Since his impeachment, new information and possible new crimes, have come to light.
Two articles of impeachment were just not enough to contain our president. According to new reports in both Politico and justsecurity, he appears to have personally blocked Congressional-approved funding for Ukraine and then miraculously released it the day after Rep. Adam Schiff demanded to see the whistle-blower complaint. Until then, he and his administration ignored the Pentagon’s warnings of violating the Impoundment Control Act, causing $35.2 million of Ukraine’s funding to lapse and needing new congressional legislation to restore it. His actions could be a violation of a 1974 law created after President Richard Nixon refused to release funds approved by Congress…and a brand new article for his impeachment. (A timeline of this multi-player, slow-walking shakedown of a foreign country, including Trump’s long chat with Putin (May 3, 2019) here.) (20 emails on Ukraine aid still being withheld)
Action: It’s time to thank Nancy Pelosi and ask her to hold on.
- There is no time limit for the transmittal of the House’s bill of impeachment to the Senate for trial. The Constitution merely provides that the Senate controls the procedures for trial, no matter what nonsense the GOP puts out.
- There are no rules against voting for impeachment and then seeking additional evidence.
- Funhouse of corruption: There is no precedence of a Senate majority leader and other potential jurors openly colluding with the subject of an impeachment trial and his legal team.
- New evidence has surfaced regarding Trump’s decision to withhold appropriated military assistance to Ukraine, which could add criminal charges like the solicitation of bribes, violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the president’s misuse of congressionally appropriated and authorized foreign military assistance for personal or political gain (see Just Security’s blowout report here).
- Unglued: The Senate GOP is desperate to get their kangaroo court over before Trump gives his State of the Union speech on February 4th, desperate enough to propose changing impeachment rules or dismissing it all together. Sen. Graham specifically mentions voting by the end of January. What they don’t want is an angry, unhinged and still-impeached President melting down on national TV.
- What? Is the GOP running out of extremist judges to ram through?: The articles of impeachment were voted on…but then we just got a lot more information. There were 5 weeks between the House vote impeaching President Bill Clinton and the Senate trial and that was without new material. Get back to forcing through judges who will harm your constituents for generations and let the House do their work.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Rep./Sen. [___] for supporting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to hold back the articles of impeachment from the corrupted Senate. Three requests:
- Please thank Speaker Pelosi for standing her ground. (We can email her here directly too!)
- Don’t let the Senate have the articles until after his State of the Union address on Feb. 4th AND until a clear process, including witness statements, has been agreed on.
- Use the House’s power of inherent contempt to compel the testimony under oath, if necessary, of the following witnesses on the new information before releasing articles to the Senate:
- Robert Blair, Senior Advisor to the Acting WH Chief of Staff
- John Bolton, former national security adviser. “If ever there were a valid basis for Congress to punish contempt by imprisonment, it’s a private citizen’s refusal to give evidence that is crucial to presidential impeachment proceedings.”
- Michael Duffy, associate director of National Security Programs at OMB
- Mick Mulvaney, acting chief of staff
- Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State
- Rudy Giuliani, president’s personal attorney
- Lev Parnas, to help Rep. Devon Nunez’s memory.
- Elaine McCusker, acting Pentagon comptroller
Contact
Rep. Julia Brownley: email, (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
or Rep. Salud Carbajal: email. (CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
Senator Feinstein: email, DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
and Senator Harris: email, DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884
Who is my representative/senator?: https://whoismyrepresentative.com
Reading
- Exclusive: Unredacted Ukarine Documents Reveal extent of Pentagon’s Legal Concerns (justsecurity)
- Federal Criminal offenses and the impeachment of Donald J. Trump (justsecurity)
- Exclusive: White House ignored Pentagon Warning on Ukraine Funding (justsecurity)
- Timeline: Trump, Giuliani, Biden, and Ukrainegate (updated) (justsecurity)
- Did Trump’s freeze on Ukraine aid violate the Impoundment Control Act. (Politifact)
- Trump holds up Ukraine military aid meant to confront Russia (Politico)
- Full Document” Trump’s Call with the Ukrainian President (July 25, 2019) (NYTimes)
- White House withholds 20 emails between two Trump aides on Ukraine Aid. (NYTimes)
- Donald Trump’s gift to Kleptocrats (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) (AmericanProgress)(USAToday)
- Nancy Pelosi Should Take All the Time She Needs to Submit Articles of Impeachment (Slate)
- Behind the Ukraine Aid Freeze: 84 Days of Conflict and Confusion (NYTimes)
- Explosive new documents reveal the lengths to which the Justice Dept. wet to concel the Pentagon’s concerns about Trump’s Ukraine aid freeze. (business insider)
- Damning new emails show Trump knew he was breaking the law on Ukraine (Vanity Fair)
Watching
Originally posted on Indivisible Ventura. Re-posted with permission.