House Democrats Conclude in Impeachment Report Trump Abused His Power
Desperation is not a good look on anyone.
The Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released its impeachment report after a few weeks of hearings. It comes a day before more hearings will take place in the House Judiciary Committee.
Chairman Adam Schiff attempted to make the case against President Donald Trump, insisting the hearings uncovered evidence to impeach him over alleged threats to withhold aid to Ukraine.
The Republicans published their own report on Monday, which stated Trump did nothing wrong.
Schiff’s Report
According to Schiff, the committee’s investigation “uncovered a months-long effort by President Trump to use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election.”
Schiff maintained that Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky included a threat to withhold aid if the Ukrainian government did not investigate 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Vice President Joe Biden:
As described in this executive summary and the report that follows, President Trump’s scheme subverted U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine and undermined our national security in favor of two politically motivated investigations that would help his presidential reelection campaign. The President demanded that the newly-elected Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, publicly announce investigations into a political rival that he apparently feared the most, former Vice President Joe Biden, and into a discredited theory that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 presidential election. To compel the Ukrainian President to do his political bidding, President Trump conditioned two official acts on the public announcement of the investigations: a coveted White House visit and critical U.S. military assistance Ukraine needed to fight its Russian adversary.
Schiff wrote:
At the center of this investigation is the memorandum prepared following President Trump’s July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukraine’s President, which the White House declassified and released under significant public pressure. The call record alone is stark evidence of misconduct; a demonstration of the President’s prioritization of his personal political benefit over the national interest. In response to President Zelensky’s appreciation for vital U.S. military assistance, which President Trump froze without explanation, President Trump asked for “a favor though”: two specific investigations designed to assist his reelection efforts.
Our investigation determined that this telephone call was neither the start nor the end of President Trump’s efforts to bend U.S. foreign policy for his personal gain. Rather, it was a dramatic crescendo within a months-long campaign driven by President Trump in which senior U.S. officials, including the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Acting Chief of Staff, the Secretary of Energy, and others were either knowledgeable of or active participants in an effort to extract from a foreign nation the personal political benefits sought by the President.
The investigation revealed the nature and extent of the President’s misconduct, notwithstanding an unprecedented campaign of obstruction by the President and his Administration to prevent the Committees from obtaining documentary evidence and testimony. A dozen witnesses followed President Trump’s orders, defying voluntary requests and lawful subpoenas, and refusing to testify. The White House, Department of State, Department of Defense, Office of Management and Budget, and Department of Energy refused to produce a single document in response to our subpoenas.
However, the transcript of the phone call does not show any threats. Zelensky has said many times Trump and his administration never applied any pressure to him or his government.
20191203 – Full Report Hpsc… by Washington Examiner on Scribd
Republicans Response
The Schiff report is a novella built on conjecture and presumption.
It offers no startling revelations, and nothing that fulfills Speaker Pelosi’s promise of a bipartisan impeachment process.
The facts before the American people are clear: Donald Trump is innocent.
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) December 3, 2019
Reminder —> Adam Schiff, Chairman of the Impeachment Committee, did not allow Republicans to submit evidence, call witnesses, or issue subpoenas before passing this impeachment sham on to the Judiciary Committee.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) December 3, 2019
Reminder —> Adam Schiff, Chairman of the Impeachment Committee, did not allow Republicans to submit evidence, call witnesses, or issue subpoenas before passing this impeachment sham on to the Judiciary Committee.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) December 3, 2019
Schiff’s impeachment parody should start with “Once upon a time…”. He’s so desperate to connect dots that aren’t actually connected, often relying on many hand hearsay, guesses, assumptions & outright lies. It’s the worst kind of bad faith story time I’ve ever seen in Congress.
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) December 3, 2019
Schiff’s sham #impeachment. When will this circus end? https://t.co/vHS6G8sMFf
— Oversight Committee Republicans (@GOPoversight) December 3, 2019
Republican Report
The Republicans on the committee wrote in their own report that the Democrats’ case comes up short to impeach Trump.
The minority wrote the Democrats have not proven their case as witnesses have not brought forth any “evidence of bribery, extortion, or any high crime or misdemeanor.”
They also warned that the “impeachment inquiry and the manner in which the Democrats are pursuing it sets a dangerous precedent” especially since the evidence is based mostly on hearsay.
Yet the Republicans also defended Trump’s supposed threat:
Republicans made the case that Trump had every reason to question Ukraine’s ability to end pervasive government corruption before handing over $391 million in security aid.
“Understood in this proper context, the President’s initial hesitation to meet with President Zelensky or to provide U.S. taxpayer-funded security assistance to Ukraine without thoughtful review is entirely prudent,” Republicans wrote Monday.
