Trump’s Senate allies Graham, Lee and Cruz huddle with defense team
By Colby Itkowitz
After
the Senate trial adjourned Thursday, three of Donald Trump’s chamber
allies, Sens. Lindsey O. Graham, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, were seen
entering a room to meet with the former president’s attorneys.
After
their meeting, Trump attorney David Schoen told reporters the senators
were just “talking about procedure,” called them “friendly guys” and
said they did not tip him off to questions they would be asking.
They
discussed “just how this format goes, you know, the question-and-answer
period, all that,” Schoen said. “And then just talking about where
they’re from and all that, but it’s just very nice. I said to them it
was a great honor to have the opportunity to talk to them.”
During
the impeachment trial, the senators are supposed to be impartial
jurors, listening to the evidence from both sides before voting on
whether to convict.
But
most senators, including Graham (R-S.C.), Lee (R-Utah) and Cruz
(R-Tex.), have predetermined Trump’s innocence, as many Democrats have
already decided he is guilty.
Then-Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set a precedent during the
first Trump impeachment of conferring with the defense.
“Exactly
how we go forward, I’m going to coordinate with the president’s
lawyers,” McConnell said then in 2019. “The case is so darn weak coming
over from the House. We all know how it’s going to end. There is no
chance the president is going to be removed from office. My hope is that
there won’t be a Republican who votes for either of these articles of
impeachment.”
Democrats assailed McConnell for violating his would-be oath to do “impartial justice” as a juror in the trial.
this is just such a sham. imagine if we found out that juror #7, 11, and 5 were secretly having dinner with the accused and his lawyers during a murder trial. I know a senate trial isn't the same as a legal trial, and doesn't have the same requirements, but come on....this is ridiculous.
did democrats on the senate convene with clinton and his lawyers during his impeachment?
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
the funniest thing is all of those rioters that are facing criminal charges are going to go to jail and the person most responsible for bringing them to DC is going to walk away without any issues.
the funniest thing is all of those rioters that are facing criminal charges are going to go to jail and the person most responsible for bringing them to DC is going to walk away without any issues.
To quote Mel Brooks "It's good to be the King'"
Trump is the Walder Frey of the republican party. The question is, where the hell is Arya?
the funniest thing is all of those rioters that are facing criminal charges are going to go to jail and the person most responsible for bringing them to DC is going to walk away without any issues.
To quote Mel Brooks "It's good to be the King'"
Trump is the Walder Frey of the republican party. The question is, where the hell is Arya?
Confession time, I have never seen GOT. I had to look up who that was. I really need to get the free trial of HBO Max and binge the crap out of it before the free trial is up.
A key part of Trump’s impeachment defense was already undercut by his own attorney
By Philip Bump
February 12 at 1:45 PM CST
Three-hundred seventy-seven times.
According to an automated transcription of the first two hours of presentations by Donald Trump’s defense attorneys at his impeachment trial Friday, that’s the number of times that the word “fight” was heard in the Senate chamber. Most of those came in the form of lengthy videos in which Democratic legislators were shown using the word in a political context: minutes-long barrages of various politicians saying “fight” “fight” “fight” over and over.
The idea offered by Trump’s team is that similar language is so common in politics that Trump’s repeated deployment of it on the morning of Jan. 6, shortly before the Capitol was overrun by his supporters, should be seen as something unremarkable. If people are so used to hearing that phrase deployed in a political context, the argument seems to go, why would they have suddenly seized upon it in this moment as a spur to violence?
As it turns out, that question has already been answered — by one of Trump’s attorneys.
In an interview on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program Tuesday, Trump attorney David Schoen speculated on the difference this time around. Schoen and Hannity were discussing examples of Democrats using the same word in different ways over the years, prompting Schoen to explain the difference.
“They’re using rhetoric that’s just as inflammatory, or more so,” he said of the Democrats. “The problem is, they don’t really have followers, you know, their dedicated followers and so — you know, when they give their speeches.”
