Elections Commission to follow the law requiring voters who didn’t respond to be deactivated.“I can’t tell them how to do that, they’re going to have to figure that out,” Malloy said of the commission deactivating the voters.Commission spokesman Reid Magney said in an email to The Associated Press that staff will analyze the judge’s decision and consult with commission members on next steps. He didn’t elaborate.The judge’s ruling comes in the early stages of the case and is expected to be immediately appealed. It’s likely to ultimately go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which is controlled 5-2 by conservatives.The case is important for both sides ahead of the 2020 presidential race in narrowly divided Wisconsin, which President Donald Trump won by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016. Liberals fear the voters who could be purged are more likely to be Democrats. Republicans argue allowing them to remain on the rolls increases the risk of voter fraud.The state elections commission, which has an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, is fighting the lawsuit. It argues that the law gives it the power to decide how to manage the voter registration list. It wants to wait until after the April 2021 election before removing anyone, citing concerns that everyone identified may not have moved and removing them would create confusion.The commission also argued that leaving a registered voter on the polls, even if they have moved, does not mean they will actually commit fraud by voting at their old address.The elections commission decided to wait longer than 30 days to deactivate voters because of problems in 2017 after about 343,000 voters were flagged as potential movers. More than 300,000 people who did not respond were deactivated, leading to confusion, anger and complaints. Wisconsin allows same-day voter registration, but it requires photo ID and proof of address.The judge said Wisconsin law clearly required the elections commission to deactivate voters who didn’t respond to the mailing within 30 days. The commission had no basis to set a different time frame, he said.“I don’t want to see anybody deactivated, but I don’t write the legislation,” Malloy said. “If you don’t like it, then I guess you have to go back to the Legislature. They didn’t do that.”Karla Keckhaver, an assistant attorney general defending the commission, argued that not putting the ruling on hold pending appeal would create “irreparable harm.”“This would create chaos to do this now,” she said, referring to upcoming elections in February.Rick Esenberg, attorney for the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty that brought the case, disagreed, noting that affected voters could re-register online before an election or at the polls.Some of the highest percentages of voters who could be tossed would be in Wisconsin’s two largest cities and areas with college campuses, epicenters of Democratic support, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis found. Milwaukee and Madison, the largest cities and base of Democratic support, account for 23% of the letters that were sent to voters who may have moved. More than half of the letters went to voters in municipalities where Democrat Hillary Clinton defeated Trump in 2016, the analysis found.As of Dec. 5, only about 16,500 of those who received the mailing had registered at their new address. More than 170,000 hadn’t responded, and the postal service was unable to deliver notifications to nearly 60,000 voters.While the lawsuit is pending, the commission has asked the Republican-controlled Legislature to provide clarity by passing a law or empowering the commission to create procedures on how to deal with voters who have moved.Wisconsin has about 3.3 million registered voters out of about 4.5 million people of voting age.Next year’s presidential race isn’t the only high-stakes election that could be affected by the registration lawsuit. Wisconsin has a February primary for a seat on the highly partisan state Supreme Court. The state’s presidential primary is in April.
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By Polityk | 12/14/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democrats Threaten to Boycott Debate Over Labor Dispute
All seven Democratic presidential candidates who qualified for next week’s debate threatened on Friday to skip the event if an labor dispute forces them to cross picket lines on the campus hosting it.
The Democratic National Committee said it was trying to come up with an “acceptable resolution” to the situation so the debate could proceed.
A labor union called UNITE HERE Local 11 said it would picket as Loyola Marymount University hosted Thursday’s sixth Democratic debate of the cycle, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders responded by tweeting they wouldn’t participate if that meant crossing the lines. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, environmental activist Tom Steyer and businessman Andrew Yang followed suit.
“The DNC should find a solution that lives up to our party’s commitment to fight for working people. I will not cross the union’s picket line even if it means missing the debate,” Warren tweeted.
Sanders tweeted, “I will not be crossing their picket line,” while Biden tweeted: “We’ve got to stand together with @UNITEHERE11 for affordable health care and fair wages. A job is about more than just a paycheck. It’s about dignity.” The other candidates used Twitter to post similar sentiments. Picketing began in November
UNITE HERE Local 11 says it represents 150 cooks, dishwashers, cashiers and servers working on the Loyola Marymount campus. It says it has been in negotiations with a food service company since March for a collective bargaining agreement without reaching a resolution, and “workers and students began picketing on campus in November to voice their concern for a fair agreement. The company abruptly canceled scheduled contract negotiations last week.”
“We had hoped that workers would have a contract with wages and affordable health insurance before the debate next week. Instead, workers will be picketing when the candidates come to campus,” Susan Minato, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11, said in the statement.
DNC communications director Xochitl Hinojosa said both the DNC and the university found out about the issue earlier Friday, but expressed support for the union and the candidates’ boycott, stating that DNC Chairman “Tom Perez would absolutely not cross a picket line and would never expect our candidates to either.”
“We are working with all stakeholders to find an acceptable resolution that meets their needs and is consistent with our values and will enable us to proceed as scheduled with next week’s debate,” she said in a statement. University encourages resolution
Loyola Marymount said that it was not a party to the contract negotiations but that it had contacted the food services company involved, Sodexo, and had encouraged it “to resolve the issues raised by Local 11.”
“Earlier today, LMU asked Sodexo to meet with Local 11 next week to advance negotiations and solutions. LMU is not an agent nor a joint employer of Sodexo, nor of the Sodexo employees assigned to our campus,” the university said in a statement. “LMU is proud to host the DNC presidential debate and is committed to ensuring that the university is a rewarding place to learn, live and work.”
This is the second location site set to host the December debate. In October, the DNC announced it wouldn’t be holding a debate at the University of California-Los Angeles because of “concerns raised by the local organized labor community” and was moving the event to Loyola Marymount.
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By Polityk | 12/14/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Playing Down Impeachment, Trump Campaign Voices Confidence
President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign on Thursday shrugged off the president’s expected impeachment less than a year before Election Day, talking up the campaign’s data collection efforts and declaring that no one in the Democratic field can compete with the incumbent.With a House impeachment vote expected next week, the campaign stressed that polls indicate impeachment is unpopular with independents, particularly in battleground states. And the campaign declared that Trump may now have a glide path to reelection, though he lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots in 2016 and captured Electoral College votes by razor-thin margins in three Rust Belt states.Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, was one of several senior campaign officials who briefed reporters Thursday on the state of the campaign. He said that when the reelection team looks at the Democratic field, “We don’t see anyone who can put together the Obama coalition. We’re on offense everywhere, and we’re very excited about that.”FILE – White House senior adviser Jared Kushner.Kushner, who was a Democrat before helping steer his father-in-law’s surprise victory three years ago, added: “I was not a Republican. Now I’m a Republican. I think the Republican Party is growing now that people like me feel comfortable being part of it.”The strategy laid out is multi-pronged, including a focus on turning out supporters of the president who stayed home during the 2018 midterms; a robust data operation fueled by collecting information at the president’s raucous rallies; a volunteer-heavy and technology-driven organization far more professional than the low-budget 2016 version; and a commitment to expanding possible paths to victory by competing in 17 battleground states, including Minnesota, New Hampshire and New Mexico, where Trump lost last time.A key to reelection: turning out the 8.8 million voters the campaign has identified as backing the president in 2016 and who still support him, but who did not vote during the midterms because Trump’s name wasn’t on the ballot.The campaign’s presentation included its fair share of chest-thumping and included the claim that impeachment may be a political win. Trump stands poised to become only the third president to be impeached, and he would be the first impeached president to run for reelection.”This lit up our base, lit up the people that are supporters of the president. They’re frustrated, they’re upset, and that motivates voters,” said campaign manager Brad Parscale. “They have ignited a flame underneath them.”Although he declared that Trump did not deserve to be impeached, Parscale said that the proceedings have helped the campaign’s volunteer recruitment and fundraising.”That has put money in our bank. It has added volunteers to our field program,” Parscale said. “It’s filled up the rallies easier.”Poll numbersThat stood in stark contrast to the somber tone struck by Democrats, including those running for president, who believe that Trump’s efforts to push Ukraine to investigate a political foe are grounds for impeachment. Democratic lawmakers say they are proceeding with efforts to impeach Trump out of constitutional duty, not political gain.The president has claimed the opposite, denouncing impeachment as a purely partisan political play.Although Trump’s approval numbers have remained underwater throughout his presidency, campaign officials said he would achieve reelection in part because even some voters who do not like him personally would support him next year because of his policies and the state of the economy.National polls have consistently shown Trump trailing most major Democratic candidates, including former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Polls in battleground states show a much closer race.
