Did you miss the federal court ruling last week stating that the House’s impeachment investigation was legal and legitimate even without a formal vote by lawmakers?
The judge also held that the White House is “openly stonewalling” Congress.
@GOPLeader 2/ If you read Pelosi’s letter carefully, you’ll see that Thursday’s vote— far from backpedalling—signals that the impeachment inquiry is rapidly moving forward.
Shall I break down Pelosi’s letter for you?
Thursday the House will vote on a Resolution that will do 4 things.
@GOPLeader 3/ First, the Resolution will establish the procedure for public hearings.
This means the House basically decided it has enough evidence and will soon be ready for the next stage.
We're about to find out the structure and procedure for the public hearings.
@GOPLeader 4/ The NYT reports that the rules will allow for staff aides of the House Intelligence Committee to question witnesses directly. This means the questioning will be done by experienced lawyers. This should allow help the truth come to light.
@GOPLeader 5/ (I just realized I have two # 1s 🤣, so technically this should be 6)
Second, the Resolution will authorize the disclosure of the deposition transcripts
Now you’ll get to see everything the witnesses have been saying.
@GOPLeader 6/ Third, the Resolution will outline the procedures to transfer evidence to the Judiciary Committee as it considers possible articles of impeachment.
As I'm sure you know (since you're so well versed with the rules), since being formed in 1813, the Judiciary Committee has. . .
@GOPLeader 7/ . . . jurisdiction over impeachments. They decide what it means. They also draft the Articles of Impeachment.
That means Articles of Impeachment are coming soon!
@GOPLeader 8/ Finally the Resolution will set forth due process rights for the president and his counsel.
Due process in this case means due process appropriate to an impeachment inquiry.
I don’t expect these to be the same due process rights a criminal defendant is afforded.
@GOPLeader 9/ The reason for the letter is to “eliminate any doubt” as to whether the Trump administration can continue obstructing the House inquiry.
A reminder: President Trump never denied any of the facts.
Putin knows how to wield disinformation and he knows that the United States is divided: A large portion of the population, including the most influential voices from a major political party, want the United States to emulate his Russia.
After Russia enacted anti-homosexual legislation, Pat Buchanan said Putin was “entering a claim that Moscow is the Godly city of today" because he was stamping out western evils like easy divorce and homosexuality. buchanan.org/blog/whose-sid…
2/
British right-winger Katie Hopkins, in an article in which she was interviewed with her friend Ann Coulter, said “Putin rocks.”
Katie Hopkins then went on to praise Russia as being “untouched by the myth of multiculturalism and deranged diversity."
Um . . . this isn't the defense Trump thinks it is.
Trump published a letter he received from Mazars dated (it looks like) 2014. He then summarized the letter.
#1: What Mazars said
#2: What Trump says Mazars said
Me = 🤦♀️
Does he think nobody can or will actually read it?
Mazars said, "Trump is responsible for preparing the financial statement."
Also Mazars does not "undertake to obtain or provide any assurance that there are no material modifications that should be made . . . "
Trump posts the letter and says Mazars "strongly states that all work was performed in accordance with professional standards and that there were "no material discrepancies in the financial statements."
. . . and concluded with thoughts about how social media brings out authoritarian instincts in large swaths of people who ordinarily would not be given to authoritarian impulses.
Indicting people and having juries return "not guilty" verdicts because there isn't evidence to prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt may not accomplish what people think it will accomplish.
One reason I think social media is turning everyone into authoritarians: people don't read or think.
They see a headline and have a strong emotional reaction, which they Tweet and which then gets repeated by others, who are also not thinking . . .
1/
Political psychologists like @karen_stenner describe the authoritarian personality.
Those with an authoritarian disposition are averse to complexity. They reject nuance.
They prefer sameness and uniformity and have “cognitive limitations.”
(link in the next Tweet)
2/
See for example, "Authoritarianism is not a momentary madness,” which originally appeared in this book, an dwhich Stenner has now made available free on her website, here: ……e-4700-aaa9-743a55a9437a.filesusr.com/ugd/02ff25_370…
Timothy Snyder also talks about the danger of what he calls Internet Memes.