We can read between the lines: The Democrats’ language was “just as inflammatory” but “the problem” they had — apparently preventing them from seeing their supporters lose control — is that they don’t have “dedicated followers.”
This probably isn’t really what Schoen was hoping viewers would take away from the discussion. He was on Hannity and probably just trying to score some points by dinging the Democrats for not having the same fervency in their base that Trump does. Which is broadly true, of course. No politician has a base as energetic and large as Trump’s — though probably no politician has worked as hard to rile up his base as has the former president.
But that’s the point, of course. The difference between Trump saying “fight” Jan. 6 was not that his supporters heard that particular word and, like an unwitting assassin in a bad action flick were suddenly triggered to push toward the Capitol. The problem was, instead, that Trump had actually conditioned his base of support for months to believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and he insisted that morning that the final opportunity to avert that theft was at hand.
“All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats, which is what they’re doing, and stolen by the fake news media,” he said that morning.
“The Republicans have to get tougher,” he said at another point. “You’re not going to have a Republican Party if you don’t get tougher. They want to play so straight. …'Sir, yes, the United States Constitution doesn’t allow me to send them back to the States.'
Well, I say, yes, it does, because the Constitution says you have to protect our country and you have to protect our Constitution, and you can’t vote on fraud. And fraud breaks up everything, doesn’t it? When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules.”
“I said something’s wrong here, something is really wrong, can’t have happened,” he concluded. “And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
That’s not just “fight.” That’s something else, said to a base who deeply believed that Trump’s victory had been snatched away — just as he said again that morning. Trump did have a base of support which was dedicated to his false argument, unlike those Democrats Schoen mocked and the Trump defense team quoted Friday.
As we’ve pointed out, there’s a difference in the meaning of words and phrases depending on context. The standard asterisk applied to the First Amendment is instructive: You can shout “fire” if you see a fire, but you can’t shout “fire” in a crowded theater when there isn’t one.
Likewise, you can say “we need to fight for our future” to a group of volunteers at a political rally shortly before an election because you understand that it’s unlikely anyone loosely familiar with the English language will then go start a physical fight with a political opponent. It is far riskier to cap off months of false claims about the core of American democracy being undermined by telling a group of angry, determined supporters that the last chance to avert that crime was at hand.
In other words, Schoen’s right. Democrats used language similar to that used by Trump — and the crucial difference lay in who heard it.
So, what's the over/under on how many Repubs vote to Convict?
I'd set the line at 10.5, and I'd bet the under.
I don't know, but it's troubling Murkowski was complimentary of the Trump defense today. They all seem to be looking for a way to dismiss this case as quickly as possible.
So, what's the over/under on how many Repubs vote to Convict?
I'd set the line at 10.5, and I'd bet the under.
People would start betting the under in a hurry. The line would be about 4 within a couple of hours.
1995 Milwaukee 1998 Alpine, Alpine 2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston 2004 Boston, Boston 2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty) 2011 Alpine, Alpine 2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
Also, what a disgraceful coward McCarthy is for sucking up to Trump in Maralago after this.
1995 Milwaukee 1998 Alpine, Alpine 2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston 2004 Boston, Boston 2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty) 2011 Alpine, Alpine 2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
"If you have something to add here, now would be the time," Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) wrote in a statement released late Friday.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans to support Donald Trump's impeachment for inciting the Capitol insurrection, pleaded with those close to the former president — and former vice president Mike Pence — to come forward and reveal what they know about Trump's conduct.
"To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former Vice President: if you have something to add here, now would be the time," Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) wrote in a statement released late Friday, on the eve of what is expected to be the Senate's final vote in Trump's impeachment trial.
Herrera Beutler issued the statement amid a new wave of attention on a story she has been telling since last month: that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy relayed details of a phone call he had with Trump while the violent mob was ransacking the Capitol.