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By Polityk | 12/13/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Judiciary Committee Recommends Trump Impeachment for Abuse of Power, Obstruction
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump Friday, clearing the way for a vote in the full House that could come as early as next week.Committee members voted along party lines after it recessed late Thursday after 14 hours of debate. The two articles, accusing Trump of abuse of power and obstructing the congressional investigation, were each approved on a vote of 23 to 17.The Democratic-controlled committee rebuffed Republican attempts Thursday to weaken or throw out the allegations and instead will vote on sending them to the full House of Representatives for a vote, likely to be held next week.
Democratic lawmakers, after hours of at-times rancorous partisan claims and counterclaims with Republicans, rejected the Republican effort to eliminate the impeachment allegation that Trump abused the presidency by pushing Ukraine to investigate one of his chief 2020 Democratic election rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., speaks to reporters at the end of a House Judiciary Committee markup of the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill, Dec. 12, 2019, in Washington.Flawed case?
Republicans contended that the case against Trump is flawed, that the committee was rushing to judgment without hearing more witnesses. They noted that Trump in September released the $391 million in military aid to Ukraine that Trump had temporarily blocked without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy launching the politically tinged Biden investigation that the U.S. leader wanted.
Trump asked Zelenskiy in a late July phone call to “do us a favor” by opening the investigation of Biden, his son Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian natural gas company and a debunked theory that Ukraine worked to undermine Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, a staunch Trump ally, contended that the “us” in Trump’s request was a reference to the United States, not to a Trump request to benefit himself politically.But Democratic Congressman David Cicilline, supporting Trump’s impeachment, said that Trump in his call with Zelenskiy “never once uttered the word corruption” to investigate corruption generally in Ukraine. “It was about a smear on Vice President Biden,” Cicilline argued.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., joined from left by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal,…Full House vote
If the full House, as expected, votes to impeach Trump, he would become only the third American leader to be impeached in the country’s 243-year history, setting the stage for a trial in the Republican-majority Senate in January, where his conviction and removal from office remains unlikely.Trump denies wrongdoing and has ridiculed the impeachment effort. He has repeatedly referred to his discussions with Zelenskiy as “perfect,” and pointed to statements by Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials that they did not feel pressured by Trump to open the investigations in order to get the military assistance it wanted to help fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler said that by withholding the military assistance, Trump “weakens an ally who advances American security interests by fighting an American adversary” and “weakens America. And when the president demands that a foreign government investigate his domestic political rivals, he corrupts our elections.”
The top Republican on the committee, Congressman Doug Collins, said Democrats have wanted to impeach Trump since the moment he took office in 2017, and that the facts of the case do not match the allegations they have presented.”The president did not commit any crimes,” he said. “The president had a longstanding skepticism of foreign aid and a deeply held belief that Ukraine was corrupt, and not a good destination for American taxpayer dollars.”Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined from left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, fields questions from reporters about an impeachment trial in the Senate.Senate trial
The final step in the process would be a trial in the Senate, which Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday would occur next month.McConnell met behind closed doors Thursday with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and said later in an interview with Fox News he would be in “total coordination” with White House lawyers on whether to call witnesses.McConnell reiterated he hoped the trial would be a “shorter process rather than a lengthy process” with multiple witnessess testifying, an approach preferred by Trump.”You can certainly make the case for making it shorter rather than longer since it’s such a weak case,” McConnell said.A conviction in the Senate would lead to Trump’s removal from office, but that is highly unlikely because at least 20 Republicans would have to side with Democrats to meet the required threshold of 67 of the chamber’s 100 members.Two other U.S. presidents – Andrew Johnson in the mid-19th century and Bill Clinton two decades ago – were impeached, but both were acquitted in the Senate and remained in office.
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By Polityk | 12/13/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Appeals Court Rehears Arguments in Trump Hotel Lawsuit
A divided federal appeals court spent more than three hours Thursday sparring over whether President Donald Trump is illegally profiting from the presidency through his luxury Washington hotel.The state of Maryland and the District of Columbia asked 15 judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a ruling by a three-judge panel directing a federal judge in Maryland to dismiss their lawsuit against the president.The two jurisdictions allege Trump has violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution by accepting profits through foreign and domestic officials who stay at the Trump International Hotel.Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and District Attorney General Karl Racine have argued that hotels in their jurisdictions suffer “competitive injury” because officials hoping to curry favor with the president are more likely to stay at his hotel.A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit ruled in July that the two jurisdictions lack standing to pursue their claims against the president and granted a rare writ of mandamus, directing U.S. District Court Judge Peter Messitte to throw out the lawsuit.The three judges on the panel who ruled in Trump’s favor were all nominated by Republican presidents. But on Thursday, in arguments before the full court, a mix of 15 judges nominated by both Democrats and Republicans got into a spirited debate about Trump’s business interests and whether the panel should have taken the unusual step of overturning Messitte’s ruling allowing the lawsuit to move forward.Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hashim Mooppan said the three-judge panel was within its authority to issue its ruling.“We think it is clear and indisputable that you cannot sue the president of the United States in his official capacity without — at a minimum — having an express statement authorizing such a suit by Congress,” Mooppan said.Several judges cited the controversy that erupted after a Trump aide said the president planned to hold next year’s Group of Seven world leaders’ meeting at his Doral golf resort in Florida. After intense criticism, Trump reversed the decision and said he would look for another site for the international summit.Judge James Wynn Jr. grilled Mooppan about whether he was arguing that the judiciary has no remedy when a president violates the emoluments clause and that the president is above the law. Mooppan said Messitte committed “multiple, fundamental errors” in refusing to dismiss the suit.Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson III defended Trump’s arguments during the hearing, saying the court cannot treat the case as if it’s an “ordinary, run-of-the-mill case.” He said the judiciary is “seeking to assert over the presidency of the United States authority that has never been asserted or claimed before.”Trump’s lawyers have said Frosh and Racine — both Democrats — lack authority to sue the president in his official capacity. They’ve also argued that the emoluments clause only bars compensation made in connection with services provided in his official capacity or in “an employment-type relationship” with a foreign or domestic government.The hotel is just blocks from the White House. The iconic Old Post Office quickly became a hot spot for lobbyists and foreign officials after it reopened in 2016 as the Trump International Hotel shortly before Trump was elected.Frosh and Racine are asking the 4th Circuit to send the case back to lower court for it to proceed to discovery and trial. The court did not give any indication on when it will issue its ruling.In October, Trump’s company said it is exploring the sale of the hotel after nearly three years of complaints alleging he is profiting off the presidency. The Trump Organization said it will consider offers to buy out the 60-year lease on the hotel.After the 4th Circuit hearing Thursday, Frosh said the lawsuit filed by Maryland and the District of Columbia could become moot if the Trump Organization sells the lease and Trump “disposes of his interests properly.”
