Most Commented News Blogs (3,095)

In response to:
The California congresswoman told Thursday morning's news conference: "The facts are uncontested. The president abused his power for his own political benefit at the expense of our national security, by withholding military aid and a crucial Oval Office meeting in exchange for an announcement for an investigation into his political rival."

She added: "Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders and a heart full of love for America, today I am asking our chairmen to proceed with articles of impeachment."

Democrats are keen to hold a vote on impeachment in the House of Representatives before the end of the year, with the prospect of a trial in the Senate perhaps as early as January 2020.

As she left a news conference later in the day, Mrs Pelosi upbraided a reporter who asked whether she hated the president.

"I don't hate anybody," she said, invoking her Catholic faith after striding back to the podium.

"I still pray for the president all the time. So don't mess with me when it comes to words like that!"

In response to:
Jan. 28, 2020, 2:22 PM EST
By Barbara McQuade, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

President Donald Trump’s lawyers began their impeachment arguments on Saturday with what football fans might call a “prevent” defense. Under that strategy, a team with a lead late in the game plays cautiously to avoid giving up a big play.

And now we know why.

Trump’s defense team is now offering its closing arguments. Over the course of the past few days, the group has offered six predictable defenses, each of which can be rebutted. It now appears that their goal was to simply provide Republican Senators with sufficient talking points and avoid changing anyone’s mind.

President Donald Trump’s lawyers began their impeachment arguments on Saturday with what football fans might call a “prevent” defense.

But on Sunday, that strategy appeared to backfire when it was reported that former national security adviser John Bolton’s upcoming book contradicts at least one of Trump’s defenses. By avoiding witness testimony that could have been high risk or high reward rather than addressing those facts head-on at his trial, Trump is now seeing the facts trickle out in other forums where it is difficult to control.

Trump’s lawyers have argued that the president never admitted to any quid pro quo. On Saturday, defense attorney Michael Purpura stated, “Not a single witness testified that the president himself said that there was any connection between any investigations and security assistance, a presidential meeting, or anything else.” Purpura’s careful wording is technically true, but only because Trump himself blocked Bolton and other witnesses from testifying. If Bolton were to testify truthfully, he would presumably say exactly that. In a real trial, a lawyer would be sanctioned for so deliberately misleading the finder of fact.

Bolton’s book reportedly states that in August, Trump said that he wanted to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless it helped with investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. This revelation highlights the need for witness testimony from those with first-hand knowledge, such as Bolton and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Bolton’s testimony would support not only the abuse of power allegation against Trump in the first article of impeachment, but would also prove the second article alleging obstruction of Congress. Bolton’s allegation suggests that the real reason that Trump decided to “fight all the subpoenas” was not to protect the office of the presidency, but to conceal the truth from the American people.

Trump’s other five defenses are no more persuasive. First, White House counsel Pat Cipollone argued that the “transcript” from Trump’s July 25 call with the Ukrainian president shows that Trump did “nothing wrong.” Asking fact-finders to focus narrowly on one piece of evidence is a common defense tactic, intended to draw attention away from other facts that are damaging to the defense. Here, of course, the transcript is not a transcript at all, but a summary of Trump’s call with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified that the summary omitted certain key words, including the word “Burisma,” the Ukrainian energy company on whose board Hunter Biden served.

Even more important, focusing solely on the call summary ignores the monthslong negotiations between Ukraine and U.S. diplomats, as well between Ukraine and Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, over investigations into the Bidens. The call alone does not tell the whole story.

In addition, even the summary shows that when Zelenskiy inquired about military aid, Trump responded by asking for a “favor” in the form of investigations into the Bidens and the 2016 election.

In response to:

Clint Eastwood Ditches Donald Trump for Mike Bloomberg in 2020 Election

Jordan Moreau
Variety February 22, 2020, 4:29 PM EST

Longtime Republican Clint Eastwood is pulling support from Donald Trump in the 2020 election. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actor-director signaled that he thinks a different candidate would be the better choice.

“The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there,” he said.

