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Trump Gets The Impeachment Payback He Wanted; At Least 3 Democrat Senators Considering Voting to Acquit Trump

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By Politico. President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team knew they were likely to win — and they proceeded accordingly.

With a virtually negligible threat of conviction and removal by a Republican-controlled Senate, Trump’s legal team spent just a sliver of their 11-hour arguments rebutting the House’s charge that Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.

Instead, they tailored a defense that often mirrored the president’s pre-trial demands: to exact pain and revenge against his political enemies, all on the Senate floor.

What ensued was a Who’s Who of the president’s frequent Twitter targets: Obama, Comey, Mueller, Strzok, Page, Ohr — names that had little to no connection to the impeachment charges, but occupy a lot of space on Trump’s list of political enemies and whom Trump perceives as at least a part of the reason he will bear the stain of impeachment. (Read more from “Trump Gets The Impeachment Payback He Wanted” HERE)

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At Least 3 Democrat Senators Considering Voting to Acquit Trump

By Daily Wire. At least three Democrat Senators are reportedly considering acquitting President Donald Trump of the charges leveled against him in the Democrats’ partisan articles of impeachment.

“Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Doug Jones of Alabama are undecided on whether to vote to remove the president from office and agonizing over where to land,” Politico reported. “It’s a decision that could have major ramifications for each senator’s legacy and political prospects — as well shape the broader political dynamic surrounding impeachment heading into the 2020 election.”

The move would give the president a bipartisan acquittal to the Democrats’ partisan charges, something that Trump is eagerly seeking.

“All three senators remain undecided after hearing arguments from the impeachment managers and Trump’s defense team. But they could end up with a creative solution,” Politico added. “One or more senators may end up splitting their votes, borrowing a move from Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who voted for the abuse of power charge but against the one on obstruction of Congress.”

There appeared to be some confusion on Tuesday over a quote that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) gave, which the LA Times reported as meaning that she was open to acquitting the president. (Read more from “At Least 3 Democrat Senators Considering Voting to Acquit Trump” HERE)

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GOP develops aggressive ‘Plan B’ in impeachment trial, as several Dems appear to support acquittal: source

By Gregg Re. [C]ongressional Republicans are planning an aggressive “Plan B” strategy in the event some Republicans break off and demand additional witnesses in the president’s impeachment trial, Fox News has learned.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately said early Tuesday that he wasn’t sure there were enough Republican votes to block more witnesses, given that some moderates in the GOP’s 53-47 Senate majority were wavering. Any witness resolution would likely require four Republican defections in the Senate, because in the event of a 50-50 tie, Chief Justice John Roberts is highly likely to abstain rather than assert his debatable power to cast a tiebreaking vote.

Late Tuesday night, a Senate leadership source told Fox News that Republicans were specifically assessing the viability of two alternative options.

One plan is to amend any resolution calling for a particular witness to also include a package of witnesses that assuredly wouldn’t win enough support in the Senate. For example, if the Democrats seek to call former National Security Advisor John Bolton, Republicans might seek to question Hunter Biden over his lucrative board position in Ukraine, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., over his inconsistent statements concerning his panel’s contacts with the whistleblower at the center of the impeachment probe. (Read more about the efforts to acquit Trump HERE)

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Did Adam Schiff Hide ‘Potentially Exculpatory’ Evidence From Trump’s Lawyers?

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By The Blaze. According to President Donald Trump’s legal team, Democrats are concealing the testimony of a major witness the House questioned during its investigation into the Ukraine matter.

Alex Swoyer and S.A. Miller at the Washington Times reported that House Democrats are refusing to disclose the testimony of Michael Atkinson, the intelligence agency inspector general with firsthand knowledge of the origins of the whistleblower complaint that resulted in Trump’s impeachment. . .

At least one Republican who was present during Atkinson’s testimony says the reason why Democrats are not sharing the information is because it does not advance House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s impeachment case against the president.

“The reason it hasn’t been released is it’s not helpful to Adam Schiff. It is not helpful to the whistleblower,” Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) said. “It raises credibility issues about both of them.”