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By Polityk | 12/13/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Senate Passes Resolution Recognizing Armenian Genocide
The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes as genocide the mass killings of Armenians a century ago, a historic move that infuriated Turkey and dealt a blow to the already problematic ties between Ankara and Washington. Turkey condemned the measure, which passed a month after an official visit to the White House by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who enjoys a special rapport with President Donald Trump, amid mounting issues that have soured the relationship between the two NATO allies. Trump had cast his November 13 meeting with Erdogan as “wonderful” despite no concrete breakthrough on deep disagreements about issues such as Ankara’s purchase of Russian weapons systems and diverging views on Syria policy. The Democrat-led House of Representatives passed the resolution by an overwhelming majority in October. But Republican senators had blocked a vote in the Senate since the Erdogan meeting. ‘Tribute'”This is a tribute to the memory of 1.5 million victims of the first #Genocide of the 20th century and bold step in promotion of the prevention agenda. #NeverAgain,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan tweeted. FILE – Two people walk at the Tzitzernakaberd memorial to the victims of mass killings by Ottoman Turks, in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, Oct. 30, 2019.The resolution, which is nonbinding, asserts that it is U.S. policy to commemorate as genocide the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. The Ottoman Empire was centered in present-day Turkey. Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, but contests the figures and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constituted genocide. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the decision a “political show,” while presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara strongly condemned and rejected the measure. “History will note these resolutions as irresponsible and irrational actions by some members of the U.S. Congress against Turkey,” Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, said on Twitter. Sticking with S-400Congressional aides said the White House did not want the legislation to move ahead while it was negotiating with Ankara on sensitive issues. However, since the visit, Erdogan repeatedly said Turkey had no intention of dropping the Russian S-400 air defense missile systems it bought, crushing any hopes for progress. For decades, measures recognizing the Armenian genocide have stalled in Congress, stymied by concerns about relations with Turkey and intense lobbying by Ankara. “I’ve invested, like, decades of my life,” said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America. “So it was a sense of relief and a bit of a vindication that … [the United] States recognized the history of the Armenians, but also put up a firewall against foreign countries coming into our democracy and dictating to us.” Congress has been united in its opposition to Turkey’s recent policy actions. Republican senators have been incensed with Turkey’s purchase of the S-400, which the United States says poses a threat to its F-35 fighter jets and cannot be integrated into NATO defenses. Syrian incursionThey have also moved to punish Turkey for its October 9 incursion into Syria. A U.S. Senate committee backed legislation on Wednesday to impose sanctions on Turkey, pushing Trump to take a harder line on the issue. Many lawmakers blame Trump for giving a green light to Ankara for its military offensive. To become law, that legislation would have to pass the House of Representatives — which passed its own Turkish sanctions bill 403-16 in October — and be signed by
Trump.
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By Polityk | 12/13/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Judiciary Committee Debates Trump Impeachment Ahead of Vote
The Democratic-controlled U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Thursday is again debating articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, but expects to rebuff Republican attempts to weaken the allegations and then send them to the full House of Representatives for a vote next week.
The panel started its debate Wednesday night. Democratic lawmakers laid out the case that the Republican Trump abused the presidency by pushing Ukraine to investigate one of his chief 2020 Democratic election rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, and then obstructed Congress by refusing to turn over hundreds of documents to impeachment investigators and blocked key Trump administration officials from testifying.Meanwhile, Republicans said the case against Trump is flawed, that the committee was rushing to judgment without hearing more witnesses. They noted that Trump in September released the $391 million in military aid to Ukraine that Trump had temporarily blocked without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy launching the politically tinged Biden investigation that Trump wanted.
Zelenskiy phone call
Trump asked Zelenskiy in a late July phone call to “do us a favor” by opening the investigation of Biden, his son Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian natural gas company and a debunked theory that Ukraine worked to undermine Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, a staunch Trump ally, contended that the “us” in Trump’s request was a reference to the United States, not to a Trump request to benefit himself politically.
But Democratic Congressman David Cicilline, supporting Trump’s impeachment, said that Trump in his call with Zelenskiy “never once uttered the word corruption” to investigate corruption generally in Ukraine. “It was about a smear on Vice President Biden,” Cicilline argued.
If the full House, as expected, votes to impeach Trump, he would become only the third American leader to be impeached in the country’s 243-year history, setting the stage for a trial in the Republican-majority Senate in January, where his conviction and removal from office remains unlikely. Trump’s reaction
Trump denies wrongdoing and has ridiculed the impeachment effort. He has repeatedly referred to his discussions with Zelenskiy as “perfect,” and pointed to statements by Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials that they did not feel pressured by Trump to open the investigation of Biden, his son Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian natural gas company and a debunked theory that Ukraine worked to undermine Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler said that by withholding the military assistance Kyiv wanted to help fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, Trump “weakens an ally who advances American security interests by fighting an American adversary” and “weakens America. And when the president demands that a foreign government investigate his domestic political rivals, he corrupts our elections.” Motive for impeachment
The top Republican on the committee, Congressman Doug Collins, said Democrats have wanted to impeach Trump since the moment he took office, and that the facts of the case do not match the allegations they have presented.”The president did not commit any crimes,” he said. “The president had a longstanding skepticism of foreign aid and a deeply-held belief that Ukraine was corrupt, and not a good destination for American taxpayer dollars.”Once the committee approves the articles, the full House with its Democratic majority is expected to vote on them next week. Next step
The final step in the process would be a trial in the Senate, which Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday would occur next month.”Assuming that House Democrats send us articles of impeachment next week, a Senate trial will have to be our first item of business in January,” McConnell said.A conviction in the Senate would lead to Trump’s removal from office, but that is highly unlikely because at least 20 Republicans would have to side with Democrats to meet the required threshold of 67 of the chamber’s 100 members.Two other U.S. presidents – Andrew Johnson in the mid-19th century and Bill Clinton two decades ago – were impeached, but both were acquitted in the Senate and remained in office.
