The Grand Poo Bah Still Searching for Impeachment
Renée Parsons
There were two especially notable testimonys made during the recent House impeachment inquiry that should have been ‘nothing to see here folks, let’s move on’ except that The Grand Poo-bah of the Intel Committee Chair Adam Schiff, haughty in his own insecurity and full of his usual self-regard, bugging his eyes in anticipation, continues to act as if he is living in a reality where facts and evidence are non existent.
In a series of mental meanderings, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s statement that two career diplomats had provided “corroborated evidence of bribery” was little more than off-hand ramblings with no evidence of exactly what was corroborated.
Upon questioning, Pelosi defined ‘bribery’ as the President’s alleged withholding of military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into the Biden’s financial bonanza.
In contrast to Pelosi’s allegation, neither of the career diplomats aforementioned presented any “corroborated evidence of bribery” nor has any testimony confirmed that bribery occurred.
As Lord High Justice of the Misguided Society of Wild Goose Chases, the myopic Schiff Show moves on this week to the House Judiciary Committee with more disgruntled witnesses on Wednesday who have, as of the 2016 election, lost any objectivity or claim to legal scholarship.
In a recent WSJ op ed, GW University law professor Jonathon Turley referred to the impeachment inquiry as the “shortest investigation producing the thinnest record of wrongdoing for the narrowest impeachment in history.”
On the first day of the Intel Committee hearings, Rep. Jim Jordan questioned ‘star’ witness former Ambassador Bill Taylor who was expected to drop a “bombshell.”
Instead, channeling his best Clarence Darrow, Jordan caught Taylor in the admission that after Ukraine aid was held up until September 11, Taylor had three meetings with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky (July 26, August 27 and September 5); during which, Taylor agreed, that the subject of US financial assistance as a Quid Pro Quo for a Ukraine investigation into the Bidens or Burisma was never discussed.
Up against the wall with no place to go, Taylor identified former US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland as the source of his ‘clear’ understanding which turned out to be third or fourth hand hearsay and would be inadmissible in court.
Two days later, Jordan took his turn with another ‘star’ witness when Sondland testified that, contrary to his earlier statement that the White House required a QPQ with a public statement from Zelinsky for an investigation to occur, Sondland confessed there was no such agreement or public announcement by Zelensky.
As the only witness who had direct personal contact with President Trump on the subject of Ukrainegate, Jordan related Sondland’s earlier statement to Republican staff counsel that:
The President never told you that the announcement had to happen to get anything”
…and then Sondland’s personal verbatim conversation with Trump:
Sondland: What do you want from Ukraine, Mr. President.
Trump: I want nothing, I want no QPQ. I want Zelensky to do the right thing. I want him to do what he ran on.
When Jordan asked why his conversation with the President of the United States had not been included in Sondland’s prepared 23 page statement, Sondland replied
“it wasn’t purposeful, trust me.” By then, Sondland looked ready for a cold brewski.
As the entire witness script played out during the last two weeks before the Intel Committee, one common theme of almost all the witnesses was that they are (or were) long-standing (albeit unelected) veteran State Department bureaucrats.
Given their decades of experience and seniority, it became clear during their testimony that they are convinced of their own infallibility as better informed with a divine right to make foreign policy decisions more than a duly elected President of the US; especially Donald Trump.
How exactly do unelected, uninspiring State Department bureaucrats (or any Federal bureaucrats) become so deeply entrenched and so powerful to assume that their view on foreign policy is beyond reproach and matters more than a hill of beans? Therein lies a Separation of Powers conundrum of historic proportions for our teetering constitutional democracy to address.
James Madison had a considerable amount of concern about the potential for abuse of the Separation clause as articulated in five essays he contributed to The Federalist Papers (#47, #48, #49, #50, #51).
As the Intel Committee’s Democratic majority has not yet publicly released its report on the impeachment inquiry, the Republican minority staff report was released on Monday.
As the Inquiry moves to the Judiciary Committee, it will be essential to identify the specific Constitutional grounds for impeachment as set forth by the Grand Poo Bah.
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Just quit the blathering and impeach G.W.Rove for lying in order to get to invade Iraq illegally in 2003.
The Shrub is a liberal hero now and hands around with Ellen DeGenerate.
