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By waiting to present the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, more vital evidence has been brought to light; documents that support the charges against Trump, which add to the truth and that corroborate testimony made in the House hearings.
More witnesses, such as former National Security Adviser John Bolton (pictured right), need to be heard. Bolton has agreed to testify if he is subpoenaed.
not only encourage but vigorously convince Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney (pictured left), Secretary of 
State Mike Pompeo (pictured right) and others to join with Bolton by testifying in the Trump trial because it's the right thing to do, and because it is crucial to our country and our Constitution, so that they can truthfully tell - under penalty of perjury - what they know.
Trump withheld that funding as a method of demanding President Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured right) to launch an investigation in to former U.S.
Trump's second charge against him in the two Articles of Impeachment is Obstruction of Congress. He is accused of directing "the unprecedented, categorical and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas." The impeachment document states that "In the history of the republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate 'high crimes and misdemeanors.'" Trump obstructed the House impeachment investigation by not complying with congressional subpoenas for documents and witness testimony.
Trump is unquestionably wrong when he says that Article II of the U.S. Constitution gives him, as President, "the right to do whatever" he wants. Congress has the power to present subpoenas for documents and testimony, and prominent, reputable legal experts and constitutional scholars nationwide have unequivocally concluded that no President of the United States is immune from such an order. Therefore, Trump clearly obstructed the House impeachment probe. His narcissism and his lies cannot be allowed to overpower or command either our Constitution or our Congress. Trump has threatened our national security, he has abused his power, he has tampered with witnesses, he has obstructed Congress and American justice, and he has violated the United States Constitution and his oath of office. Donald Trump has betrayed our nation. He is a clear and present danger to our republic's democracy and the most dishonest and deceitful President in America's history.
By Speaker Pelosi waiting to turn over the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, we learned on Tuesday night, January 14th that Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani (pictured right), on his own stationery, wrote a letter to Ukraine's Zelensky on May 10th, 2018 when he was president-elect, whereby Giuliani sought to meet with the newly elected leader. Giuliani spells out that his request to Zelensky was with Trump's "knowledge and consent." Trump obviously lied in November 2019 about Giuliani contacting Zelensky by declaring, "I didn't direct him." Giuliani's letter is just another piece of evidence that is damning to Trump. The letter was released by the House after being presented to 
Mr. Biden. On a note pad from The Ritz-Carlton in
Vienna, Austria, one message (pictured left) says, "Get Zalensky to announce that the Biden case will be investigated." Congressman Adam Schiff - Democrat of California and Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (pictured above right) - says, "All of this new evidence confirms what we already know; the President and his associates pressured Ukrainian officials to announce investigations that would benefit the President politically." Meanwhile, Parnas is awaiting trial on campaign finance charges.
Permitting new testimony in the Senate trial could likely bring more evidence to the forefront that would be damaging to Donald Trump, but that would bring more truth to the American people. Moments before publishing this column, Speaker Pelosi announced and introduced the House Managers - the prosecutors for the Trump trial. Anyone with an ounce of brains should realize that the Republican-controlled Senate wants to race through a trial in an effort to acquit and exonerate Trump.
Putting Donald Trump above our country and our Constitution is not only wrong, it's malicious.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
Please express your personal opinions by following the instructions printed at the top of this column. And thank you for reading The Controversy.
