Conservative Blogger
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Biden urges impeachment, deflects from Ukraine dealings
Former Vice President Joe Biden appears to be trying to deflect attention from his alleged corruption in Ukraine by joining calls for impeachment. He announced on Tuesday that he’s in favor of impeaching President Trump if the president does not cooperate with Congress’ official inquiry.
Despite his urgent calls for President Trump to be removed from office, Biden fell among the vocal majority of the Senate rejecting former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. At that time, Biden supported the American people’s choice to elect Clinton into office and voiced caution when deciding to proceed with the hearing.Desperate Donald Trump knows that I can beat him, so now he’s enlisting the help of a foreign government — once again. It’s an abuse of power and violates every basic norm of the presidency.We cannot give him four more years in the White House.https://t.co/cqhkBUviAs pic.twitter.com/vXmH3lTW6k
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 21, 2019
“The American people don’t think that they have made a mistake by electing Bill Clinton,” said Biden. “We in Congress had better be very careful before we upset their decision and make darn sure that we are able to convince them, if we decide to upset their decision, that our decision to impeach him was based upon principle and not politics.”
The former vice president’s new stance contrasts with what he said in a recent interview, where he claimed the Trump-Ukraine phone call transcript may reveal an impeachable offense. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky insisted that he wasn’t pressured during the call. He said that his administration started a corruption probe into Biden prior to his conversation with President Trump.
Biden is now accusing the president of violating his constitutional responsibility.
“The thing I learned — we learned, we all learned recently — is that statement, that the 2000-word statement released was that he talked about getting the Justice Department engaged in this,” he said. “I mean, it’s such a blatant abuse of power that it just — I don’t think it can stand.”
Biden claims he is a victim of abuse of power by President Trump and has not addressed his effort to blackmail Ukraine to dismiss its chief prosecutor. Whether the American people will support him in 2020 in light of yet another one of his flip-flops on hot topic issues remains to be seen.
Senate Democrats in GOP states worry impeachment inquiry could backfire in 2020
Senate Democrats in Republican-leaning states are worried the impeachment inquiry could ruin any chances of the Democrat Party winning back the majority in the upper chamber in 2020.
Montana Senator John Tester said it’s vital that House Democrats focus on President Trump’s July phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart because he claims the president is the master of pivoting and deflecting.
“My belief is that now that the speaker has decided to impeach, they need to make sure it is very, very focused,” he stated. “They need to get to the bottom of the information as promptly as they can and they need to move.”
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin echoed the same remarks as Tester, adding, Democrats should stay away from old issues and focus on investigating the Ukraine phone call because it deals with a foreign entity.
However, Democrat Senator Doug Jones said he does not believe the whistleblower complaint is grounds for impeachment. The Alabama lawmaker said the complaint is based on hearsay, and he’s skeptical of using secondhand complaints to oust the president.
“A lot of the whistleblower complaint is, in fact, hearsay,” said Jones. “It is what other people have told him — that is clear on its face.”
This comes as other liberal Democrats want a broader investigation to include issues relating to the Mueller probe and other accusations.….the Whistleblower, and also the person who gave all of the false information to him. This is simply about a phone conversation that could not have been nicer, warmer, or better. No pressure at all (as confirmed by Ukrainian Pres.). It is just another Democrat Hoax!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2019
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the investigation would solely focus on the Ukraine conversation and not any other complaints against the president.
“This is the focus of the moment because this is the charge,”she stated. “All of the other work that relates to abuse of power, ignoring subpoenas of the government of Congress, abuse a contempt of Congress by him — those things will be considered later.”
Pelosi has also said there should be no rush to judgment despite announcing the impeachment inquiry ahead of the release of the transcript and the whistleblower’s complaint regarding President Trump’s Ukraine phone call.
Hillary Clinton mocks Rudy Giuliani accusation: 'Yes, I am famously under-scrutinized'
Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton shot back at Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, on Twitter on Tuesday after he accused her of being “protected and immune” to media scrutiny.
“(The Washington Post), NBC, and CNN are going after me because I’m the messenger, and covering up the message, Dem corruption,” Giuliani tweeted about questions over his involvement in trying to get Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. “Meanwhile, they have yet to ask Biden difficult questions because he is protected and immune like the Clintons and crooked Clinton Foundation!”
“Yes, I am famously under-scrutinized,” Clinton sarcastically tweeted in response, alluding to the investigation into her use of a private email server as secretary of state that dominated the 2016 presidential campaign, the Benghazi investigation while she was secretary of state as well as others going back to her time as first lady.
The State Department expanded its investigation into Clinton’s private server in August.
The House of Representatives is launching an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he asked Zelensky to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in the country.