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By Polityk | 12/12/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Judiciary Committee Moves Toward Trump Impeachment Vote
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee is expected to approve articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump as early as Thursday, as majority Democrats push to punish a leader they say abused his power while Republicans criticize the process as politically motivated and lacking evidence.The committee spent Wednesday night debating the articles, which accuse Trump of abusing his office by soliciting a foreign government – Ukraine – to interfere in the 2020 election and of obstructing Congress by directing his administration to ignore subpoenas as lawmakers investigated his conduct.The debate is scheduled to continue Thursday before the committee holds a vote on whether to send the matter to the full House of Representatives.Trump denies wrongdoing. He has repeatedly referred to his discussions with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy as “perfect,” and said statements by Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials confirm his innocence.The central allegation is that Trump pressured Ukraine by withholding $391 million in military aid while seeking a commitment from Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Biden, the former U.S. vice president and one of Trump’s potential opponents in the 2020 election.”When the President weakens an ally who advances American security interests by fighting an American adversary, the President weakens America,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said. “And when the President demands that a foreign government investigate his domestic political rivals, he corrupts our elections.” The top Republican on the committee, Congressman Doug Collins, said Democrats have wanted to impeach Trump since the moment he took office, and that the facts of the case do not match the allegations they have presented.”The president did not commit any crimes,” he said. “The president had a longstanding skepticism of foreign aid and a deeply-held belief that Ukraine was corrupt, and not a good destination for American taxpayer dollars.”Once the committee approves the articles, the full House with its Democratic majority is expected to vote on them next week.The final step in the process would be a trial in the Republican-majority Senate, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday would happen next month.”Assuming that House Democrats send us articles of impeachment next week, a Senate trial will have to be our first item of business in January,” McConnell said.A conviction in the Senate would lead to Trump’s removal from office, but that is highly unlikely because at least 20 Republicans would have to side with Democrats to achieve the required threshold of 67 of the chamber’s 100 members.Two other U.S. presidents – Andrew Johnson in the mid-19th century and Bill Clinton two decades ago – were impeached, but both were acquitted in the Senate and remained in office.
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By Polityk | 12/12/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democrats from Some Battleground Districts Undecided on Trump Impeachment Vote
Some U.S. Democrats from highly competitive districts say they are undecided on how to vote on the impeachment of President Donald Trump in the House of Representatives, a vote that will be historic as well as pivotal for their own political futures.In conversations in recent days with over a dozen lawmakers from swing districts, only two said they had decided to vote yes — Representative Susan Wild of Pennsylvania and Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota. Both lawmakers replaced Republicans.”The question before us is there enough evidence to warrant a trial in the Senate? And the answer in my estimation … is yes,” Phillips said. He said he expected to vote “Yes, with a heavy heart.”Inquiry called a hoaxThe two articles of impeachment accuse Trump of abusing his power by trying to force Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to face the president in next year’s election, and of obstructing Congress when lawmakers tried to look into the matter.Trump denies wrongdoing and calls the impeachment inquiry a hoax.Aides to House Democratic leaders say they expect the articles of impeachment to pass comfortably in the Democratic-controlled House, sending the matter to the Senate for a trial on whether to remove Trump from office.But defections would undermine the sense of party unity, potentially a sign of weakness ahead of 2020 elections.Representative Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey who is serving his second term in a district narrowly won by Trump in the 2016 presidential election, said he did not expect to make a decision until after the House Judiciary Committee approves the articles on Thursday.He was among about 10 battleground district lawmakers who huddled earlier this week to discuss the possibility of censuring the president, instead of impeaching him. But that option was ruled out months ago by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Democrats in swing districts may see political advantage in signaling the care they are taking to deliberate and limiting time ahead of the vote to be targeted for a position that will be unpopular with some constituents.The Republican-led Senate is unlikely to vote to remove Trump from office.’Serious decision'”Phones are ringing off the hook” from impeachment supporters and opponents, said Representative Elissa Slotkin, whose Michigan district was a Republican stronghold until she won there last year. Several Republicans have already said they want to challenge Slotkin in 2020.”I’m going to take the weekend” to look over the articles of impeachment, Slotkin said on Wednesday outside the House. “I just need to like, get a breath. Take a breath. It’s a serious decision for me.”In the face of solid Republican opposition, Democrats will need 216 votes to approve the articles, meaning they can lose about 17 or 18 Democrats if everyone is present and voting. One independent, Representative Justin Amash, has told CNN he will vote for impeachment.’Battleground’ districtsThere are dozens of “battleground” districts in the House, and 31 Democrats represent districts where Trump also won in 2016. Some moderate Democrats who represent those districts were among the last in their party to endorse an impeachment inquiry and have been bombarded recently by Republican attack ads.”We are giving this the level of seriousness that it is deserving. It’s the second most serious thing I could ever do inthis institution,” after declaring war, said Representative Max Rose, who represents part of New York City, including the middle-class borough of Staten Island.
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By Polityk | 12/12/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Why Is Abuse of Power an Impeachable Offense?
House Democrats will vote on two articles of impeachment early next week, charging President Donald Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — two offenses they say should remove him from office under the standards laid down by the U.S. Constitution.
Trump is the third president in history to face impeachment based on a specific charge that he abused the power of his office. The Constitution does not directly mention abuse of power among the reasons that Congress can impeach a president. Instead, “treason, bribery and high crimes and misdemeanors” are listed.
Democratic lawmakers, legal experts and precedent support the approach.
Trump has said he did nothing wrong and that House Democrats’ allegations are “flimsy, pathetic, ridiculous articles of impeachment.” What do the articles of impeachment say about Trump’s abuse of power?
The abuse of power charge is centered on the allegation that Trump predicated the release of $391 million of congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine and a White House meeting for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy upon an announcement by Ukraine that Joe Biden, a potential 2020 election rival of Trump, and Biden’s son Hunter would be investigated. FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the 74th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 25, 2019.”President Trump engaged in this scheme or course of conduct for corrupt purposes in pursuit of political benefit,” said the first article of impeachment introduced Tuesday by House Democrats. “In so doing, President Trump used the powers of the presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process. He thus ignored and injured the interests of the nation.”
Why would ‘abuse of power’ fall under ‘high crimes and misdemeanors?’
While the framers of the Constitution did not specifically mention abuse of power as an impeachable offense, House Democrats argued this week that Congress was given the power to remove presidents from office for this very kind of conduct.
“The framers of the Constitution recognized that someday a president might come to office who would have used that office, betrayed the public trust and undermined national security to secure foreign help in his reelection,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California said Tuesday while introducing the articles of impeachment. “They recognized this danger, and they prescribed a remedy, and that remedy is impeachment.”
Some experts say the fact that the aid to Ukraine was approved by another branch of the U.S. government makes this a clear-cut case of abuse of power.
“He really had no say constitutionally on whether it should be given to Ukraine. Right there, he’s in violation of constitutional norms and practices and the law,” said Barbara Ann Perry, presidential studies director at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. Perry said Trump further abused the power of the presidency by tying the holdup in aid to an investigation into his political rivals.
How do the charges against Trump compare with charges against past presidents?
Lawmakers in previous impeachments have used the broad outlines of “high crimes and misdemeanors” to include charges of abuse of power against presidents.
“The central kind of problem that impeachment is directed toward is that somebody who achieves the status of president, and then instead of using that power for the American people and to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, uses it for illicit purposes,” said Louis Michael Seidman, professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University Law Center. “That’s a theme that runs through all presidential impeachments.” FILE – President Bill Clinton makes a statement as first lady Hillary Clinton looks on at the White House, Dec. 19, 1998, thanking those Democratic members of the House of Representatives who voted against impeachment.President Bill Clinton faced four articles of impeachment in December 1998, but the charge that he abused the power of his office while covering up an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky did not pass in the House of Representatives.
In August 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned rather than face a vote on articles of impeachment in the House, including a charge he abused the power of his office by directing government agencies to target citizens with investigations.
President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for multiple offenses related to his use of executive powers. But he did not face a specific charge of abuse of power.
Why do House Democrats believe Trump’s dealings with Ukraine constitute an abuse of power?