In Herrera Beutler's telling, McCarthy urged Trump to call off the mob, to which Trump initially responded that he couldn't because it was made up of left-wing extremists — a falsehood that has been debunked by federal investigators.
When McCarthy refuted Trump, the former president responded, "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are," according to Herrera-Beutler.
The comment is further evidence that supports the case the House has been mounting during the Senate trial — that Trump ignored his allies' pleas to call off the rioters and demand that they go home. Rather, he seemed more interested, they argue, in continuing to find ways to delay the certification of Joe Biden's victory as president that day.
Herrera Beutler's anecdote dovetails with the revelation from Sen. Tommy Tuberville that he directly informed Trump at around 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 6 that Pence had been evacuated from the Senate chamber just minutes earlier. At 2:24 p.m., Trump tweeted an attack on Pence, saying he lacked "courage" for refusing to unilaterally block Biden's victory.
It's unclear if Herrera Beutler's entreaties will have any impact just hours before the Senate is expected to conclude its trial and vote.
Late Friday, a Democratic senator cited the McCarthy and Tuberville revelations as a reason to potentially "suspend" the impeachment trial and seek testimony from both Republican lawmakers.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said House managers could also ask the "Secret Service to produce for review comms back to White House re VP Pence safety during siege. What did Trump know, and when did he know it?" No other Democratic senators have explicitly called for these steps so far.
The nine House Democrats prosecuting the case against Trump have yet to indicate if they want to call witnesses, though senators of both parties have anticipated that the trial will end without any additional testimony and quickly move to closing arguments and a vote.
Trump's attorneys have asserted that Trump was "horrified" by the violence at the Capitol and acted quickly to respond to it, claims that contradict recollections of numerous Trump allies and his own public statements on the day of the riots.
Herrera Beutler has been telling the McCarthy story since last month, including to her local paper, but it largely went unnoticed and wasn't mentioned in the House's impeachment case against Trump that concluded Thursday.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
good question. I'd say no.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
A key part of Trump’s impeachment defense was already undercut by his own attorney
By Philip Bump
Three-hundred seventy-seven times.
According to an automated transcription of the first two hours of presentations by Donald Trump’s defense attorneys at his impeachment trial Friday, that’s the number of times that the word “fight” was heard in the Senate chamber. Most of those came in the form of lengthy videos in which Democratic legislators were shown using the word in a political context: minutes-long barrages of various politicians saying “fight” “fight” “fight” over and over.
The idea offered by Trump’s team is that similar language is so common in politics that Trump’s repeated deployment of it on the morning of Jan. 6, shortly before the Capitol was overrun by his supporters, should be seen as something unremarkable. If people are so used to hearing that phrase deployed in a political context, the argument seems to go, why would they have suddenly seized upon it in this moment as a spur to violence?
In an interview on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program Tuesday, Trump attorney David Schoen speculated on the difference this time around. Schoen and Hannity were discussing examples of Democrats using the same word in different ways over the years, prompting Schoen to explain the difference.
We can read between the lines: The Democrats’ language was “just as inflammatory” but “the problem” they had — apparently preventing them from seeing their supporters lose control — is that they don’t have “dedicated followers.”
But that’s the point, of course. The difference between Trump saying “fight” Jan. 6 was not that his supporters heard that particular word and, like an unwitting assassin in a bad action flick were suddenly triggered to push toward the Capitol. The problem was, instead, that Trump had actually conditioned his base of support for months to believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and he insisted that morning that the final opportunity to avert that theft was at hand.
“All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats, which is what they’re doing, and stolen by the fake news media,” he said that morning.
“The Republicans have to get tougher,” he said at another point. “You’re not going to have a Republican Party if you don’t get tougher. They want to play so straight. …'Sir, yes, the United States Constitution doesn’t allow me to send them back to the States.'
Well, I say, yes, it does, because the Constitution says you have to protect our country and you have to protect our Constitution, and you can’t vote on fraud. And fraud breaks up everything, doesn’t it? When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules.”