After endorsing Mitt Romney and famously delivering a speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention to an empty chair that represented Barack Obama, Eastwood never officially backed Trump. In a 2016 interview, he expressed displeasure with Trump.

In response to:
Neil Young blasts President Trump as a ‘disgrace to my country’ and will support Bernie Sanders’ candidacy

President Trump has been a fan of Neil Young’s music for years, although that may change after Young’s latest broadside against him

By George Varga
Feb. 19, 2020
2:30 PM

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Young hasn’t written a scathing song about President Trump yet, but that may be only a matter of time.

The Canadian-born music legend became an American citizen in late January, specifically so he could vote in the 2020 presidential election, but he isn’t wasting any time sharing his thoughts.
On Tuesday, Young posted an “open letter” to President Trump on his Neil Young Archives Times-Contrarian website. Young’s missive blasted Trump, while also announcing his strong support for Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

As he did in his in his 2006 song “Let’s Impeach the President” and in his classic 1970 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young protest anthem “Ohio” — which excoriated then-President Nixon and mourned the deaths of four anti-war protesters at the hands of the National Guard — Young does not hold back.
“You are a disgrace to my country,” Young, 74, writes to Trump, 73.

Intriguingly, as far back as 2008, Trump had declared himself a big fan of Young, saying at the time: “I’ve met (Young) on occasions and he’s a terrific guy.”

As of this writing, Trump has not used his widely read Twitter page to acknowledge or respond to Young’s open letter attacking him.

“Bragging about the U.S. economy does not disguise the fact that the numbers today are what you inherited 4 years ago,” Young continues. “Your mindless destruction of our shared natural resources, our environment and our relationships with friends around the world is unforgivable. Your policies, decisions and short term thinking continue to exacerbate the Climate Crisis. Our first black president was a better man than you are.

“The United States of America, my country, is not a green on one of your branded golf courses that you can ride around on and damage so that other players cannot shoot straight.”

Young, who in 1984 voiced his support for then-President Ronald Reagan, also uses his open letter to take Trump to task for his use of Young’s 1989 song, “Rockin’ in the Free World,” at Trump’s rallies.
“Every time ‘Keep On Rockin’ in the Free World’ or one of my songs is played at your rallies, I hope you hear my voice. Remember it is the voice of a tax-paying U.S. citizen who does not support you. Me.”

Young concludes by letting Trump know exactly which candidate Young is supporting. “One of your opponents has the answers I like,” Young writes. “He is aiming at preserving our children’s future directly. He is not pandering to the industries accelerating Earth’s Climate Disaster, the end of the world as we know it.

In response to:
FBI agents visited the home of the Robert Hyde, the Giuliani associate who said he surveilled former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch



*FBI agents were seen visiting both the home and business addresses of Robert Hyde, an associate of Rudy Giuliani now central to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

*NBC News and CNN both report that the FBI visited Hyde's home in Weatogue, Connecticut and the location in Avon, CT where he runs both his landscaping business and congressional campaign.

*In a trove of WhatsApp messages between Hyde and Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, Hyde told Parnas that he was closely surveilling former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

*Both Hyde and Parnas have tried to downplay the severity of his messages, even as Ukraine opened an investigation into whether Yovanovitch was illegally surveilled.

FBI agents were seen visiting both the home and business addresses of Robert Hyde, the GOP congressional candidate and associate of Rudy Giuliani now central to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

Citing law enforcement officials, NBC News and CNN both reported that the FBI visited Hyde's home in Weatogue, Connecticut and the location in Avon, CT where he runs both his landscaping business and congressional campaign. It was unclear what specifically the FBI was seeking to do at Hyde's properties.

Until recently, Hyde was a little-known, albeit eccentric, landscaper, lobbyist, and Republican political donor who ran in GOP circles and sometimes frequented the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC.

But Hyde is now front and center in Trump's impeachment, with his actions coming under investigation from the Ukrainian government and possibly Congress and the FBI as well.

In a trove of WhatsApp messages between Hyde and Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, who is currently under federal indictment for his role in the Ukraine scandal, Hyde told Parnas that he was closely surveilling former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and closely tracking her movements.

