Tomorrow will commence the third presidential impeachment trial in the history of the United States Senate. And on the eve of such a rare and solemn institutional undertaking, it is still not entirely clear what exactly President Donald Trump has done to deserve such a fate.
At the outset of this saga, House Democrats spent weeks promoting an oh-so nefarious &#8220;quid pro quo&#8221; that transpired during Trump&#8217;s now-infamous July 25 phone call last summer with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It turns out that abstruse Latinate didn&#8217;t poll-test well — and never mind that such a &#8220;quid pro quo,&#8221; when cabined to a public official&#8217;s lawful exercise of his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-the-new-york-post-trumps-alleged-impoundment-of-ukraine-money-doesnt-make-for-an-impeachable-offense">constitutional authority</a>, amounts to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-there-is-one-terrific-impeachment-defense-that-the-white-house-is-not-making">constitutionally protected free speech</a>. Democrats next engaged in the hilariously public floating of bribery — which is actually enumerated as a presidential impeachment criterion in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii">Article II, Section 4</a> of the Constitution — before deciding that they simply lacked the grist to advance such a claim. Democrats ultimately settled on the mealy-mouthed, amorphous gibberish of &#8220;abuse of power&#8221; and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-the-new-york-post-obstruction-of-congress-is-an-utterly-ridiculous-impeachment-charge">utterly nonsensical</a>, constitutionally illiterate &#8220;obstruction of Congress&#8221; as their charges of choice.
As Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro and I have each <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-todays-judiciary-committee-impeachment-hearing-is-yet-another-waste-of-time">observed</a> countless times since Democrats first glommed onto the Ukraine phone call as possible grounds for impeachment, it is true that actually committing a black-letter crime is not a constitutional requirement to impeach a sitting president. &#8220;High crimes and misdemeanors,&#8221; the catch-all presidential impeachment criterion enumerated in the Constitution after treason and bribery, was a well-known term of art in the English common law. Alexander Hamilton <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed65.asp">explained</a> in <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed65.asp">The Federalist No. 65</a> that it encompasses &#8220;offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.&#8221;
True, the Hamiltonian language presents a necessarily political and malleable standard. But it is also true that the Constitution&#8217;s Framers did not view everything as a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-stop-calling-everything-impeachable-offense-josh-hammer">potentially impeachable offense</a>. To wit, the Framers <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inside-founding-fathers-debate-over-what-constituted-impeachable-offense-180965083/">expressly deliberated</a> whether to make the far lesser &#8220;maladministration&#8221; an impeachment criterion before rejecting it out of fear that it could lead to highly partisan impeachment proceedings motivated by either a mere policy disagreement or the raw pursuit of political power. Hamilton certainly understood that, writing in the same Federalist that impeachment would &#8220;seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and to divide it into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused.&#8221;
Accordingly, even though the actual violation of a law is not constitutionally required, Democrats&#8217; current partisan gambit represents the first time in the history of the republic that an impeachment has nonetheless been attempted without the undergirding of a legally violative act. President Andrew Johnson violated the Tenure of Office Act — an unambiguously unconstitutional statute, but technically a statutory violation nonetheless. President Bill Clinton, investigated for years by former independent counsel Ken Starr, committed perjury. President Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace before a formal House vote on impeachment, was knee-deep in the Watergate scandal.
What exactly has President Trump done? He acted in a ham-fisted and sloppy manner on a phone call with a foreign leader when it came to the conducting of his foreign policy — an action squarely within his well-established <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-the-new-york-post-trumps-alleged-impoundment-of-ukraine-money-doesnt-make-for-an-impeachable-offense">constitutional bailiwick</a>. True, he should not have mentioned Joe Biden by name. But ultimately, Trump tried to attach <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/10/the-two-theories-of-trumps-actions-in-the-ukraine-affair/">corruption-related strings</a>, however clumsily, to the doling out of one of the most consistently <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2016/03/11/foreign-aid">politically unpopular</a> items in annual federal budgets: Foreign aid.
The conduct upon which Democrats are now attempting to impeach the president is orders of magnitude less destructive than the conduct upon which the Framers would have considered impeachment justified. It reeks of the sort of petty politics and jostling for power that led the Framers to conscientiously reject the far lesser &#8220;maladministration&#8221; as a possible grounds for impeachment. What&#8217;s worse, House Democrats rushed their process due to political timing and, in their rush, have <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-12-09/opinion-trump-impeachment-hearings-democrats">fundamentally failed to make their case</a> to the American people. They have <a href="https://theresurgent.com/2020/01/20/democrats-have-failed-at-impeachment-trump-will-remain-president/">failed at impeachment</a>, and they have no one to blame but themselves. And in their recklessness, Democrats have also set a deeply pernicious precedent for the future of the Constitution&#8217;s carefully calibrated separation of powers framework.
Alas, let the trial commence.

House Speaker Pelosi And Senator Schumer Hold News Conference On DACA Case

HAMMER: What Exactly Are They Impeaching Him For, Again?

2020 Election

Adam Schiff

Charles Schumer

Constitution

Democratic Party

Donald Trump

Federalist

Impeachment

Jerry Nadler

Joe Biden

On Sunday, new Trump defense attorney Robert Ray, a former federal prosecutor, told Fox News that House Democrats&#8217; efforts to remove President Donald Trump from office through impeachment is illegitimate because it was a partisan event that saw no support from the opposition.
&#8220;I think the president&#8217;s principal defense – and you saw it in the answer that was interposed over the weekend – is very simple. This is an entirely partisan and, therefore, illegitimate effort by House Democrats to remove a president from office,&#8221; Ray said.
Ray continued, &#8220;And the remedy for that is the United States Senate, as envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. In order to overturn the will of the electorate in the 2016 election, and particularly given the fact that we are now in the middle of a presidential campaign for 2020, ultimately, that will can only be overturned with a bipartisan effort and overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, with a two-thirds majority, in order to remove a president and overturn the will of that electorate.&#8221;
Toward the end of the interview, Ray took a shot at House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who has repeatedly said that Trump is &#8220;impeached forever,&#8221; by noting that by the time the Senate is done with its trial, Trump will be &#8220;acquitted forever.&#8221;
WATCH:
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Robert Ray, Trump&#39;s new legal defense lawyer, outlines the main defense for the President and says he doesn&#39;t expect any Republicans will vote against him. He also credits Maria Bartiromo for the air time that got him on the President&#39;s radar. <a href="https://t.co/d9QCikSkYD">pic.twitter.com/d9QCikSkYD</a>
&mdash; (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1219107722005635072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: With opening statements in President Trump&#8217;s impeachment trial set for this Tuesday, he&#8217;s added several high-profile names to his defense team, including Ken Starr, the former independent counsel whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz, not a full-time fledged member of the team, but he will present constitutional arguments against impeachment.
Former federal prosecutor Robert Ray is a new full-fledged member of the team. And he joins me right now on set.
Good to see you, Robert. Thanks so much for being here.
ROBERT RAY, MEMBER OF PRESIDENT TRUMP&#8217;S DEFENSE TEAM: Thanks. Thanks for emphasizing that.
And, on a personal note, thank you very much for all the appearances going back now many, many months. I&#8217;m not sure &#8212; if not for you, I don&#8217;t know that I would have come to the president&#8217;s attention.
BARTIROMO: Thank you.
RAY: So, I very much appreciate it.
BARTIROMO: Well, congratulations. This is a big deal.
Tell me what the president..
RAY: Of course it is.
BARTIROMO: What the defense is.
RAY: Well, it&#8217;s a big deal because, ultimately, in the eyes of history, we are all going to be judged about whether or not we acted in the best interests of the country.
I think the president&#8217;s principal defense &#8212; and you saw it in the answer that was interposed over the weekend &#8212; is very simple. This is an entirely partisan and, therefore, illegitimate effort by House Democrats to remove a president from office.
And the remedy for that is the United States Senate, as envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. In order to overturn the will of the electorate in the 2016 election, and particularly given the fact that we are now in the middle of a presidential campaign for 2020, ultimately, that will can only be overturned with a bipartisan effort and overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, with a two-thirds majority, in order to remove a president and overturn the will of that electorate.
It&#8217;s very simple.
BARTIROMO: Do you expect any Republicans to vote for impeachment?
RAY: I don&#8217;t, no.
BARTIROMO: Well, let&#8217;s look at the letter that the White House, your team, sent last night, because the conclusion of that letter from the White House, says: &#8220;The articles of impeachment violate the Constitution. They are defective in their entirety. They are a product of invalid proceedings that flagrantly deny the president any due process.&#8221;
Ted Cruz just said the first 48 hours will determine a lot. What are you expecting?
RAY: Well, I think he&#8217;s right about that.
But I think you have also saw from the speaker, Pelosi, about essentially celebrating the notion that the stain of impeachment exists and exists forever. And the only rejoinder to that &#8212; and that&#8217;s the rejoinder that it is my job, and together with the rest of the defense team, to place before the United States Senate for their consideration &#8212; is the question about the rejoinder being that there will be an acquittal forever as well.
And that&#8217;s what we expect. That&#8217;s the &#8212; that&#8217;s the task ahead during the next several weeks.
BARTIROMO: Do you think you would like to see witnesses? I mean, witnesses can go either way. I know that.
But they could also open up this can of worms around Hunter Biden, which seems to have been forgotten at this point.
RAY: Well, that&#8217;s a &#8212; that&#8217;s a relevant issue to consider, obviously, because, if you get into the question, as the Democrats have alleged, that anything having to do with the Bidens was completely, in their words, a sham, obviously, your views about that are affected by whether or not you think there was merit to a Biden investigation.
But before we ever get to that, I think the core issue &#8212; and Senator Cruz alluded to this &#8212; well-founded &#8212; and I have said this many times &#8212; many times on your show &#8212; well-founded articles of impeachment both allege that crimes were committed and that those are the type of crimes that constitute abuse of the public trust.
Abuse of power alone &#8212; and history has shown this &#8212; similar to also obstruction of Congress, those types of articles of impeachment have been tried on for size before, but they have not fared well.
The core of the impeachment parameters allege that crimes have been committed, treason, bribery, and things like that, in other words, other high crimes and misdemeanors.
BARTIROMO: Right. Unbelievable.
Robert, thanks very much.
RAY: Thanks very much.
BARTIROMO: Robert Ray.</blockquote>