Clinton is scheduled to appear on both “The View” and “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Wednesday as she promotes “The Book of Gutsy Women,” which she co-wrote with her daughter Chelsea Clinton.
“(The Washington Post), NBC, and CNN are going after me because I’m the messenger, and covering up the message, Dem corruption,” Giuliani tweeted about questions over his involvement in trying to get Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. “Meanwhile, they have yet to ask Biden difficult questions because he is protected and immune like the Clintons and crooked Clinton Foundation!”
“Yes, I am famously under-scrutinized,” Clinton sarcastically tweeted in response, alluding to the investigation into her use of a private email server as secretary of state that dominated the 2016 presidential campaign, the Benghazi investigation while she was secretary of state as well as others going back to her time as first lady.
The State Department expanded its investigation into Clinton’s private server in August.
The House of Representatives is launching an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he asked Zelensky to investigate alleged wrongdoing by Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in the country.
Clinton is scheduled to appear on both “The View” and “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Wednesday as she promotes “The Book of Gutsy Women,” which she co-wrote with her daughter Chelsea Clinton.
Giuliani threatens lawsuits against individual House Dems amid Trump impeachment inquiry
President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he’s considering individual lawsuits against House Democrats
for allegedly violating the constitutional and civil rights of the
president and members of his administration amid new congressional inquiries and subpoenas resulting from a whistleblower’s complaint.
Speaking on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle," Giuliani said he sought the advice of civil rights and constitutional lawyers who recommended such legal action.
“I think we have to raise their consideration of constitutional and criminal rights. This is worse than McCarthy. How about a total illicit impeachment proceeding? This is an illicit, rogue impeachment proceeding,” Giuliani told host Laura Ingraham.
The former mayor of New York City suggested that some House Democrats were guilty of violating Article II of the Constitution, which outlines the president’s powers during his four-year term as commander in chief, specifically his power to conduct the foreign policy of the United States. He also said he may sue Democrats in Congress for allegedly violating attorney-client privilege and over obstruction-of-justice claims.
The chairmen of three House committees subpoenaed Giuliani on Monday, seeking key documents related to the Ukraine controversy as part of their Trump impeachment inquiry. Giuliani lawyered up Tuesday, hiring former Watergate prosecutor John Sale.
Though still mounting a defense, Giuliani claimed he has evidence, in the form of video recordings and interview notes, which are protected from an additional subpoena under the statute of attorney-client privilege. He said the evidence incriminates House Democrats for allegedly trying to threaten foreign powers into keeping quiet amid the impeachment inquiry.
He pointed to the example of Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who last month boasted to reporters, including conservative columnist John Solomon, that he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that cooperating with Trump and Giuliani would be viewed as election meddling and would be “disastrous for long-term U.S.-Ukraine relations,” The Hill reported.
Giuliani also accused mainstream media organizations of bias, claiming they turned a blind eye to the Ukraine activities of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
“[The media] are covering up for the Democrats because they are more corrupt than anyone realizes. They are covering up serious crimes that were committed against the United States by the Bidens and taking millions and multimillions of dollars and putting the United States in a very compromised position,” he said.
Ingraham mentioned members of Congress are given immunity from prosecution in regard to comments made during legislative sessions. Giuliani said he would come after House Democrats for their remarks made outside of Congress, include Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who recently tweeted that Trump should be kept in solitary confinement, and another unnamed congressmen who allegedly said Barr should be arrested.
Biden has acknowledged on camera that, when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was investigating the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings — where his son Hunter Biden had a highly lucrative role on the board paying him tens of thousands of dollars per month, despite limited relevant expertise. The elder Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.
Fox News' Gregg Re, Brooke Singman and Blake Burman contributed to this report.
Speaking on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle," Giuliani said he sought the advice of civil rights and constitutional lawyers who recommended such legal action.
“I think we have to raise their consideration of constitutional and criminal rights. This is worse than McCarthy. How about a total illicit impeachment proceeding? This is an illicit, rogue impeachment proceeding,” Giuliani told host Laura Ingraham.
The former mayor of New York City suggested that some House Democrats were guilty of violating Article II of the Constitution, which outlines the president’s powers during his four-year term as commander in chief, specifically his power to conduct the foreign policy of the United States. He also said he may sue Democrats in Congress for allegedly violating attorney-client privilege and over obstruction-of-justice claims.
The chairmen of three House committees subpoenaed Giuliani on Monday, seeking key documents related to the Ukraine controversy as part of their Trump impeachment inquiry. Giuliani lawyered up Tuesday, hiring former Watergate prosecutor John Sale.