Yovanovitch, a career diplomat who served as US ambassador to Ukraine under multiple administrations, was recalled from her position in May after what she described in her testimony in the impeachment inquiry as a concerted and sometimes threatening smear campaign that resulted in her ouster.

In the messages, which Parnas turned over to the House of Representatives, Hyde appeared to be giving Parnas frequent updates on Yovanovitch's movements and locations, saying in one message that "it's confirmed we have a person inside."

In other messages and in public Twitter posts, Hyde described Yovanovitch as "a POS" and a "b----."

In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that aired January 15, Parnas described Robert Hyde as "a weird character," and said that he didn't take Hyde's texts about surveilling Marie Yovanovitch seriously because "he was drunk most of the time" and "off the wall."

Hyde has a documented history of erratic behavior both on Twitter and offline, with NBC News reporting that he shone a "stadium-grade" strobe light into his neighbor's house after they complained about the state of his yard, once threatened to shoot his neighbor over a dispute involving his dog, and ended up surrendering many of his firearms to police pursuant to a protective order.

In response to:
Melania Trump's Hotel Charges Were $174,000 For A Day Trip To Toronto: Records

Mary Papenfuss, HuffPost 16 hours ago

First lady Melania Trump’s hotel bills for a day trip to Toronto last year added up to an astonishing $174,000, according to federal expense documents reported by Quartz. She did not spend the night.

The startling expenditures dwarfed the $95,000 cost of Trump’s stop at the InterContinental Cairo Semiramis, where she stayed for less than half a day at the end of her tour of Africa last month.

Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham implied in an email to Quartz that the first lady’s “advance team” was responsible for some of the costs. The team ensures “safety measures, medical care, communications, motorcade needs and logistics are all in place,” she wrote. They’re all “legally required for official travel,” she added.

But federal expense documents reported separate, additional costs for the advance team that added up to $18,000, according to Quartz.

The hotels are not identified in the expenses. They’re listed simply as “hotel rooms” under a heading of “miscellaneous foreign awardees” in the federal expense documents. There are six hotel charges ranging from nearly $12,000 to nearly $49,000, but the documents don’t offer details. (Other charges were for $16,000, $19,000, $35,000 and $43,000.)

The first lady was in Toronto to help kick off the Invictus Games, which Britain’s Prince Harry started in 2014 for disabled vet athletes.

A pool press report covering the Sept. 23 trip referred to stops that day at the Sheraton, the Ritz Carlton, a return to the Sheraton, and a get-together in the evening with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to watch the opening ceremony of the games at the Air Canada Center.

The first lady’s hotel stops included a 20-minute meeting with Prince Harry (at the Sheraton), and a reception later with 100 competing U.S. athletes, also at the Sheraton, where she gave a short speech, according to the pool report.

Trump’s visits began just after noon and she returned just after midnight to Andrews Air Force Base.

President Donald Trump was spending the weekend at his golf club in New Jersey.

Grisham was infuriated by news reports about the bill from Melania Trump’s Cairo visit earlier this month, slamming “irresponsible” journalism after some initial reports said the first lady had spent the night. Grisham noted that Trump had, in fact, only spent some six hours in the hotel.

The first lady’s trip to Toronto also incurred $21,000 in transportation costs, Quartz reported.

In response to: As a candidate, President Trump was heavily critical of Barack Obama’s golf habit and once told an audience that “I’m going to be working for you. I’m not going to have time to go play golf.” So obviously that makes his own golf habit fair game for scrutiny.

In response to:
Who plays more golf: Donald Trump or Barack Obama?

For years, President Donald Trump criticized his predecessor Barack Obama for playing golf while on the job....

But since taking office, Trump has been a regular visitor at his own golf clubs in Florida and Virginia. In his first year as president, Trump outpaced Obama in the amount of time he spent on the green, our Trump Golf Tracker shows.

We decided to track Trump’s golf course visits because he so routinely criticized his predecessor for the practice.

The numbers suggest something of a flip-flop for Trump: As of May 18, 2018, the score of confirmed golf outings is Trump 56, Obama 37.