Home · News · News Dec 2019 · Dec 18 2019
Wednesday December 18, 2019

Capitol Hill digs in as Trump's impeachment looms
Axios | Mike Allen | 12/18/19

Ahead of today's historic House vote to impeach Donald John Trump, he dispatched a seething six-page letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi contending that a Democratic "partisan attempted coup" had treated him worse than "those accused in the Salem Witch Trials." She told reporters at the Capitol that the letter was "really sick."

Why it matters: The bitter exchange is a fitting denouement for the 86-day impeachment inquiry, which changed few minds in the country -- and none at the Capitol. The process, which is supposed to be the Constitution's death penalty, deepened a divide that has red and blue America speaking what sound to each other like foreign political languages. ... Read more

Read Trump's Letter to Pelosi Protesting Impeachment
NYT | staff | 12/17/19

We fact-checked President Trump's rambling and angry letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi in which he expressed his "most powerful protest" against the impeachment process. The House is expected to vote on two articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump on Wednesday. ... Read more

Letter from President Donald J. Trump to the Speaker of the House of Representatives | White House website | 12/17/19

Trump's Letter to Pelosi, Annotated by FactCheck.org
factcheck.org | staff | 12/18/19

On the eve of a House vote on two articles of impeachment, President Donald Trump sent a six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, claiming the impeachment "represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power."

We annotated the Dec. 17 letter, providing brief summaries and links to more information for statements that we have fact-checked before.

The president made several false and misleading statements about the impeachment process -- for instance, claiming the whistleblower started a "hoax with a false report of the phone call that bears no relationship to the actual phone call that was made." The whistleblower's report on the call was accurate, and, in the words of Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire "in alignment with what was released" by the White House in a rough transcript of the July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump also distorted the facts on several other topics, including immigration and his Electoral College victory. See our annotation for more. ... Read more

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of House.pdf
Interview with Alan Grayson on His New Book
Donald Trump's Criminality Exceeds Every Past Impeachment (w/ Alan Grayson) | Thom Hartmann | 12/16/19 | 12.25
HIGH CRIMES:: The Impeachment of Donald Trump by Former Congressman Alan Grayson
"HIGH CRIMES" explains why. Here is a uniquely engaging 'take' on a political movement constantly in the news:
  1. SPECIFICS -- Here, at last, is a comprehensive compendium of Donald Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors: not only the collusion and obstruction of justice addressed in the Mueller Report, but also Trump's impeachable divided loyalties, corruption, conflicts of interest, emoluments violations, pervasive obstruction of justice, habitual abuse of power, campaign misconduct, sexual misconduct, tax evasion, and incessant conduct unbecoming a President. In fact, it's hard to identify an impeachable offense that Donald Trump hasn't committed.
  2. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE -- Read about not only the 'high crimes and misdemeanors' of Donald Trump, but also those of 35 other officials who have faced impeachment (including Presidents Nixon, Clinton and Andrew Johnson). Here is much-needed historical context on the subject of impeaching Donald Trump: Trump is measured against the worst scoundrels of American political history, and he comes out worse than them. In fact, Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors make them look like amateurs by comparison.
  3. COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH -- No, you don't have to read them, but there are almost 500 endnotes here. (In the end, of course.) Trump's own high crimes and misdemeanors are cited directly to news reports, the Mueller Report, etc. The impeachment stories of other corrupt officials go all the way back to primary sources, like the Congressional Record, House Reports, Cannon and Hinds House Precedents, etc. -- often, in their own words, and the words of the Congressmen and Senators who passed judgment on them.
  4. SOPHISTICATED ANALYSIS -- Author Alan Grayson served in Congress, and he voted on two impeachments. That helps to bring the impeachment process to life.

impeach Book website
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Wednesday, December 18 [9:14]
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Wednesday, December 18 (FULL) | 59:02
Note: on the full 59:02 video look for small white (or black) circles on the Progressbar they denote the different news stories. You can move the pointer on the Progressbar to jump to each story, and around the video.
  1. Headlines
  2. "Not the End of It": If GOP Senate Saves Trump, Rep. Al Green Says He Can Face Impeachment Again
  3. Impeachment Day? House Votes on Charging Trump with Abuse of Power & Obstruction of Justice
  4. Activists Cheer Approval of Driver's Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants in New York, New Jersey
Melting Greenland Could Displace 400M People; UN Climate Deal Does Little to Help | TRNN | 12/17/19 | 7:58
Trump Fighting With Mitch McConnell Over Impeachment Trial | TYT | 12/17/19 | 10:45
The Two People Who Could Take Trump Down | TYT | 12/17/19 | 5:56
Are These Signs of Oncoming Economic Disaster? | Thom Hartmann | older 12/03/19 | 11:53
The1a.org
The Confirmation Of Brett Kavanaugh | 1a.org | 12/18/19 | 1hr
In the fall of last year, a professor named Christine Blasey Ford testified that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while the two were in high school. Despite testimony that transfixed the nation and other allegations of sexual misconduct, the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus' new book chronicles how Justice Kavanaugh made it to the Supreme Court and the legacy of his confirmation.

One of her recent pieces compares the current impeachment proceedings to the Kavanaugh hearings.
Unprecedented: Is A Threat Protected Speech? | 1a.org | 12/18/19 | 1hr
It's been difficult to interpret the First Amendment in the age of the internet and social media. But that's the task the Supreme Court took on in Elonis v. United States.

In 2010, 27-year-old Anthony Douglas Elonis was charged with making unlawful threats via a post on Facebook that referenced his estranged wife. The alleged threats, however, were often communicated in the form of rap lyrics, with Elonis even adopting the Facebook alter ego "Tone Dougie."

Once the case went to trial, Elonis and his lawyer insisted that he was utilizing the conventions of rap music. But the court didn't buy his argument, and he was sentenced to almost four years in prison.

Four years ago, the Supreme Court overturned that conviction, arguing that prosecutors must do more than prove that reasonable people would view statements as threats. So what is a "true threat"? And what makes a person "reasonable"?
Pelosi responds to Trump's 'really sick' letter | | | 10:42
See the most stunning lines in Trump's letter to Pelosi | | | 9:53
Here's what Trump's letter didn't mention | Anderson Cooper | CNN | | | 10:03
Sen. Schumer Offers Opening Bid In Senate Impeachment | | | 7:29
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Trump Complains Of "Spiteful Actions" And "Egregious Conduct" In Angry Letter To Nancy Pelosi | Stephen Colbert | 12/17/19 | 7:11
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse of Trump Supporters on Impeachment | Trevor Noah| 12/16/19 | 6:08
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Every Crime President Trump Has Ever Committed | Seth Meyer | 12/18/19 | 1:16
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Lie Witness News -- 2019 Year End Edition | Jimmy Kimmel | 12/13/19 | 3:46

12.18.2019. 19:56



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