from Common Dreams
"If the trial is rigged to keep hidden the most damning, most important, most relevant evidence, then it's not a trial. Nor is it an acquittal. It's a cover-up."
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday accused the Republican Party of orchestrating the "greatest cover-up since Watergate" as the Senate prepared to debate and vote on whether to allow witnesses to testify in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.
The Senate is widely expected as early as Friday evening to oppose permitting witnesses, given swing vote Sen. Lamar Alexander's (R-Tenn.) announcement late Thursday that he will vote no. Alexander's decision sparked widespread anger and the trending Twitter hashtag #LamarAlexanderIsACoward.
Schumer said during a press conference Friday that if the Senate votes against allowing witnesses, "the president's acquittal will be meaningless."
"This is about truth, and today the Senate will vote on whether witnesses and documents are allowed in this trial," said Schumer. "The importance of this vote is self-evident."
SCHUMER: "If my Republican colleagues refuse to even consider witnesses & documents in the trial, this country is headed towards the greatest coverup since Watergate ... [Trump] will conclude he can do it again, & Congress can do nothing about it. He can try to cheat again." pic.twitter.com/5vNB1tIQ9p— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 31, 2020
The Senate at 1pm ET is scheduled to begin four hours of debate on whether to approve witnesses, followed by a vote. If the Republican-controlled chamber decides against allowing witnesses, it will be the first time in U.S. history the Senate has held an impeachment trial without witness testimony, according to PolitiFact.
A final vote on whether to acquit or remove Trump could come as early as Friday evening, but anonymous Republican senators and aides told Politico the trial could extend until next week if House Democratic impeachment managers push for more time to make closing arguments.
Just ahead of the Senate debate on witnesses, the New York Times reported that former national security adviser John Bolton—one of the potential witnesses in the trial—alleges in an unpublished book manuscript that Trump instructed him in May of 2019 to help with the "pressure campaign to extract damaging information on Democrats from Ukrainian officials."
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted Thursday night that the Senate will be "disgraced" if it votes to acquit Trump without hearing witness testimony or considering documentary evidence that the White House has withheld from Congress.
"If the trial is rigged to keep hidden the most damning, most important, most relevant evidence, then it's not a trial," wrote Murphy. "Nor is it an acquittal. It's a cover-up."
Progressive advocacy groups on Friday urged the U.S. public to continue calling their senators to demand witnesses:
WE HAVE A NUMBER FOR THAT!
Call the Senate: 855-912-2982 https://t.co/xQAPiHkXBb— MoveOn (@MoveOn) January 31, 2020
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, wrote in a pair of tweets Friday morning that "history will judge us for what happens next."
"Faith in our American institutions is at an all-time low," said Warren. "The fact that GOP senators are covering up the president's corruption with a sham impeachment trial without witnesses documents doesn't help."
Americans deserve to know that the President is using the power of his/her office to work in the nation’s interest, not his own personal interest. And they deserve a Senate with the political courage to stand up to a President that has abused his power & corrupted our government.— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 31, 2020
Karen Hobert Flynn, president of government watchdog group Common Cause, warned in a letter (pdf) sent to every U.S. senator Thursday that ending the trial without witnesses "could undermine our democracy for generations."
"This is much bigger than President Trump," Hobert Flynn wrote. "Preventing witnesses, evidence, and transparency in President Trump's impeachment trial potentially undermines the Constitution for generations."
"Americans deserve nothing less than the full truth," she added. "They deserve to see a fair trial, and they are watching closely to see if Senate Republicans fulfill their constitutional duty to serve as an impartial jury or blindly conduct a rigged trial."
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Links to Articles from DeSmog
This week Nick Cunningham reports that the Bank for International Settlements, aka the central bank for central banks, has warned that the climate crisis will cause “green swan” events, or sudden and major financial disasters, and that unaddressed climate risks remain “uninsurable and unhedgeable.”
While bankers are sweating the climate crisis, Julie Dermansky has striking photos and reporting from the Permian oilfields, where activists are exposing how the fracking boom continues to leak invisible but potent pollution that is worsening global warming, often with apparent impunity.
And Justin Mikulka reports that New York isn’t handling well an early test of its ambitious climate plans when state officials voted to raise electricity rates to pay for more natural gas infrastructure.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
'Definition of a Rigged System,' Says Sanders Campaign After DNC Changes Debate Rules for Billionaire Latecomer Mike Bloomberg
"DNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire."
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/31/definition-rigged-system-says-sanders-campaign-after-dnc-changes-debate-rules
After debate rules were changed in favor of allowing billionaire Mike Bloomberg to join the candidates onstage vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign hit back, calling the decision emblematic of the corrupt political system the Vermont senator has centered his run for the White House on defeating.
"To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong," Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver told Politico. "That's the definition of a rigged system."
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Friday afternoon that the criteria for making the debate stage will no longer include a requirement about individual donors—allowing Bloomberg, whose campaign is largely self-funded, to join the candidates if his polling numbers reach the new threshold.
"DNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire," tweeted Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir. "I much prefer Democrats being a grassroots party. And under Bernie Sanders, that's the way it will be."
According to Politico:
Candidates will need to earn at least 10% in four polls released from Jan. 15 to Feb. 18, or 12% in two polls conducted in Nevada or South Carolina, in order to participate in the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas. Any candidate who earns at least one delegate to the national convention in either the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary will also qualify for the Nevada debate.
The rules change caught Democrats by surprise.
Some observers noted the timing of the change and wondered if it was part of a coordinated attack on Sanders from both the DNC and Bloomberg.
The Intercept's Ryan Grim, citing Federal Elections Commission data, noted Bloomberg donated $325,000 to the DNC in November 2019.
"Totally normal system," said Grim.
The debate rules have been a source of contention throughout the primary process, with some former hopefuls like Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro questioning the restrictions on polling and donors as prohibitive to their campaigns.
Progressive strategist Tim Tagaris wondered what could have been different if not for the qualifications.
"How much money did candidates like Julián Castro and Cory Booker have to spend chasing donor thresholds that could have been spent building organizations in early states?" said Tagaris.
Comedian and writer Jack Allison took a wry look at the changes and what they mean about the party.
"Remember when they wouldn't even think of changing them for like Cory Booker," Allison tweeted. "This is what we mean when we talk about the DNC cheating, obviously and out in the open."
"Thankfully seeing Bloomberg speak can only hurt his standing," Allison added, "but still."
‘You’re A Piece Of Shit And I Hope Everyone Like You Dies,’ Says Biden To Democratic Voter In Stirring Call For Party Unity
https://politics.theonion.com/you-re-a-piece-of-shit-and-i-hope-everyone-like-you-di-1841363666?utm_source=TheOnion
OTTUMWA, IA—As part of his effort to reinvigorate the coalition that once put Barack Obama in the White House, presidential candidate Joe Biden issued a moving plea for party unity when he told a Democratic voter “You’re a piece of shit and I hope everyone like you dies,” reports confirmed Thursday.
“Look here, pal, fuck you and fuck anybody who thinks like you,” the former vice president said to a town hall participant in what political experts have hailed as a rousing call for Democrats, independents, and even moderate Republicans to join together in harmony and overcome the divisiveness and rancor that have characterized the Trump era.
“If that’s what you believe, you’re clearly an idiot, and I don’t need your vote. Seriously, you and every single person in this fucking town deserves to die. Now back the hell up before I tear your throat out with my goddamn teeth.”
After the event, a screaming, red-faced Biden reportedly continued to share his inspiring vision by informing a group of unwitting Iowans that he could beat their asses with one hand tied behind his back.
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