Trump’s conduct “strikes at the heart of our democracy — the ability of people to elect their own leaders,” Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island, head of the House Democrats’ communications arm, told reporters Tuesday. “There’s no higher crime than dragging a foreign government in to corrupt our elections.”
Trump is the first president to face impeachment charges related to an alleged abuse of power in foreign affairs. Cicilline said the framers of the Constitution were concerned about precisely this kind of situation when they developed the remedy of impeachment.
“This is the president of the United States soliciting a foreign government to corrupt our elections and undermine our democracy. It undermined our national security,” Cicilline said. FILE – Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, right, speaks during a House Judiciary subcommittee meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, June 19, 2019. Looking on is Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif.Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, a member of the House Judiciary Committee that wrote the articles of impeachment, said Tuesday that lawmakers’ actions “distinguish America from every other country. That is that no one is above the law.”
Lee said her committee “looked very keenly at the question of abuse of power, which, if we begin to not mind holding presidents accountable, it sends America down a spiraling path of being like every other country that has had its challenges with leadership. It clearly denotes that we have a president and not a monarch,” Lee said.
When the full House votes next week, lawmakers will also consider if Trump should be removed from office for obstructing Congress’ investigation into potential abuses of power. If one or both of the articles are adopted, the Senate will hold a trial early next year to consider if Trump should be removed from office. Jesse Oni contributed to this report.
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By Polityk | 12/12/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Justice Department Inspector General Says His Report Doesn’t ‘Vindicate’ Anyone
U.S. Justice Department’s inspector general said Wednesday that his recent finding that the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016 was not politically motivated and does not “vindicate” any official.Michael Horowitz released a 417-page report Monday on the FBI investigation, stating that while he had uncovered significant irregularities in the FBI’s surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide, he found no evidence of political bias.The findings were seen as a rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s and his Republican allies’ repeated claim that the FBI conducted an illegal “witch hunt” to bring him down. Former FBI Director James Comey, who led the investigation until Trump fired him in May 2017, wrote this week that “the truth is finally out” and “those who attacked the FBI for two years should admit they were wrong.” Chairman Lindsey Graham accompanied by Sen. Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., right, holds up a report while giving an opening statement as Department of Justice Inspector General Horowitz testifies, Dec. 11, 2019.Asked by Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham whether the report “vindicates” Comey, Horowitz said. “I think the activities we found don’t vindicate anybody who touched this.” Trump asserted that the report confirmed an “attempted overthrow” of the government far worse than he had ever thought possible. He later criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray for saying in an interview with ABC News that the investigation “was opened with appropriate predication and authorization.” Wray also noted Horowitz found the FBI made numerous mistakes during its inquiry.”I don’t know what report the current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but I’m sure it wasn’t the one given to me,” Trump tweeted. “With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!”U.S. Attorney General William Barr repeated in an interview with NBC News correspondent Pete Williams that aired Tuesday his belief that the FBI may have acted in “bad faith” when it conducted the probe into whether Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia.”I think our nation was turned on its head for three years based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by a completely irresponsible press,” Barr said. “I think there were gross abuses … and inexplicable behavior that is intolerable in the FBI.”The attorney general’s remarks will likely intensify the controversy about whether he himself is acting in good faith, or acting as a Trump sycophant.Horowitz said in the report the FBI was justified in opening an investigation in 2016 into suspected ties between Trump’s election campaign and Russia, saying there was a reasonable basis to authorize an inquiry.Although Horowitz scrutinized a million documents and interviewed more than 100 witnesses, Barr insisted the inspector general made minimal effort to find evidence, and simply accepted the FBI’s findings.”All he said was, ‘People gave me an explanation, and I didn’t find anything to contradict it,'” Barr said of Horowitz.The long-anticipated report contradicted some of Trump’s and his Republican allies’ most damning assertions about the investigation, such as the charge that senior FBI officials were motivated by political bias against Trump. The FBI investigation, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane, was subsequently taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller.Horowitz sharply criticized the FBI for a series of “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in obtaining authorization from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to surveil Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser suspected of ties to Russian intelligence.In one glaring omission, the FBI failed to disclose from the court and the Justice Department that Page had been approved as an “operational contact” for the CIA and had told the spy agency about his contacts with Russian intelligence officers, according to the report.The investigation was launched months before the Page surveillance began and was based on well-founded suspicions about links between Trump campaign operatives and Russia, according to the report.The other Trump campaign associates investigated by the FBI were campaign chairman Paul Manafort, national security adviser Mike Flynn and foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.”We … concluded that … the FBI had an authorized purpose when it opened Crossfire Hurricane to obtain information about, or protect against, a national security threat or federal crime, even though the investigation also had the potential to impact constitutionally protected activity,” Horowitz wrote. Barr has ordered a separate internal probe into its origins after rejecting the IG’s finding that there was sufficient basis for opening the investigation.Wray ordered a series of more than 40 corrective steps in response to the inspector general report.”The FBI has some work to do, and we are committed to building on the lessons we learn today to make sure that we can do better tomorrow,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement.The FBI launched its investigation in July 2016 after receiving a tip that the Russian government was considering helping the Trump campaign by releasing damaging information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee. Graham said the FBI’s surveillance of Page amounted to a “a massive criminal conspiracy to defraud” the FISA court. “I have serious concerns about whether the FISA court can continue unless there is fundamental reform,” Graham said.Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, slammed Barr for attacking the Justice Department.
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By Polityk | 12/12/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Even in His Hometown, Mayor Pete Struggles with Black Voters
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is polling No. 1 in the key state of Iowa, which holds the first-in-the-nation caucus in February. He also has risen to the top tier nationally. But criticism that the South Bend, Indiana, mayor has little support from black voters and lacks political experience continues to shadow his political narrative. VOA’s Esha Sarai traveled to South Bend to hear what residents think about his presidential aspirations.
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By Polityk | 12/12/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democratic Presidential Field Falls Flat with Black Students
U.S. Democratic presidential candidates are vying for the support of a critical group of voters: African Americans. While former Vice President Joe Biden polls strongly in the black community overall, some younger blacks say they are not excited by the Democratic field and undecided about who to support. VOA’s Chris Simkins reports from a predominantly-black university in South Carolina, the fourth state to hold nomination contests that will determine which Democrat faces Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
House Democrats Charge President Trump with Abuse of Power, Obstruction of Congress
U.S. House Democrats accused President Trump of two impeachable offenses Tuesday, introducing Articles of Impeachment accusing him of abusing his power for personal political gain and obstructing the congressional impeachment inquiry. A vote on the articles of impeachment in the Democratic-majority U.S. House is expected to pass next week. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more on the vote that will set up a trial of Trump in the US Senate.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Florida GOP Rep. Yoho Announces Retirement From Congress
Republican Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida announced Tuesday that he will not seek another term, saying he never meant to spend more than eight years in Congress. Democrats seized upon the news as a sign of weakening morale among the GOP.
Yoho, who aligned himself with the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party and has been a fierce supporter of President Donald Trump, joins at least 27 House Republicans in announcing their departures from the U.S. House.
Of those, 23 aren’t seeking reelection, while four have resigned and already left Congress. And one, California Rep. Duncan Hunter, has said he is resigning and will leave the House shortly after the holidays.
Yoho broke the news in a letter to supporters on Tuesday, reminding them that he had pledged to serve just four terms.