Former Whitewater Independent Counsel Robert Ray Interview

New Trump Lawyer Trolls Pelosi, Makes Case For Why Impeachment Is ‘Illegitimate’

Nancy Pelosi

Ted Cruz

Cruz Trolls Pelosi On Impeachment: Trump Will Be ‘Acquitted Forever Of These Bogus Charges’

Donald Trump Jr. told Fox News&#8217; Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) did not delay sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate because of anything pertaining to President Donald Trump, but allegedly to harm Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
While discussing the upcoming Senate impeachment trial, Trump Jr. said, &#8220;The other thing I think Nancy&#8217;s trying to do with the delay is prevent other people, like Bernie, from actually being on the campaign trail.&#8221;
&#8220;Right,&#8221; Bartiromo responded.
&#8220;In other words, to try to guarantee&#8230;” Trump Jr. continued.
&#8220;Once again, they&#8217;re colluding against Bernie Sanders,&#8221; Bartiromo responded.
&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Trump Jr. replied. &#8220;By the way, I love that they collude against themselves in this way, because the last time they colluded to rig the Democrat primary, it worked out perfectly for us because we got Hillary, and that was a godsend.&#8221;
Political analyst Ari Fleicher also believes that is what Pelosi was doing in delaying sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate, <a href="https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/1215623354738065413">writing</a>, &#8220;Don’t rule out that the reason Pelosi hasn’t sent impeachment to the Senate is to hurt Warren and Sanders, and to help Biden. She knows she has no leverage over Sen. McConnell, but by timing the trial so it takes place during the Iowa lead-up, she has leverage over the liberals.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe title="Don Jr. weighs in on Trump’s legal team ahead of Senate impeachment trial" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EunoOcBwQk4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
President Trump also agreed, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1218195021930926082">writing</a> on Twitter: &#8220;They are rigging the election again against Bernie Sanders, just like last time, only even more obviously. They are bringing him out of so important Iowa in order that, as a Senator, he sit through the Impeachment Hoax Trial. Crazy Nancy thereby gives the strong edge to Sleepy Joe Biden, and Bernie is shut out again. Very unfair, but that’s the way the Democrats play the game. Anyway, it’s a lot of fun to watch!&#8221;
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Fox News&#8217; Maria Bartiromo: “This is the dirty little secret nobody is talking about: why the Speaker held these papers. This benefits Joe Biden. This harms Senator Sanders, who is in first place and could become their nominee.”
The Federalist ran a <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/16/is-impeachment-delay-how-democrats-are-rigging-iowa-against-bernie-again/">piece</a> recently that floated the same reason for Pelosi&#8217;s actions, writing: &#8220;Sanders, however, clearly has momentum at a critical point in the primary that will now be interrupted by the impeachment proceedings. The fact that the impeachment trial will trap Sanders, Warren, and Klobuchar in the nation’s capital for the final days before the caucus leave the state wide open to Biden and Buttigieg in the senators’ absence.&#8221;
The Federalist added, &#8220;Pelosi’s bizarre and politically unwise decision to delay impeachment until this crucial moment provokes the question, then, of whether Pelosi deliberately held up the impeachment trial to sabotage the far-left senators’ campaigns.&#8221;
The New York Times said in a report last week that the idea was a conspiracy theory and said there was no evidence suggesting that it was true.
Fleischer responded: &#8220;Conspiracy theory? My NYT-labeled &#8216;conspiracy theory&#8217; tweet re why Speaker Pelosi delayed sending impeachment to the Sen is more plausible than the Speaker’s own words. Everyone knows she had no leverage over McConnell. So why do it? To help Biden.&#8221;
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Conspiracy theory? My NYT-labeled “conspiracy theory” tweet re why Speaker Pelosi delayed sending impeachment to the Sen is more plausible than the Speaker’s own words. Everyone knows she had no leverage over McConnell. So why do it? To help Biden. <a href="https://t.co/1ZjUNq40OC">https://t.co/1ZjUNq40OC</a>
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/1218608891422027776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
&#8220;I, along with other Rs, made a plausible case. The NYT labels my case a &#8216;conspiracy theory.&#8217; When Ds cited the Steele dossier, or collusion, or Michael Cohen in Prague, the media typically called those &#8216;allegations&#8217;,&#8221; Fleischer responded. &#8220;Back to my tweet. It&#8217;s no conspiracy theory to say Pelosi delayed the trial so Warren and Sanders would be in DC while Biden (and others) are in Iowa. Nothing is more important to her than winning the WH. That&#8217;s not a conspiracy theory. It&#8217;s a good analysis.&#8221;
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Back to my tweet. It&#39;s no conspiracy theory to say Pelosi delayed the trial so Warren and Sanders would be in DC while Biden (and others) are in Iowa. Nothing is more important to her than winning the WH. That&#39;s not a conspiracy theory. It&#39;s a good analysis.
&mdash; Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/1218610657148506112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Donald Trump Jr.

Donald Trump Jr: Pelosi Had Devious Plan In Holding Articles Of Impeachment, Had Nothing To Do With Trump

Bernie Sanders

Daily Wire Editor-at-Large Josh Hammer, who is a constitutional attorney by training, had the following piece yesterday at the <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/01/17/trumps-ukraine-money-holdup-doesnt-make-for-an-impeachable-breach-of-the-law/">New York Post</a>.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week found that President Trump violated the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (ICA) when he <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/01/16/trump-broke-law-by-freezing-aid-to-ukraine-government-watchdog/" data-reader-unique-id="36">delayed $215 million in foreign aid to Ukraine</a>. “Faithful execution of the law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law,” the GAO bureaucrats said.
Cue the ritual hue and cry from the left. The same folks who publicly flirted with impeachment justifications like “quid pro quo” and bribery before settling on amorphous “abuse of power” and nonsensical “obstruction of Congress” charges have now glommed on to the GAO’s finding with alacrity. There’s even been some talk of drafting a new article of impeachment based on it.
They should curb their enthusiasm. First, Trump likely did not violate the ICA. Second, even if he did breach it, that law itself comes with its own remedy baked in — and it is a far less draconian remedy than impeachment.
Congress passed the ICA to counter its belief that Richard Nixon abused his executive branch powers by impounding duly appropriated funds — a presidential custom stretching back to the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. The ICA allows for a president to formally request that Congress rescind appropriated funds; Congress then has 45 days to approve the president’s request. The GAO alleges that Trump flouted this process, and, in turn, his Article II constitutional duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
To be sure, expressly directing a subordinate to violate federal law is inconsistent with the Take Care clause. But the president also has other obligations under Article II of the Constitution. The very first clause of Article II vests the president with “the executive Power.” The doling out of foreign aid is an integral part of conducting foreign affairs, and, according to a 2001 Yale Law Journal article by legal scholars Saikrishna Prakash and Michael Ramsey, 18th-century English common law — which helped form the Framers’ thinking — had an “ordinary &#8230; meaning of executive power” that “included foreign affairs power.”
Similarly, in the 1936 Supreme Court case U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp., the justices describe the president as “the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations — a power which does not require as a basis for its exercise an act of Congress.”
Democrats might argue that Congress’ plenary power of the purse, coupled with the statutory grounding of the ICA, might override the president’s foreign-affairs power. That is, at best, a highly contestable claim. But it is certainly not new impeachment grist for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — not least because the drafters of the ICA were savvy enough to provide for a self-contained remedy.
<a href="https://nypost.com/2020/01/17/trumps-ukraine-money-holdup-doesnt-make-for-an-impeachable-breach-of-the-law/">Read the rest here.</a>
&nbsp;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-the-new-york-post-obstruction-of-congress-is-an-utterly-ridiculous-impeachment-charge">&#8216;Obstruction Of Congress&#8217; Is An Utterly Ridiculous Impeachment Charge</a>.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-there-is-one-terrific-impeachment-defense-that-the-white-house-is-not-making">There Is One Terrific Impeachment Defense That The White House Is Not Making</a>.