Photo credits:
1 - Mark Wilson/Getty Images (Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi #1)
2 - Peter Nicholls/Reuters (Former National Security Adviser John Bolton)
3 - Leah Millis/Reuters (Senator Mitch McConnell)
4 - Alex Brandon/The Associated Press (Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney)
5 - Alex Wong/Getty Images (Secretary of State Mike Pompeo)
6 - The Associated Press (Donald Trump)
7 - Sergei Chuzakov/SOPA Images/Light Rocket via Getty Images (President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine)
8 - AFP/Getty Images (Former Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden)
9 - Charles Krupa/The Associated Press (Rudy Giuliani)
10 - The Associated Press (Lev Parnas)
11 - Screenshot by NPR (Lev Parnas' note)
12 - Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
13 - Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images (Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi #2)
Copyright 2020 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
I must laugh at your suggestion that Pelosi deserves applause for her delaying sending over the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. She didn’t do for the American people or for any of the reasons she has given, she did for one reason, to help her choice for the nomination, former VP Joe Biden. By delaying the trial she has given Biden an open field in Iowa and New Hampshire. His two biggest rivals Sanders and Warren will now be stuck in DC for 3 to 6 weeks unable to campaign; she did her job for her friend. If you believe that there is a snowballs chance in hell that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will side with the Democrats against the President, I would love to know what kind of drugs you are doing. As for the first article in the impeachment “Abuse of Power” there has been NO evidence proving the President withheld aid for the purpose of influencing the 2020 election, his purpose was to make sure the Ukrainian Government was going to stick to their words and root out corruption, and the President believed and more than likely still believes the Hunter and Joe Biden were involved in the corruption. He never demanded anything from President Volodymyr Zelensky. The President never asked for a quid pro quo for anything especially not for political and personal gain. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said time and time again there was no pressure and there was no quid pro quo! Show me the proof not opinion. The second charge against the President in the two Articles of Impeachment is Obstruction of Congress is a total joke. The Founding Fathers setup 3 co-equal branches of Government and one of the primary functions of the Judicial Branch is to adjudicate conflicts between the Executive and the Legislative Branches that is all this is and it should be handled by the courts The Dems did want to go to court in fear they would lose. . When the President made the statement that Article II of the U.S. Constitution gives him, as President, "the right to do whatever" he wants, it was in the context of firing Robert Muller and in that context the President was 100% correct. The Constitution grants the President as Chief Executive of the Executive Branch the right to fire anyone at any time for any reason, hence the saying "serve at the pleasure of the President". If the President isn’t pleased with you he can fire you, period! Republicans are honoring their oath and the Constitution nothing here came even close to justifying impeachment. Every Democrat Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the Pelosi /Party or the US Constitution. The Democrats need to put away their hatred for the President and get past the 2016 election and get to work for the American people. Start to work with the President and help him get even more great things done for America.
ReplyDeleteThe response to the Anonymous reader's comments above will be in five parts.
DeletePART ONE OF FIVE
You can laugh all you want, but Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has done exactly what has been best for our country. By her holding on to the Articles of Impeachment for nearly a month new evidence has, in fact, come to light, including - but not limited to - everything that has been released over the last two days by Lev Parnas - THE MOUNTAIN OF EXPLOSIVE EVIDENCE which I won't elaborate on here - plus the decision made today, January 16th, 2020, by the Government Accountability Office that Donald Trump indeed broke the law. The GAO - a non-partisan watchdog group - says Trump and his administration committed a federal crime by withholding 391 million dollars in military aid to Ukraine. The first Article of Impeachment against Trump charges him with Abuse of Power by threatening to bribe Ukraine. The quid pro quo extortion scheme involves Trump pressuring Ukraine's president to launch an investigation on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden or else the military aid would not be given. Now the GAO says Trump and The White House are in violation of federal law for not immediately presenting Ukraine with the money after it was approved by Congress. Even though the funds did eventually go to Ukraine, the crimes were committed. The U.S. Senate must immediately vote to convict Trump on the two Articles of Impeachment (the second being Obstruction of Congress) or, what would be easier - which is long overdue - Trump needs to resign the presidency. Republicans on Capitol Hill need to do as Senator Barry Goldwater and the Republican leadership did in 1974 with President Richard Nixon. Senator Mitch McConnell and senior Republicans in Congress need to travel the short distance down Pennsylvania Avenue and tell Donald Trump that he needs to resign. Senator Goldwater and the Republicans in 1974 cared first and foremost about our country and our Constitution. They did not put Richard Nixon on top. Unfortunately Senator McConnell and the Republicans of 2020 apparently don't give a damn about our country and our Constitution. They care about their own jobs and whether they can get re-elected by a Republican base of voters who are blind to Trump's criminal activity. They are all putting themselves and Donald Trump above the laws of our land, above our red, white and blue flag, and above the Constitution of the United States of America. So I'm hoping that whether it's Senator McConnell or not, I want to believe that once the senators hear witness testimony in their chamber, that 20 Republicans will join with the 47 Democrats to convict Trump and remove him from office. At that point, Senator McConnell and the Republican leadership need to grow some balls (no, not snowballs) and realize that Trump would be cooked, and therefore they would then do as the Republicans did in 1974 with President Richard Nixon and basically force Trump to resign. So it just may not take "a snowball's chance in hell" for Senator McConnell to side with the Democrats.