“I truly believe a person’s word is their bond and should live up to their word,” he said. “I also meant that after eight years I would come home and pass the baton to a new generation.”
Yoho defeated a longtime incumbent in the Republican primary in 2012 to win the Third District seat, representing Gainesville and a swath of northern Florida. At one time, he vied for the Speaker of the U.S. House at a time of disenchantment with former House Speaker John Boehner.
Yoho’s retirement comes amid growing strength among Democrats in many suburban districts across the country, although Yoho’s district was widely considered safe Republican territory for now.
Nevertheless, Democrats characterized Yoho’s retirement as a sign that House Republicans may be questioning whether they can win back the House majority in next year’s elections, particularly in a turbulent year when impeachment proceedings are front and center.
“Republicans in safe seats don’t usually retire if they think their party is going to win back the majority,” said Avery Jaffe, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Democrats now control the 435-member House, 233-197, with four vacancies and one independent. Yoho’s fellow Florida Republican Rep. Francis Rooney also announced his retirement.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Says Articles of Impeachment Against Him Part of ‘Witch Hunt’
The president of the United States is terming as a “witch hunt” the two impeachment counts unveiled against him Tuesday morning by House Democrats.Trump referred to that often used term again in a two-word tweet following the announcement by House committee chairs to proceed with the punitive legislation process against him.WITCH HUNT!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with reporters at her weekly news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 5, 2019.White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham is accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the other Democrats in Congress of having planned to oust Trump since he was inaugurated in January 2017.”The announcement of two baseless articles of impeachment does not hurt the President, it hurts the American people, who expect their elected officials to work on their behalf to strengthen our Nation. The President will address these false charges in the Senate and expects to be fully exonerated, because he did nothing wrong,” says Grisham.Trump is also criticizing the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation following the release of the Justice Department’s inspector general’s report examining the FBI’s investigation of Trump’s 2016 election campaign.The report found fault with the bureau’s handling of the probe but found no direct evidence of political bias for its launch.FILE – FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 23, 2019.Director Christopher Wray “will never be able to fix the FBI,” Trump said on Twitter on Tuesday.Wray, the previous day, said he accepts the findings of the 435-page report.U.S. Attorney General William Barr, however, is insisting despite the report’s finding, the FBI launched “an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken.”Trump takes the side of the attorney general and is disagreeing with the FBI director, both of whom the president appointed.”I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me,” Trump tweeted. “With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!”I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019The U.S. intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election and has expressed concerns that Moscow will try to do the same again in 2020.Trump, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is scheduled to meet at the White House with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later Tuesday.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Slams FBI Director After Release of Watchdog Report on Russia Probe
U.S. President Donald Trump criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday, one day after the U.S. Justice Department’s independent inspector general said it did not uncover any evidence of political partisanship when the FBI started investigating communications between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia in 2016.Wray said in an ABC News interview on Monday that the inspector general found the investigation “was opened with appropriate predication and authorization,” but noted the inspector general found the FBI made numerous mistakes during its inquiry.FILE – FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Homeland Security Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 30, 2019, during a hearing on domestic terrorism.Trump attacked Wray early Tuesday, tweeting, “I don’t know what report the current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but I’m sure it wasn’t the one given to me.”Trump added: “With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!”The Justice Department’s inspector general said in the report the FBI was justified in opening an investigation in 2016 into suspected ties between Trump’s election campaign and Russia, saying officials had enough evidence to authorize an inquiry.
The long-anticipated report contradicted some of Trump’s and his Republican allies’ most damning assertions about the investigation, such as the charge that senior FBI officials were motivated by political bias against Trump. The FBI investigation — dubbed Crossfire Hurricane — was subsequently taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller.
But the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, also sharply criticized the FBI for a series of “significant errors” in obtaining authorization from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to surveil Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser suspected of ties to Russian intelligence.
In one crucial omission, the FBI failed to disclose from the court and the Justice Department that Page had been approved as an “operational contact” for the CIA and had told the spy agency about his contacts with Russian intelligence officers, according to the report. However, the report said that the disclosure would not have prompted the court to reject the application.
Regardless, the investigation was launched months before the Page surveillance began and was based on well-founded suspicion about links between Trump campaign operatives and Russia, according to the report. The other Trump campaign associates investigated by the FBI were campaign chairman Paul Manafort, national security adviser Mike Flynn and foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.
“We … concluded that … the FBI had an authorized purpose when it opened Crossfire Hurricane to obtain information about, or protect against, a national security threat or federal crime, even though the investigation also had the potential to impact constitutionally protected activity,” Horowitz wrote in the 400-plus-page report.
The findings amount to a rejection of Trump’s repeated claim that the FBI investigation was a political witch hunt to undo his presidency.
Trump nonetheless asserted at the White House that the report confirmed an “attempted overthrow” of the government far worse than he had ever thought possible. “It is an embarrassment to our country, it is dishonest, it is everything that a lot of people thought it would be except far worse,” he said.
FILE – Attorney General William Barr arrives before President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House about his judicial appointments, Nov. 6, 2019 in Washington.The report also pitted the inspector general against Attorney General William Barr to whom he reports.
Barr, who has been highly critical of the Russia investigation and ordered a separate internal probe into its origins, rejected the IG’s finding that there was sufficient basis for opening the investigation. Barr put a different spin on the report’s findings.
“The inspector general’s conclusion now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken,” Barr said in a statement.
John Durham, the U.S. attorney leading the internal Justice Department probe, said he did not agree with the inspector general’s conclusion about the legal basis of opening the investigation.
“Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened,” Durham said in a statement.
FBI Director Wray ordered a series of more than 40 corrective steps in response to the inspector general report.
“The FBI has some work to do and we are committed to building on the lessons we learn today to make sure that we can do better tomorrow,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement.
The FBI launched its investigation in July 2016 after receiving a tip that the Russian government was considering helping the Trump campaign by releasing damaging information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee.
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By Polityk | 12/10/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
House Democrats Plan Trump Articles of Impeachment
House Democrats laid out their impeachment case against U.S. President Donald Trump Monday while Republicans mocked their allegations. The second House Judiciary Committee public hearing marked the formal presentation of findings in the inquiry, setting the stage for the unveiling of formal charges against Trump. As VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, the final vote on those Articles of Impeachment could happen as soon as next week.