Who in turn, just or unjustly, just loves George Jr. > surprise surprise!? as good ole’ Ethel Merman sang clearly and somewhat shrill . . .
” There’s no business like {a} show business ” of Emprical Titanic Hollywood inc.” standards.
The only question today is, ‘How Low to go… ?’
“Given their decades of experience and seniority, it became clear during their testimony that they are convinced of their own infallibility as better informed with a divine right to make foreign policy decisions more than a duly elected President of the US; especially Donald Trump.” This is of course precisely the point: the unelected ruling elite take the view that policy is their prerogative and electoral politics is merely a circus to provide the illusion of democracy.
The impeachment proceeding is such a misdirection on so many levels. A complete waste of time. Nothing will come it other than collateral damage of the damaged.
Keep drinking the kool-aid, people.
Off Guardian, all this impeachment stuff is total rollocks.
In one week’s time, in the UK, there’s going to be the most important election in modern western history.
(Corbyn will walk it, by the way)
Likewise, the amount of people who came out on the streets of France today is also history in the making.
Trump is a total non-entity.
At the moment, all things American are totally laughable.
This is the real world talking to you.
Yes Rob.
Except Trump is not a non entity. He really is potus and was voted for by over 50 million people. That deserves respect if not approval, surely?
Johnson was voted for by 90,000 (?) tory members supposedly.
Farage has never won anything in the UK and just a MEP seat in the EU.
Fifty million Yankasses can’t by wrong?
“The point is, not how many vote for your opinion nor mine but whether you and I can find a way to agree on this point.” — Socrates
Bwahahahaha, nearly choked on a chocolate cherry jelly, reading that: aligned with which, I had visions of MLK singing “I have a dream . . .” where simple people,
can simply, count 🙂
Corbyn will walk it.
I wouldn’t bet the farm on that one.
gangs counter gangs and pseudo gangs major general sir frank kitson coined it.
all the gangs are run by the same zio pirates
just ask a nazi about them khazar red beards.
all sides controlled
kosher kabucki show or hustlers making noise for a pay off
all dung
It’s “kabuki”.
it’s all dung
dear boy
pantomime show
but with even more queer folks than in pussinboots how ever you spell it
already.
all energy harvesting
negative neutrino
Don’t ever forget that a woman Democrat impeached the pussy-grabber-in-chief that is now going to be facing the public reveal of his tax returns which will most assuredly indicate amply that he is a financial fraud artist incapable of ‘the art of the deal’ because fraud is not a deal in his incompetent tiny little hands of confidence.
Where’s the beef?
MOU
Trump, the Clintons, the Bush family, are all complete psychopaths (you can include Obama in that as well).
It’s sad how many people fall for the con.
All Canadians like Obama very much as he is a statesman whereas most aren’t.
MOU
It must be great being ‘Master of the Universe’…
Being MASTER OF UNIVERSE does not entitle me to actually know what ‘Master of the Universe’ thinks, or is, eh.
Entitlement for being MASTER OF UNIVERSE is unique to be sure, I agree.
MOU
The “great statesman” Obomber waged simultaneous wars against 7 countries and signed off on $2 trillion for more WMD on the way to collect his Nobel Peace Prize. They don’t call him The Magic Negro for nothing.
Obama is one of the greatest Trojan horses in history; your claim here adds another grain of sand to the mountain of proof. I am ashamed to have been snookered in 2008.
Trump is a conman, fraudster, and BS artist.
He routinely exaggerates the size and value of his properties to obtain loans and for other purposes. So 1.1 million square feet suddenly becomes 2 million square feet.
But this is absolutely bog standard for every New York property developer.
Every man jack of them.
And he is probably much less corrupt, dishonest and mendacious than the Clinton clan. A lot less. And many others.
Rachel Madcow started hyperventilating when she got her hands on Trump’s tax returns – and found that he had paid 28%, exactly what he should, and far more than most of his kind.
And he has started fewer wars and murdered many fewer people than war criminals like Dubya and Obomber.
There is a mechanism to get rid of Trump.
It’s called an election.
Instead the Democrats prefer to go charging down rabbit holes in search of Russian bots, Manchurian candidates, and ever more ludicrous conspiracy theories.
Trump is laughing all the way to the bank as the freak show opposing him loses all credibility and gifts him another 4 years in office.