President Donald Trump

Hammer At The ‘New York Post’: Trump’s Alleged Impoundment Of Ukraine Money Doesn’t Make For An Impeachable Offense

Richard Nixon

Thomas Jefferson

On Saturday night, House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) openly celebrated the impeachment of President Donald Trump with liberal Bill Maher, offering the HBO host a fist bump and a smile.
&#8220;Thank you so much for waiting for us to get back on the air before starting the impeachment,&#8221; Maher told Pelosi during Saturday night&#8217;s &#8220;Real Time with Bill Maher.&#8221; Smiling and giving off a laugh, the leading Democrat fist-bumped Maher to overwhelming audience applause.
WATCH:
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Nancy Pelosi fist bumps impeachment with Bill Maher. 
Spare us the lecture about being serious and somber, Nancy. <a href="https://t.co/E0t2ZNWX91">pic.twitter.com/E0t2ZNWX91</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1218619144561709056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Eldest Trump son Donald Trump Jr. quickly reacted to the clip of Pelosi&#8217;s on-air celebration.
&#8220;Not that anyone ever believed her &#8216;somber moment&#8217; BS but this really drive[s] the point home,&#8221; he wrote via Twitter. 
&#8220;While [Donald Trump] gets USMCA done, china trade done, takes out terrorists, etc, the Dems have to stop him because his continued success is a threat to their failed leftist bulls***!&#8221; Trump added.
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Not that anyone ever believed her “somber moment” BS but this really drive the point home.
While <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> gets USMCA done, china trade done, takes out terrorists etc, the Dems have to stop him because his continued success is a threat to their failed leftist bullshit! <a href="https://t.co/Dy1nzolanE">https://t.co/Dy1nzolanE</a>
&mdash; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1218644511510945792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Pelosi has repeatedly attempted to paint the impeachment process as a &#8220;sad&#8221; and &#8220;somber&#8221; affair.
Notably, when Democrats started to openly cheer the House votes in favor of the two impeachment articles last month, the California representative gave a scowl and motioned to cut off the cheering and celebratory selfie-taking.
The celebrations came despite leading Democrats reportedly instructing their colleagues to avoid “cheering” following the impeachment vote, and to keep it “solemn.”
“House Democratic leaders told caucus members not to cheer or applaud when today’s impeachment vote totals are announced, and Democratic members described the day as sad and solemn,” an <a href="https://www.axios.com/trump-impeachment-vote-congress-5da8c1df-8434-4401-8625-d97c8e392d7a.html?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=organic&amp;utm_content=1100">Axios</a> report said.
“One Democratic member from a Trump-won district said the instruction is: ‘Don’t cheer, keep it solemn,’” the report added.
As noted by The Daily Wire, the House voted along partisan lines for both articles of impeachment: &#8220;abuse of power&#8221; and &#8220;obstruction of Congress.&#8221; Not a single Republican voted in favor the articles.
After a noteworthy stall, Pelosi finally brought the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Wednesday.
&#8220;So sad, so tragic for our country that the actions taken by the president undermined our national security, to violate his oath of office, and to jeopardize the security of our elections, the integrity of our elections, has taken us to this place,&#8221; the House Speaker said. &#8220;So, today we will make history when the managers walk down the hallway, we will cross a threshold in history, delivering articles of impeachment against the President of the United States for abuse of power and obstruction of the House.&#8221;
Pelosi flashed a grin when she signed the articles, undermining her &#8220;sad&#8221; and &#8220;tragic&#8221; narrative. As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sad-pelosi-grins-while-signing-impeachment-articles-internet-explodes-over-her-golden-pens">The Daily Wire</a>, the House Speaker &#8220;had dozens of taxpayer-funded golden pens made for the event and passed them out to those who attended and reportedly posed for photos after the signing.&#8221;
The president has repeatedly slammed Democrats over the partisan impeachment. Following the House votes on the articles, Trump told the American people that what the Democrats are really after are his supporters.
“In reality, they’re not after me, they’re after you,” reads the text of the post, which features a photo of the president. “I’m just in the way.”
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<a href="https://t.co/DutxclyZw9">pic.twitter.com/DutxclyZw9</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1207508280207011841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Smiling Pelosi Fist-Bumps Over ‘Somber’ Impeachment With Bill Maher. Don Jr. Responds.

Bill Maher

This week, former Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy appeared on Fox News to discuss the upcoming impeachment trial in the United States Senate.
During the segment, hosts Bill Hemmer and Sandra Smith played a clip from a recent interview conducted by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow with Giuliani associate Lev Parnas.
<blockquote>PARNAS: I didn&#8217;t feel that they were trying to get me out, and at that point, I had a meeting with John Dowd and [Kevin] Downing inside the jail, and John Dowd just, instead of comforting me and, you know, trying to calm me down, telling me like it&#8217;s going to be okay, like don&#8217;t worry, basically start[ed] talking to me like a drill sergeant &#8230;
MADDOW: Were they telling you to sacrifice yourself in order to protect the president?
PARNAS: That’s what I felt.</blockquote>
After introducing Gowdy to the program, Smith asked: “So, what is your response when you hear that?”
Gowdy replied, urging viewers to watch the entire interview:
<blockquote>I would encourage your viewers to listen to the entire interview, not just the snippets. Remember, Parnas was upset because he expected Giuliani and Trump to come to his defense. This is a guy charged with falsifying records, making a false statement, conspiracy to defraud the FEC. He’s upset – by the way, John Dowd is not Trump&#8217;s former lawyer; that&#8217;s not how I would characterize him. He is Parnas’ hand-picked lawyer. That’s who hired John Dowd and Kevin Downing. It was Lev Parnas. So, if he&#8217;s upset that he hired these two, he&#8217;s got nobody to blame but himself. He wanted Giuliani and Trump to come to his defense in these three charges that he&#8217;s facing. That’s why he&#8217;s upset. You only get that from watching the entire interview, not from reading the stories and not from listening to that snippet.</blockquote>
Hemmer then queried: “Was he asked precisely – if he said the president knew exactly what he was doing, has he described what those meetings were about, or conversations were about? Have you heard that yet?”
Gowdy responded, tearing apart Parnas’ credibility in the process:
<blockquote>You know, Bill, what I didn&#8217;t hear was the follow-up. “Okay, with total certitude, you say President Trump knew what you were doing. Convince us of that. Give us the evidence.” Remember, he also said that Bill Barr was in the loop and then when cited for evidence, he said, “Well, he’s friends with diGenova and Toensing, and his name was mentioned in [the] transcript.” If that&#8217;s the only evidence you have that Bill Barr is part of a conspiracy to defraud the United States and get a foreign government to investigate a political opponent, if the only evidence you have is who he&#8217;s friends with and his name was mentioned in the transcript, that ain&#8217;t much evidence &#8230; so, I need to hear the follow-up questions.
&#8230;the way lawyers interview people, when you cross-examine them, Parnas gave three different answers to the same question about Mike Pence. His first answer is, “I&#8217;m absolutely certain Pence knew about it,” and then about three seconds later he said, “Well, he had to have, right?” and then the last answer was, “Well, it was possible.” Those three answers don&#8217;t do you well in the courtroom. They do great if you&#8217;re writing headlines; they do not do well in the courtroom.</blockquote>
Following Gowdy’s answer, Smith shifted to Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): “Well, Nancy Pelosi didn&#8217;t rule out the possibility of talking to him in this impeachment process. I mean, what are we supposed to think the impact of those interviews are going to have as this impeachment trial is officially underway now?”
Gowdy replied, castigating Pelosi for seemingly having such a “low threshold” for smearing an individual like Bill Barr:
<blockquote>I was stunned at how little it takes in Speaker Pelosi&#8217;s eyes to call for special counsel. You have someone who&#8217;s under indictment, a Ukrainian under indictment that no one would have believed six months ago, who says that it&#8217;s possible that Bill Barr may have been in on it based on the fact that his name was in a transcript – and she&#8217;s willing to call for special counsel. I mean, I think the threshold for besmirching someone&#8217;s reputation, particularly someone like Bill Barr, ought to be a little higher than relying on one of six or seven different answers that Lev Parnas gave to the same question in an MSNBC interview.</blockquote>
Gowdy added that “if you’re going to make Lev Parnas the center of your impeachment prosecution,” one has to be ready to call numerous other witnesses in order to assess the credibility of Parnas’ claims, which could lead to a months-long trial.
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Trey Gowdy.