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By Polityk | 12/10/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
2020 Newcomer Bloomberg Stepping onto International Stage
New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg launched his campaign less than three weeks ago, but he is already making his first foreign trip as a presidential candidate.The Democrat will appear Tuesday at a United Nations global climate conference in Madrid, where he’ll share the results of his private push to organize thousands of U.S. cities and businesses to abide by the terms of a global climate treaty that the Trump administration is working to abandon. The appearance comes as Bloomberg, a former Republican whose dedication to the environment earned him the designation of special U.N. envoy for climate action, tries to find his footing in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary election.It’s rare for a presidential candidate to step onto the international stage before securing the nomination, and virtually unheard of for a candidate to do so in the first month of his or her candidacy.Earlier this year, Bernie Sanders appeared in Canada to highlight his fight to lower prescription drug costs, while former candidate Beto O’Rourke met with asylum seekers in Mexico. Both men represented states that bordered those countries, however, and there were no formal talks with foreign leaders involved.Bloomberg shared his plan to appear at the global climate conference on social media on Monday.”I’m going to the climate summit in Madrid because President Trump won’t,” he said, adding that he plans to “meet with environmental leaders from around the world about next steps on tackling the climate crisis.”Bloomberg also vowed in a statement to rejoin the Paris climate agreement in his first official act as president.Campaign aide Brynne Craig said climate would be “a central issue” for Bloomberg this week and throughout his presidential run.She said the issue “is near and dear to his heart” and “a front-of-mind issue for Democratic voters.”The 77-year-old billionaire has used his wealth to make an impact in the global fight against climate change and in his 2020 presidential campaign. He is largest donor in the history of the Sierra Club, and he has spent more than $60 million in the first two weeks of his campaign on television ads now running in all 50 states.Many progressives remain resistant to his candidacy.”How many self-declared climate champion billionaires does the race need? The answer is none,” said Mitch Jones, climate and energy program director for the group Food & Water Watch, which has been critical of Bloomberg’s pragmatic approach to fighting climate change. “This is just Bloomberg trying to insert himself into international climate negotiations to bolster his campaign.”Bloomberg’s presidential campaign released a new online video ad contrasting his message on climate change with that of Trump, who served formal notice last month that the U.S. intends to become the first country to withdraw from the Paris accord.”It’s getting hotter. But while fire and smoke choke our air, Donald Trump is making it worse,” Bloomberg’s new ad says, describing Trump as a “climate change denier” and Bloomberg as a “climate change champion.”AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the American electorate, found that 92% of people who voted for Democrats in the 2018 midterms said they were at least somewhat concerned about climate change. Seventy percent said they were very concerned.
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By Polityk | 12/10/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Relies on Strong US Economy in Reelection Bid
As 2019 draws to a close, the U.S. economy is posting strong numbers, capping a remarkable 11-year streak of expansion. President Donald Trump argues that’s why he deserves to win reelection in 2020. But as VOA’s Ardita Dunellari explains, there are dangers ahead that could rattle both the economy and the president’s reelection message.
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By Polityk | 12/10/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Political Ad Law
A Maryland law approved by state legislators to prevent foreign interference in local elections is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment, a federal appeals court has ruled.A three-judge panel of the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the law targets political expression and compels certain speech, and affirmed a lower court’s ruling to strike down the law.Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote that the changing nature of elections and novel technological challenges have made it harder for states to manage elections. But, he wrote, the legislation approved by Maryland’s General Assembly in 2018 went too far.”Despite its admirable goals, the Act reveals a host of First Amendment infirmities: a legislative scheme with layer upon layer of expressive burdens, ultimately bereft of any coherent connection to an offsetting state interest of sufficient import,” Wilkinson wrote in the ruling released Friday.The law’s sweeping scope sparked a First Amendment outcry from more than a half dozen newspapers, including The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun.Newspapers’ argumentsThe newspapers and the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association argued in a lawsuit the the statute violates the First Amendment because it requires them to collect and self-publish information about the sponsors of online political ads. It also requires them to keep records of the ads for inspection by the state Board of Elections.”In the end, each banner feature of the Act — the fact that it is content-based, targets political expression, and compels certain speech — poses a real risk of either chilling speech or manipulating the marketplace of ideas,” Wilkinson wrote.In January, U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm ruled that parts of the law appeared to encroach on the First Amendment and granted a preliminary injunction to prevent the state from enforcing those provisions.One provision required online platforms to create a database identifying the purchasers of online political ads and how much they spend. The law, written to catch ads in smaller state and local elections, applied to digital platforms with 100,000 or more monthly visitors.That made the threshold in the Maryland law very broad when compared to a similar law in New York, which applies to digital platforms with at last 70 million monthly visitors.The newspapers contended the law amounted to the government telling the press what to publish, which violates the First Amendment. They also argued the law wouldn’t prevent the kind of foreign interference seen during the 2016 election, when free postings on social media — not paid political ads on newspaper websites — were the primary means used to try to sow discord in the U.S. electorate.More than a dozen news organizations and press advocacy groups, including The Associated Press, filed legal briefs supporting the newspapers’ challenge.State argumentsThe state argued that the law does not infringe on the newspapers’ right to exercise their editorial control and judgment.”These modest burdens do not outweigh the State’s important interests in electoral transparency, deterring corruption, enforcing the substantive requirements of the campaign finance laws, and protecting against foreign meddling in the State’s elections,” Assistant Attorney General Andrea Trento wrote in a legal brief.Raquel Coombs, a spokeswoman for Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, wrote in an email Monday that the attorney general’s office was reviewing the decision.
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By Polityk | 12/10/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
IG Report: FBI Was Justified in Opening Russia Probe
The U.S. Justice Department’s inspector general says FBI leaders were justified in opening an inquiry into alleged ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russian operatives, saying investigators found no evidence that the probe was politically motivated.But the independent inspector general, Michael Horowitz, also sharply criticized the FBI in his report released Monday for its handling of the court authorized surveillance of a former Trump campaign advisor, during its probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz appears at the launch of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force at the Justice Department in Washington, Nov. 5, 2019.The report amounts to a rejection of Trump’s repeated claim that the FBI investigation, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane, was carried out in an effort to undo his presidency. The probe was later taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller. The FBI “had an authorized purpose when it opened Crossfire Hurricane to obtain information about, or protect against, a national security threat or federal crime, even though the investigation also had the potential to impact constitutionally protected activity,” Horowitz wrote in the 400-plus-page report. While Horowitz said he had found no evidence that FBI investigators were influenced by anti-Trump animus, he wrote that investigators had uncovered “serious performance failures by the supervisory and non-supervisory agents with responsibility over the FISA applications” in its surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter page. “That so many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate, hand-picked teams on one of the most sensitive FBI investigations that was briefed to the highest levels within the FBI, and that FBI officials expected would eventually be subjected to close scrutiny, raised significant questions regarding the FBI chain of command’s management and supervision of the FISA process,” the report states. The FBI began looking into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia in July 2016 after receiving a tip that then Trump foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos had claimed that the Russian government was willing to help the Trump campaign by releasing damaging information about Democrat Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee.The bureau later obtained a court warrant to surveil Page after he had left the campaign. Page at the time was suspected of having ties to the Russian government and the surveillance continued into 2017.In a statement, Attorney General William Barr said the report “makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken.””In the rush to obtain and maintain FISA surveillance of Trump campaign associates, FBI officials misled the FISA court, omitted critical exculpatory facts from their filings, and suppressed or ignored information negative the reliability of their principal source,” Barr wrote.
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By Polityk | 12/10/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Grandson of Late President Bush Runs for Congress in Texas
Pierce Bush, the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, announced his candidacy Monday for a congressional seat in Texas, becoming the latest member of his famous Republican family to enter politics.But his first run for office won’t be easy. Bush joins one of the nation’s most crowded congressional races of 2020 in his bid to replace Republican Rep. Pete Olson, who is retiring from his suburban Houston district that Democrats nearly flipped last year and are aggressively targeting again.Pierce Bush’s announcement video, rolled out on the deadline in Texas for candidates to get on the 2020 ballot, includes an image of him speaking next to a picture of his late grandfather, who died last year.Today, I’m proud to announce my candidacy for Texas’s 22nd district. I look forward to working with you, earning your support, your faith and your vote. Visit https://t.co/yRG4DMctCm for more information. pic.twitter.com/fzRJ2xp54w— Pierce Bush (@PierceBush) December 9, 2019
“We face a very challenging time in our nation,” Bush says, adding that the country is “on the brink of losing a generation to an idea that socialism and free stuff are the answers to their future. But we all know that socialism has failed everywhere and everyone.”