The Times also noted that the evidence may be “potentially exculpatory” for the president. However, members of the House Intelligence Committee who conducted the interview are not allowed to disclose the details of the discussion, as it could reveal potentially sensitive intelligence information. (Read more from “Did Adam Schiff Hide ‘Potentially Exculpatory’ Evidence From Trump’s Lawyers?” HERE)

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Schiff: ‘No Exoneration’ for Trump Without Witnesses at Senate Trial

By NBC News. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, the lead Democratic impeachment manager, warned Sunday that a Senate trial without additional witnesses won’t translate to an exoneration of President Donald Trump, who is charged with abusing his office for political gain.

Speaking two days after the House impeachment managers wrapped up their opening arguments, and the day after Trump’s legal team began their defense arguments, Schiff accused the president’s team of trying to convince senators “you don’t need a fair trial” that calls witnesses who had first-hand knowledge of the accusations against the president.

“If they are successful in depriving the country of a fair trial, there is no exoneration,” Schiff said during an exclusive interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“Americans will recognize that the country did not get what the founders intended.”

Schiff and his fellow House Democratic impeachment managers finished up their testimony on Friday before President Trump’s legal team began their defense. (Read more from “Schiff: ‘No Exoneration’ for Trump Without Witnesses at Senate Trial” HERE)

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WATCH: Students Want Trump Removed From Office but Can’t Explain Why

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On Friday, Campus Reform released a new video on YouTube in which Eduardo Neret asks students at American University about impeachment.

Neret first asks the students if they are following the ongoing impeachment trial. Almost universally, the students say that they are not. . .

One student is at least somewhat interested, telling Neret: “A little bit. I read The Washington Post’s five minute fix every morning.” . . .

The student who reads The Washington Post tells Neret that the impeachment is “honestly just, like, a show. It’s not actually – because everyone has read everything already.”

A male student wearing a University of Maryland hoodie says: “How many times can I read an article that has the heading, like, ‘He’s leaving office’? There’s like a thousand of them.” (Read more from “WATCH: Students Want Trump Removed From Office but Can’t Explain Why” HERE)

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The Big Trump Administration Mistake That Led to Impeachment

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There were literally thousands of qualified Trump-supporters eager to join his administration, yet those responsible for personnel decisions decided to retain Obama employees or hire NeverTrumps, who, collectively, either resisted or actively undermined Trump and his America First agenda.

The consequences of that neglect are now playing out in the Senate impeachment trial.

In his shocking article “Whistleblower Was Overheard in ’17 Discussing With Ally How to Remove Trump,” Paul Sperry describes a plot hatched by Obama holdovers and Democrat partisans in the White House National Security Council (NSC) to remove President Trump from office.

According to Sperry, after a staff-wide meeting called by then–national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, NSC co-workers Eric Ciaramella and Sean Misko, both Obama holdovers, were overheard talking about toppling Flynn and Trump.

Ciaramella said, “We need to take him out,” and Misko replied, “Yeah, we need to do everything we can to take out the president.”

That incident wasn’t the only time the pair exhibited open hostility toward the president. During the following months, both were accused of leaking negative information about Trump to the media.

Ciaramella has been unofficially identified as the “whistleblower” of the leaked Trump July 25, 2019 conversation with Ukraine’s president that provided the pretext for impeachment.

Sperry states that former NSC co-workers and congressional sources identified Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who held Ciaramella’s old position at the NSC, as the Democrat partisan who leaked the information to Ciaramella on July 26.

The same day, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff hired Misko to head up the investigation of Trump.

Sperry also identifies another Schiff recruit believed to be part of the clandestine political operation against Trump. It is Abby Grace, who also worked closely with Ciaramella at the NSC, both before and after Trump was elected. During the Obama administration, Grace was an assistant to Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes.

It is disturbing to say the least that such opponents of the administration remained in high positions well into Trump’s tenure.

What is far more disturbing is that no action was taken against Ciaramella and Misko when their comments at the Flynn meeting were reported, or the fact that many possessing questionable loyalty remain in the Trump administration.

For example, why is James H. Baker, an Obama appointee, still director of the Office of Net Assessment at the Pentagon?

