The testimony of a key witness in Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial is under new scrutiny by the House Intelligence Committee following a report this week that undercuts the veracity of his claim that he was unaware of a Trump effort to pressure Ukraine into mounting a meritless investigation of Joe Biden.
On Monday, CNN reported new details of a July 2019 call between Rudy Giuliani, then–US special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, and Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During that call, Giuliani, then Trump’s personal lawyer, aggressively pressed Ukraine to announce investigations into dubious accusations about Biden and about alleged Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election. Portions of this conversation have previously been reported by BuzzFeed News and Time, but CNN published the full audio of the 40-minute call. The recording of the conversation contradicts Volker’s sworn testimony to Congress that he never witnessed any attempt on the part of Trump and Giuliani to muscle Ukraine into launching an investigation of Biden, Trump’s possible opponent in the upcoming presidential election.
Yes, I defend Trump. Guilty as charged. So do millions of others. Over 70 million voted for him the last time I checked. — NOS4A2
But instead associating me with them you associate me with the one or two fascists you can think of. — NOS4A2
You engage in the same species of thinking put to use by the very fascists and racists you pretend to oppose. — NOS4A2
So while I may be guilty by some tenuous association, you’re guilty of using the same fallacies, the same hatred, and the same behavior. — NOS4A2
And that is itself a fallacy: ad vericundium (?). Populum, sorry. — James Riley
Yes. — Xtrix
Trump Jr. — Benkei
Trump Jr. — Benkei
And that is itself a fallacy: ad vericundium (?). Populum, sorry.
Not true: I associate you with Republicans, not one or two fascists or racists. As pointed out, Republicans (especially including any of those 70 million) had their chance to divorce but made their bed. They are now Trumpsters. Sorry, that's on them. If they want to turn their backs on him, denounce him, endeavor to return to the community of man, they can. You can too. But you'll have to leave the Republican Party to do it.
Again, using the same hatred and the same behavior does not allow you to paint me as you or them, nor do I paint myself as such. It's the thinking which is palpably different. My thinking is right, and your thinking is wrong. The simple fact that we both think does not make us alike. There is no fallacy when you are what you are. You defend Trump who is the Republican Party. I'd beseech you to leave, to come home, but I know how you feel about the community of man. You want the best of both worlds. Understandable, but so is ostracization or, less than that, remonstration.
On that point, what are they going to do when Trump goes? Matt Gaetz? Ivanka? Who is the heir apparent? LOL! — James Riley
I evoked the 70million+ to show that your generalizations were on the hasty side, not to say that I was right. — NOS4A2
But I wager none of this absolves me from any sweeping generalizations. — NOS4A2
Sure it does. Your rhetoric is one of groupthink, in-group/out-group stuff, "othering" and all that piffle. If this is how your "community of man" operates I want no part of it in any case. — NOS4A2
Never underestimate how quickly people can forget the old if something new and more interesting comes up. Trump can very quickly look as old as he is.But the bottom line is: there is no heir to Trump. He's the party now. Whether that's enough to win? Who knows. Like always, it comes down to whether the majority of Americans who are against Republican policies and dislike Trump come out and vote or not. — Xtrix
In truth the GOP is leaderless. — ssu
WASHINGTON — As the Justice Department investigated who was behind leaks of classified information early in the Trump administration, it took a highly unusual step: Prosecutors subpoenaed Apple for data from the accounts of at least two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, aides and family members. One was a minor.
All told, the records of at least a dozen people tied to the committee were seized in 2017 and early 2018, including those of Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, then the panel’s top Democrat and now its chairman, according to committee officials and two other people briefed on the inquiry. Representative Eric Swalwell of California said in an interview Thursday night that he had also been notified that his data had been subpoenaed....
While Justice Department leak investigations are routine, current and former congressional officials familiar with the inquiry said they could not recall an instance in which the records of lawmakers had been seized as part of one.
Moreover, just as it did in investigating news organizations, the Justice Department secured a gag order on Apple that expired this year, according to a person familiar with the inquiry, so lawmakers did not know they were being investigated until Apple informed them last month. — NY Times
That other pay homage to you or want to be in good terms with you isn't leadership.He's still as much a "leader" as he ever was, in that they still pay homage to him. But he's been a figurehead all along. So where's the leadership? In the same place they've always been. It's Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, and other establishment neoliberals. They always knew Trump was a buffoon, but they're afraid because he's still popular with his base. — Xtrix
Out of 44 presidents reviewed for the survey by 142 historians and professional observers of the presidency, Trump landed at 41 — the lowest ranking of any president in the past 150 years. The only presidents who ranked lower than Trump were Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan.
William Henry Harrison, who died only 32 days into his presidency and had the shortest tenure of any commander-in-chief, ranked just above Trump.
I still hope Trump wins the nomination because he will almost definitely lose the election, and also because he is honestly expressing the views of a large proportion of Republican voters. So, it will be a straightforward rejection of those rather than have them sneak through in the more subtle guise of some empty suit like Marco Rubio. — Baden
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/30/trump-organization-and-its-cfo-indicted-by-manhattan-grand-jury-report-says.htmlIn NYC the Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, Jr's office is about to criminally indict the Trump Organization itself and maybe employees as soon as this evening or tomorrow afternoon for tax fraud, etc. — 180Proof
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