The Democratic party establishment would sooner do almost ANYTHING rather than fight Trump on policy issues (because they differ little in that regard). Hence Russiagate, Ukrainegate and the impeachment charade. Note the Dems refused to impeach Bush II for his WMD lies, Iraq war…
“Freak show” is an apt label for this “im peach ment”.
I believe the “I want nothing” statement to Snodland was made after the fact — its an attempt to confuse the record in order to introduce an element of deniability.
I personally am not in favor of impeachment (although there’s nothing wrong with collecting and recording historical information) but I do find ad hominem attacks of people who dare to criticize the Orange One tiresome. We all know Trump’s global reputation (see NATO open mic….) and the reason Ukraine and Zelensky is involved is that he’s a newbe on the political stage so probably thought it discourteous to be washing his hair or otherwise engaged when Trump and his operatives called.
The Orange Jesus is clearly guilty as hell and should be impeached forthwith, if not sooner. He is a proven Russian asset and Kremlin stooge, and probably a Russian bot to boot. He is an extortionist, a briber or a bribee, or both, as the case may be, a collusionist and an illusionist, who wears women’s underwear (when he isn’t pussy grabbing), kicks his dog, and cheats at cards (and golf.) In short, he is a total copper bottomed, chromium plated bounder.
My postman said his mate Wotsisname down the pub overheard somebody on the bus saying something about Trump. And if that isn’t cast iron evidence of all his skulduggery and chicanery, then I don’t know what is.
Trump’s value as a Russian ‘asset’ is very limited. He does have a sanguine view of Russia rather than the prevailing Cold War mindset but that’s because he’s an oligarch by nature, he’s into money and Russia has been a reliable source of it over the last 20-30 years.
I don’t want to get too much into the false equivalence but if you pick up any news media you’ll find ‘interference’ going on everywhere. American think tanks and money are helping out in the UK. Israelis are trying to smear US legislators. Our State Department is actively promoting ‘democracy’ everywhere (students of irony should find the idea of “pro-democracy’s advocates winning big in Hong Kong’s recent district elections)(“think about it”) and we’re so anxious to promote it that we’ll even suppress anyone who challenges it. The common denominator is, of course, money. Its not about democracy or national interests, its making the world safe for international capital. So going on about Russia, Ukraine or whoever ‘interfering’ in US elections is somewhat pointless (although I wouldn’t be surprised if we found that Russia’s government is very interested in the use and abuse of the Internet for propaganda but primarily as an inbound problem).
(I should also remark that none of this fake newsery or what-have-you is new, its just that the Internet and social media have made it far cheaper and more effective than it used to be.)
paul, I’ve got Adam Schiff on the line. He wants to know if you can testify tomorrow? 😉
Any time he wants, Seamus.
I’ll spill the beans and cook Trump’s goose.
every day distration
is this just not
bad play
bad acts
sicko performance piece
are not all the players involved one side or the other of chabad.
if real it is simply one firm of donmeh khazar pirates v another.
like the fishmogers show last week was an internal masonic matter
is this not an internal dispute
rapists fighting over division of the spoils or small cut of the pie.
if one reads trumped’s books he seems too have had a kaballa teacher going back too the late 70s early 80s.
these are all blood sucking satanick vampyre
and the goy provide the blood and the endless taxes
and why not already
my life
Ok Off-G and Renee, thanks for this – it is important,true, and mostly already covered by the previous piece, so i’ll repeat myself too.
As we know – as Larry Johnson over at the sst and bernard at MoA regularly update – the ‘there was no there, there’ texts ; along with the evidence being produced by Mattis’ new lawyer, the conspiracy to get Trump and Mattis – was organised by the very top of the FBI. They met the day before Mattis was ‘interviewed’.
Thereafter the ‘there’ was fabricated. The notes of the interviewe went missing! A FBI interview. which has to be lodged into their system within days!
The FBI agents perjury and tampering of evidence and that conspiracy is out in the open. Russiagate is dead. Ukrainegate is a smokescree to protect the FBI and CIA run operation with direct links to the top of the WH and State. Aided and abetted by the equally out of conrol British secret services and Steele from the very start.
It is discombobulating to be cheering on the Republicans against the Democrats in the impeachment hearings – but that is a small price to pay to get a chance to can the global robber baronery and savages of their agencies and OURS.
