After the 2018 mid-terms, and in preparation for the “impeachment” strategy, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler hired Lawfare group members to become House committee staff.
In 2018 Chairman Adam Schiff hired former SDNY U.S. Attorney Daniel Goldman(link). You probably saw Goldman doing the questioning for Schiff during the first public impeachment hearing (above). Meanwhile Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler hired Obama Administration lawyer Norm Eisen and criminal defense attorney Barry Berke (link).
However, with a horrible start to the impeachment construct; an outcome of day-one hearings where State Department officials George Kent and Bill Taylor provided no baseline for the impeachment narrative to build upon; Pelosi and Schiff are going outside for more legal assistance. Per Chad Pergram:
[Barry Berke, left and Norm Eisen, right – pictured exiting the HSCI scif with Jerry Nadler on the same day Pelosi’s “Impeachment Inquiry” Resolution was released, 10/29/19]
After Goldman, Eisen and Berke were brought on board Speaker Nancy Pelosi then hiredDouglas Letter as House General Counsel – all are within the Lawfare network.
This move -to allow House Counsel to bring on additional legal assistance for the impeachment effort- means Doug Letter will be able to hire more lawyers.
Many people surmised that Pelosi and Schiff moved to utilize the Ukraine/NSC impeachment angle *after* the Mueller angle for impeachment ran into trouble. However, CTH research doesn’t reflect the Whistle-blower impeachment plan as an ‘add-on’.
Instead, what we see is the use of the HPSCI; and the use of embeds within National Security Council staff; by design. The Schiff events of today were always part of a prior planned design.
Only two committees hired Lawfare staff in 2018: Judiciary (Eisen & Berke) and HPSCI(Goldman). This evidences a 2018 plan to use the Judiciary and HPSCI for the impeachment process as designed by the Lawfare contractors. This design is also outlined in the year of public advice from the mother-ship, Lawfare.
The impeachment crew always planned to use the House Intelligence Committee; and they always planned to use activated sleeper cells within the National Security Staff. None of this is organic; none of this current action was contingent upon a Trump phone call.
The whistle-blower approach was always going to be used; the only issue was: ‘how’?
What Pelosi/Schiff et al have assembled is a format for a highly controlled public spectacle prior to a predetermined transfer of evidence to Jerry Nadler (Judicary). With the intent to construct a pantomime for public absorption in mind, the impeachment rules were written for maximum narrative construction. [ex. Lawfare lawyers questioning witnesses]
Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) was moved to the House Intelligence Committee because the HPSCI has become the impeachment committee. Mr. Jordan is an articulate representative with a unique skillset in his ability to boil down issues to their essential elements, and then drill home the key point. Jordan thinks fast and can respond quickly during congressional hearings.
Yesterday, as Jordan questioned the witnesses, the value of moving him to the impeachment committee was evident. Mr. Jordan was excellent.
Today Mr. Jordan shares his perspective of the hearing during a media interview:
I am french and have attended a conference of technology in Germany last weekend, in which Barack Obama attended as a guest speaker.
Though I am not American nor Republican, I was really surprised by the tonality and the comments different American speakers voiced during the speeches about Republicans and Donald Trump : uneducated, in denial, egocentric, dumb,… a speaker even said she regretted not having offered a “Dump Trump” sweater to President Obama (quote). I was really surprised to see the level of undisclosed hatred being displayed in a business/public event..
You are absolutely right, the gloves are dropped now, and 2020 will be hectic in the USA…
Thanks a million for your blog and your insights, you are a true teacher to me
CQ
REPLY: I have never seen a worse political divide. There is no going back. The 2020 election is going to be the most violent and nasty election in American history. There is just no way to return to civility. The hatred is brewing and that will erupt into violence.
From my study of history, it appears that this is just part of the cycle in how empires, nations, & city-states collapse. The very purpose of civilization is that there emerges a synergy that is greater than an individual can create alone. You no longer need to bake bread because someone started a bakery.
However, when society turns in upon itself, that is the end. It is no longer beneficial to remain in a collective group. We are rapidly approaching this point and that erupts into separatism, which you are witnessing everywhere around the globe.
An impeachment trial in the senate would presumably be run through the Senate Judiciary Committee (presiding judge John Roberts), unless there are constitutionally permitted process rule changes.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham begins to get specific about what he will and will-not allow as part of the senate trial. Graham notes the ‘hearsay rule’ will be applied to the House evidence within the article(s) as presented. Additionally, Graham notes that anonymous witnesses (ie. “whistleblower”) will not be permitted.
During the impeachment hearing today State Department officials George Kent and Bill Taylor both stated they never heard of any claims of Ukrainian political interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Additionally, both claimed to have no knowledge of any U.S. investigation that might overlap with Ukraine.
