Impeachment

Impeachment Is a Christmas Gift for Trump

Christmas arrived a week early for President Donald Trump this year when the House of Representatives voted along party lines to impeach him on twin charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.

Trump has yet to fully accept this gift. He made some it-doesn’t-bother me gestures at his Wednesday night rally in Battle Creek, Mich., but you could tell his heart wasn’t in it. He has reportedly been stewing in his own glandular juices about being impeached for months, calling it “a bad thing to have on your resume.” But give him time. By the weekend, Trump will surely be happier than Ralphie in A Christmas Story after he got the official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range-model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time. Wrapped in fragrant garland and delivered over television during prime time, the articles of impeachment will be repurposed by Trump in the coming weeks as weapons in his battle for a second White House term.

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Impeachment was the absolutely worst thing the Democrats could throw at Trump—and having thrown it, they have nothing left in their quiver to threaten him with. The articles of impeachment lifted the spirits of center-left Twitter, but the articles are destined to disappear into the mist when and if they arrive at the Senate. It will be almost as egregious as if Trump got indicted for shooting somebody in the head on Fifth Avenue and the judge decided to dismiss the charges.

Impeachment

Responding to Lt. Col. Vindman about my Ukraine columns … with the facts

I honor and applaud Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s service to his country. He’s a hero. I also respect his decision to testify at the impeachment proceedings. I suspect neither his service nor his testimony was easy.

But I also know the liberties that Lt. Col. Vindman fought on the battlefield to preserve permit for a free and honest debate in America, one that can’t be muted by the color of uniform or the crushing power of the state.

So I want to exercise my right to debate Lt. Col. Vindman about the testimony he gave about me. You see, under oath to Congress, he asserted all the factual elements in my columns at The Hill about Ukraine were false, except maybe my grammar

Here are his exact words:

“I think all the key elements were false,” Vindman testified.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y, pressed him about what he meant. “Just so I understand what you mean when you say key elements, are you referring to everything John Solomon stated or just some of it?”

Impeachment

Bannon returns from exile to wage impeachment battle for Trump

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon has returned from exile to defend President Trump, believing the presidency is imperiled and that Trump is in urgent need of a more robust defense against the House impeachment inquiry.

Bannon spent the past two years on a journey to spark populist movements at hotspots around the world after he was banished from Trump’s inner circle and cut off from Breitbart News, where he was executive chairman, for trash-talking members of the president’s family to author Michael Wolff in the book “Fire and Fury.”

Now the impeachment fight has called him back to Washington.

Bannon is underwriting a new media venture from the basement of his Capitol Hill home, known affectionately among allies as “the Breitbart Embassy,” where he’ll broadcast live, seven days a week, from now until the Senate votes on impeachment.

Impeachment

South Korea Impeachment of President Park Is Latest Hit to Global Political Order

The impeachment of South Korea’s president heralds the prospect of a new government for one of the U.S.’s closest allies with a more skeptical stance toward Washington, free trade and big business.

A resounding decision by South Korea’s National Assembly to impeach President Park Geun-hye, by a 234-56 vote, is a fresh earthquake to hit the global political order following populist referendum victories in the U.K. and Italy, and Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president.

Ms. Park’s immediate removal from power on Friday marks a turning point after South Korea’s biggest political crisis in years brought millions of demonstrators onto the streets in protest against her. Demonstrators massed outside the National Assembly building as the vote took place on Friday and celebrated its passage.

Impeachment

Russia Blames 'Foreign Interference' for Brazil Coup

The Russian Foreign Ministry spoke out Wednesday against the efforts to oust Rousseff, pinning the move on "foreign interference."

Russia and Brazil have an important relationship and are members of the influential BRICS group."For Russia, Brazil is an important foreign partner in Latin America and the world," added Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

A 2015 document, reported in various Russian news agencies, addressed the possibility of U.S. intelligence agency involvement in the parliamentary coup against President Dilma Rousseff. "It is quite possible that the CIA is involved in the plan to stage riots in Brazil nationwide,” the Russian news outlets said in a 2015 report.

Impeachment

Hybrid War Hyenas Tear Brazil Apart

...The coup has been sponsored by a certified crook, president of the lower house Eduardo Cunha; holder of 11 illegal accounts in Switzerland, listed in the Panama Papers and under investigation by the Supreme Court. Instead of lording over near-illiterate hyenas in a racist, largely crypto-fascist circus, he should be behind bars. It beggars belief that the Supreme Court has not turbo-charged legal action against Cunha. The secret of his power over the circus is a gigantic corruption scheme lasting many years featuring companies/corporations contributing to his and others’ campaign financing.

Impeachment

Brazil's lower house weighs impeachment for Rousseff

Brazilian lawmakers shouted, scuffled and even sang as they debated whether to impeach the country's President Sunday.
And so far, the results don't seem to be falling in President Dilma Rousseff's favor.
After more than two hours of voting, at least 191 lawmakers in Brazil's lower house had voted in favor of impeachment, while 48 had voted against it.
For the measure to pass, at least 342 of 513 lawmakers must approve it.
The impeachment motion would next go to the country's Senate. If a majority approves it there, Rousseff will have to step down for 180 days to defend herself in an impeachment trial.
If the motion is approved, Rousseff could be suspended as early as May. That would be about three months before the Summer Olympics kick off in Rio de Janeiro, an event that was supposed to showcase Brazil as a rising power on the global stage.