October 20, 2019

Thanksgiving?

Is this impeachment investigation going to be over by Thanksgiving?

McConnell and the Republicans would like to get it over as soon as possible. They would like the Articles of Impeachment before Thanksgiving, but Christmas at the latest.

Because it seems that every witness that appears brings some new incriminating information. They believe the longer it goes on, the worse it might be for Republicans?

Madame Pelosi has said they will follow the Constitution and follow the truth wherever it may lead. She is not keen on setting a timetable for gathering the evidence just yet.

They may get a surprise witness! Wonder who will play that role? The whistleblower may go public with his/her information? Maybe they already have? How would we know?

October 20, 2019

Absolute Corruption - A Presidency With No Boundaries

Everyone was shocked and surprised when Mulvaney announced that Trump was going to hold next years G-7 at his property in Miami?

Why would he propose such an insane idea?

Because he saw a way to make a profit for himself and nobody had said that he couldn't?

Donald Trump does not see ethical or moral boundaries in any of his dealings. Everything is transactional. He has to be shown that he cannot do it.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. America has a free-range executive.

October 20, 2019

Why was Giuliani involved in a shadow State Dept operation in Ukraine?

Why was he doing it in secret?

Why was it something our FBI and CIA could not investigate?

Why did it have to be done out of normal channels?

Who else in the Trump White House knows all the same details that Trump and Giuliani knows about their operation in Ukraine? Pompeo? The State Dept Ambassadors? Mulvaney? None of them?

Is it possible the entire conspiracy is not about the DNC server or the Bidens?

Is it possible that Trump and Giuliani have a totally different agenda?

I think so.

October 20, 2019

Why it might not be a good idea to have a secret ballot if there is an impeachment trial?

It has been mentioned and nuzzled aside several times.

But, considering the present political atmosphere, with the division and re-election fears, some argue that it might be best if there were a secret ballot. No one would know who votes for or who votes against Donald Trump?

The purpose would be to take away the pressure from those Senators that might feel threatened if they were to vote their consciences. That would apply to both Democrats and Republicans. They would make their decisions after hearing all the evidence.

Mitch McConnell has stated that there would be a fair trial if it comes to the Senate. It is up to the Democrats to hold him to that standard.

It should be noted that there does not have to be a crime committed in order to impeach. The Senate may require more evidence to convict than the House requires to indict or impeach?

If he was acquitted, those opposed to Trump would want to know who voted for him? If found guilty, those supportive would want to know if their Senator was one of those that voted against their President? They would argue that the people have a right to know how their Senators vote.

However, if the goal is to have a fair trial, a secret ballot may be the only way to get a fair verdict?

October 19, 2019

A Conspiracy Against the United States of America?

What happens when individuals so distrust our institutions that they refuse to accept the results of any investigation? They choose to investigate the investigators. They do not accept the legitimacy of any dept of government except the Executive and his Attorney General.

They do not trust the FBI or the CIA or any part of our country's intelligence. They do not trust our State Dept. They discredit everything from the opposition Party and from the press of our nation. They tell their supporters it is all "fake news".

When the people choose to believe one or two individuals over our established institutions, there is a very serious problem. When they choose to investigate the investigators, they are creating a conspiracy against our government. Institutions cannot survive under such conditions.

In order for a government to remain stable, its citizens must have faith in its basic institutions. Those that seek to destroy that relationship are guilty of conspiring against our government. We are presently witnessing a conspiracy against the United States of America.

October 18, 2019

3 Ukrainian lawmakers doing Trump's dirty work in scandal

(Might help with understanding the bigger picture?)
========================

<snip>
The three lawmakers — Oleg Voloshyn, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko and Andriy Derkach — represent different political parties and claim they’re acting out of their own desire to establish the truth and help Ukraine.

However, their backgrounds raise suspicions that they are acting on behalf of bigger players in scandal: an exiled Ukrainian oligarch and a former top prosecutor who supplied questionable information to people close to Trump.

Voloshyn and Nalyvaichenko have links to the oligarch Dmytro Firtash, who has been stuck in Vienna, fighting a U.S. extradition order on bribery charges since 2014. Firtash gave information to Rudolph Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer and a key player in his efforts to dig up dirt on his political enemies in Ukraine, Time magazine reported.

Meanwhile, Derkach, is close to former Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, who also supplied Giuliani with information about Biden. Lutsenko, whom Ukrainian law enforcement is now investigating for abuse of power, has recently moved to London, supposedly to study English.



https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/3-ukrainian-lawmakers-doing-trumps-dirty-work-in-scandal.html

October 18, 2019

Trump betrayals (Kyiv Post - Ukraine)

https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/editorial/trump-betrayals.html

<snip>
U.?S. President Donald J. Trump’s abandonment of Kurdish allies in northern Syria is another wake-up call for Ukraine. Not that Ukraine needs any more reminders. Trump made it clear in numerous ways that he does not stand up to dictators, human rights abusers and bullies.