GBD
END OF PART ONE OF FIVE
PART TWO OF FIVE
DeleteIt is YOU who are on drugs if you think that Speaker Pelosi would put our country through an impeachment to help Vice President Biden in Iowa and New Hampshire so that Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren are forced to stay on Capitol Hill in Washington and, therefore, they can't campaign in "The Hawkeye State" and "The Granite State" the two weeks before the Iowa caucus and the three weeks before the New Hampshire primary. Here's a little history lesson for you from the Des Moines Register newspaper. "Since 1972, the top voter-getter in the Democratic caucuses has gone on to win the nomination in seven of 10 contested races, but just Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008 won the presidency. Among Republicans since 1980, the winner of the Iowa caucuses has gained the nomination in three of eight contested races, but the presidency just once: George W. Bush in 2000." So although the percentage is good at getting the nomination for the Democrats by winning Iowa (not so much for the Republicans), it's not a slam dunk. And it certainly doesn't mean a win for the presidency.
I won't even respond much on your comments about there being "NO evidence proving" the allegations against Trump for "Abuse of Power." All I will say is that you must have been living in an underground bunker with no access to anyone up top because numerous witnesses have proven that Trump withheld the military aid for the reasons I have specified in my column, which are the charges against Trump in the first of the Articles of Impeachment. Your comments above are laughable. Do you not remember what Trump said to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky? Trump twisted Zelensky's arm to interfere in our upcoming 2020 election. What Trump did was a classic Mafia-like shakedown. When Trump - according to his own written summary (not a transcript, but a summary) - said to Zelensky in that now infamous July 25th, 2019 telephone call, "We do a lot for Ukraine" and "spend a lot of effort and a lot of time" to help Ukraine, but that it's not always "reciprocal," so I want you "to do us a favor though," those words acted in lieu of thumbscrews as Trump pressured a foreign government to probe his likely opponent in the 2020 race for The White House. Trump bribed Zelensky to help him for political and personal gain by, in essence, demanding that Ukraine launch an investigation in to Vice President Biden and his son. Trump wanted Zelensky to dig up dirt, which there is none, on the two Bidens.
GBD
END OF PART TWO OF FIVE
PART THREE OF FIVE
DeleteYour comments that the second charge in the Articles of Impeachment is "a total joke" makes you someone who simply doesn't understand what Trump did wrong. Trump is, in fact, guilty of Obstruction of Congress by not allowing for documents to be given to Congress and by basically witness tampering when he told his cronies that they can't testify. That - according to legal experts and constitutional scholars nationwide - is without question Obstruction of Congress. The Democrats have performed exactly the way our Founding Fathers wanted things to be done in an impeachment of a President. As I wrote in my column above, I quoted from the second Article that Donald Trump directed "the unprecedented, categorical and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas." The impeachment document states that "In the history of the republic, no President has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate 'high crimes and misdemeanors.'" Trump obstructed the House impeachment investigation by not complying with congressional subpoenas for documents and witness testimony. It's as plain as that!!!
