American Leftist Cartoons

Why Trump critics are now switching from impeachment to indictment

Two decades ago, liberals argued that Bill Clinton should not be impeached for his tawdry affair with Monica Lewinsky because, well, his lies were just about sex.
Today, some liberals are arguing that Donald Trump should be impeached because of Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal because, well, it's not the sex, it's the hush money.
For well over a year, Trump's critics have been banking on Robert Mueller to come up with evidence of Russian collusion, and there have been only disconnected fragments. So now —never mind! — it's about women and money.
The old argument from the left: Trump has committed crimes and should be impeached!
The new argument from the left: Trump has committed crimes and should be indicted!
I'm in no way excusing what went on with the two women from his past. But here's some perspective.
To be sure, Mueller's sentencing memos last week provided some leads on the Russia matter. Michael Cohen, for instance, admitted lying to Congress about the time period that the president's company was pursuing a real estate deal in Moscow, and the memo says Cohen discussed his testimony with people in the White House.
But in the blink of an eye, the media focus seems to be switching to the Stormy narrative — the case being pursued not by Mueller but by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan.
Here's a key difference between Trump and Clinton. The 42nd president had his dalliance with Lewinsky while he was in office, in the White House itself, with a subordinate who was a lowly intern. Trump's alleged affairs with a porn star and a Playboy model took place 12 years ago when he was a celebrity businessman.
That's why most people don't care about what Trump did as a private citizen, and I get it. I got a lot of flak when I started reporting on the Stormy case — first broken by the Wall Street Journal days before the election — and always stressed that it was the financial paper trail that might come back to haunt the president.
And that's why the Southern District's probe of Cohen — who was reimbursed for making the $130,000 payment to Daniels and brokered the National Enquirer's $150,000 payment to McDougal — is troublesome for Cohen's former boss.
Yes, it's a campaign finance violation, and yes, those are usually punished by fines or even a slap of the wrist.
But the argument that prosecutors could make is that it was an attempt to subvert the election.
National Review contributor Andrew McCarthy, who worked in the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and is a sharp critic of the Mueller probe, doesn't mince words in a piece for Fox:
"The president is very likely to be indicted on a charge of violating federal campaign finance laws."
McCarthy's argument is that when Cohen pleaded guilty in August, "prosecutors induced him to make an extraordinary statement in open court: the payments to the women were made 'in coordination with and at the direction of' the candidate for federal office – Donald Trump.
"Prosecutors would not have done this if the president was not on their radar screen. Indeed, if the president was not implicated, I suspect they would not have prosecuted Cohen for campaign finance violations at all. Those charges had a negligible impact on the jail time Cohen faces, which is driven by the more serious offenses of tax and financial institution fraud, involving millions of dollars."
There is, of course, the not-insignificant matter of the Justice Department practice that a sitting president can't be indicted. That's why Democrats like Adam Schiff are now saying Trump could face jail time after he leaves office (if he's not reelected). And MSNBC's Joe Scarborough says the Supreme Court will have to decide whether the president can be indicted for a crime "which helped him get elected."
Trump — proving that no one proofreads his tweets — said: "Democrats can't find a Smocking Gun tying the Trump campaign to Russia." So now, he says, "the Dems go to a simple private transaction, wrongly call it a campaign contribution which it was not (but even if it was, it is only a CIVIL CASE, like Obama's - but it was done correctly by a lawyer and there would not even be a fine. Lawyer's liability if he made a mistake, not me). Cohen just trying to get his sentence reduced. WITCH HUNT!"
All Michael Cohen's fault, according to the president.
I don't minimize the importance of the payments to Daniels and McDougal to suppress their stories before the election. If a Democrat had done that, the right would be up in arms.
But I still think it's a stretch that it leads to indictment or impeachment, especially if the much-ballyhooed Russian collusion probe comes up dry.
And the reason is that the underlying offense (if there is one) was to keep embarrassing sexual disclosures from coming out. The point was to win an election, of course — and the president's pal at the Enquirer's parent company rolled over for him — but also spare Trump pain in his marriage.
My assumption is that much of the public won't see that as sufficient grounds to overturn an election or imprison a president — just as they didn't when Bill Clinton repeatedly lied about a similar subject.

Comey’s credibility under fire

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:49 AM PT — Monday, Dec. 10, 2018

Former FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters after testifying under subpoena behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Fired FBI Director James Comey’s testimony is calling into question his credibility and decision making.
Republican lawmakers have been highlighting the big takeaways from last week’s questioning.
Congressman Jim Jordan outlined how Comey said “I don’t recall” eight times, “I don’t remember” 71 times, and “I don’t know” 166 times.
This comes as Comey is now accused of using a dubious Russian document to influence his decision in the Clinton email case.
According to a report last year, Comey used that information to announce last July that the Clinton email probe was over. However, the report suggested many close to the matter believed that information was bad intelligence and possibly even fake.
Comey is scheduled to return to Capitol Hill later this month for more questioning.