WATCH: Trey Gowdy Rips Lev Parnas’ Credibility; Slams Pelosi

Lev Parnas

Trey Gowdy

William Barr

Just 10 months ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proclaimed that an impeachment of President Donald Trump would not happen unless there was &#8220;something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan.&#8221; The House vote to impeach Trump was the dictionary definition of partisan — not a single Republican voted yes. There is nothing compelling and overwhelming here.
But our pro-impeachment media are investing as much moral authority in Pelosi&#8217;s putsch as they can muster. During live coverage of the vote on Dec. 18, MSNBC&#8217;s Andrea Mitchell gushed over Pelosi&#8217;s black outfit. &#8220;She&#8217;s certainly always well-appointed, beautifully arrayed, if you will,&#8221; she said. &#8220;She&#8217;s wearing black today. And that is a symbolic expression of how somberly they are taking this.&#8221; Chris Matthews added: &#8220;It&#8217;s sacramental. &#8230; It&#8217;s sacramental.&#8221;
Sacramental? Matthews returned to this ridiculous concept on Jan. 15 when the House Democrats made a dramatic show for the cameras by marching their articles of impeachment to the Senate. Matthews told Chuck Todd: &#8220;There&#8217;s a sacramental quality to this. There&#8217;s a ritual.&#8221;
MSNBC reporter Garrett Haake affirmed this, adding: &#8220;I&#8217;m so glad Chris used the word &#8216;ritual&#8217; because that&#8217;s the word that has been stuck in my head about this all day today. It&#8217;s beyond formality. &#8230; There is something almost religious to it.&#8221;
A few minutes later, Matthews suggested, &#8220;there&#8217;s an excommunication aspect to this thing.&#8221; Todd replied: &#8220;you are really taking this Catholic metaphor and going at it! Run, Chris, run!&#8221; Matthews then added, &#8220;the Lincoln Memorial is basically a church.&#8221;
As Speaker Pelosi was shown on screen about to sign the impeachment articles, Matthews returned to churchy metaphors, and things were getting truly wacky. He said: &#8220;Well, there&#8217;s a sacramental statement for life — like a priest for life. It&#8217;s a perfect statement of what she is. I think she is very reverential. I mean, she&#8217;s one tough politician, but she&#8217;s got another part of her, which is very respectful of hierarchy, in terms of who — true moral authority. The Democratic elected officials have true moral authority to run the country.&#8221;
All of these mangled metaphors ignore Pelosi&#8217;s crusades for abortion on demand and punitive LGBT &#8220;anti-discrimination&#8221; measures to crush religious liberty, all of which are in direct conflict with Catholic teaching. Her political career has been a war with her alleged religious affiliation.
This praise is goofball stuff, and at least one celebrated liberal Catholic was having fun with all the Pelosi parades. On CBS&#8217; &#8220;Late Show,&#8221; Stephen Colbert put on dramatic lighting and joked: &#8220;First, each member of Congress steps forward to seal the text with a single drop of blood. Then, the sacred runes are drawn from beneath Jerrold Nadler&#8217;s jowls, and lo, a snow-white ram is brought forth to pluck the maidenhead of Adam Schiff.&#8221;
(Then, as expected, he mocked Sen. Mitch McConnell as a hideous demon to keep it acceptable to his fans.)
Impeachment is in no way a sacred act, and it carries no moral authority. But our pro-impeachment media are employing every sappy metaphor to achieve their fervent desire: dragging President Trump out of the White House and throwing him into the pyre.
L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Brent Bozell III and Tim Graham, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

BOZELL & GRAHAM: Impeachment Is Now Sacred?

On Monday, appearing on “Hannity,” Senator Lindsey Graham fired off a series of salvos at the Democratic party, asserting that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was not seeking the truth, but rather cynically using the impeachment process against President Trump to destroy executive privilege in an attempt to take back the Senate, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) prematurely “spiked the ball at halftime,” when she celebrated sending over the articles of impeachment, and that “2020 will be a blowout” because the American people “jealously guard the right to pick their own leaders,” adding, “I think they’re going to hold it against politicians who try to take that right away.”
Graham started by explaining what was to come next in the impeachment process:
<blockquote>Well, the House will be able to make their case for 24 hours; hopefully we do this in a couple of days. Then the defense team of the president will be able to make their case based on the record established in the House. Then they’ll be an effort to call witnesses, to ask for documents, and I hope that nobody will be called as a witness because every witness being requested by the Democrats were available to the House. They chose not to call them. Executive privilege applies to all these witnesses. So I’m hoping this can be done in about a week and I predict a bipartisan acquittal of President Trump.</blockquote>
Hannity asked, “Why would some of your colleagues in the Senate want to do the House’s job, constitutional job?”
Graham replied:
<blockquote>Well, I would tell my colleagues on the Republican side that Chuck Schumer is not seeking the truth. If you think Chuck Schumer is trying to find out what happened here, you’re missing a lot. Chuck Schumer is trying to take back the Senate. He’s trying to make the argument that if you don’t call a witness you’re trying to cover up for the president. The truth of the matter is that Chuck Schumer is willing to destroy executive privilege. I can only imagine what he would be saying if this were a Democratic president. Who is he asking for? The national security advisor to the president, his chief of staff, the Secretary of State, and the OMB director, four people essential to any presidency, and he could give a damn if Trump loses executive privilege.</blockquote>
Graham continued, “They just hate this guy so much, Sean, from the time he got elected to now; it’s been an unending effort to destroy his presidency. We lost five seats as Republicans when we impeached Clinton; people thought we went too far.&#8221;
He concluded:
<blockquote>I think 2020 is going to be a blowout. I think what Nancy Pelosi did, to spike the ball at halftime; the score at impeachment is one to nothing us; they lost one Democratic seat by impeaching the president. By the time the trial’s over and we have an election in November, there’s going to be a backlash and let me tell you why: most Americans jealously guard the right to pick their own leaders. I think they’re going to hold it against politicians who try to take that right away. We’re going to get the House back; we’re going to keep the Senate majority and President Trump’s gonna be reelected, and one of the reasons is the way they’ve conducted themselves.</blockquote>
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Sen. Lindsey Graham Introduces Senate Resolution Condemning Impeachment Inquiry

WATCH: Graham Crushes Cynicism Of Pelosi, Schumer: ‘I Think 2020 Is Going To Be A Blowout’

Lindsey Graham

After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who hypocritically insisted along with other House Democrats that the job of impeaching President Trump was a sad and somber duty, celebrated sending off the articles of impeachment on Wednesday by smiling and offering taxpayer-funded golden pens to those who attended, Senator Ted Cruz (r-TX) had a golden response of his own characterizing the Democrats as buffoonish and childish, which he sent via Twitter: “Given the circus in the House, I’m surprised she didn’t use crayons.”
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Given the circus in the House, I’m surprised she didn’t use crayons. 🎪 🖍 🎪 <a href="https://t.co/hGTIGvb2Ey">https://t.co/hGTIGvb2Ey</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1217634848426397696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Speaking on Fox News Wednesday, Cruz <a href="https://video.foxnews.com/v/6123057302001#sp=show-clips">stated</a>:
<blockquote>The good news is the partisan circus in the House is over. Nancy Pelosi’s circus is done. And we’re not going to see the one-sided show trial that the House has engaged in for months and months and months. That farce is over. In the Senate, here’s what I hope happens; I hope the Senate — I’m confident the Senate will conduct a fair trial. That means we’ll give the House managers an opportunity to present their case.
We’ll listen to what they have to say; but then we’re going to do something that the House didn’t do: which is we’re going to give President Trump a full opportunity to defend himself, to present his case, to lay out the facts and evidence in law that the House ignored. And once the president is able to defend himself, I am  confident that the result of that is that the president will be acquitted, and the reason is that these articles of impeachment, on their face, are ridiculous; they don’t satisfy the constitutional standard of high crimes and misdemeanors.
And so we’ve moved out of Nancy Pelosi’s world. It’s why she delayed this for so long, because she knew that once the House no longer had it, that they wouldn’t be able to put on a kangaroo court like they have, and instead we’re going to move in the Senate, where I hope and believe we’re going to follow the law, and that means we’re going to acquit the president.</blockquote>
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sad-pelosi-grins-while-signing-impeachment-articles-internet-explodes-over-her-golden-pens">The Daily Wire</a> reported earlier Wednesday, Pelosi stated:
<blockquote>So sad, so tragic for our country that the actions taken by the president undermined our national security, to violate his oath of office, and to jeopardize the security of our elections, the integrity of our elections, has taken us to this place. So, today we will make history when the managers walk down the hallway, we will cross a threshold in history, delivering articles of impeachment against the President of the United States for abuse of power and obstruction of the House.</blockquote>
CNN reporter Lauren Fox explained, “So many pens that Pelosi will sign to officially transmit the articles of impeachment and sign resolution appointing House managers. Why so many? They will be given away to members like House managers as a symbol of today.”
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) responded to Pelosi’s actions by writing on Twitter: “They claim it’s a somber, serious occasion they’re heartbroken over… and then they pass out impeachment-signing pens with special cases. Folks. You can’t make it up.”

SiriusXM Host Julie Mason Talks With Guests At The National Air And Space Museum

Pelosi Grins And Offers Golden Pens For Impeachment. Ted Cruz Fires Back A Golden Tweet.

On Wednesday, asked if she was prepared for the possibility of Hunter Biden, the son of former vice president and current presidential contender Joe Biden, testifying in the impeachment trial of President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi relinquished the microphone to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, who <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/nadler-says-hunter-biden-is-not-relevant-to-for-the-senate-impeachment-trial-76806213607">claimed</a> the Democrats were prepared for such an eventuality but immediately bristled that Hunter Biden was not a “relevant” witness to the inquiry.
Nadler answered that the Democrats were “prepared”:
<blockquote>We are prepared, but the relevant question is relevance. Is relevance. In any trial, you call witnesses who have information about the allegations, about the charges. The allegations, for which there is a mountain of evidence, are that the president betrayed his country by trying to extort the (sic) Ukraine by withholding $391 million dollars in military aid that Congress had voted in order to get Ukraine to announce an investigation of a domestic political opponent. That’s the allegation.</blockquote>
Then he segued to why Hunter Biden was not “relevant”:
<blockquote>Any witness who has information about whether that is true or not true is a relevant witness. Anybody, like Hunter Biden, who has no information about any of that is not a relevant witness. Any trial judge in this country would rule such a witness as irrelevant and inadmissible. If someone is accused of robbing a bank, witnesses who say, &#8220;We saw him run into the bank, we saw him some place else&#8221; are relevant. A witness who says, &#8220;He committed forgery on some other document&#8221; is not relevant to the bank robbery charge. That’s the distinction.</blockquote>
On Monday night Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) tweeted, “My colleagues can&#8217;t have it both ways. Calling for some, while blocking others. If we are going to give a platform to witnesses the Dems demand, I look forward to forcing votes to call Hunter Biden and many more!&#8217;
On Tuesday night during the Democratic presidential debate, Joe Biden lamented, “&#8217;This Republican Party, they&#8217;ve gone after — savaged my surviving son —  gone after me, told lies that your networks and others won&#8217;t even carry on television because they&#8217;re flat-out lies … And I did my job, the question is whether he (Trump) did his job. And he hasn&#8217;t done his job.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ted-cruz-suggests-idea-for-impeachment-trial-that-could-make-joe-biden-hunter-biden-testify">suggested an idea</a> that could trigger calling Joe Biden and Hunter Biden to be called as witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate. Cruz called for “witness reciprocity,” which would enable GOP leaders in the Senate to call a witness of their own for every witness called for by Senate Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated in his usual laconic style, “We’ll be dealing with the witness issue at the appropriate time into the trial. And I think it’s certainly appropriate to point out that both sides would want to call witnesses if they wanted to hear from them. So if you get to that issue, I can’t imagine that only the witnesses our Democratic colleagues want to call will be called.”