GBD
END OF PART THREE OF FIVE
PART FOUR OF FIVE
DeleteYou can try to spin Trump's comment that he has "the right to do whatever" he wants, but Trump - the narcissist that he is - thinks with EVERYTHING that he has "the right to do whatever" he wants. Do you not remember what Trump said on January 23rd, 2016? He bragged - at a rally in Iowa - about his popularity during the presidential campaign. Trump boasted that if he shot a person on a crowded New York City street, it wouldn't affect his support. "I have the most loyal people, where I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters." THAT is Trump saying he can do whatever he wants. And how 'bout this one? On June 15th, 2018, Trump - with a serious tone - told Fox News that he wants Americans to treat HIM as North Koreans do Kim Jong-un. "He's the head of a country, and I mean, he's the strong head. Don't let anyone think different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same." Republicans wanted to spin it that Trump was joking. It is not at all funny for the President of the United States to jest that he wants to be dictator. And that's exactly what Trump thinks he is. But on July 4th, 1776, with our Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers made it definitive that we did not want a king. And when our Constitution was created on September 17th, 1787, ratified on June 21st, 1788, and became effective on March 4th, 1789, our Founders made it that we would never have a king... or an emperor...or a dictator. No. Donald Trump CANNOT do whatever he wants and he does NOT have "the right to do whatever" he wants.
GBD
END OF PART FOUR OF FIVE
PART FIVE OF FIVE
DeleteYou can try to flip my words about what Senate Republicans need to do with your comments about Democrats, but it won't work. Democrats are loyal to our country and to our Constitution. You'll notice I never used the word "hate" or "hatred" in my column or in my response to you. But just like other Trumpers, you came through like a thoroughbred racehorse. You came through like a champion with your predictability when you wrote, "The Democrats need to put away their hatred for the President and get past the 2016 election." Democrats do not "hate." And Democrats have gone way past the 2016 election. Only Donald Trump and the Republicans have continued for three years to bring up 2016. Democrats have always looked forward. And now we look forward to Republican senators - and of course Democratic senators too - honoring the oath they took, not only as senators, but the oath they took on January 16th, 2020 when they raised their right hands and vowed to Chief Justice John Roberts in the Senate chamber that they "solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, president of the United States, now pending, you will do immpartial justice, according to the Constitution and laws, so help you God?" Each of the senators replied that they would. God help them if they don't.
GBD
END OF PART FIVE OF FIVE
Once again you try to twist words, I never said “Speaker Pelosi would put our country through an impeachment to help Vice President Biden” I said “By delaying the trial she has given Biden an open field in Iowa and New Hampshire.” Big difference but you can’t help trying to twist or lie, it’s in the nature of far left Dems. Please give me the name of one fact witness that gave evidence that the President held the aid to affect the 2020 election, you can’t, not one person gave any facts, only their opinion. I stand by the facts that the Courts should handle a disagreement between the branches, not going straight to impeachment. I didn’t spin anything the President was talking about firing Muller, Article II of the U.S. Constitution gives the President the right to fire anyone in the Executive branch that the President appoints for any reason or for no reason, period! The Republican Senators will do their job and honor their oath to the Constitution, since the President didn’t commit any impeachable offences and there should never have been the need for a trial the Senate will fully, completely and legally acquit and fully exonerate the President of any wrong doing! He will go on to win in November and serve 4 more years. The House will turn and the Country will do even more great things!
ReplyDeleteThe response to the Anonymous reader's comments above will be in three parts.
DeletePART ONE OF THREE
I did NOT "twist" your words, but you're a Trumper so you're predisposed to lie. In your comments at 12:21 PM on January 17th, 2020, you deliberately omitted your original comment from 12:27 PM on January 16th. Here's what you ACTUALLY said about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. "She didn't do for the American people or for any of the reasons she has given, she did for one reason, to help her choice for the nomination, former VP Joe Biden. By delaying the trial she has given Biden an open field in Iowa and New Hampshire. His two biggest rivals Sanders and Warren will now be stuck in DC for 3 to 6 weeks unable to campaign; she did her job for her friend." So my response to you that "It is YOU who are on drugs if you think that Speaker Pelosi would put our country through an impeachment to help Vice President Biden in Iowa and New Hampshire so that Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren are forced to stay on Capitol Hill in Washington and, therefore, they can't campaign in "The Hawkeye State" and "The Granite State" the two weeks before the Iowa caucus and the three weeks before the New Hampshire primary," is a completely accurate response. But of course you're a Trumper so you're going lie when it comes to anything that a Democrat has said.