Rep. Beto O’Rourke speaks to Al Sharpton amid speculation of presidential bid in 2020

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 12:13 PM PT — Monday, Dec. 10, 2018

A recent reported meeting is sparking more speculation Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke is set to launch a presidential bid.
Buzz Feed News is reported Monday that O’Rourke and Reverend Al Sharpton had a sit down last week. While details are limited, a spokesperson for Sharpton told the outlet the two had a great conversation and set up a future meeting.
This comes as O’Rourke has flip-flopped on his stance of running for president.

FILE – In this Nov. 6, 2018, file photo, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, the 2018 Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, made his concession speech at his election night party in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

When asked during his failed senatorial campaign if he would run in 2020, he responded with:
“I don’t want to do it, I will not do it –Amy and I are raising an 11-year-old, a 10-year-old, and a seven-year-old and we spent the better part of the last two-years not with each other, missing birthdays and anniversaries and time together, and our family could not survive more of that.”
However, O’Rourke has since said he made the decision not to rule anything out.

China threatens consequences if Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is not released

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 1:45 PM PT — Monday, Dec. 10, 2018

China is threatening to take aggressive action against Canada if the country fails to release Huawei’s CFO from custody and obeys a U.S. extradition request.

“For Canada, if they do not correctly handle this matter there will be serious consequences. You asked, what kind of serious consequences would these be? I can tell you in one sentence – it is totally up to Canada.” — Lu Kang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman

China’s foreign ministry also said, according to an agreement between China and Canada, the Canadian government should have told the Chinese consulates and embassies Meng was going to be arrested. However, that didn’t happen.
China’s foreign ministry also cited human rights concerns surrounding Meng’s detention.
“During Ms. Meng Wanzhou’s detention, certain measures, including inhumane measures used against her, the provision of medical treatment necessary for her and measures for her basic well-being, were not in place at all,” stated Kang. “We think this is inhumane and has breached her human rights.”

People hold a sign at a Vancouver, British Columbia courthouse prior to the bail hearing for Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer on Monday, December 10, 2018. Meng Wanzhou was detained at the request of the U.S. during a layover at the Vancouver airport on Dec. 1, 2018. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP)

Attorneys for Meng cited health concerns during a bail hearing Friday. They said she was taken to a hospital for hypertension treatment after being detained.
46-year-old Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, remains in custody in Vancouver over U.S. allegations she misled multi-nation banks about Huawei’s control of a company operating in Iran. This put the banks at risk of violating U.S. sanctions and incurring the associated penalties.
Recent reports have already detailed two financial institutions, British-based Standard Chartered and HSBC, as allegedly among the banks misled by Huawei.
Huawei reportedly used a third party intermediary, the Hong Kong-based firm Skycom, to channel payments between the tech giant and Iran.
Both banks have faced past scrutiny from global regulators for past money laundering violations and have had federal monitors in place to watch for these types of transactions. Neither bank has been accused of wrongdoing at this time.
In the meantime, while China has denounced the arrest, it hasn’t linked it to trade talks with the U.S. as experts say it doesn’t want to undermine the prospects for a trade deal.
On Sunday, White House officials said Meng’s arrest and extradition request was “solely a law enforcement matter, “and would not derail the talks with China.
While China’s foreign ministry has been vocal on the arrest, the Commerce Ministry, who is engaged in the trade talks, has yet to comment on the situation.

Crooked Comey Cartoons

Nick Ayers, considered candidate for White House chief of staff, 'departing' at year's end