Speaker Pelosi Announces Impeachment Managers, Signs And Transmits Articles To Senate For Trial

After GOP Suggests Hunter Biden May Testify, Dems Bristle He’s Not ‘Relevant’

Hunter Biden

George Washington University Law School Professor Jonathan Turley, who served last month as one of three House Judiciary Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-todays-judiciary-committee-impeachment-hearing-is-yet-another-waste-of-time">legal academic witnesses</a> on the topic of the U.S. Constitution&#8217;s specified criteria for impeachment, has been very outspoken since his testimony. Shortly after testifying, Turley took to the Los Angeles Times to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-12-09/opinion-trump-impeachment-hearings-democrats">pen an over-arching message</a> to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Democrats: You have rushed this process and have not sufficiently convinced the American public. &#8220;The problem is that this is the thinnest record of any modern impeachment as well as arguably the shortest impeachment investigation in history,&#8221; he wrote in the Times.
Later last month, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/liberal-law-prof-turley-not-a-sin-to-testify-for-republicans">reported</a>, Turley — who, despite being House Republicans&#8217; lone witness at the aforementioned House Judiciary Committee hearing last month, is hardly a Republican partisan and is best described as an old-school liberal civil libertarian — took to The Hill to defend his decision to testify as a Republican-called witness. “Journalist Henry Louis Mencken once observed, ‘Say what you will about the Ten Commandments, you must always come back to the pleasant fact that there are only ten of them,&#8217;” Turley <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/476088-testifying-for-republicans-should-not-be-a-sin-for-academics">wrote</a>. “Despite unending respect for Mencken, this is an occasion in which I found him mistaken, after I violated the Eleventh Commandment, ‘Thou shalt not testify for Republicans.&#8217;”
Now, as Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/jonathan-turley-pelosi-blunder-impeachment">reports</a>, Turley has written a blog post that is simply scathing of Pelosi&#8217;s decision to delay the formal transmission of impeachment articles from the House of Representatives to the Senate in a (failed) attempt to extract procedural concessions from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as to the conduct of a prospective impeachment trial.
&#8220;From the outset, the ploy of Pelosi withholding the House impeachment articles was as implausible as it was hypocritical,&#8221; Turley <a href="https://jonathanturley.org/2020/01/14/pelosis-blunder-how-the-house-destroyed-its-own-case-for-impeachment/">wrote</a> yesterday in a column entitled, &#8220;Pelosi&#8217;s Blunder: How the House Destroyed its Own Case for Impeachment.&#8221;
&#8220;There was no reason why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would make concessions to get an impeachment that he loathed,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;More importantly, just a couple of days earlier, House leaders insisted that some of us were wrong to encourage them to wait on an impeachment vote to create a more complete record. Pelosi previously insisted that House committees could not pursue direct witnesses like former national security adviser John Bolton because there was no time to delay in getting this impeachment to the Senate. She then waited a month and counting to send the articles over to the Senate.&#8221;
&#8220;The fact is that Pelosi played into the hands of McConnell by first rushing this impeachment forward with an incomplete record and now giving him the excuse to summarily change the rules, or even to dismiss the articles,&#8221; Turley later added.
At the time that Pelosi announced her withholding of the formal transmission of impeachment articles, I pointed out Democrats&#8217; hypocrisy in a <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/19/pelosis-newest-dirty-trick-putting-trumps-senate-trial-on-hold/">New York Post op-ed</a>:
<blockquote>
Thorny legal issues aside, ­Pelosi’s gambit lays bare the brazen hypocrisy of the sanctimonious “norm”-worshippers. Most of Trump’s purportedly grievous sins pale in comparison to the destructive and ­destabilizing nature of Pelosi’s transmission delay — not to mention the unfair and underhanded nature of the proceedings in her own chamber.
The president may not have an explicit constitutional right to a Senate trial. But if Democrats really cared about rule of law and good order, they would have allowed the Framers’ process to unfold as it was supposed to do. Their delay tactics merely expose the frivolity of their Trump-induced mass hysteria.
</blockquote>

Jonathan Turley testifying at House Judiciary Committee

Law Prof Turley: Pelosi ‘Destroyed’ Democrats’ Case For Impeachment

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) suggested Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is under the sway of Russian interests because he won&#8217;t bend to Democrats&#8217; demands to include witnesses in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial.
Despite having no evidence to back up her claims, Pelosi reportedly suggested that McConnell has &#8220;Russian connections&#8221; during discussions with fellow Democrats ahead of Wednesday&#8217;s House vote to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate, according to sources that spoke to CNN. She made similar claims during interviews over the weekend.
The <a href="https://freebeacon.com/politics/pelosi-floats-russia-conspiracy-theory-about-mcconnell/">Washington Free Beacon reports</a> that Pelosi floated the Russian conspiracy theory about McConnell during closed-door sessions with her caucus over the weekend as a way of explaining away her and Sen. Chuck Schumer&#8217;s (D-NY) failure to force McConnell to the bargaining table.
Pelosi &#8220;mused that sometimes she wonders whether McConnell has Russian connections,&#8221; CNN said.
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Pelosi told her colleagues in private that Mitch McConnell is acting like a rogue Senate leader, as she’s said before. She mused that sometimes she wonders whether McConnell has Russian connections, per attendees. <a href="https://t.co/vy2mHHLSlW">https://t.co/vy2mHHLSlW</a>
&mdash; Manu Raju (@mkraju) <a href="https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1217116932228423680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Pelosi&#8217;s reference to &#8220;Burisma&#8221; is a call back to an incident that came to light last week. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/us/politics/russian-hackers-burisma-ukraine.html">According to the New York Times</a>, evidence has surfaced that Russians hacked the Ukrainian oil and gas company, most famous for putting Hunter Biden on its board, perhaps at the behest of then-Vice President Joe Biden. There is, of course, no evidence linking Trump, the White House, or Mitch McConnell to the hack, and, as the NYT notes, its not even clear what the hackers were after (though given the timing, its likely they were looking for information damaging to the Bidens).
On Sunday, Pelosi told ABC&#8217;s George Stephanopolous that she believes Russians may try to hack the elections a second time in 2020, adding that she believes President Donald Trump is in “complete denial” over Vladimir Putin&#8217;s efforts to influence American democracy.
But after lighting into Trump, Pelosi again repeated allegations that McConnell is under some sort of Russian influence.
“Sometimes I wonder about Mitch McConnell too,” Pelosi told Stephanopolous. “What’s he — why is he an accomplice to all of that? He has resisted sources going in a manner commensurate with the threat for state agencies, whichever they are in a state, could be the secretary of state or whatever, to protect our infrastructure, our critical infrastructure of elections.”
Despite labeling McConnell &#8220;Moscow Mitch,&#8221; there&#8217;s been little actual evidence presented that McConnell is somehow laboring under instructions from superiors in the Kremlin, and a report, submitted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, comissioned by Democrats, found no evidence that any Trump campaign or transition official actively collaborated with the Russians to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. McConnell isn&#8217;t even mentioned in that report.
McConnell responded to the &#8220;Moscow Mitch&#8221; moniker when it first appeared over the summer, likening the allegations that he is in league with Putin to accusations of treason.
Pelosi will finally hold a vote Wednesday to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial, but noted even Wednesday morning, in a press conference held to announce the &#8220;impeachment managers&#8221; &#8212; the prosecutorial team that will present the case against President Trump for the House Democrats &#8212; that it was McConnell who was being unreasonable in not submitting to Democrats&#8217; demands that the Senate trial include witness testimony, not House Democrats who hold no sway over the Senate process.
&nbsp;

Nancy Pelosi Suggests Mitch McConnell Under Russian Control, Says Senate Leader Has ‘Russian Connections’