He said directly to President Volodymyr Zelensky, in their September press conference during the United Nations General Assembly, that the Ukrainian leader should meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and “sort out their problems.” It’s like sending the victim back to the abuser.
Trump’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky, now the subject of an impeachment inquiry, also showed that the American president doesn’t care about Ukraine’s security, but only what he can get from other foreign leaders to benefit him politically or financially.

After the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. forces, many Kurds felt they were left with a terrible choice, reminiscent of Ukrainians who had to choose between Hitler or Stalin: Get slaughtered by Turkey, which considers many of them terrorists, or make a deal with the war criminal Bashar al-Assad. They chose the Syrian dictator.

Ukraine is in a different and better position. It has its own nation, unlike the Kurds, and plenty of people willing to fight for it. It needs a lot more help from the West to prevail in this war. But Trump and the European Union have shown that Ukraine shouldn’t expect much from them. Ukraine is going to have to win this war mostly on its own, until voters in Western nations start electing politicians with greater courage and stronger moral principles to fight for a global expansion of democracy.

October 18, 2019

Russia-Ukraine gas disputes

<snip>
The Russia–Ukraine gas disputes refer to a number of disputes between Ukrainian oil and gas company Naftohaz Ukrayiny and Russian gas supplier Gazprom over natural gas supplies, prices, and debts. These disputes have grown beyond simple business disputes into transnational political issues—involving political leaders from several countries—that threaten natural gas supplies in numerous European countries dependent on natural gas imports from Russian suppliers, which are transported through Ukraine. Russia provides approximately a quarter of the natural gas consumed in the European Union; approximately 80% of those exports travel through pipelines across Ukrainian soil prior to arriving in the EU.[1]

A serious dispute began in March 2005 over the price of natural gas supplied and the cost of transit. During this conflict, Russia claimed Ukraine was not paying for gas, but diverting that which was intended to be exported to the EU from the pipelines. Ukrainian officials at first denied the accusation,[2][3] but later Naftogaz admitted that natural gas intended for other European countries was retained and used for domestic needs. The dispute reached a high point on 1 January 2006, when Russia cut off all gas supplies passing through Ukrainian territory.[4] On 4 January 2006, a preliminary agreement between Russia and Ukraine was achieved, and the supply was restored. The situation calmed until October 2007 when new disputes began over Ukrainian gas debts. This led to reduction of gas supplies in March 2008. During the last months of 2008, relations once again became tense when Ukraine and Russia could not agree on the debts owed by Ukraine.[

<snip>
On 8 June 2010, a Stockholm court of arbitration ruled Naftohaz of Ukraine must return 12.1 billion cubic metres (430 billion cubic feet) of gas to RosUkrEnergo, a Swiss-based company in which Gazprom controls a 50% stake. Russia accused Ukrainian side of diverting gas from pipelines passing through Ukraine in 2009.[12][13] Several high-ranking Ukrainian officials stated the return "would not be quick".[14]

Russia plans to completely abandon gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine after 2018.[15][16] Gazprom has already substantially reduced the volumes of gas it transits across Ukraine, and expressed its intention of reducing the level further by means of transit diversification pipelines (Nord Stream, Turkish Stream, etc)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Ukraine_gas_disputes

October 18, 2019

Trump's base is his buffer to keep from being convicted in the Senate.

Trump has had three rallies this week alone.

The purpose is to consolidate his base and to keep the Senate from convicting him in an impeachment trial.

The base is his insurance policy.

So long as he can put the fear of God in Republicans running for re-election, then he is fairly sure he will never be convicted by the Republican toadies in the US Senate.

October 18, 2019

Congressman says "Democrats are ready to vote"...

Rep. Ro Khanna of California on CNN this morning said that Democrats were ready to vote on impeachment.

Is he being a little premature?

After Mulvaney's presser yesterday, the Democrats feel they have all the evidence they need to impeach Donald J Trump.

But they still don't know why Giuliani was working in secret in Ukraine? Was it really to find dirt on the Bidens and to find the DNC server? Was it really to uncover corruption?

In my opinion, it would be a mistake to believe that.

Why was Giuliani meeting with Paul Manafort before his trips to Ukraine? He met with him "several times", according to reports.

Why did he choose the two "associates" from Ukraine to work with him? Where did they get their money? Who paid Giuliani the $500,000? Why were only a few State Dept officials directed to report to Giuliani? Why did the two Giuliani "associates" have one-way tickets to Vienna? Why did Giuliani have a ticket to Vienna? There are still a lot of questions that need answers.

There is little doubt but that Rudolph Giuliani has a large role in this conspiracy.

But, if the Democrats impeach now, does the investigation more or less end? There is still a lot to uncover.

If the Democrats are patient, it might make a nice Christmas present?