The October 24, 2019 court filing by the defense attorneys for General Flynn alleges that Baker leaked to the press copies of the transcripts from Flynn’s December 2016 telephone calls to then–Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Baker had regularly scheduled lunches with The Washington Post’s David Ignatius, who published an article about the calls in January 2017.

Over four years, the Office of Net Assessment paid alleged FBI informant Stefan Halper, linked both to the Flynn case and the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, over $1 million for research papers of dubious value.

Trump-supporters have every right to be angry, both those who applied to serve in his administration but were ignored and those who see the agenda for which they voted sabotaged by partisan moles. (For more from the author of “The Big Trump Administration Mistake That Led to Impeachment” please click HERE)

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Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel; trained in Arabic and Kurdish; an I.T. command and control and cyber-security subject matter expert; and a veteran of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa. He receives email at [email protected] and can be followed on Twitter at @LawrenceSellin.

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GOP Rep.: Adam Schiff Communication With Ukraine Whistleblower Is the ‘Only Cover-Up’

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By Washington Examiner. Republican North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows claimed on Thursday that House impeachment manager Adam Schiff and his fellow Democrats orchestrated the “only cover-up” in the impeachment process.

Democrats have been accusing Republicans of staging a “cover-up” over the last week, and Rep. Jerry Nadler went so far as to accuse them of that on the Senate floor.

“I see a lot of senators voting for a cover-up, voting to deny witnesses, an absolutely indefensible vote, obviously a treacherous vote,” Nadler said late Wednesday night.

“The House impeachment managers are actually not only making false statements, but they’re intentionally misleading the American people,” Meadows told Fox News.

“We are going to continue to hear allegations of ‘cover-up.’ The only ‘cover-up’ that I’ve seen is actually Adam Schiff and his team’s cover-up on their coordination with the whistleblower.” (Read more from “GOP Rep.: Adam Schiff Communication With Ukraine Whistleblower Is the ‘Only Cover-Up'” HERE)

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Gregg Jarrett: Under Dems’ Trump Impeachment Justification, Lincoln Would’ve Been Impeached

By Fox News. If Rep. Adam Schiff was around in 1864, he would have orchestrated the impeachment of President Abraham Lincoln.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Schiff, D-Calif., and his confederate impeachment managers demand that President Trump be removed from office because the president did something that might advantage him politically in the upcoming election. This, they claim was an impeachable “abuse of power.” . . .

History tells us that American presidents often take actions that advantage themselves politically. Indeed, one can argue that nearly all presidential decisions have some ancillary political calculation. It is the inherent nature of politics.

I recently read historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s brilliant book “Team of Rivals.” In Chapter 24, she recounts how Republican President Lincoln utilized the powers of his office to ensure that Union soldiers in the field, who vigorously supported Lincoln’s reelection in 1864, were given the chance to cast their ballots for him. Most states permitted absentee ballots for troops. But the crucial state of Indiana did not.

So Lincoln wrote General William T. Sherman encouraging him to grant his men leave to return briefly to the northern state of Indiana. “Any thing you can safely do to let … soldiers, or any part of them, go home and vote at the State election, will be greatly in point,” wrote the president. Despite the risk that this might compromise his troop strength, Sherman consented. (Read more from “Gregg Jarrett: Under Dems’ Trump Impeachment Justification, Lincoln Would’ve Been Impeached” HERE)

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Schumer Wrote a 1999 Letter About Impeachment and It’s Not Aging Very Well

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By Townhall. . .Republicans have continually said the Democrats launched their impeachment shenanigans based off their hatred for President Trump. What’s interesting though, is the letter Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wrote to Clinton back in 1999 could easily be applied to Trump. Take out the name “Clinton” and replace it with “Trump” and the same thing could be said about the impeachment trial that’s about to take place.

[Read the unearthed letter HERE]

(Read more from “Schumer Wrote a 1999 Letter About Impeachment and It’s Not Aging Very Well” HERE)

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Schumer Criticizes Mcconnell’s Impeachment Trial Rules Proposal

By National Review. A copy of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R., Ky.) proposal for Senate impeachment trial procedures, obtained by reporters on Thursday, was criticized by Democrats who charge the proposal prevents them from bringing evidence and witnesses to trial.