Mitch McConnell

Russia

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Monday that House Intelligence Committe chair, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), House Judiciary Committee Chair, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and five others will serve as &#8220;impeachment managers&#8221; in the impending Senate impeachment trial, acting as prosecutors to prove the case against President Donald Trump.
Assisting Schiff and Nadler, who ran the two committees responsible for investigating the president and drafting the articles of impeachment, will be House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, (D-NY), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX).
&#8220;The job of the impeachment managers in a Senate trial is to lay out the House approved arguments for removing the president from office. The president’s lawyers will argue the opposing point, and the Senate will ultimately vote on whether to remove Trump from office,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/15/pelosi-taps-schiff-nadler-as-trump-impeachment-managers.html">CNBC reported Wednesday</a>. &#8220;In that sense, the task of the impeachment managers resembles that of a prosecutor in a civil trial, although the rules and procedures for an impeachment trial are completely different.&#8221;
The House will vote to confirm the seven-member prosecutorial team Wednesday morning. It is expected to vote Wednesday afternoon to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate after a delay of nearly a month.
Speaking at a press conference Wednesday morning, Pelosi claimed that the team was chosen for their courtroom experience.
&#8220;I am proud to present the managers who will bring the case which we have great confidence in impeaching the president for his removal,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The emphasis is on litigators.”
Pelosi also tweeted out a &#8220;fact sheet&#8221; on the seven-member team, touting their experience as attorneys and, in some cases, their extensive experience as legislators. Lofgren, Pelosi was quick to mention during her conference, has been in Congress so long that she&#8217;s served through three impeachments: Trump&#8217;s, Clinton&#8217;s, and Nixon&#8217;s.
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Today, I have the privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of the President. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DefendOurDemocracy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DefendOurDemocracy</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y2613Ni3pC">pic.twitter.com/Y2613Ni3pC</a>
&mdash; Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1217464494668091394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Pelosi, however, appeared to be on the defensive during the press conference, particularly when asked about the holes in the House team&#8217;s case against the president &#8212; holes noticed by everyone from independent voters, who have fallen away from approving of the impeachment by double digits, to the mainstream media.
Pelosi was adamant that, regardless of the outcome of the Senate trial &#8212; acquittal is nearly a foregone conclusion &#8212; the House impeachment will remain a stain on Trump&#8217;s permanent legacy.
“He’s been impeached forever. They can never erase that,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi was also asked why the House chose to pursue impeachment, given that Trump could have simply faced the electorate while still under House scrutiny. Both Nadler and Schiff took turns answering the question, first suggesting that Trump had &#8220;obstructed&#8221; justice to the degree that a full impeachment inquiry could take &#8220;years,&#8221; and then claiming that Trump&#8217;s actions were designed to upend the forthcoming presidential election.
“There is an overwhelming case, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the president betrayed the country by withholding federal funds appropriated by Congress, breaking the law in doing so, in order to extort a foreign government into intervening in our election to embarrass a political opponent,” Nadler said.
When asked why the Democrats are pushing for witnesses in the Senate when they could have called additional witnesses in the House &#8212; Schiff&#8217;s impeachment panel was, of course, only a two-week affair &#8212; Schiff said he believed the administration would have simply &#8220;obstructed&#8221; the process, leaving him no choice but to limit his lineup. Schiff, of course, likely limited the number of witnesses in the House in order to avoid any testimony that might benefit Trump &#8212; a danger that would still be present if witnesses were called in the Senate.

Nancy Pelosi Appoints Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, And Five Others As Impeachment Managers

On Wednesday morning, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the entire government resigned as President Vladimir Putin proposed constitutional changes to potentially extend his rule.
&#8220;Russian President Putin on Wednesday proposed a nationwide vote on sweeping constitutional changes that would shift power from the presidency to parliament and the prime minister, a move that could allow him to extend his rule after leaving the Kremlin, Reuters reports,&#8221; NBC News reported.
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BREAKING: Russian President Putin on Wednesday proposed a nationwide vote on sweeping constitutional changes that would shift power from the presidency to parliament and the prime minister, a move that could allow him to extend his rule after leaving the Kremlin, Reuters reports.
&mdash; NBC News (@NBCNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1217445574116630529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Following the breaking news, Tass state news agency reported that Medvedev submitted his resignation to Putin. &#8220;Russian news agencies said Putin thanked Medvedev for his service, but added that the prime minister’s Cabinet failed to fulfill all the objectives set for it,&#8221; noted NBC News.
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BREAKING: Tass state news agency reports that Russian PM Medvedev has submitted his resignation to President Putin.
Russian news agencies said Putin thanked Medvedev for his service, but added that the prime minister’s Cabinet failed to fulfill all the objectives set for it.
&mdash; NBC News (@NBCNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1217446166243299328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Of course these are very serious changes to the political system,&#8221; Putin said during his annual state-of-the-union address.
&#8220;It would increase the role and significance of the country&#8217;s Parliament &#8230; of parliamentary parties, and the independence and responsibility of the prime minister,&#8221; the Russian president said, adding a proposal for a nationwide vote on such changes.
According to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-prime-minister-medvedev-cabinet-submit-resignation-11579095839?mod=e2tw">The Wall Street Journal</a>, &#8220;Mr. Medvedev will stay on as prime minister until the new government is formed, Mr. Putin said on state television. He added that Mr. Medvedev would be offered the newly created post of deputy chairman of Russia’s security council.&#8221;
&#8220;The prime minister and government’s approval ratings have fallen steadily over the past five years, during which Mr. Putin took credit for most foreign policy decisions and the government was responsible for domestic policy. Over the same period, Russians’ living standards have fallen and <a class="icon none" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/putin-blames-sanctions-energy-prices-for-declining-russian-incomes-11561035133?mod=article_inline">economic growth has slowed</a>,&#8221; the outlet noted.
&#8220;What’s happening here? Putin appears to be changing the constitution, including shifting powers to PM, to allow him to continue to rule Russia after term limit as president is up,&#8221; CNN&#8217;s Jim Sciutto reacted to the news.
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What’s happening here? Putin appears to be changing the constitution, including shifting powers to PM, to allow him to continue to rule Russia after term limit as president is up. <a href="https://t.co/YaYseaBLh9">https://t.co/YaYseaBLh9</a>
&mdash; Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) <a href="https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/1217456415343771648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Putin has been president or prime minister for nearly two decades, noted NBC. The Russian leader &#8220;was due to finish his fourth presidential term in 2024, after which the constitution would bar him from immediately running for president again.&#8221;
Putin&#8217;s latest announcement confirms speculation from Russian media outlets that the president would try to stay in power past 2024.
“The main point of Putin’s message: what kind of idiots (and/or crooks) are all those who said Putin will leave in 2024,&#8221; posted anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny in response to the news. &#8220;Remaining the sole leader for life, taking ownership of an entire country, and appropriating wealth to himself and his friends is the only goal of Putin and his regime.&#8221;
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Главный итог послания Путина: какие же олухи (и/или жулики) все те, кто говорил, что Путин уйдёт в 2024 году. Оставаться пожизненным единоличным лидером, захватив в собственность целую страну, присвоив себе и своим друзьям её богатства &#8211; единственная цель Путина и его режима.
&mdash; Alexey Navalny (@navalny) <a href="https://twitter.com/navalny/status/1217401962175459328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s daughter tied the developments to President Donald Trump.
&#8220;Putin dissolved Russia’s government to keep himself in power. Jealous as you may be [President of the United States], you can’t do this here,&#8221; wrote Christine Pelosi via Twitter. 
&#8220;You are <a class="css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1n1174f r-1loqt21 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0" role="link" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ImpeachedForLife?src=hashtag_click" data-focusable="true">#ImpeachedForLife</a>,&#8221; she added, &#8220;and will be voted out of office within a year &#8211; one way or anothe[r].&#8221; 
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Putin dissolved Russia’s government to keep himself in power. Jealous as you may be <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>, you can’t do this here. You are <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ImpeachedForLife?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ImpeachedForLife</a> and will be voted out of office within a year &#8211; one way or anothe <a href="https://t.co/duS3w0Pu8P">https://t.co/duS3w0Pu8P</a>
&mdash; Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/sfpelosi/status/1217455638659252225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Speaker Pelosi has long accused President Trump and the GOP of having nefariously ties to Putin and Russia. On Tuesday, Pelosi &#8220;continued to play up claims that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) is beholden to Russian interests during a caucus meeting,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/pelosi-continues-to-suggest-russians-hold-sway-over-mcconnell/">National Review</a> noted.
&#8220;Pelosi told her colleagues in private that Mitch McConnell is acting like a rogue Senate leader, as she’s said before. She mused that sometimes she wonders whether McConnell has Russian connections, per attendees,&#8221; reported CNN’s Manu Raju.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Entire Russian Government Resigns As Putin Moves To Extend His Rule. Pelosi’s Daughter Takes Trump Jab.

