Posted on 01/30/2020 7:43:33 PM PST by karpov
The Senate will acquit President Trump on both House articles of impeachment. That much even Adam Schiff knows. The Senate trial is now all about the election and impeachment precedents, which are two of many good reasons for cleaning up the trial distortions and wrapping up the show this week.
Start with the media claim that defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz said a President can do anything to further his re-election as long he thinks it is in the national interest. This isn’t what he said. The Harvard professor said explicitly that a President can be impeached for criminal acts. He could be impeached for soliciting a financial bribe, for example, or seeking a campaign contribution from a foreign source. He could also be impeached for exceeding his constitutional authority.
Mr. Dershowitz differs from the press in believing that a President cannot be impeached for acts of foreign policy that may be in his personal political interest but aren’t themselves impeachable acts. Presidents conduct foreign policy in what they think is the national interest, but they also hope it will be in their political interest. Presidents typically act from “mixed motives,” as Mr. Dershowitz put it, that are difficult to discern or to separate the high-minded from the self-interested.
It is thus too low a constitutional bar for the House to claim, as it does, that Mr. Trump can be impeached because Democrats think his motives were corrupt. The acts themselves must qualify as “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Mr. Trump’s acts don’t qualify—because asking aid recipients to investigate corruption isn’t illegal, and in any case the aid to Ukraine was delivered on time and no investigation of Joe Biden was started.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
According to Chad Pergram - 50/50 will FAIL - it will not go to Chief Justice to break tie as in normal Senate things. So even if Mittens rino’s out it will fall and acquittal by evening.
I KNOW!! Twitter haters are going insane!!
I love it!
Tie breaker eh? Oh Vice President Pence pick up the white courtesy phone!
You didn’t think that when she saved Kavanaughs butt.
Blind squirrel nut etc
VP is not presiding officer during impeachment - Chief Justice is serving in that role.
Never mind.....Pence cannot oversee an impeachment trial as it is a conflict of interest.
yeah...my mistake
But 3 senators running for president can, go figure.
-PJ
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President Trump is, by nature, a deal maker.
The Democrats are trying to turn Trump's positive into a negative by claiming that Trump's "deals" are impeachable "quid pro quo" schemes for personal benefit in the election.
Trump's defense team is saying that all politicians, at heart, feel they are the most qualified and therefore electing them over their opponents is in the national interest. Trump's skill at deal-making is what makes him better than his opponents, his deal-making is in the national interest, and his success at deal-making in the national interest benefits his reelection.
The Democrats' argument is absurd if it is applied to the economy. Most people say that a President benefits from a good economy and that voters will reward the incumbent if the economy is good no matter how much or how little the President's policies contributed to improving the economy.
Is it Schiff's contention that policies to improve the economy, and by extension improve the President's chances of reelection, are now by definition impeachable offenses because the President had *some* personal reelection motives behind his policies?
-PJ
You would think that any senator running for President against Trump is also unable to take part in impeaching their competition due to conflict of interests, but apparently not.
Yes, it would be a real conflict for V P Pence. If President Trump is removed, then Pence becomes President.
If anyone should have been impeached on soliciting foreign funds for his campaign it should have been Clinton, who allowed high tech missle technology to be sold to Red China in return for cash. At one point he was getting thousands of cold cash from Buddist nuns sworn to poverty
Its over. There will be no witnesses. It should be wrapped up by tomorrow night.
Th vote on witnesses will happen Friday.
Rules are that if a 50-50 tie, the GOP Senate wins.
“Why is no one talking about this???”
Because the Senate has not the power to remove anyone from the ballot for President, other than by convicting the person of at least one of the Articles Of Impeachment.
It’s all or nothing.
I wonder if any House Dems will resign or not seek reelection out of shame? Doubtful, but holding out hope that a few will.
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