The main thing holding up justice is the bipartisan bs about ‘National Interest’ the sooner the US citizens understand that does not mean the interests of the majority of them the better.
Natural justice overides any such pathetic call to ‘national interest’ – ask the slavery emancipated.
———-
That was the repeat. I have put more in the response to ‘Thomas’ below, for further context of just wtf is going on!
Having satisfied hopefully Renee and Off-G’s urgent need to focus on the non-impeachment proceedings, aimed at saving Hillary’s arse and criminal charges against the chiefs of the CIA/FBI/NSA and the various DS 5+1 eyed versions- starting with Steele here in the UK.
I’ll recommend Craig Murray’s latest on State Violence
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/12/violence-and-the-state/
————
So with just SEVEN DAYS TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY – any chance Off-G thinks it fit to concentrate on the ELECTION for it?
Seeing as the rest of the msm has gone into lockdown on actual policies and manifestos and what’s happening on the ground, while they are proceed with smearing JC, for not watching the queens speech on xmas day – does that mean Off-G ought to do the same and switch off?
Just asking for some school kids, teachers, nurses, doctors, patients, social care needers, their carers, private tenants, UC claimants, low paid workers …and ME, my free broadband, my cheap water, electricity, gas and transport and justice fot Hillsborough, the Dunns and Assange … and a sensible SOFT brexit and a chance for all to confirm it …. PLEASE.
OK?
You won’t get any of that from Labour……or anybody else either.
You’re more likely to be struck by lightning or win the Euromillions.
Not prepared to give them a chance? Just 5 years at most ?
They’ve all of them, Labour, Tories and Liberals, been given chances for the past 60 years. Look where it’s got us.
Late 60’s early 70’s were great!
New Towns with new houses – tenaments and Richmanism finally abolushed.
Full employment.
Free school milk and dinners.
Free further education.
Dentistry and prescriptions.
Enough doctors, nurses and teachers who were paid properly.
Wilson didn’t take us into Vietnam.
Less wealth inequality.
Less social inequality.
Tramping was a lifestyle choice.
NuLabInc were the quislings – neocon body invaders – of the postwar Labour movement.
They carried on with what Thatcher started. Didn’t stop any of her policies or reverse them.
Where we are is because of the takeover of our politicians by the global robber barons and their DS thugs.
You know that. I’m only putting it here for posterity sake.
Meanwhile, President Dr.Assad assesses POTU$ Trump in relation to the real world:
“I say that [Trump] is the best American President, not because his policies are good, but because he is the most transparent president… Trump talks transparently, saying that what we want is oil. This is the reality of American policy, at least since WWII.” ~ Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, interview given to al-Sourya and al-Ikhbarya TVs, October 2019
PS Today’s Saker reviews a book on the public U$ disconnect from reality which makes Trump’s naked admission of greed such a refreshing contrast:
“According to Martyanov , western political leaders are living in a completely delusional pseudo-reality which has no connection to the real world whatsoever. I would remind those who will accuse Martyanov of being too harsh in his critique that no less than Karl Rove, the US political Uber-guru, candidly admitted that “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.”
You could say that Martyanov’s entire effort is aimed at one specific goal: to wake up those US Americans who still care … by laying out before them the reality of modern warfare”
Russiagate is a childish distraction, no better than a comic strip, for sheeple who have not even “the minimum of critical intelligence left” after a lifetime of nurture on MSM mental junkfood.
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
To answer your question in brief: civil service laws, which prevent the firing of bureaucrats but for cause. Such laws were considered one of the great reforms of the nineteenth century, allowing a professional class of public officials to arise; but now it seems that they constitute a permanent, unelected state that resists all attempts at reform.
Cfr
“they constitute a permanent, unelected state that resists all attempts at reform.”
And therein lies the danger to a civilized world.
And the uncivilized world. Putin has a brief, passing bitch about it in one of Oliver Stone’s interviews.
Trump said “no quid pro quo” to Sondland was AFTER Trump had been caught, AFTER news of the whistleblower complaint reached him. And use your head, why in the world would Trump suddenly say “no quid pro quo” when Sondland asked him what he wanted from Ukraine? Why would Trump jump to denying that he was pressuring Ukraine when Sondland didn’t accuse him of that or ask him if he was? You really think Trump would use the term “quid pro quo” out of the blue AND that Trump would even know the term?