Vladimir Putin

Last night, Daily Wire Editor-at-Large Josh Hammer, a constitutional attorney by training, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRvUG6NTn78&amp;feature=youtu.be">joined</a> “Tipping Point With Liz Wheeler” on One America News Network to discuss the latest twists and turns in Democrats&#8217; ongoing partisan impeachment saga, as well as to recap the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-the-new-york-post-obstruction-of-congress-is-an-utterly-ridiculous-impeachment-charge">deeply flawed nature</a> of House Democrats&#8217; two finalized articles of impeachment.
&#8220;House Democrats emerged from a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning to finally announce the much-delayed vote on sending their articles of impeachment against President Trump — passed nearly a month ago without a single Republican vote — to the Senate,&#8221; The Daily Wire&#8217;s James Barrett <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/defeated-democrats-announce-vote-on-sending-impeachment-articles-but-not-wholl-be-running-the-show">reported</a> earlier today. &#8220;The big vote will take place Wednesday, though one particularly important detail has yet to be determined: who exactly from the House is going to be presenting the Democrats’ case against the duly elected president during the Senate trial,&#8221; Barrett continued.
In a <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/12/13/obstruction-of-congress-is-an-utterly-ridiculous-impeachment-charge/">New York Post op-ed</a> last month, Hammer explained why House Democrats&#8217; second article of impeachment, &#8220;obstruction of Congress,&#8221; is &#8220;an utterly ridiculous impeachment charge&#8221;:
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Our tripartite separation-of-powers edifice was hardly devised for the purpose of ensuring amiability between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. On the contrary, the Framers envisioned a national government in which the three branches existed in a state of continuous, unyielding tension with one another.
In particular, the two political branches — Congress and the executive branch — were meant to be jealous guardians of their own ambits and spheres of influence. Ceaseless tussling between them was to be the norm. “Ambition,” James Madison told us in Federalist 51, “must be made to counteract ambition.” &#8230;
That is how our separation of powers is supposed to function — in a state far closer to animosity than to geniality. Which is precisely why House Democrats alleging “obstruction of Congress” as an article of impeachment makes no sense.
</blockquote>
Wheeler began the segment last night by asking about that deeply problematic second article of impeachment. Wheeler noted that the Democrats accused the president of &#8220;obstructi[ng]&#8221; Congress without even waiting for the judiciary to weigh in with respect to congressional subpoenas issued for Trump administration officials. Hammer agreed and also reiterated, in similar fashion to the Post op-ed, that the article of impeachment is also non-sensical from the broader perspective of structural constitutionalism:
<blockquote>[T]his impeachment charge is so risible. &#8230; The entire separation of powers construct is built around tension. The three branches of government — the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judicial branch — are not &#8230; intended to exist in some state of harmony. &#8230; No, that&#8217;s not what the Framers envisioned.
James Madison, in The Federalist No. 51, maybe the most famous Federalist Paper of them all, clearly says &#8220;ambition must be made to counteract ambition.&#8221; They&#8217;re supposed to be zealous guardians of their own idiosyncratic spheres of influence. They&#8217;re supposed to butt heads. They&#8217;re supposed to use all the various tools at their disposal to push back and try to encroach upon each other&#8217;s spheres. They&#8217;re [each] supposed to want to be the most dominant branch. Each one is supposed to not get along with the others. &#8230;</blockquote>
Wheeler agreed, noting that the second impeachment charge is therefore &#8220;both practically and philosophically ridiculous.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe title="Impeachment Proceedings to Begin in the Senate" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yRvUG6NTn78?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hammer OANN screen grab 1.13.20

WATCH: Hammer On ‘Tipping Point With Liz Wheeler’: A Senate Impeachment Trial Looms

House Democrats emerged from a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning to finally announce the much-delayed vote on sending their articles of impeachment against President Trump — passed nearly a month ago without a single Republican vote — to the Senate. The announcement, which comes amid mounting pressure from both sides of the aisle, signals, as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/14/house-vote-wednesday-to-transmit-trump-impeachment-articles-to-senate.html">CNBC</a> puts it, a &#8220;political defeat&#8221; for the Nancy Pelosi-led Democrats.
The big vote will take place Wednesday, though one particularly important detail has yet to be determined: who exactly from the House is going to be presenting the Democrats&#8217; case against the duly elected president during the Senate trial.
At a press conference held after the Democrats&#8217; meeting Tuesday morning, House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (NY) gave reporters the big news. “[House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] indicated that the articles of impeachment &#8230; will be transmitted to the Senate at some point tomorrow,” said Jeffries, as reported by CNBC.
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&#8220;Wednesday’s House resolution is expected to have three functions: To transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate, name the House members who will serve as managers of the impeachment trial, and fund the trial itself,&#8221; CNBC explains.
&#8220;Absent a last minute change of heart by McConnell, Wednesday’s delivery of the articles by the House to the Senate will represent a political defeat for Pelosi, the de facto architect of the impeachment process so far,&#8221; the outlet notes.
As for those managers, who will &#8220;effectively act as prosecutors in the president’s trial,&#8221; their identities are not yet been revealed, but Jeffries said Pelosi will be providing them before the vote.
Among those expected to be the House Democrats&#8217; &#8220;prosecutors&#8221; are two obvious choices: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who led the House&#8217;s widely criticized impeachment inquiry, and House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who oversaw the crafting of the Democrats&#8217; two articles of impeachment against Trump.
The announcement comes as support for impeachment has <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/impeachment-polls/">flatlined</a>, with some polls showing a decline in support, and as key Democrats began to turn on Pelosi, publicly criticizing her &#8220;delay&#8221; gambit. Among the critics of the move is high-ranking Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA), who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sen-dianne-feinstein-tells-pelosi-to-send-over-impeachment-articles-i-dont-see-what-good-delay-does">said</a> last week, “If we’re going to do it, she should send them over. I don’t see what good delay does.”
While the Democrats dragged their heels on sending over the articles, they did accomplish one official act last week: As Trump announced that Iran was &#8220;standing down&#8221; after its attack on two Iraqi bases that resulted in no U.S. or Iraqi casualties and minimal damage, Pelosi led the charge to vote on a War Powers Resolution limiting the president&#8217;s ability to respond to Iranian aggression in the region.
Trump, meanwhile, has been using the Democrats&#8217; focus on trying to censure him against them, repeatedly hammering them online in front of cameras. “The Democrats and the Fake News are trying to make terrorist Soleimani into a wonderful guy, only because I did what should have been done for 20 years,” Trump tweeted Monday morning. “Anything I do, whether it’s the economy, military, or anything else, will be scorned by the [Radical] Left, Do Nothing Democrats!”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-pelosi-asked-would-it-be-a-good-thing-if-iranian-protesters-brought-down-regime-after-showdown-with-trump-gets-ripped-for-response">WATCH: Pelosi Asked ‘Would It Be A Good Thing’ If Iranian Protesters Brought Down Regime After Showdown With Trump; Gets Ripped For Response</a>
This article has been expanded to include more context.
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‘Defeated’ Democrats Announce Vote On Sending Impeachment Articles, But Not Who’ll Be Running The Show

The following is satirical.
Democrats and journalists — but I repeat myself — are furiously accusing the Trump administration of giving conflicting explanations for the killing of terrorist leader Qassem Soleimani.
Pencil-necked McCarthyite Adam Schiff went on &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; with NBC anchorman Chuck Credulous, and actually managed to keep a straight face as he said, “Administration officials keep changing their tune. First they said they killed Soleimani because he was going to kill Americans, then they said it was because he was going to bomb American embassies, then they said it was because he was going to launch terrorist attacks against Americans. Well, which is it? After all, we can’t rest easy knowing this violent, psychopathic murderer of our countrymen may have been harmed unjustly.”
In an op-ed in The New York Times, a former newspaper, Editor-in-Chief Blithering Prevarication the Third wrote, “The State Department said Soleimani planned imminent attacks, but given their deplorable English pronunciation, it was impossible to tell whether they meant i-m-m-a-n-e-n-t and thus the attack was indwelling and inherent, or whether they meant it was an eminent attack being ‘high in station, rank or repute,’ or whether they actually were trying to imply that Mr. Soleimani was planning to attack us in the near future, which of course would be an entirely different spelling than the others. These are the things that should be keeping America up at night not trifling matters like whether Donald Trump avenged the deaths and saved the lives of our fellow Americans.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told a mannequin in a department store she’d been lost in since last Wednesday, “I have said many times that all roads lead back to Russia, but now it seems they actually all lead to the ladies lingerie department, and if someone doesn’t get me out of here soon, I may starve to death.”
Pelosi then wandered off to the cosmetics department where she discovered a new color of lipstick to put on her forehead.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kevin-mccarthy-backs-house-dems-into-corner-will-introduce-resolution-supporting-iranian-protestors">Kevin McCarthy Backs House Dems Into Corner, Will Introduce Resolution Supporting Iranian Protestors</a>

Iran Propaganda

Democrats Demand To Know Why Trump Killed Terrorist Who Was Murdering Americans [Satire]

