Dems kick things in high gear:
House committee unveils impeachment resolution text
By Jeremy Herb, CNN
Updated 5:23 PM ET, Tue October 29, 2019
(CNN)A key House committee on Tuesday set the stage for the next phase of impeachment by
releasing the rules that will guide Democrats through impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
The House Rules Committee released the text of the resolution Tuesday that the House will vote on later this week to formalize the impeachment proceedings. The full House is expected to vote on the resolution on Thursday.
The resolution provides the procedural details for how the House will move its impeachment inquiry into its next phase, and it also represents the first time that the full chamber will take a vote related to impeaching the President. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has argued that the vote is not being taken to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry, as Republicans have demanded, but will help "to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives."
Republicans and the White House have criticized the resolution as a measure that's coming too late following weeks of closed-door depositions. But it's also a sign that public hearings are on the way, where Republicans will have to debate Democrats more on the substance of Trump's actions on Ukraine rather than the process of the impeachment inquiry.
The text of the resolution lays out how the House Intelligence Committee will conduct public hearings and how the House Judiciary Committee "shall report to the House of Representatives such resolutions, articles of impeachment, or other recommendations as it deems proper."
LIVE UPDATES: The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry
For the public hearings, the resolution includes language allowing the chairman and ranking member -- in this case, the top-ranking Republican -- of the Intelligence Committee to question witnesses for up to 90 minutes, split 45 minutes between each party. It also allows them to give that time to committee aides to conduct questioning. A Democratic summary of the resolution says that the set-up "permits staff counsels to follow their lines of inquiry to their ends," rather than the back-and-forth five-minute rounds that lawmakers typically have in hearings.
"The House impeachment inquiry has collected extensive evidence and testimony, and soon the American people will hear from witnesses in an open setting. The resolution introduced today in the House Rules Committee will provide that pathway forward," four Democratic committee chairs — Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of California, Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York, Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel of New York and acting Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney of New York — said in a statement.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/29/politics/impeachment-resolution-released-rules-committee/index.html
House Republicans are blowing Trump's impeachment defense
by Gabriel Malor | October 29, 2019
House Republicans are losing their only opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way to President Trump's Senate defense against articles of impeachment. While Democrats spent two weeks busily gathering evidence behind closed doors, with two more weeks of depositions already on the schedule, Republicans complained about the process — and complained and complained and complained.
Now some Republicans are saying that the complaints must have worked since the Democrats have announced that
later this week they will formalize the rules for public hearings to be instituted in the coming month. House Republicans have fundamentally misunderstood this moment and neglected their role in helping prepare the president's defense.
It started with the whistleblower. Because they could not deny the whistleblower's general claim, thanks to Trump's decision to release the memorandum of his call with the Ukrainian president, House Republicans complained instead about the process: It's unfair that the president can't confront his accuser and, anyway, the whistleblower did not have first-hand information. But that process objection only had force until the Democrats subpoenaed contemporaneous evidence (text messages and other documents) that corroborated the whistleblower's claims.
The House Republican response? More complaints about process. The subpoenas weren't valid, they argued, even as witnesses began to voluntarily comply, turning over reams of evidence. The Democrat's information-gathering then continued in the form of depositions of people who could also corroborate the whistleblower's claims and bring some concerning claims of their own. The Republican response? Game-playing about exposing the whistleblower and asking a witness about an unfounded conspiracy theory (spread in part by the president, naturally) that Ukraine faked the Steele Dossier.
The most forceful process complaint that Republicans have managed to muster: The depositions are being held in secret. Setting aside the fact that depositions are always held close so as to prevent one witness from contaminating the testimony of other potential witnesses, this complaint has now also run its course. As noted above, the Democrats are going to start public hearings within a matter of weeks — after they complete their fact-finding depositions.
The Democrats are engaged in a specific, obvious mission with two goals in mind:
- Impeach the president in the House.
- Convince 20 Republican senators to join them in removing him from office.
Despite this patently obvious mission, House Republicans have dismissed impeachment proceedings as partisan and unfair and, therefore, unworthy of being treated seriously. As a result, they have neglected their only role to play in uncovering evidence to foil the second Democratic goal, the trial in the Senate.
washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/house-republicans-are-blowing-trumps-impeachment-defense
Related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8XUs2y_o54
Trump draws boos when introduced to crowd at World Series
Associated Press
October 28, 2019
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's low-profile appearance Sunday night at Game 5 of the World Series came at a high-profile moment of his presidency. Yet he still drew loud boos and jeers when introduced to the crowd.
At the end of the third inning, ballpark video screens carried a salute to U.S. service members that drew cheers throughout the stadium. When the video cut to Trump and his entourage and the loudspeakers announced the Trumps, cheers abruptly turned into a torrent of boos and heckling. Chants of "Lock him up!" broke out in some sections.
Trump appeared unfazed and continued waving. Later, some fans behind home plate held a sign reading "VETERANS FOR IMPEACHMENT". Another banner appeared during the game: "IMPEACH TRUMP!"
The president was on hand for seven innings before heading back to the White House. The Astros took a 3-2 series lead with a 7-1 victory in Game 5.
news.yahoo.com/trump-series-visit-comes-high-223943092.html