And The White House has not found a record of the Sept. 9 phone call recounted by U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland in which he testified that President Trump told him he wanted “no quid pro quo” with Ukraine
“Trump has acknowledged that he held up the military aid, saying he wanted to encourage the country to tackle corruption in a broad sense. Transparency International, a non-governmental organization, ranked Ukraine in the top third of the most corrupt countries in a global index.
BUT Trump did not address corruption in his July call with Zelenskiy and he did not bring it up the first time the two men spoke shortly after Zelenskiy was elected in April, records from both calls show.
Trump ultimately released the money on Sept. 11, after news of the freeze became public.”
Because the money was released when the Schiff conspiracy with the CIA’s ‘not a whistle blower’ Ciaramella, was already underway (he is the most identified secret whistler ever) – that is the only case the boggler is able to make !
The whole thing is a cover for the conspiracies by Clinton and Obama :-
1. against Trump the candidate – SLANDER
2. against Trump the President – TREASON
3. cover for the DNC email release by Seth Rich – MURDER
4. Biden & son’s grab of Ukrainia resources – CORRUPTION
5. Maidan – planned/funded/implemented by Clinton/Nuland/cfr and their agencies with paid Ukrainian nazi thugs, trying to get Russia to invade so they could deploy nato to ‘keep peace’ while parceling up poor Ukraine.
The cfr wants war and believes that they should carry on their hundred year RIGHT to make US foreign policy and not the duly elected POTUS who may have stood and won on an alternative foreign policy.
In the meantime the Ukrainians have been robbed blind by US ‘National Interests’ who are represented by both US political parties.
Trump/Zelinsky/Putin/ Merkel/Xi … a few others, want PEACE and international LAW.
The global robber barons, bankers and MIC want WAR and international RULES, they can break/ignore/make-up as they feel.
The same forces of exceptionalism are desperate to stop Corbyn and a clean skin set of Labour politicians getting into power – stopping their grubby murderous thuggery across the planet.
That is the more URGENT story for us in the UK NOW.
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-12-04-how-the-uk-military-and-intelligence-establishment-is-working-to-stop-jeremy-corbyn-from-becoming-prime-minister
Excellent summary Dungroanin, and your link provides information not available across the pond.
“a clean skin set of Labour politicians”
Err …WTF is that?
While I like Corbyn and would prefer to see him as the next PM, it is a case of least-bad option IMO. Corbyn is surounded by warmongering Blairite careerists and Israeli apologists who have already seen Corbyn’s most able lieutenant Chris Williamson deselected as a Labour MP.
I will probably vote Labour, with some reservation as Corbyn has expressed some support for Julian Assange and his placement as Prime Minister might see Julian released.
Julian’s enemy is not the British state as Scots nationalist Craig Murray has asserted, but the rogue British government. A Labour government under Corbyn could see him released.
I also like Corbyn for his more positive attitudes towards Russia.
Clean skin – as in not hot -housed Blirite types, not compromised by corporates and lobbyists, not controlled by MI5 compramat. Not aristo flunkies or agents of foreign powers.
What would Parsons screech about if these hearings weren’t taking place?
Why don’t you critique what she said instead of the childish fact free ad fem comment you just made. You surely are capable of more than one line.
‘Ad fem’?
‘i-Dom’ ?? 🙂
Tie Knot &
dispose of, hygienically . . .
Can’t wait to expand my English vocabulary. with ‘Ad Fem’, maybe even one day,
Post-Fem Fantasia ? 😉
” almost all the witnesses was that they are (or were) long-standing (albeit unelected) veteran State Department bureaucrats.”
The creatures of the swamp demanding that it be drained.
On the one hand Congress and the media, on the other, reality, facts and evidence.
Russophobia/MCarthyism repeats itself: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.
The (northern) Democrats have never forgiven the Republicans for getting on the “Reds under the bed’, ‘Russia is the new Germany’, bandwagon before they did.
They have been playing ‘catch up’ ever since. Hence the shortlived characterisation of McConnell as ‘Moscow Mitch’. They were trying
Maybe they should recycle the old “You Lost China’ trope and aiming it at Trump.