Constitution

By Clark D. Cunningham< | - As Congress considers formal charges of impeachment against President Donald Trump, they should consider words spoken at the Constitutional Convention, when the Founders explained that impeachment was intended to have many important purposes, not just removing a president from office. A critical debate took place on July 20, 1787, […]

Congress

A Coup against Trump? Or Trump’s Coup against the Rule of Law?

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus) – Donald Trump says that impeachment is actually a coup. It’s one more example of his attack on the rule of law. Coups have been one of the greatest threats to democracy. The people elect a daring leader willing to take on the status quo. And then, as in Iran in […]

Congress

Impeaching Trump: Amid Ukraine Mess, Don’t Forget his Domestic Crimes

John Feffer

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Trump’s war on the law extends beyond flouting Congress and packing courts — overseas, it extends to arguable crimes against humanity. It’s a cliché in Westerns. The bad guys ride into town only to be met by a sheriff who stands tall. “I am the law,” the sheriff says, […]

Congress

Trump’s War on our Language: Fudging, Waffling and Lying weave Alternative Universe

Karen J. Greenberg

( Tomdispatch.com ) – These days, witnessing the administration’s never-ending cruelty at the border, the shenanigans of a White House caught red-handed in attempted bribery in Ukraine, and the disarray of this country’s foreign policy, I feel like I’m seeing a much-scarier remake of a familiar old movie. The cast of characters and the headlines […]

Congress

Quid Pro Quo: 4 GOP Defenses of Trump that Sondland and others have Shot Down

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – 1. No quid pro quo (“this for that”). The Republicans, and Trump himself, kept asserting that the president didn’t offer a bribe. That is, he didn’t ask Ukraine for a thing of value in return for his bestowal of some favor on Kyiv. It isn’t necessary for Trump to have […]

Constitution

Fitting: Trump will be Impeached for Chasing a Fantastical Conspiracy Theory about Ukraine

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus) – When it comes to Ukraine, Trump has been manipulated as deftly as a mindless marionette. It’s going to cost him. In fantasy sports, participants draft their own dream teams out of the rosters of existing players. That’s what Donald Trump has done with Ukraine. He and his advisors have created […]

Assyrians

Unconstitutional: VP Pence Directed USAID Help for Iraqis to tiny Christian Minority

ProPublica

by Yeganeh Torbati | (ProPublica) | – Officials at USAID warned that favoring Christian groups in Iraq could be unconstitutional and inflame religious tensions. When one colleague lost her job, they said she had been “Penced.” Last November, a top Trump appointee at the U.S. Agency for International Development wrote a candid email to colleagues […]

Constitution

Amb. Sondland, who Reversed himself on Ukraine Quid Pro Quo, once Stood up for Khizr Khan against Trump

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, potentially facing perjury charges owing to his earlier testimony that conflicted with that of other State Department personnel on the Ukraine quid pro quo, “refreshed his recollection” on Tuesday. In testimony to the impeachment inquiry, he said, “I now recall speaking individually […]

Congress

Impeachment was only Made Possible by a Grassroots Mass Movement

Waging Nonviolence

By Anthony Torres (1st Published at Waging Nonviolence) – The last few weeks have been a turning point for impeachment. Suddenly, dozens of members of Congress dashed at once to announce their support until the pro-impeachment faction had grown to a majority of the House of Representatives. And today the House overwhelmingly passed a resolution […]