The resolution contains a proposal to vote on a motion, “whether it shall be in order to consider and debate under the impeachment rules any motion to subpoena witnesses or documents.” A GOP Senate aide told CNN that the language indicated that if the Senate votes down such a motion, neither the impeachment managers nor the President’s legal team, not even Senators, would be able to bring witnesses or documents to the trial.

“We are gratified that the draft resolution protects the President’s rights to a fair trial,” commented White House legislative aide Eric Ueland. “We look forward to presenting a vigorous defense of the President on the facts and the process as quickly as possible and seeking an acquittal as swiftly as possible.” (Read more from “Schumer Criticizes Mcconnell’s Impeachment Trial Rules Proposal” HERE)

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If the Senate Wants Impeachment Witnesses, They Have to Call Hunter Biden

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With President Trump’s impeachment trial set to begin next week, the Senate faces a stark choice: it can hold a legitimate trial that aims to get to the bottom of the allegations against the president, or it can stage an empty media spectacle like House Democrats did in their sham impeachment inquiry.

The problem for Democrats is that if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opts for the former, it will mean calling not just the witnesses Democrats want, like former National Security Advisor John Bolton, but also witnesses the administration wants, like Hunter Biden and Eric Ciaramella, the anti-Trump whistleblower who first set all of this in motion.

Indeed, it’s hard to see how Senate Democrats can demand to hear only from witnesses they think will bolster their preferred narrative—like Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born associate of Rudy Giuliani who was indicted for campaign law violations, and lately has been making grand accusations about Trump in the media—but not hear from Ciaramella or Biden. At least, they can’t do so while also maintaining the fiction that this impeachment is anything but bare-knuckle partisan politics, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s somber soliloquies about the Constitution notwithstanding.

In any case, Trump’s Republican allies in the Senate might not let them. In an interview with Politico on Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul said he will force the Senate to vote on subpoenaing President Trump’s preferred witnesses—specifically, Hunter Biden and Ciaramella—if four or more of his colleagues join with Democrats in calling for new witness testimony in the impeachment trial set to begin next week. . .

Even if no GOP senators call for new witnesses, Paul’s point is valid: how on earth can the Senate conduct even the semblance of a credible, fair trial without hearing from the whistleblower, the person who started all this? Until he thought better of it, House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff insisted that it was essential to hear Ciamarella’s testimony. Senate Republicans could rightly argue that it still is. (Read more from “If the Senate Wants Impeachment Witnesses, They Have to Call Hunter Biden” HERE)

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Trump Impeachment Defense Team Expected to Include Epstein Lawyers; Nadler Says the Impeachment Is No Longer Just About the President; Dershowitz Draws Line on His Role in Trump Impeachment Defense (VIDEO)

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By NBC News. President Donald Trump’s defense team for his Senate impeachment trial will include former independent counsel Ken Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton, and famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, sources familiar with the president’s legal strategy told NBC News Friday.

Also joining the team is Robert Ray, who succeeded Starr as Clinton special counsel, and Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who joined the White House in November to help manage the messaging around impeachment, the sources said.

The addition of the high-profile names, who have regularly appeared on Fox News defending the president, will add some star power to the team that will publicly argue Trump’s case in the well of the Senate in a historic moment that will play out on live television.

Leading the legal team will be White House counsel Pat Cipollone, a Trump ally who has been steeped in the details of the case since the inquiry began but lacks experience as a public trial lawyer or television personality. Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow, who has argued a dozen cases before the Supreme Court and guided the president through Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, will also play a leading role. (Read more from “Trump Impeachment Defense Team Expected to Include Epstein Lawyers” HERE)

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WATCH: Jerry Nadler Says the Impeachment Is No Longer Just About the President

By Daily Caller. Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler claimed that the Senate would be on trial along with President Donald Trump.

Nadler made the comment during House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Wednesday morning press conference, where he was named as one of seven impeachment managers. . .