When pressed with specifically cited reports about DNC operatives engaging with Ukraine government officials to gather opposition research against candidate Donald Trump, both Mr. Kent and Ambassador Taylor denied any knowledge of the outlined reporting.
However, what everyone in the media –and on Capitol Hill– seems to forget is a letter in July, 2017 [LINK HERE], written by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley to Dept. of Justice Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, specifically outlining 2016 election interference by Ukrainian government officials; and specifically asking for an U.S. DOJ investigation therein:
They are called “decepticons” for a reason. McConnell is king, and Cornyn, Thune and Barasso are his praetorian guards. {Go Deep}
Senator John Cornyn (TX), a key member of the Senate GOP leadership; and a member of the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees; warns the White House that a vote to immediately dismiss articles of impeachment and avoid a trial won’t work.
“There’s some people talking about trying to stop the bill, dismiss charges basically as soon as they get over here. I think that’s not going to happen. That would require 51 votes,” Cornyn told reporters Wednesday. “I think it would be hard to find 51 votes to cut the case off before the evidence is presented.”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top Senate Republican, John Cornyn, said on Wednesday that should the U.S. House of Representatives vote to impeach President Donald Trump, he doubts a motion in the Senate to immediately dismiss the charges would succeed.
Cornyn, who spent years as the Senate’s no. 2 Republican, said such a motion would not receive the 51 votes necessary in the Republican-controlled Senate to pass. He said he was confident that ultimately, a vote in the Senate to remove Trump from office would fail. (read more)
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, is one Republican senator who previously hinted at the possibility of advancing a motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment. However, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told GOP colleagues during a lunch meeting last month any motion to dismiss would have to come from the president’s defense team after the impeachment managers deliver the articles to the Senate.
…Senate Republicans, even though they control 53 seats, don’t think there would be enough unity within their conference to dismiss charges against Trump before the prosecutors and defense have a chance to lay out their arguments and senators have a chance to ask questions and deliberate. (link)
One of the problems in the Senate trial is the participation of the SSCI within the network of interests working to eliminate candidate Trump and then President Trump from office.
SSCI Chairman Richard Burr doesn’t go on an political targeting expedition like that without the approval of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Yes, it really is that simple.
To remind ourselves how Minority and Majority Senator McConnell took down the threat of the Tea Party revisit these old articles: CNN Part I and CNN Part II both showcase how McConnell works. Then do some research on how McConnell worked with Haley Barbour in Mississippi [SEE HERE].
The Tea Party was a risk to McConnell in 2010-2014 the same way MAGA coalition is to McConnell in 2016-2020. Take nothing for granted.
Day One of the Pelosi, Schiff and Lawfare effort to publicly construct support for the impeachment of President Trump ends. Within the questioning of State Department officials George Kent and Bill Taylor the value of adding Jim Jordan to the hearings became clear.
Jim Jordan, Elise Stefanik and John Ratcliffe methodically deconstructed the false premise advanced by the impeachment crew. It became clear that both Kent and Taylor held no specific and direct knowledge of the substance behind the claims made by the democrats leading the effort. Here’s a few highlights starting with Jim Jordan:
Jordan pressed Taylor on how he came to have a “clear understanding” that the U.S. aid to Ukraine was dependent on opening an investigation into Trump’s political rivals. Jordan said there was no “linkage” and Ambassador Taylor said he came to his “clear conclusion” based on what other people said about what other people heard about conversations with other people.
Here’s the visual to help (tweet embed video):
Mad Liberals@mad_liberals
A visual recap of the “clear understanding” of Ambassador Taylor’s knowledge of what happened. #ImpeachmentHearings
.@Jim_Jordan
Next up John Ratcliffe: Rep. Ratcliffe reviewed multiple public statements made by Ukrainian President Zelensky that he was not pressured by the U.S. and had no knowledge of military aid being withheld from Ukraine.
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Then Elise Stefanik brings it home by outlining Burisma: Rep. Stefanik focused on both officials’ statements on the corruption in Ukraine and Burisma:
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TheLastRefuge@TheLastRefuge2
.@EliseStefanik swinging the atomic common-sense hammer.
Burisma was a corruption problem.
Obama thought Burisma was a problem.
Mr. Kent thought Burisma was a problem.
Trump thought Burisma was a problem.
“A member of my staff told me about a phone conversation that he overheard” where President Trump did not seek our approval prior to talking with the President of Ukraine.
This cannot stand amid the international rules based order we have constructed for decades. Impeach!
Earlier today President Trump and First Lady Melania welcomed President Recep Erdogan from Turkey and his wife to the White House. Prior to bilateral discussions the leaders held a joint availability in the oval office. [Video and Transcript below]
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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay. Thank you very much. It’s a great honor to be with President Erdoğan and Mrs. Erdoğan. Thank you very much. We very much appreciate you being here. First Lady, thank you very much. And I know you’re going to go out to lunch after this. Great honor to have you.