Here are some quotes - "evidence" - from witnesses who have stated that Trump withheld military aid as a quid pro quo to get dirt on Joe Biden. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton called it a "drug deal." Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified in the House impeachment hearing, "Was there a quid pro quo? With regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes." "The rest," Sondland said, "was obvious. Two plus two equals four." Sondland insisted twice in his testimony that he was "adamantly opposed to any suspension of aid" for Ukraine, but "I followed the directions of the President."
The following is directly from America's most prominent conservative newspaper, The Wall Street Journal. "A White House national security official testified that a U.S. diplomat told him a hold on U.S. aid to Ukraine was tied to efforts to push Kyiv to investigate Democrat Joe Biden and his son, backing testimony of earlier witnesses in the House impeachment inquiry. The official, Tim Morrison, also said Thursday he had concerns about what he heard on Trump's July 25th call with his Ukrainian counterpart."
And then of course there was Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney who on live television from The White House Briefing Room admitted to ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, all other reporters in the room, and the entire country that Trump withheld the 391 million dollars in military aid in part to pressure Ukraine's President Zelensky to dig up dirt on the Bidens and to discredit the Mueller investigation. Mulvaney's exact words were, “That’s why we held up the money.” Mulvaney explained in a nonchalant fashion as if it was no big deal. In fact, if you remember, Mulvaney bragged, “I have news for everybody. Get over it. There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy. Elections do have consequences and they should, and your foreign policy is going to change…there’s no problem with that.” What Mulvaney stated that day pretty well says it all. He admitted to the crimes and Trump ordered them.
Finally - but actually there are others - but for my answer to you, finally there's Rudy "I'll be going to prison soon" Giuliani who told CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on live television about asking Ukraine officials to investigate Joe Biden, and Giuliani shouted like Jack Nicholson admitting to Tom Cruise that he ordered the code red, "Of course I did!"
GBD
END OF PART ONE OF THREE
PART TWO OF THREE
DeleteAs for Trump's remark - which he has repeated on other occasions - that he can do "whatever" he wants as President, the bottom line is...he cannot. There may be certain circumstances - like with any person who is a boss, supervisor, manager or president of any entity - where Trump can, using your example, "fire" someone. But Trump thinks that he can do "whatever" he wants with anything and everything. And that's because Trump thinks he's king, emperor and dictator, not President of the United States. Article II does not allow any President to do "whatever" he wants.
We're just being repetitive here so let's stop. I hope that Republican senators will do their jobs and honor the oath they took before Chief Justice John Roberts and that they will "do impartial justice" during the Trump trial. Lindsey "I won't be re-elected to the Senate again" Graham has already said that no matter what other evidence is presented, he's made his decision already to acquit Trump. I have faith that there are 20 Republican senators who each have a conscience and who will faithfully listen to the facts, and when they do, combined with all the evidence already presented, I'm hoping they will put our country and our Constitution above all else, above Trump, above the Republican Party, above their own jobs, above everything.
GBD
END OF PART TWO OF THREE
PART THREE OF THREE
DeleteYou can believe what you want, and you do have that right - as I do - but if the election was tomorrow, any Democrat running for President today would beat Donald Trump. And when all is said and done - if Trump is not convicted and removed from office, or if he doesn't resign the presidency - the Democratic nominee (who I believe and hope will be Joe Biden) will beat Trump in a landslide, and the House of Representatives will remain controlled by the Democrats, plus the Senate will turn to Democratic control.
Your boy is going down. Americans are fed up with the lies, the deceit, the dishonesty and the corruption by Donald Trump.
GBD
END OF PART THREE OF THREE