Though still mounting a defense, Giuliani claimed he has evidence, in the form of video recordings and interview notes, which are protected from an additional subpoena under the statute of attorney-client privilege. He said the evidence incriminates House Democrats for allegedly trying to threaten foreign powers into keeping quiet amid the impeachment inquiry.
He pointed to the example of Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who last month boasted to reporters, including conservative columnist John Solomon, that he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that cooperating with Trump and Giuliani would be viewed as election meddling and would be “disastrous for long-term U.S.-Ukraine relations,” The Hill reported.
Giuliani also accused mainstream media organizations of bias, claiming they turned a blind eye to the Ukraine activities of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
“[The media] are covering up for the Democrats because they are more corrupt than anyone realizes. They are covering up serious crimes that were committed against the United States by the Bidens and taking millions and multimillions of dollars and putting the United States in a very compromised position,” he said.
“[The media] are covering up for the Democrats because they are more corrupt than anyone realizes. They are covering up serious crimes that were committed against the United States by the Bidens and taking millions and multimillions of dollars and putting the United States in a very compromised position.”Giuliani said Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress are trying to silence him and Attorney General William Barr solely because they are effective in their legal defense of the president. Biden's presidential campaign requested in a letter Sunday that major news networks not invite Giuliani on air anymore, after Giuliani spent the morning on a series of talk shows aggressively highlighting what he called Biden's apparently corrupt dealings in Ukraine and China.
— Rudy Giuliani
Ingraham mentioned members of Congress are given immunity from prosecution in regard to comments made during legislative sessions. Giuliani said he would come after House Democrats for their remarks made outside of Congress, include Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who recently tweeted that Trump should be kept in solitary confinement, and another unnamed congressmen who allegedly said Barr should be arrested.
Biden has acknowledged on camera that, when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was investigating the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings — where his son Hunter Biden had a highly lucrative role on the board paying him tens of thousands of dollars per month, despite limited relevant expertise. The elder Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.
Fox News' Gregg Re, Brooke Singman and Blake Burman contributed to this report.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
GOP 'Texodus' continues with Mac Thornberry retirement, Dems eye seats
The sixth House Republican from Texas announced Monday that he will not run for re-election
in 2020 as an unfolding “Texodus” marks a shift in American national
politics as Democrats eye the traditionally red Lone Star as potential
battleground territory.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, who represented a district in the northern Texas panhandle, said in a press release Monday, quoting a verse from Ecclesiastes: "We are reminded ... that 'for everything there is a season,' and I believe that the time has come for a change. Therefore, I will not be a candidate for reelection in the 2020 election."
He served 13 terms in Congress since he was first elected to the U.S. House in 1994, the same year George W. Bush won the presidency. Thornberry was one of the longest-serving representatives on either party in Congress, the Dallas Morning News reported.
His impending departure marks the sixth Texas Republican in Congress since July to announce that they will not seek reelection.
Rep. Pete Olson started the trend, followed by Reps. Mike Conway, Will Hurd, Kenny Marchant and Bill Flores. Conway is the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee and Hurd is the only African American Republican in Congress, according to NPR.
"While we steadily invest in the Lone Star State, Washington Republicans just flew into Texas to declare they'll win back the majority and jetted away without a plan to stop the Texodus," Lucinda Guinn, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told the Dallas Morning News.
Because Thornberry’s district is strongly Republican---President Trump won by an 80 percent margin there in 2016—the congressman’s resignation does not pose a risk to the GOP losing the seat to the Dems come 2020, the Dallas Morning News reported. Some of the other seats are more vulnerable to a Democratic takeover come Election Day.
Unlike Democrats, the Republican Party sets term limits on how long representatives can hold committee leadership positions in the House. Some speculate Thornberry and other Republican representatives decided against re-election because they don’t want to return to the status of a rank-and-file member of Congress. The Republican Party is considering amending that rule to prevent others from flying to coop, according to Politico.
Others believe Republicans in Congress no longer want to serve in a chamber as a member of the minority party. It’s unlikely the GOP will regain the House as a result of the 2020 election.
According to the Texas Tribune Washington bureau chief, Abby Livingston, some GOP Republicans might have been dissuaded by the smaller margins by which they won re-election the last time. Though Texas remains red, the Democrats have gradually been seizing influence in a ground up movement at the state level, as more of the wealthier suburbs in Houston and Dallas are now represented by Democrats, according to NPR.
The recent Texodus comes after the Republican Party lost control of the House for the first time in eight years following the 2018 midterm elections. Two GOP congressmen lost their re-election bids that year while six others announced their retirements in 2018, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, who represented a district in the northern Texas panhandle, said in a press release Monday, quoting a verse from Ecclesiastes: "We are reminded ... that 'for everything there is a season,' and I believe that the time has come for a change. Therefore, I will not be a candidate for reelection in the 2020 election."
