Political Chatter

“What is Pelosi waiting for?”

I believe she is waiting for the tide of public opinion to turn. It’s hard to believe, but the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll shows 56% of Americans oppose Congress moving forward with impeachment proceedings.

The public is uninformed.

Based on that fact alone, Nancy’s strategy is a good one. There is the additional factor that Mitch McConnell will stonewall any efforts to impeach, blocking the proceedings from progressing past the House. It may be pointless to attempt unless the tide of public opinion turns in overwhelming favor of impeachment.

To subpoena all the characters named in the Mueller report, and put them on display in public hearings, will leave Americans with a full understanding of the depth of corruption ingrained in this administration, and the threat Donald Trump poses to our national security. The subpoenas are going out.

Trump, is a petulant child. He has refused all the subpoenas that have come his way, and he’s ordered his people to do likewise.

So now what?

Former White House Counsel, Don McGahn, is between Congress and an orange face a rock and a hard place. His name is sighted 157 times in the Mueller report. One of the most damning revelations to come from his 30-hour meeting with Mueller is that Trump told McGahn to fire Mueller but to take responsibility for the decision.

The House has subpoenaed McGahn, and Trump has ordered him to ignore the subpoena. McGahn no longer works for Trump and plans to ignore him by complying with the subpoena. Trump is worried because now he has redirected his energy toward publicly taunting McGahn with schoolyard taunts, and calling him a liar.

Regardless of Trump’s orders, McGahn, Lewandowski, and many will testify under oath that Trump directed them to obstruct justice, which should go a long way toward destroying the public support he enjoys.

Trump can add Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein to the dwindling, but loyal, list of those protecting him. An article in the Washington Post tells of Rosenstein’s strange plea to Trump, “I can land the plane.”

This was his way of begging not to be fired, after a New York Times story claimed he was “wired” to record conversations with Trump. Rosenstein denied the allegations.

In the Post article, Rosenstein is unapologetic for his part in Barr’s four-page lie, the letter intending to sell the Mueller report as inconclusive. Barr claimed Mueller gave him sole authority to decide the fate of Trump. He said the report exonerated Trump of collusion, and that Trump did not participate in Russia’s attack on our democracy. What’s worse— Both Barr and Rosenstein are perpetuating the myth that Mueller did not choose to indict Trump for obstruction because it was baseless, and that’s the end of that fairytale.

The truth: Robert Mueller has much evidence that Trump willingly accepted help from Russia to win the 2016 election. Mueller’s report stated the evidence was not enough to indict Trump criminally, in part, because much of it was destroyed by Trump’s entourage, and the lying on behalf of Trump also detracted from Mueller’s evidence. While Mueller did not find enough evidence to indict Trump on conspiracy, he did find enough move forward with impeachment based on the plot. This report makes clear; Trump is a threat to national security.

Mr. Mueller also stated Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice, in 10 instances, and counting, however Mr. Mueller believes, because Trump is a sitting president, he cannot be indicted until he is removed from office.

If Trump were not president, this would have been enough to put him in jail. Mueller recommended Congress, not Barr, move forward with his report.

Regardless, Trump says he was exonerated; he has instructed his staff to ignore all congressional subpoenas, including those requesting his taxes.

Trump is subjecting his staff, those who comply with his order, to violate federal law. By ignoring subpoenas, they are in contempt of Congress. Bill Barr continues to obstruct in his way, with the help of his wingman, Rosenstein.

Contempt of Congress was the third article of impeachment against Richard Nixon:

In April 1974, when the Judiciary Committee subpoenaed, unedited tapes and new transcripts of many Watergate-related conversations from the Nixon White House, Nixon refused.

Three months later, on July 24, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Nixon to comply. On July 27, 29, and 30, 1974, the Committee approved three articles of impeachment against Nixon, for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress, and reported those articles to the House of Representatives.

Nixon resigned 16 days later.

The only question now is how this will play out. The result will be the same. Trump will be removed from office, and likely be indicted for his many crimes.

The Washington Post story quotes Rosenstein, blaming President Obama for not taking action against Russia, which is part of a continuing effort to mislead the public.

Rod knows Mitch McConnell “strongly urged” Obama not to take further action. Moscow Mitch like Misha Pence knew about Russian interference.

Had President Obama informed the public about Russia’s efforts to sway the election toward Trump, he would have been accused of sabotaging Trump’s campaign, to help Hillary. He, like the majority of the world, assumed Trump would lose anyway. We all underestimated Putin.

Rosenstein has taken many of us by surprise, now appearing to be one of the villains in this never-ending saga, caring only about his job. That, or his white horse is camouflaged by the White House, and he’s a good guy on the down low for now.

Donald Trump and his family will not walk away from this without consequences.

‘I can land the plane’: How Rosenstein tried to mollify Trump, protect Mueller and save his job

McConnell’s response to Russian attack is back in the spotlight