Trump impeachment in review
by Tom Sullivan
The Committee on the Judiciary Committee, United States House of Representatives, opened its formal impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon on May 9, 1974. Photo via Library of Congress.
A flurry of breaking stories uncorked over the weekend still require time to age properly. But after two weeks of testimony in the impeachment inquiry, a review might be in order this morning. It’s been hell keeping up.
Thankfully, several sources provided summaries to help ensure everyone is on the same page.
The Washington Post provided a short video cataloging 24 GOP defenses of Donald Trump’s arms-for-political-dirt scheme with Ukraine. It’s a moving target. On Nov. 12, the Post counted 17.
Here’s a summary of this weekend’s count:
Walter Shaub, former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics under presidents Obama and Trump, provides a lengthy bill of particulars against Trump. For a moment there, I thought I was reading the list of 27 complaints against King George III. But Shaub counts 40 against Trump, a few of which are posted below. Donald will be pleased the size of his list is bigger:
2/
a. Soliciting foreign attacks on our elections;
b. Using federal appropriations or other resources to pressure foreign governments to help them win reelection;
c. Implementing an across-the-board refusal to comply with any congressional oversight at all;— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) November 24, 2019
Michael McFaul, ambassador to Russia under President Obama and MSNBC contributor, watched every minute of the hearings and knows most of the witnesses to date. “After 2 weeks,” McFaul tweets, “none of the basic facts were ever seriously disputed.” He summarizes his takeaways in a tweet thread. “Trump used his public office — the most sacred office in our country — to try to pursue his private electoral interests,” McFaul concludes. Trump only stopped because he got caught. McFaul’s first few conclusions are below:
Trump, however, will use any means necessary to win reelection, including asking foreign governments to help him. He said as much to @GStephanopoulos on camera. He saw an opportunity in Ukraine. He first deputized Guiliani to explore it. 5.— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) November 22, 2019
Several months ago, Giuliani began to court Ukrainian prosecutor general Yuri Lutsenko with the goal of opening investigations into Burisma/Biden. The aim was clear — find/fabricate dirt on VP Biden, at the time the leading Democratic candidate in the 2020 election. 6.— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) November 22, 2019
There is more, naturally. Settlements against Trump’s “sham university,” his Trump Foundation (closed down by the state of New York), and decades of questionable tax dodges by the Trump Organization document a pattern of self-dealing that will follow Trump’s family business out of office even if as a former president Trump himself somehow evades legal accountability for offenses committed in office.
Finally, over the weekend yet another billionaire master-of-the-universe — Michael Bloomberg — announced he would run for president as a Democrat against Trump in 2020. Not even Wall Streeters think Bloomberg has a chance. If nothing else, it will be fun reminding Trump at every opportunity that Bloomberg’s stack is bigger. Much, much bigger. Perhaps seventeen times bigger. And Bloomberg is actually self-made.
Trump has a history of threatening lawsuits against people who publicly question the size of his, um, endowment. One hopes Bloomberg will question the size of Trump’s fortune for the entertainment value alone.