The border is holding very well. The ceasefire is holding very well. We’ve been speaking to the Kurds, and they seem to be very satisfied.
As you know, we’ve pulled back our troops quite a while ago, because I think it’s time for us not to be worried about other people’s borders. I want to worry about our borders. We’ve got plenty of borders to worry about.
I want to thank the President for the job they’ve done. Again, this has been thousands of years in the process, between borders, between these countries and other countries that we’re involved with, 7,000 miles away. So, we want to worry about our things.
We’re keeping the oil. We have the oil. The oil is secure. We left troops behind, only for the oil.
And I have to just finish by saying that the President and I have been — we’ve been very good friends. We’ve been friends for a long time, almost from day one. And we understand each other’s country. We understand where we’re coming from. I understand the problems that they’ve had, including many people from Turkey being killed in the area that we’re talking about. And he has to do something about that, also. It’s not a one-way street.
So, I just want to say it’s a great honor to have you both and thank you very much. Thank you.
PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN: Thank you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: You, go ahead, please. Would you like to say something?
PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN: Thank you. (As interpreted.) Well, Mr. President, thank you. In a few moments, we shall be having a larger-scale press meeting, that’s why I don’t feel the need to come up with longer statements here.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay.
PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN: Thank you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay, well, that was good. That’s good. It’s true. A lot of truth to that.
I will say, we’re also talking about a trade deal. We do, proportionately, very little trade with Turkey. They make great product. We make the greatest product in the world. And, frankly, we’re going to be expanding our trade relationship very significantly. We think we could be doing $100 billion with Turkey. And right now we’re doing about $20 billion. But we think that number should be easily $100 billion, which would be great for Turkey and good for us.
So, we’re going to be expanding. We have our people from Commerce here. That’s one of the meetings we’ll be having. And having that big relationship, I think, is a very good one. So, we think we can bring trade up very quickly to about $100 billion between our countries. Okay?
Q What do you do, Mr. President, about the S-400s, in terms of getting that trade deal?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ll be talking about it, John. We’ll talking about the S-400. We’ll be talking about that and we’ll be talking about the F-35 fighter jet, too.
Q Are you satisfied with the ISIS fighters that Turkey is keeping an eye on? Are you happy so far with the progress?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Turkey is watching the ISIS fighters. When I became President, ISIS was all over the place. I had no idea to the extent. In fact, it was shown to me about a month ago. We came in. It was a mess. And we took over 100 percent of the caliphate.
And, last week, as you know, we killed its leader and its founder. And we’re very proud of that fact. And we’ve also knocked out number two. And we have our eye out on number three, who was supposed to become number one, but he’s running right now. He’s running for his life, but we have our sights right on him.
So, we are — we’re doing very well. ISIS is very much — very much a factor that’s different than it was when I took over. When I took over, thousands and thousands of ISIS fighters were all over. Now they’re mostly imprisoned.
I will say, the Kurds are watching over them and Turkey is also watching over them. And Turkey recently has captured over 100 ISIS fighters and they are taking care of them.
Q Is there any way, Mr. President, that Turkey can possess both S-400s and F-35s? Or are those things mutually exclusive?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, John, we’re going to be talking about that. So, we’ll — we’ll talk about it. We may report to you later on about that because we’re having a second meeting in a little while.
So, we’ll see you in a little while. We’re going to be having press conference of sorts in a little while. It’s an honor to have the President and Mrs. Erdoğan with us, and they’re highly respected in their country and in the region. And we’ll see what we can do. But the relationship that we’ve had is good.
And, you know, I’ve heard all the pundits — three, four, five weeks ago. They were against what I’ve — what I did. Now, all of a sudden, they’re saying, “Wow. That’s really working well. Why are we guarding other country’s borders? We want to take care of our country.” And they’re saying it really is surprising what’s happened. Plus, we have our troops out of there, and we’ll be bringing a lot of them back home. But again, we’re keeping the oil.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
Q Mr. President, have you watched the impeachment — have you watched any of the impeachment hearing?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. No, I didn’t.
Q You didn’t watch any of it at all?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I didn’t — I did not watch it.
Q Have you been briefed on what’s —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’m too busy to watch it. It’s a witch hunt. It’s a hoax. I’m too busy to watch it. So, I’m sure I’ll get a report.
Q Have you been briefed?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: There’s nothing — there’s nothing — I have not been briefed, no. There’s nothing there. I see they’re using lawyers that are television lawyers. They took some guys off television, you know. I’m not surprised to see it because Schiff can’t do his own questions.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
Q Mr. President, have you decided to postpone auto tariffs? Are you postponing the decision on auto tariffs?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’ll make a decision fairly soon. I was full briefed and I’ll make a decision fairly soon.
President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Erdogan hold a joint press conference at the conclusion of bilateral discussions between the two leaders. Anticipated start time 3:10pm EDT
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