His candidacy opens a new test for the Bush name in the Trump era. Other Republican candidates in the field have expressed unwavering support for President Donald Trump, who has clashed with the Bush family that for decades defined the GOP establishment. George H.W Bush voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, and President George W. Bush didn’t vote for either one of them.
The only Bush currently in public office, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, broke with his family in 2016 and supported Trump. During a visit to Texas earlier this year, Trump introduced George P. Bush, who is the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, as “the only Bush that likes me.”Pierce Bush, whose father is Neil Bush, has spent the past three years as chief executive of the nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters in Texas. He made no mention of Trump in his announcement video and launched his campaign website with only a short biography and no positions on issues or policies.
Olson is one of six of House Republicans in Texas retiring next year, and he might have faced a tougher re-election battled than any of them. Once a seat of GOP power — former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay held the office before Olson — the district is rapidly shifting amid demographic changes and Democrats peeling off suburban women voters.
Olson narrowly won his seat by fewer than 5 points in 2018. The district covers Fort Bend County, one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the nation. Last week, the county’s white Republican state representative, Rick Miller, abruptly dropped his re-election bid after telling the Houston Chronicle that his primary challengers were motivated to run against him because of race, accusing one of determining “that my district might need an Asian to win.”
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By Polityk | 12/10/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democrats, Republicans Lay Out Sharply Divergent Views on Trump Impeachment
Democratic and Republican leaders of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee laid out sharply divergent views Monday for and against the impeachment of President Donald Trump.The Judiciary Committee hearing on the allegations against Trump is a rare moment in the 243-year history of the U.S., only the fourth time an American leader has faced an impeachment inquiry. Two U.S. presidents have been impeached, but none removed from office through the impeachment process.The panel’s Democratic chairman, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, said repeatedly, “President Trump put himself above the country,” as he pushed Ukraine to investigate one of his chief 2020 Democratic challengers, former Vice President Joe Biden, while temporarily withholding $391 million in military aid Kyiv wanted to fight pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country.Nadler, pushing for Trump’s impeachment, contended that the U.S. leader “invited” Russia to help him win the 2016 election and “demanded it for 2020 (from Ukraine) and then he got caught. He has violated his most basic responsibility to the country.”House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., left, joined by Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the ranking member, opens a hearing to hear investigative findings in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill.But the Judiciary panel’s lead Republican, Congressman Doug Collins, a staunch supporter of the president, said that despite Trump’s request for the Biden investigation, “Ukraine did nothing and got the aid anyway.”He accused Democrats in the House of Representatives of pursuing Trump’s impeachment as soon as they won the chamber’s majority a year ago, “to make sure the president can’t win next year” when he is seeking re-election.”Where’s the impeachable offense?” Collins asked. “We don’t have a crime.” The Judiciary Committee was hearing testimony from Democratic and Republican lawyers about the case for and against the American leader. Nadler rejected several attempts by minority Republicans to delay the proceedings with parliamentary challenges.The panel is drafting articles of impeachment against Trump. But Nadler says the number of articles of impeachment and the scope of the allegations won’t be decided until after lawmakers hear summations of evidence collected by the Judiciary Committee staff and testimony heard in recent weeks by the House Intelligence Committee.Nadler said Sunday the Judiciary Committee could possibly vote this week on articles of impeachment against Trump, setting the stage for a simple-majority vote in the full Democratic-controlled House before the annual congressional Christmas holiday recess starts late next week.If Trump is impeached, as appears likely, the Republican-majority Senate would try him on the impeachment allegations in January. But his conviction by the required 67 of the chamber’s 100 members and removal from office remains unlikely. At least 20 Republicans would have to turn against Trump for a conviction, but none has called for his conviction and ouster from the White House.The White House is not participating in Monday’s hearing, with Nadler saying, “President Trump chose not to show.”FILE – White House counsel Pat Cipollone, center, arrives for an immigration speech by President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden at the White House, May 16, 2019.White House Counsel Pat Cipollone attacked the unfolding impeachment inquiry as “completely baseless” and called potential impeachment articles “a reckless abuse of power.”Trump posted Twitter comments Sunday labeling the process a “witch hunt,” a “hoax,” and lacking due process, while also sharing numerous posts from others saying he is being treated unfairly.Democrats say the evidence against the president is clear.Nadler told CNN that Trump would be found guilty in “three minutes flat” if he were facing charges before a criminal court jury that he abused his office by soliciting Ukraine to investigate Biden, his son Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian natural gas company and a debunked theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election Trump won, not Russia, as the U.S. intelligence community concluded.Nadler said if Trump “had any exculpatory evidence,” he would be making it known rather than rejecting participation in the hearings.There is some division among Democrats about whether to limit impeachment articles to allegations Trump abused his power by asking a foreign government for help in a U.S. election and obstruction for White House refusal to turn over documents and allow key Trump aides to testify in the investigation, or to expand to include allegations Trump sought to obstruct special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.Trump could be the third U.S. president to be impeached, after Andrew Johnson in the mid-19th century and Bill Clinton two decades ago, although both were acquitted in Senate trials and remained in office. Former President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 in the face of certain impeachment in the Watergate political corruption scandal and cover-up.
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By Polityk | 12/09/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
House Judiciary Committee to Hear Evidence as Impeachment Vote Nears
Democratic and Republican lawyers are set to present evidence Monday to members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee as the panel moves toward a possible vote this week on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.The hearing is scheduled to include presentations from lawyers from both the Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee.The White House will not be participating. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone criticized the impeachment inquiry unfolding in the Democrat-majority House of Representatives as “completely baseless” and called potential impeachment articles “a reckless abuse of power.”Trump posted Tweets Sunday labeling the process a “witch hunt,” a “hoax,” and lacking due process, while also sharing numerous posts from others saying he was being treated unfairly.Democrats say the evidence against the president is clear.Service unavailableJudiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler told CNN that Trump would be found guilty in “three minutes flat” if he were facing charges before a criminal court jury that he abused his office by soliciting Ukraine to investigate one of his chief 2020 Democratic presidential challengers, former Vice President Joe Biden.Nadler said if Trump “had any exculpatory evidence,” he would be making it known rather than rejecting participation in the hearings.It is not clear how many articles of impeachment Democrats plan to bring against Trump, but Nadler said the Judiciary Committee could vote on them by the end of the week.The issue would then move to the full House of Representatives where its Democratic majority would be widely expected to approve them, as early as the Christmas recess, sending the impeachment process to the Republican-led Senate for a trial in January. Two-thirds of the Senate would need to vote to convict Trump and remove him from office, which remains unlikely given the support he retains among members of his party.There is some division among Democrats about whether to limit impeachment articles to allegations Trump abused his power by asking a foreign government for help in a U.S. election and obstruction for White House refusal to turn over key documents and allow key Trump aides to testify in the investigation, or to expand to include allegations Trump sought to obstruct special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.Trump could be the third U.S. president to be impeached, after Andrew Johnson in the mid-19th century and Bill Clinton two decades ago, although both were acquitted in Senate trials and remained in office. Former President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 in the face of certain impeachment in the Watergate political corruption scandal and cover-up.
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By Polityk | 12/09/2019 | Повідомлення, Політика
