Pelosi Says House Will Begin Drafting Impeachment Charges vs. Trump

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: New York Times



WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked the House of Representatives on Thursday to begin drafting impeachment articles against President Trump, pushing ahead with a rapid timetable that could set the stage for a deeply partisan vote before Christmas to charge him with high crimes and misdemeanors.

Ms. Pelosi’s hastily scheduled announcement came a day after the House Judiciary Committee began formal impeachment proceedings against Mr. Trump, convening a hearing where three constitutional scholars invited by Democrats said Mr. Trump had engaged in conduct that clearly met the definition of impeachable offenses under the Constitution.

The decision follows a two-monthlong investigation by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee that concluded that Mr. Trump abused his power by pressuring President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to announce investigations into former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other Democrats, while withholding a White House meeting and $391 million in vital military assistance.

“The facts are uncontested,” Ms. Pelosi said. “The president abused his power for his own personal political benefit, at the expense of our national security.” “His wrongdoing strikes at the very heart of our Constitution,” she added. “Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders and a heart full of love for America, today I am asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/us/politics/pelosi-impeachment.html

---

She gave a statement @ 9am ET this morning.

[Gothmog]

1. Speaker Pelosi is an amazing leader

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

2. Kick

[samnsara]

3. grab the popcorn!!

[underpants]

7. Yes!

[fleur-de-lisa]

4. K&R

[IronLionZion]

5. That's all I want for Christmas

[bluestarone]

6. Gotta love Nancy!!

[gademocrat7]

8. Simply the best!

K&R!

[Gothmog]

9. Hillary Clinton-No one is above the law

Link to tweet

[treefarmers]

10. Curious about Republican Nominees for President next year

So, if Trump gets impeached then he can't run for president next year right? So, that opens up the nomination process to all the republican candidates. Should be interesting.

[Crabby Appleton]

13. If he gets convicted he can't run

The Senate won't convict so it's moot.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. He can run if convicted if they don't do a separate vote to "disqualify" him from running again.

[calimary]

30. Oh yeah they're sure gonna do that...

[BumRushDaShow]

36. ....

[BumRushDaShow]

14. An "impeachment" is basically the same as an "indictment" (being "charged")

and wouldn't stop him from running again. It's the conviction in the Senate that would not only remove him from office, but if the Senate chooses to go the next step and vote to "disqualify" him for any future runs, they could forbid him from running for federal office again. In the case of Rep. Alcee Hastings - he was impeached and convicted by the Senate when he was a federal judge in the late '80s but they didn't vote to disqualify him from running for a federal office and he was eventually elected to the House (where he still remains).

If the Senate fails to convict (which they already pre-announced that they would), he would be considered "not guilty" (although still under the cloud of the impeachment in a historic sense).

[Legends303]

16. Hontestly even Impeachment passing the house

is bad for Trump, even if he is not going to get convicted, he would be the 3rd President in history to get impeached.

[calimary]

33. Yep. And that's why we HAVE TO impeach. We HAVE TO leave a mark

We HAVE TO leave a mark for the history books, for the record and ON the record.

We HAVE TO leave that big and glaring a warning sign to future generations and future presidents and wannabe presidents.

Come what may.

We HAVE TO leave a mark. It may be the only thing we can realistically do at this point, since Russia has TREMENDOUS motivation - indeed, by now, the HIGHEST motivation - to keep him installed in the Oval Office.

[DeminPennswoods]

11. Team America

We need hats....

[CrispyQ]

45. I think that's actually a really great slogan for the dems.

[JudyM]

12. Powerful visual

Nancy in a crisp winter white suit against a backdrop of a gathering of Old Glories.

[honest.abe]

17. Fantastic!

Trump will be blow a gasket!

[wnylib]

18. I asked this in another thread. Maybe someone

here knows.

What is the trial process in the Senate? I know that Chief Justice Roberts will preside. I know that Trump will have lawyers to call defense witnesses. I am certain that they will subpoena Joe and Hunter to make it all about them in justifying the illegal investigation attempts. They will probably subpoena Schiff, too.

But how does the process play out? Who is the prosecutor? Is it like a "regular" trial, where the prosecution presents its case first and then the defense, with cross examinations?

How much of the process and rules can the Senate establish?

I did not follow Clinton's case beyond the headlines because I knew he would not be convicted. (Also because I was working full time and taking several classes at the time.)

[BumRushDaShow]

21. I think during Nadler's presser yesterday

he mentioned them possibly having a staffer from the Intelligence Committee act as the "prosecutor" in the Senate trial, since apparently most of the info/evidence is focusing on what came out of the Intelligence Committee and it would be best to have someone expert at distilling it all down to make it simple, not just for the Senators, but for the viewing public.

I know when the Clinton impeachment was going on, I was tied up with work and only caught blips and pieces of it but CSPAN has an archive of it here (they have separate videos for the sessions and a couple were sorting out of order so you'd need to look at the dates).

[wnylib]

23. Thanks. Will check it out.

[bitterross]

19. "Hastily scheduled..." F- The NY Times

Nothing about this has been done in haste. Just because she scheduled an announcement that must have interrupted some poor reporter's coffee break, they throw in that little tid bit. They can't just report the facts, they have to throw in a little bit of shade.

[padah513]

20. Agreed

And they're not alone.

[mr_lebowski]

28. +2 hate this kinda bullshit ... nt

[Botany]

29. Look @ the graph about the coverage the NY Times gave "The Hillary Clinton email scandal."

https://www.vox.com/2017/12/7/16747712/study-media-2016-election-clintons-emails

Study: Hillary Clinton’s emails got as much front-page coverage in 6 days as policy did in 69

And when it turned out to be nothing they wrote about it on pg 16.

