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1) At this point, the broad contours of the Ukraine scandal are well understood.

Trump used hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money appropriated as military aid to extort a vulnerable ally into helping him rig the 2020 election on his behalf.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
2) But there are two other aspects of this scandal that need deeper elaboration.

The first is the degree to which this whole scheme is corrupting multiple government agencies and effectively placing them at the disposal of Trump’s reelection effort.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
3) The second is that two of the scheme’s goals — getting Ukraine to validate a conspiracy theory absolving Russia of 2016 sabotage, and to manufacture smears of one of Trump’s leading 2020 rivals — are really part of the same story.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
4) At the core of the narrative is Trump’s continuing reliance on foreign help in corrupting our democracy to his advantage, through two presidential elections, and the covering up of all of it.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
5) The role of @SecPompeo is only now coming into focus. It's unreal.

But William Barr also needs more attention.

An RNC spox now claims Trump's pressure on Ukraine was all about getting cooperation with Barr's review of origins of Russia investigation:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
@SecPompeo 6) Multiple government agencies are actively helping Trump absolve Russia of sabotaging 2016 on his behalf -- and helping him cover up his effort to solicit more foreign help in cheating his way to victory in the next one.

Full case made here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
@SecPompeo We haven't quite managed to get our arms around the sheer scope and reach of the mind-boggling corruption on display here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
1) The new defense of Trump from his loyalists is laughably disingenuous.

Their claim now is that, yes, there may have been a quid pro quo, but you can't show *Trump himself* was behind it.

But the *already known* facts show this is steaming nonsense.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
2) Let's walk through this.

Trump himself personally ordered the military aid frozen.

And officials were ordered not to share details about it with lawmakers.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
3) Giuliani publicly confirmed the whole plot as early as May, and continued to do so for months.

Here's an important quote from Giuliani we should revisit now:

“I don’t do anything that involves my client without speaking with my client.”

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Read 6 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
1) The idea that Trump's base possesses a kind of limitless power, reach and depth that still remains untapped is a central feature of Trump's propagandistic depiction of his own political invulnerability.

This notion is central to the Cult of Trump.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
2) Everybody rightly mocked RNC chair Ronna McDaniel for her Baghdad Bob spin of the Kentucky loss.

But, in claiming Trump swung the polls by 17 points (LOL) by activating the base, McDaniel was speaking directly to that cult-like set of beliefs.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
3) The thing is that Trump *actually does* believe he can win only by activating the base.

He puts this into practice every day.

The idea that he needs swing voters is itself an admission of a kind of weakness -- that Trump's America has limits.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…
Read 6 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
Wow. Sondland has updated his testimony, and he's now confirming that he told Ukraine that it would not get its military aid unless it publicly committed to the investigations Trump wanted, NYT reports:

nytimes.com/2019/11/05/us/…

We're getting very close to fully confirming this:
And there it is, the quid pro quo, straight from Sondland's mouth:
It's worth going back to Sondland's original statement.

Note that his wording on the quid pro quo point is weaselly. He carefully says there was no QPQ for "assistance with the president's reelection campaign" rather than for "the statements Trump wanted." Gave him wiggle room:
Read 4 tweets

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STOP tRumpnado 🌊
@Trumpnado2016
1/ When we look at Trump's repeated efforts to sabotage the US economy with Tweets & trade wars, we really need to dig into the basics of his limited personality to ask why?
2/ Yes we know that Trump has been fundamentally racist his whole life & wants to blame the Mexican people, and thus all people with brown skin, for his gargantuan business failures in their country.
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American Oversight
@weareoversight
The new Congress is sworn in and we're already prepared. For two years, we’ve been holding the Trump administration accountable, but now a new House majority will be joining the oversight business: americanoversight.org/amplifying-ove…
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Jewhadi™
@JewhadiTM
Trump the Indestructible nationalreview.com/2018/10/donald…
The entire febrile effort to delegitimize President Donald Trump continues to be based on the ability of the Trump-hating media to confect or unveil a Trumpocidal deus ex machina every two weeks.
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Dr. Dena Grayson
@DrDenaGrayson
⁉️WHAT⁉️

Public pension funds in #NJ and #OH used **HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS of taxpayer money** to bankroll a failing business: #AMI, the company that owns The National Enquirer.

Gee, this sounds kinda bad, doesn't it.🙄

cc @maddow @LincolnsBible

#Corruption
#Mob
AMI/The National Enquirer is not owned by @realdonaldtrump’s pal, David Pecker. It’s owned by Chatham Asset Management (hedge fund).🤨
Chatham & another Chatham co. manage **$500 million of #NJ state pension funds & $125 million of #OH state pension funds** and are raising new money/trying to refinance **$450 million in AMI debt**. Only w/Chatham’s support did Pecker keep control of AMI.

capitalandmain.com/ohio-new-jerse…
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Matt McDermott
@mattmfm
Paul Ryan is patting himself on the back because one school teacher in Pennsylvania has an extra $1.50 to spend each week.

Meanwhile, his billionaire donors are funneling hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money into their savings.
The Republican Party, summarized.
Enjoy the crumbs, you plebeians.
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