Vice President Pence's chief of staff, Nick Ayers, who was considered a front-runner to replace John Kelly as White House chief of staff, announced Sunday: "I will be departing at the end of the year."
Ayers revealed the news in a tweet. Its full text read: "Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause. #Georgia"
The Wall Street Journal originally reported that Trump and Ayers could not reach agreement on Ayers' length of service and that he would instead assist the president from outside the administration.
Ayers and Trump had discussed the job for months. The new hire was to be key to a West Wing reshuffling to shift focus toward the 2020 reelection campaign and the challenge of governing with Democrats in control of the House.
Officials said Trump and Ayers could not agree on his length of service, but Trump wants his next chief of staff to hold the job through the 2020 election. Ayers, who has young triplets, had long planned to leave the administration at the end of the year, and reportedly discussed taking the job on an interim basis only through next spring.
Trump said Saturday that he expected to announce a replacement for Kelly in a day or two, and it was not immediately clear whether he had a new favorite for the post.
Sources told Fox News on Sunday evening there have been “conversations” about Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., becoming chief of staff. Meadows serves as chairman of the influential House Freedom Caucus.
Trump reportedly is considering four candidates for the post, including Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, The Associated Press added.
Sunday night, Trump took a potshot at the media, while also tweeting his next steps: “I am in the process of interviewing some really great people for the position of White House Chief of Staff. Fake News has been saying with certainty it was Nick Ayers, a spectacular person who will always be with our #MAGA agenda. I will be making a decision soon!”
Trump had developed confidence in Ayers, in part by watching the effectiveness of Pence's largely independent political operation. Ayers also earned the backing of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president's daughter and son-in-law and senior advisers, for taking on the new role, White House officials said.

President Donald Trump's top pick to replace chief of staff John Kelly, Nick Ayers, apparently took himself out of the running for the job Sunday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) 

ANDREW MCCARTHY: HOW COHEN MEMO MAKES IT LIKELY TRUMP WILL BE INDICTED

Ayers, 36, would have been the youngest chief of staff since 34-year-old Hamilton Jordan served under Jimmy Carter.
Kelly is 68.
Ayers instead will be leaving the administration to run a pro-Trump super PAC, The Associated Press reported citing a person familiar with his plans who was not authorized to discuss them by name.
Pence thanked Ayers for his service in a tweet early Sunday evening.
Its full text read: “.@nick_ayers has done an outstanding job as my Chief of Staff and I will always be grateful for his friendship, dedication to the @VP team and his efforts to advance the @POTUS agenda. Thank you Nick! Karen and I wish you, Jamie and the kids every blessing in the years ahead.”
GOP RUSHES TO PASS BORDER WALL LEGISLATION, JUSTICE REFORM BEFORE DEMS TAKE HOUSE
Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would leave around year's end.
Kelly, whose last day on the job is set to be Jan. 2, had been credited with imposing order on a chaotic West Wing after his arrival in June 2017 from his post as homeland security secretary. However, he also alienated some longtime Trump allies, and over time he grew increasingly isolated, with an increasingly diminished role.

Comey: Trump is lucky a sitting president can’t be indicted for being linked to Cohen case

Former FBI Director James Comey said Sunday in an interview that President Trump, if it's proved that he directed illegal hush-money payments to women, would be in violation of campaign finance laws, but he is lucky that the rule of the Justice Department remains that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
“I don’t know,” Comey replied to an MSNBC host at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, when asked if Trump is now an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the case of Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. “Not in the formal sense that he’s been named in an indictment. ... But if he’s not there, he’s certainly close given the language in the filing that the crimes were committed at his direction.”
In filings Friday, prosecutors in New York linked Trump to a federal crime of illegal payments to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office also laid out contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries, and suggested the Kremlin aimed early on to influence Trump and his Republican campaign by playing to his political and personal business interests.
In the legal filings, the Justice Department stopped short of accusing Trump of directly committing a crime. However, it said Trump told Cohen to make illegal payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom claimed to have had affairs with Trump more than a decade ago.
When asked if anyone other than a president were implicated in the way that Trump has been, Comey responded: “Well, that person would be in serious jeopardy of being charged.” He continued, “because the government wouldn’t make that sponsoring allegation if they weren’t seriously contemplating going forward with criminal charges.”
Comey added, “Now where it stands here, I can’t say.”
SCHIFF: DEMS WANT COHEN BACK ON CAPITOL HILL AFTER THEY RETAKE HOUSE
In separate filings, Mueller's team detailed how Cohen spoke to a Russian who "claimed to be a 'trusted person' in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign 'political synergy' and 'synergy on a government level.'" Cohen said he never followed up on that meeting. Mueller's team also said former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to them about his contacts with a Russian associate and Trump administration officials, including in 2018.
Multiple Trump associates, including Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Cohen, have pleaded guilty to lying about their interactions with Russians during the campaign and presidential transition period. Manafort's foreign dealings, including to an associate the U.S. says has ties to Russian intelligence, also have attracted law enforcement scrutiny.
COMEY IS A DISGRACE TO THE FBI, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR SAYS
Trump, who fired Comey in May 2017, has denied wrongdoing and has compared the investigations to a "witch hunt."
The president repeatedly has portrayed Comey and Mueller as exceptionally close as part of a long-running effort to undermine the investigation and paint the lead figures in the probe as united against him.