Guap
1720
I just love me some bad guy mugshots. Now, where is that Sergeant at Arms and his Contempt Posse?
Saddle up boys! We ride!
Then the House impeaches Barr for obstruction of justice.
And when Barr ignores their subpoenas, call it out, and make it clear he’s flouting the law. Get Barr disbarred (there’s already a movement afoot.) And if the Senate or Trump lets Barr off the hook with an acquittal or a pardon, make it clear they’re enabling criminals. Keep every crime under the microscope. Remind people every single day countless crimes are being committed and the way to make them stop is to vote in 2020.
Because that’s what it’s all about: getting the public to want Barr, Trump, et. al out. And it’s working. While Trump and co. can still do a lot of damage - they will absolutely try to break everything they can on the way out - ultimately they’re a small group of people with very little time left. There’s a much larger group of people, including most of the people who actually staff the government, furious with them.
Also: when there’s an ongoing investigation, prosecutors can file sealed indictments which are not publicly disclosed, and don’t get acted upon until the investigation is over or some other event triggers them. A sealed indictment is what got Parnas and Fruman - their flight attempt triggered the indictment, which presumably was under seal because the investigation into them was still underway. The statute of limitations does not apply to sealed indictments (in that the indictment happens when it was filed, not when it was unsealed.)
It’s possible that Giuliani and others involved in all this may also have sealed indictments against them. Yes, I know we’ve been told that there were no sealed indictments in Mueller’s Russia inquiry - but this isn’t Mueller’s Russia inquiry. It’s a technically a separate investigation, and technicalities are what lawyers live by. (I can just imagine the inner smile on anti-Trump DOJ employees as they told their bosses there were no sealed indictments in the Mueller investigation, knowing the ticking time bomb that was out there for Fruman and Parnas …)
Clay
1723
Whee… wait… maybe this doesn’t belong here.
Guap
1724
I missed Sonderland is now in line and scheduled to testify next Thurs. That’s awesome. And now the ambassador that wouldn’t play ball with Guliani trampling all over the state department is going to testify.
It’s a delicious bowl of impeachment ice cream being served cold on a Friday.
I think Federal prosecutors have wide latitude in deciding which cases to pursue, and a good deal of independence. They can ultimately be fired, but I don’t think Barr can really tell them what and what not to do.
Also, is this possibly another offshoot of Mueller’s work? I recall vaguely that there were still some unnamed matters he had turned over to other prosecutors when he wrapped his report.
Nothing is going to happen. We’re doomed. Stop this.
To follow on from HumanTon, one of the key moments that ignited all the fuel in the Watergate rocket was the discovery that Richard Nixon had told the FBI to please back off their investigation of the Watergate burglars–in oblique language, for sure, but the intent was clear.
And that was discovered after the fact, nearly a year after Nixon made that call.
If the FBI and DOJ were to cut off what is clearly a developing and ongoing investigation at this point would be like a bomb going off.
For now, this thing is going to be rough on Barr. This investigation is basically the DOJ holding a wolf by the ears. Dangerous as hell to keep holding on, maybe even more dangerous to even think about stopping.
I think there are a lot of Republicans in the White House who really want Sondland to testify, and the “He’s defying the State Department!” is pure theater. Pompeo wants him to do this, to make some theater, and present the White House’s talking points.
Guap
1729
Sonderland is the one who got the text message saying “It’s crazy to withhold aid for a political campaign”, called Trump, and then sent that text that was the equivalent of “Hey, let’s stop talking over text, it leaves a paper trail” guy, right?
That’s him. And there was a 5-hour gap that both the WSJ and NBC and CNN have all independently confirmed that Sondland called Trump during.
Yeah, Sonderland will be there to share all the sweetness and light he sees from his position up the rump of Trump.
Is anyone still on the Ukraine story is far simpler a case for impeachment bus? Cuz this shit is complicated.
KevinC
1733
Conceptually it’s easier. Trump got on phone, strongarmed Ukraine to help, tried to hide it. Tried to stop whistleblower complaint from reaching Congress. The details are sordid and messy but conceptually it’s easier to understand, especially since he’s a sitting President now and not a candidate.
Also, you make an argument that it is bribery, one of the only explicitly mentioned reasons for impeachment.
I mean, that first explanation still fully works, right? You really don’t need to go any deeper than “The President illegally withheld money allocated by congress to a foreign country in order to try to force that country to investigate a political rival for the President’s own personal gain.”
That still works completely.
But now we’re getting beneath the surface of that particular wound, and finding out there were levels and levels of foulness beneath it, and that phone call was just the most visible manifestation of the filth beneath it.
rowe33
1736
It would help if they could just make the made-for-TV movies or series about this whole thing NOW, so the American people can more easily digest what’s happening.
And it’s going to get more complicated before it gets simpler. The real hidden fight in this impeachment inquiry is over timing. The administration wants this to all move fast and get swept away and forgotten before an election. The Dem majority in the house wants just the opposite. They want this dragging out for months and months because that opens multiple winning plays for them. They can either uncover so much that even a Republican controlled senate has to convict or they can drag this out through the election cycle to steal all Trumps headlines. They are good either way. So unless a critical mass of damning evidence turns up quickly, they are going to keep digging and digging and digging to complicate things and keep the inquiry dragging on.
Guap
1738
Kevin Spacey can play Guliani.
Honestly, this seems entirely backwards and incorrect based on what we’re hearing and seeing from the Administration and House leadership.
Pelosi has said repeatedly that they want this inquiry to be done by the holidays and if articles of impeachment are to be voted on, that this is done before the new year.
The Administration – by refusing to comply with subpoenas and showing a willingness to fight Congress on them in court – is clearly trying to drag this out for as long as possible until they can introduce some impeachment weariness and simply get public opinion to bounce back a bit.