“The Senate is on trial as well as the president,” he insisted. “Does the Senate conduct a trial according to the Constitution, to vindicate the republic? Or does the Senate participate in the president’s crimes by covering them up?” (Read more from “WATCH: Jerry Nadler Says the Impeachment Is No Longer Just About the President” HERE)

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Lawyer Alan Dershowitz Draws Line on His Role in Trump Impeachment Defense

By NPR. When President Trump’s defense team delivers its opening statement in the Senate impeachment trial next week, famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz will have a starring role.

But in an interview with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly on Friday, he sought to make clear that his involvement is limited to arguing that the two articles of impeachment do not satisfy the constitutional criteria for removing the president from office.

“I will not be involved in arguing the facts, nor will I be part of the defense team in the sense of strategy on the facts. My role is limited. I am doing precisely the same thing I would be doing had Hillary Clinton — who I voted for — been elected president and had the Republicans try to impeach her,” Dershowitz told All Things Considered. . .

Dershowitz, who consulted with former President Bill Clinton’s defense during his impeachment trial, said he would not weigh in on the issue of whether witnesses should be allowed in the Senate trial — an issue being pushed by Democrats and so far resisted by Republicans. (Read more from “Lawyer Alan Dershowitz Draws Line on His Role in Trump Impeachment Defense” HERE)

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Will the Senate Call Hunter Biden as an Impeachment Witness?

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The following is an excerpt from Blaze Media’s Capitol Hill Brief email newsletter:

After weeks of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stalling, the House will finally vote to appoint impeachment managers and send the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump over to the Senate on Wednesday. After some preliminary actions later this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he expects the Senate trial to begin in earnest on Tuesday after the long Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.

There’s still the question of how long the trial will last, which largely depends on who, if anyone, the chamber decides to call as witnesses. Mitt Romney says he wants to put former national security adviser John Bolton on the stand. Meanwhile, Rand Paul says that he’ll force votes “to call Hunter Biden and many more” for the sake of balancing things out. McConnell also said that he “can’t imagine” only Democrats’ witnesses being called if witnesses are called. Ted Cruz said that he’s “open to the possibility of the Senate hearing witnesses,” and offered Hunter Biden and the whistleblower as possible examples.

But, per the kind of “phase one” trial process that McConnell has previously outlined, those questions are going to have to wait until this matter actually gets under way and both sides have made arguments in the case.

(For more from the author of “Will the Senate Call Hunter Biden as an Impeachment Witness?” please click HERE)

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GOP Senator to Trump: There’s a Problem With Your Outright Dismissal Approach on Impeachment; Here’s Trump’s Impeachment Defense Team

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By Townhall. I want this impeachment theater to end. I want to shove it down the Democrats’ throats. I want to win. I want the Republican Senate to gut this whole charade. That will happen. There is no way the GOP Senate removes Trump from office. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that he has the votes to block anything Democrats propose for the trial when it begins. Yet, the president wants an outright dismissal. On that, there may be a problem in our backyard (via The Hill):

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told reporters on Monday that the Senate Republican caucus doesn’t have the votes to dismiss the articles of impeachment against President Trump, who endorsed an “outright dismissal” over the weekend.

“I think our members generally are not interested in a motion to dismiss. … Certainly there aren’t 51 votes for a motion to dismiss,” Blunt, the No. 4 Senate Republican, told reporters after a closed-door leadership meeting.

Republicans have warned for months that they will not dismiss the two articles of impeachment against Trump, predicting a trial will end with votes on either acquitting or convicting him.

But Trump revived talk of trying to dismiss the articles over the weekend, saying the Senate was “giving credence” to the allegations against him by having a trial.

(Read more from “GOP Senator to Trump: There’s a Problem With Your Outright Dismissal Approach on Impeachment” HERE)

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Here Are the Lawyers Who Will Defend President Trump Against Impeachment

By NPR. President Trump is finalizing his defense team for his Senate impeachment trial as the process draws nearer.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway outlined the leadership of the team on Friday while also teasing that more changes could come.

“We’re ready for it,” Conway said. “We have a defense team in place. And our defense team will go on offense also.”

Both White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow, a private attorney who represented Trump in the Russia investigation, are expected to make arguments before the Senate. Others will likely rotate in and out. (Read more from “Here Are the Lawyers Who Will Defend President Trump Against Impeachment” HERE)

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