He served 13 terms in Congress since he was first elected to the U.S. House in 1994, the same year George W. Bush won the presidency. Thornberry was one of the longest-serving representatives on either party in Congress, the Dallas Morning News reported.
His impending departure marks the sixth Texas Republican in Congress since July to announce that they will not seek reelection.
Rep. Pete Olson started the trend, followed by Reps. Mike Conway, Will Hurd, Kenny Marchant and Bill Flores. Conway is the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee and Hurd is the only African American Republican in Congress, according to NPR.
"While we steadily invest in the Lone Star State, Washington Republicans just flew into Texas to declare they'll win back the majority and jetted away without a plan to stop the Texodus," Lucinda Guinn, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told the Dallas Morning News.
Because Thornberry’s district is strongly Republican---President Trump won by an 80 percent margin there in 2016—the congressman’s resignation does not pose a risk to the GOP losing the seat to the Dems come 2020, the Dallas Morning News reported. Some of the other seats are more vulnerable to a Democratic takeover come Election Day.
Unlike Democrats, the Republican Party sets term limits on how long representatives can hold committee leadership positions in the House. Some speculate Thornberry and other Republican representatives decided against re-election because they don’t want to return to the status of a rank-and-file member of Congress. The Republican Party is considering amending that rule to prevent others from flying to coop, according to Politico.
Others believe Republicans in Congress no longer want to serve in a chamber as a member of the minority party. It’s unlikely the GOP will regain the House as a result of the 2020 election.
According to the Texas Tribune Washington bureau chief, Abby Livingston, some GOP Republicans might have been dissuaded by the smaller margins by which they won re-election the last time. Though Texas remains red, the Democrats have gradually been seizing influence in a ground up movement at the state level, as more of the wealthier suburbs in Houston and Dallas are now represented by Democrats, according to NPR.
The recent Texodus comes after the Republican Party lost control of the House for the first time in eight years following the 2018 midterm elections. Two GOP congressmen lost their re-election bids that year while six others announced their retirements in 2018, according to the Dallas Morning News.
WinRed, new GOP donor platform, reaps impeachment windfall, rakes in millions since probe launch
EXCLUSIVE – WinRed, the new GOP online fundraising platform designed to compete with Democrats in the battle for small-dollar campaign donations, has raised over $28 million since launching three months ago, with top officials crediting the Democrats’ impeachment push for a big spike in fundraising over the last week, Fox News has learned.
WinRed raised $28.1 million in the third fundraising quarter, which began in July and ended Monday. The online platform is used to raise money for President Trump’s re-election, campaign committees and various Republican candidates across the country.
In an interview, WinRed's president, Gerrit Lansing, said the Democrats’ moves to ramp up impeachment efforts against Trump “helped a lot,” saying fundraising numbers “spiked” after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement of a formal inquiry last week.
WinRed has raised over $11.8 million from over 237,000 contributors since the announcement from Pelosi, D-Calif., he said.
“It just poured gas on the situation where there is a ton of money being raised in all levels and all campaigns,” Lansing said.
The platform has been off to a stronger start than the Democrats’ version which launched in 2004. FEC records indicated the $30 million raised through WinRed was more than what ActBlue -- the Dems' big online fundraising platform -- raised in its first three and a half years. The records showed that ActBlue raised $99,000 in its first quarter of operations from June to August 2004.
“They were starting in a position that didn’t have all the party behind it,” Lansing said of ActBlue. “The DNC wasn’t on ActBlue until several years ago. Hillary and Obama weren’t on ActBlue,” he said, referring to former President Obama and ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
But, ActBlue has grown into a fundraising behemoth since then: it raised $246 million in the second fundraising quarter of this year.
Lansing said WinRed has benefitted from top Republican campaigns and organizations embracing it from the beginning. WinRed launched in late June, and this was the platform’s first full fundraising quarter.
“We’re starting off with a big bang where everyone’s on it, everyone’s excited about, and I think it reflects in that big number in our first three months,” he said.
Those running WinRed were hoping to raise $20-25 million this quarter but blew through it after last week’s impeachment drama. The days leading up to the end of the quarter – when campaigns would ramp up fundraising appeals – also could see increases in donations. WinRed had over 601,000 donations this quarter.
“Impeachment helped a lot with that,” Lansing said.
Republicans have boasted of increased fundraising in the wake of the impeachment inquiry announcement. Officials said the Trump campaign, along with the RNC, brought in $5 million in the 24 hours after Pelosi’s announcement. National Republican Congressional Committee officials also said its online fundraising soared by 608 percent on the day Pelosi announced the inquiry.
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