[cstanleytech]

22. I hope she drags it out until around Oct of next year before it goes to the Senate.

That way it will limit the ability of the Republican Senators attempts to mitigate the political damage they will do to themselves when they vote not to convict despite overwhelming evidence.

[Botany]

24. Pelosi Says House Will Begin Drafting Impeachment Charges vs. Trump

“The facts are uncontested,” Ms. Pelosi said. “The president abused his power for his own personal political benefit, at the expense of our national security.” “His wrongdoing strikes at the very heart of our Constitution,” she added. “Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders and a heart full of love for America, today I am asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment.”

[dweller]

46. at the risk of sounding the dummy

but who is the 'chairman' she mentions?

tia

✌🏼

[Botany]

47. I think it is Jerry Nadler or Adam Schiff

n/t

[SunSeeker]

25. Yes!

Trump's transcript of the July 25 Zelensky call says it all. The rest is just confirmation. Let's go!

[chia]

26. What I've been waiting for..

... full steam ahead!

[iluvtennis]

27. Yes! So glad impeachment articles are proceeding and will be issues b4 end of year. Bravo NancyP!

[mr_lebowski]

31. I think we should start making more hay of how traitorous it was to try to expose a US citizen

... and not just any US citizen, but the Son of not only the former VPOTUS, but the son of someone who happens to be his biggest rival in the next election ... to the whims of FOREIGN POLICE, and possibly a FOREIGN court?

When has a US President EVER gone out of his way to expose a US Citizen to FOREIGN charges of wrong-doing?

NEVER, that's when. Because it's fucking TRAITOROUS.

Furthermore, our side should be publicly questioning WHY THE FUCK, if he was REALLY so concerned with illegality on the part of a US citizen, he didn't simply ask the UNITED STATES Justice Department to investigate Hunter Biden, given he's a US citizen, not a Ukrainian one?

[greatauntoftriplets]

32. Damn the trumpedos, full speed ahead!

This needs to be done to save the country.

[MFGsunny]

39. "Trumpedos" - a brilliant new word worth stealing. May I borrow it, though??????

[greatauntoftriplets]

42. Of course you can!

And thanks.

[MFGsunny]

44. Much obliged! And you're welcome too. n/t

[KY_EnviroGuy]

34. An event crucial to America's future.

Republican's careless and selfish nibbling away at our Constitution and traditional democratic rules for the benefit of plutocrats, oligarchs and dictators must stop and it could be now or never.

Thank you Speaker Pelosi for announcing an important step in this historical process...... ......

[Ingersollman]

35. Impeach

the motherfucker.

[c-rational]

37. And the NYTs had to characterize it as a deeply partisan vote. Give me a break. So glad i

cancelled my subscription years ago.

[BumRushDaShow]

40. Unfortunately

they are going by the breakdown in the House & Senate and since the House GOP refuses to put country over party, you have 54% (D) - 46% (R) in House. So although not quite "50-50" it's still close... but we know much of that was due to gerrymandered seats that are slowly being rectified.

[apnu]

38. "could set the stage for a deeply partisan vote before Christmas" BS!

We have laws about bribery and corruption, that he clearly violated. This isn't a "partisan" vote but one for the Republicans to finally put their votes where their mouths are. If they are the party of following the law, as they claim with immigration, then here's where they prove that.

A vote against Impeachable crimes is saying they won't follow the law and the POTUS doesn't have to follow the law either.

If that's 'partisan' we are all truly fucked and live in a Banana Republic.

[BumRushDaShow]

43. Just posted about this above

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142403843#post40

And realistically, you KNOW the GOP is going to lock-step vote against impeachment (although there is a possibility that the GOP rep in swing district PA-1 - Brian Fitzpatrick who barely got reelected, might buck it...).

And yes, they really don't give a shit about the law. I think the past year has clearly shown that, as well as the 2018 election where a bunch were voted out, and even this year, where 20 GOP House members have already announced they will not be seeking reelection. So whoever is left will be concentrating the criminal loon brigade even more.

[ck4829]

50. Turning Christmas into the Purge, my God

"We can't seek accountability for leaders now, it's Christmas-time!"

[Politicub]

41. Here we go. This was one of Pelosi's best speeches to date.

I would like to say I’m not nervous about the effects of the final outcome, but I would be lying.

The House has no ethical choice but to impeach the traitorous Trump. All signs point to the senate acquitting him along partisan lines.

I’m not sure — with someone with as volatile as Trump and his rabid followers — how things will play out afterward. I’m not afraid of some kind of civil war; the GOP is a party of cowards and blowhards after all. I am more focused on winning the presidency next year.

An acquittal will give him a talking point where he can preen about being innocent. Will that gain Trump the votes he needs, along with Russian interference, to capture enough states to win the electoral college vote? None of us know for sure.

So we’re walking into the unknown. That would have been the case wether Trump was impeached or not. I hope the drafting and passing the articles of impeachment will give democrats an advantage nationally and in every district.

[Blue_Tires]

48. I've noticed the "REPLACE PELOSI" crowd has all but vanished...

[ck4829]

49. K&R

[Maxheader]

51. You go girl...

.
.
.
.
Its gotta be done...I just hope the public pays attention and understands
how badly the yellow haired traitor has damage the country..
And how badly it needs to be walkin down the road kickin a beer can talkin to itself...