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Comments
In Schiff and Mueller’s America, the police state governed by the FBI and DOJ, stating you are innocent is obstruction of justice. This insane turn of events is created by corrupt IGs, Obama judges (yes they are real) and a SCOTUS too timid to act so the Bill of Rights withers away as it dawdles.
Since President Trump wasn’t suppose to win in 2016, he was always going to be guilty of “abuse of power”…he wasn’t suppose to have any power in the first place (according to the elites).
I laugh at Schiff’s novel, and look forward to responding by voting Trump for 4 more years of power next November.
Schiff’s blouse-ripper novella. PDF/Kindle/ePub versions here:
https://archive.org/details/fullreportimpeachmentinquiry
The download links will be active after 6pm PST.
I’m beginning to believe that Trump Derangement Syndrome is incurable and lasts forever. Sort of like alzheimer’s, but without the occasional lucidity.
My shocked face is somewhere around here…Maybe I left it in the Truck…
If Trump abused his power, then every President and Vice President in the last 50 years is guilty of the same.
How did Schiff get the phone records of Giuliani, Sekulow, Nunes, etc.???
Friends in the spy agencies.
ATT, according to other sources.
Sounds like Schiff Face abused his power. But there is nothing new with that, is there. What a vile, disgusting waste of humanity Schiff is.
“President Trump’s scheme subverted U.S. foreign policy”
Well this is impossible, since the Presidents sets foreign policy.
With the advice and consent of The House, as I recall.
The Executive branch and the President are preeminent in the area of foreign and defense policymaking, one way that Congress can exert influence is through the Senate’s advice and consent role on treaties and presidential appointments to key foreign policy and defense positions in the executive branch. The “treaty” in question here would be the one signed by Bill Clinton and ratified by Congress in 1998, wherein the US and the Ukraine agreed to investigate corruption in their respective governments.
Your recall is wrong.
Thought the sarcasm was pretty obvious.
If it had been pretty obvious I wouldn’t have made a comment.
On the other hand, a consolation prize: I was not among those who downvoted you.
Carry on!
Perhaps a little too deadpan for the interwebs.
That was exactly my reaction. Charitably, perhaps they meant that he had changed US foreign policy for his own benefit rather than that of the nation. That is, basically, what they’re charging him with. And it’s possible that they’re right, but the only way they could know it would be by telepathy. Which doesn’t exist. Guessing at his motives, and accusing him of dishonorable ones, is fine for political rhetoric, but not as an excuse for impeachment.
Odd? I thought the Constitution gave the President the sole authority to exert foreign policy? How could he “subvert” his own policies? If withholding aid from a foreign country was illegal then every POTUS in US history would have been impeached.
I am shocked that Schiff was able to acquire from ATT phone records for Republican congressmen, Trump’s attorneys etc. Something seems very fishy about this. But I will leave commentary on that to lawyers more acquainted with Congressional investigation. I do note that I remember that the Bill of Rights is specifically aimed at Congress as well as the Executive branch, and Federal law recognizes all common law privileges as well as Constitutional privileges.
Irony is Schiff claiming Trump abused his powers for political advantage, while using his own powers to smear Nunes in the report.
Manu Raju (SP?) sounded almost giddy while extensively reporting the findings of the Socialist-Democrats on the radio news. The local station had to add that the Republicans had filed an rebuttal yesterday (no further comment or content reported).
That should be Manu Raju (D).
Tar and feathers used to cure BS like this.
“Abuse of power”? That’s rich. What is this whole impeachment circus if not an abuse of power?
Leftists always project.
Another example of “truth before facts”, “fake but accurate”.
We are witnessing justice as envisioned by the Democrat Party. These Stalinistas are reveling in their true colors.
How much do you want to bet Schiff and his dem conspirators had written this report months ago?
Just like Comey and his FBI conspirators were already working on the draft report exonerating Hillary! months before he heard most of the testimony and claimed to have made his final decision.
They had already found him guilty years ago. Now all the needed was the sham hearing as a cover for their already made up minds.
“Trump abused his power”
Translation: Trump isn’t letting the Democrats run the show.
This Schiffy report is based on his long ago opening statement that he said was theater. The opening statement that was right off the top of his head.
Schiff’s report is intended as a suppository for the 2016 POTUS voters and a warning for the 2020 POTUS voters. This sure looks like a failing coup and a desperate attack on the voters. This makes me want Trump winning with 70% in 2020.
I’m holding out for 80%.
The verdict is innocent. The sentence is death.