“I said something’s wrong here, something is really wrong, can’t have happened,” he concluded. “And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
That’s not just “fight.” That’s something else, said to a base who deeply believed that Trump’s victory had been snatched away — just as he said again that morning. Trump did have a base of support which was dedicated to his false argument, unlike those Democrats Schoen mocked and the Trump defense team quoted Friday.
As we’ve pointed out, there’s a difference in the meaning of words and phrases depending on context. The standard asterisk applied to the First Amendment is instructive: You can shout “fire” if you see a fire, but you can’t shout “fire” in a crowded theater when there isn’t one.
Likewise, you can say “we need to fight for our future” to a group of volunteers at a political rally shortly before an election because you understand that it’s unlikely anyone loosely familiar with the English language will then go start a physical fight with a political opponent. It is far riskier to cap off months of false claims about the core of American democracy being undermined by telling a group of angry, determined supporters that the last chance to avert that crime was at hand.
In other words, Schoen’s right. Democrats used language similar to that used by Trump — and the crucial difference lay in who heard it.
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
I would put it at 5.5. Although this new McCarthy call could change that....fucking call him in as a witness gosh dang it.
Why are they not calling witnesses?
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/02/12/politics/trump-mccarthy-shouting-match-details/index.html?__twitter_impression=true
Also, what a disgraceful coward McCarthy is for sucking up to Trump in Maralago after this.
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans to support Donald Trump's impeachment for inciting the Capitol insurrection, pleaded with those close to the former president — and former vice president Mike Pence — to come forward and reveal what they know about Trump's conduct.
"To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former Vice President: if you have something to add here, now would be the time," Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) wrote in a statement released late Friday, on the eve of what is expected to be the Senate's final vote in Trump's impeachment trial.
Herrera Beutler issued the statement amid a new wave of attention on a story she has been telling since last month: that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy relayed details of a phone call he had with Trump while the violent mob was ransacking the Capitol.
In Herrera Beutler's telling, McCarthy urged Trump to call off the mob, to which Trump initially responded that he couldn't because it was made up of left-wing extremists — a falsehood that has been debunked by federal investigators.
When McCarthy refuted Trump, the former president responded, "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are," according to Herrera-Beutler.
The comment is further evidence that supports the case the House has been mounting during the Senate trial — that Trump ignored his allies' pleas to call off the rioters and demand that they go home. Rather, he seemed more interested, they argue, in continuing to find ways to delay the certification of Joe Biden's victory as president that day.
Herrera Beutler's anecdote dovetails with the revelation from Sen. Tommy Tuberville that he directly informed Trump at around 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 6 that Pence had been evacuated from the Senate chamber just minutes earlier. At 2:24 p.m., Trump tweeted an attack on Pence, saying he lacked "courage" for refusing to unilaterally block Biden's victory.
It's unclear if Herrera Beutler's entreaties will have any impact just hours before the Senate is expected to conclude its trial and vote.
Late Friday, a Democratic senator cited the McCarthy and Tuberville revelations as a reason to potentially "suspend" the impeachment trial and seek testimony from both Republican lawmakers.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said House managers could also ask the "Secret Service to produce for review comms back to White House re VP Pence safety during siege. What did Trump know, and when did he know it?" No other Democratic senators have explicitly called for these steps so far.
The nine House Democrats prosecuting the case against Trump have yet to indicate if they want to call witnesses, though senators of both parties have anticipated that the trial will end without any additional testimony and quickly move to closing arguments and a vote.
Trump's attorneys have asserted that Trump was "horrified" by the violence at the Capitol and acted quickly to respond to it, claims that contradict recollections of numerous Trump allies and his own public statements on the day of the riots.
Herrera Beutler has been telling the McCarthy story since last month, including to her local paper, but it largely went unnoticed and wasn't mentioned in the House's impeachment case against Trump that concluded Thursday.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
MURKOWSKI
COLLINS
SASSE
Thank you.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14