New York Times

Satire

In a series of social media posts Monday morning, President Trump highlighted outraged responses to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s much-criticized comments about the growing protest movement among Iranians against the country&#8217;s oppressive, theocratic regime after Iranian authorities were forced to admit to shooting down a passenger jet carrying 176 people. After retweeting posts condemning Pelosi&#8217;s comments downplaying the unity and significance of the protests, Trump summed up the Democrats and the left-leaning media&#8217;s strategy on framing the Iran conflict.
Asked by NBC News&#8217; George Stephanopoulos if she supports the Iranian protesters and thinks it would be &#8220;a good thing if they brought the regime down,&#8221; Pelosi failed to give a straight answer, instead appearing to dismiss the unity and power of the movement.
“Well, the protesters are protesting, as I understand it, this brand of protesters, about the fact that that plane went down. And many students were on that plane. These are largely students in the street,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-pelosi-asked-would-it-be-a-good-thing-if-iranian-protesters-brought-down-regime-after-showdown-with-trump-gets-ripped-for-response">said</a> Pelosi. When Stephanopoulos pointed out that the protesters are “calling out the regime for lying&#8221; and &#8220;saying ‘Death to Khamenei’,&#8221; Pelosi said dismissively, “Well whatever it is. But the fact is this: There were protesters in the street before against the regime. After the taking out of Soleimani, there were protesters in the street joined together, as you know, against us. It wasn’t good. Taking down this plan is a terrible, terrible tragedy, and they should be held accountable for letting commercial flights go at a time that was so dangerous. But there are different reasons why people are in the street.&#8221;
Trump responded by retweeting multiple incensed reactions to the interview, including by Mohammad Mozafari, who wrote (tweets below): &#8220;The Iranian people are being killed in the streets by the Islamic Republic, but Nancy Pelosi in the USA supports those who kill the Iranian people. Why?&#8221;
Trump also retweeted a post by Farid Khalifi condemning Pelosi: &#8220;While the Iranian people are being killed by the mullahs in the protests, you are lying to the American people! The real people of Iran don&#8217;t want the Democrats-backed terrorists. Shame on you for playing with the blood of Iranian people. STOP <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash" data-query-source="hashtag_click"><s>#</s>NancyPelosiFakeNews</a>&#8221;
&#8220;Just for a second assume there is no Dem nor Rep party,&#8221; said &#8220;Saied,&#8221; in another post retweeted by Trump. &#8220;Look at the reality. Iranians want mullas gone. They’ve been massacred on Nov when main media were covering Trump impeachment. Be a human and stand for human right. <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash" data-query-source="hashtag_click"><s>#</s>NancyPelosiFakeNews</a>&#8221;
&#8220;Question: Who in America supports this mullahs&#8217; crime? Answer : Nancy Pelosi,&#8221; wrote another Pelosi critic retweeted by the president. &#8220;People just now realizing how crazy and destructive Nancy is to America, better yet the world. I pity those that still support her. <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash" data-query-source="hashtag_click"><s>#</s>NancyPelosiFakeNews</a>&#8221; wrote another. &#8220;Iranian people are angry about what Nancy Pelosi said recently in the interview with <a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link js-nav" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/ABC" data-mentioned-user-id="28785486"><s>@</s>ABC</a> so We&#8217;ve launched a hashtag against what she said. <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash" data-query-source="hashtag_click"><s>#</s>NancyPelosiFakeNews</a>&#8221;
&#8220;The corrupted Dems trying their best to come to the Ayatollah&#8217;s rescue. <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash" data-query-source="hashtag_click"><s>#</s>NancyPelosiFakeNews</a>,&#8221; added another critic, along with a photo of burka-wearing Pelosi next to a turbaned House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in front of an Iranian flag.
Trump then offered his summary of what the Democrats and their allies in the left-leaning media are trying to accomplish. &#8220;The Democrats and the Fake News are trying to make terrorist Soleimani into a wonderful guy, only because I did what should have been done for 20 years,&#8221; he tweeted. &#8220;Anything I do, whether it’s the economy, military, or anything else, will be scorned by the [Radical] Left, Do Nothing Democrats!&#8221;
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🔴The Iranian people are being killed in the streets by the Islamic Republic, but Nancy Pelosi in the USA supports those who kill the Iranian people. Why?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NancyPelosiFakeNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/gGCyoLYkYX">https://t.co/gGCyoLYkYX</a>
&mdash; Mohammad Mozafari (@mohmd_mozafari) <a href="https://twitter.com/mohmd_mozafari/status/1216681333734416384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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While the Iranian people are being killed by the mullahs in the protests, you are lying to the American people! The real people of Iran don&#39;t want the Democrats-backed terrorists. Shame on you for playing with the blood of Iranian people. STOP <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NancyPelosiFakeNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/FWKwuc9oOE">pic.twitter.com/FWKwuc9oOE</a>
&mdash; Farid Khalifi (@FaridMedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaridMedia/status/1216706712780070925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Just for a second assume there is no Dem nor Rep party. Look at the reality. Iranians want mullas gone. They’ve been massacred on Nov when main media were covering Trump impeachment. Be a human and stand for human right. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NancyPelosiFakeNews</a>
&mdash; Saied (@Saiedey) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saiedey/status/1216707354915483648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Question: Who in America supports this mullahs&#39; crime? Answer : Nancy Pelosi<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NancyPelosiFakeNews</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IranProtests2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IranProtests2020</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IranPortests?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IranPortests</a> <a href="https://t.co/SsGmLihFet">pic.twitter.com/SsGmLihFet</a>
&mdash; مترسک⁦🇺🇸⁩⁦🇮🇱⁩ (@Scarecr0_w) <a href="https://twitter.com/Scarecr0_w/status/1216697807148589057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
People just now realizing how crazy and destructive Nancy is to America, better yet the world. I pity those that still support her. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NancyPelosiFakeNews</a>
&mdash; BiggZie_ (@BiggZie_VT) <a href="https://twitter.com/BiggZie_VT/status/1216702825293668352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Iranian people are angry about what Nancy Pelosi said recently in the interview with <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABC</a> so WE&#39;ve launched a hashtag against what she said. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NancyPelosiFakeNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/4VTGAXlzOJ">https://t.co/4VTGAXlzOJ</a>
&mdash; 🤖Nariman (@NarimanGharib) <a href="https://twitter.com/NarimanGharib/status/1216673858767544320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The corrupted Dems trying their best to come to the Ayatollah&#39;s rescue.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NancyPelosiFakeNews?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NancyPelosiFakeNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/a0ksPHeXCy">pic.twitter.com/a0ksPHeXCy</a>
&mdash; داون آندر (@D0wn_Under) <a href="https://twitter.com/D0wn_Under/status/1216667026191605760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Democrats and the Fake News are trying to make terrorist Soleimani into a wonderful guy, only because I did what should have been done for 20 years. Anything I do, whether it’s the economy, military, or anything else, will be scorned by the Rafical Left, Do Nothing Democrats!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1216748556561866755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Trump Highlights Blowback To Pelosi’s Iran Protest Comments, Sums Up Dems, Media Strategy

Iran

Qasem Soleimani

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s appearance on ABC News&#8217; &#8220;This Week&#8221; Sunday has sparked strong criticism after she was asked if she supports the growing uprising in Iran against the country&#8217;s oppressive regime following its showdown with President Trump.
After initially lying about the cause of the horrific crash of a Ukrainian passenger jet that took the lives of all 176 people on board, Iran finally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-iran-admits-it-shot-down-passenger-plane-killing-176-people">admitted</a> late last week what the world suspected: they shot down the Ukrainian 737, claiming that the plane was accidentally targeted when it turned toward an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military base the night the regime launched missiles at two Iraqi bases where U.S. troops were stationed.
Iran&#8217;s admission — which came after three days of Iran&#8217;s leaders accusing America of “propagating fallacies” about the crash as part of a “psychological operation” against the country — added more fuel to a growing uprising against the terror-sponsoring regime, Iranians taking to the streets, photos and video <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-iranian-protesters-refuse-to-walk-on-u-s-israel-flags-attack-soleimani-posters">showing</a> protesters &#8220;attacking images of former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani while also refusing to walk on American and Israeli flags.&#8221; Over the weekend, the Iranian government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-opens-fire-on-demonstrators-protesters-chant-our-enemy-is-here-they-lie-to-us-that-its-america">responded</a> by firing “tear gas, rubber bullets and eventually live ammunition to disperse demonstrators.”
Amid the reports, former Bill Clinton adviser George Stephanopoulous asked Pelosi on Sunday if she supports the Iranian protesters and thinks it would be a &#8220;good thing&#8221; if the theocratic regime were overthrown. The Democratic leader responded by initially refusing to give a straight answer. Instead, the California Democrat questioned the unity of the protests and downplayed the role Iran&#8217;s tragic downing of the passenger jet has played in the growing movement.
&#8220;We&#8217;re seeing now demonstrations in the streets of Iran against the regime,&#8221; Stephanopoulos said. &#8220;Do you support those protesters? And would it be a good thing if they brought the regime down?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, the protesters are protesting, as I understand it, this brand of protesters, about the fact that that plane went down. And many students were on that plane,&#8221; she said. &#8220;These are largely students in the street.&#8221;
&#8220;I think the Iranians should have not had commercial flights going off there,&#8221; she said, in an obvious assertion before being interrupted by Stephanopoulos.
&#8220;They&#8217;re calling out the regime for lying. They&#8217;re saying &#8216;Death to Khamenei,&#8217; as well,&#8221; he stressed, referencing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
&#8220;Well whatever it is,&#8221; said Pelosi, dismissively. &#8220;But the fact is this: There were protesters in the street before against the regime. After the taking out of Soleimani, there were protesters in the street joined together, as you know, against us. It wasn&#8217;t good.&#8221;
Having tried to make Trump the bad guy in the situation, Pelosi acknowledged Iran&#8217;s fault in shooting down the passenger plane. &#8220;Taking down this plan is a terrible, terrible tragedy,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and they should be held accountable for letting commercial flights go at a time that was so dangerous.&#8221;
The Democratic leader then emphasized what was apparently her key point. &#8220;But there are different reasons why people are in the street,&#8221; she said.
Pelosi&#8217;s problematic response to Stephanopoulous&#8217;s straightforward question — which appeared to be motivated by the speaker&#8217;s focus on making sure the Trump administration doesn&#8217;t get any credit for the Iranian people turning against the terror-sponsoring regime — earned the attention of RNC Research, which posted a clip of the exchange. &#8220;Pelosi dismisses protests in Iran against regime, &#8216;different reasons why people are in the street,'&#8221; RNC Research captioned the video.
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Pelosi dismisses protests in Iran against regime, &quot;different reasons why people are in the street&quot;<a href="https://t.co/weKuQ6fSlO">https://t.co/weKuQ6fSlO</a> <a href="https://t.co/q9YwCUZrQ9">pic.twitter.com/q9YwCUZrQ9</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1216378286592360453?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The clip has since made the rounds online, with many others, particularly on the right, similarly <a href="https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2020/01/13/nancy-pelosis-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-2020-gets-worse-following-her-iranprotests2020-comments-on-this-week/">blasting</a> the speaker for her response.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-highlights-blowback-to-pelosis-iran-protest-comments-sums-up-dems-media-strategy">Trump Highlights Blowback To Pelosi’s Iran Protest Comments, Sums Up Dems, Media Strategy</a>

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