Impeachment of a President is a process of last resort.
It has only been attempted 4 times previously.
No President has ever been removed from office via impeachment (Nixon resigned)
It has only been attempted 4 times previously.
No President has ever been removed from office via impeachment (Nixon resigned)
Every member of Congress should be weighing the facts and considering the needs of our country and its citizens over their political careers or their partisan objectives.
The gravity of this matter demands the best of our leadership, focused on the what is best for America and for our democratic republic.
It is too important to obscure debate on the facts using discredited conspiracy theories, wild accusations against loyal, non-partisan officials working in our government, or specious and ever-changing bad faith arguments about process
In short, now is the time for our elected leaders to all put country ahead of party
That said, important facts have already been presented to us.
Donald J. Trump has openly and repeated called upon foreign countries, including Ukraine to announce or to undertake investigations of his political rival.
A whistleblower was the first to report that the request was requested eally an extortion attempt, based upon information about a phone call between Trump and the president of Ukraine.
Trump and member of his Administration were using $400M in foreign aid and a visit to the White House as leverage to force Ukraine to publicly announce an investigation of Joe Biden.
The response of the Trump Administration since then has been a confused and confusing stew of coverup attempts, minimization of the offense (“no quid pro quo”), allegations of no wrongdoing at all, and many other obfuscations.
The White House has blocked or tried to block officials from testifying and has refused to had over relevant documents to Congress, as Congress performed its Constitutionally-mandated oversight responsibilities.
The White House locked the actual transcript of the Ukraine call in an ultra-secure server, in contradiction of their own policies on handling classified information.
The GOP and the White House have changed their story about the phone call and their coverup actions dozens of times in just the past few weeks.
In short, their actions create an appearance of guilt, and even in the most generous interpretation indicate something other than a clear conscience.
Meanwhile, Congress’s investigation has heard testimony from 15 witnesses, including a decorated war hero, Alex Vindman, who listened to the Ukraine call, and Gordon Sondland, who donated $1M to Trump and appears to be a co-conspirator.
Those witnesses have confirmed all the basic facts from the whistleblower’s complaint, and have added additional facts, confirming both the extortion conspiracy and the attempts to cover it up.
Trump’s associates in and out of government are deeply enmeshed in either the initial extortion attempt, or the coverup. They include:
Mike Pence, VP
Mike Pompeo, SecState
Mick Mulvaney, Chief of Staff
Rick Perry, SecDOE
Bill Barr, US Attorney General
Mike Pence, VP
Mike Pompeo, SecState
Mick Mulvaney, Chief of Staff
Rick Perry, SecDOE
Bill Barr, US Attorney General
In short,
* The President and his associates tried to extort Ukraine using the public’s money, to benefit his 2020 re-election campaign
* Then they tried to cover it up
* The President and his associates tried to extort Ukraine using the public’s money, to benefit his 2020 re-election campaign
* Then they tried to cover it up
And, lest we forget, Mr Guiliani and his associates Fruman and Parnas are up to their dapper shiny suits in all this
Extortion and a coverup are both impeachable offenses. If the Republicans cannot offer a defense on the facts, then impeachment needs to move forward, and the President must go to trial in the Senate.
Please unroll @threadreaderapp
