Category Archives: Trump impeachment inquiry

Power is everything – and progressives forget that at their peril | Jonathan Freedland

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As Boris Johnson and Donald Trump know, being in office means setting your own agenda

You take comfort where you can. Especially at a time like this, when the side of progress is beleaguered, when left or liberal values are taking a hammering on every front, apparently losing every battle, it’s natural to cling to whatever blanket of consolation we can find. When a single week can see Britain leave the European Union and Donald Trump bragging and swaggering in vengeful celebration as he escapes punishment for a high crime he clearly committed, the need for soothing can become intense. One such solace is that, despite the concrete defeats visible all around us, the left is somehow “winning the argument”.

Related: Without the BBC we could be facing a post-truth dystopia | Jonathan Freedland

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Donald Trump alludes to Mitt Romney and Nancy Pelosi in speech after acquittal – video

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The US president referenced support for his impeachment from both Mitt Romney and the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, at the national prayer breakfast. He added: 'When they impeach you for nothing, then you are supposed to like them. It is not easy'

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US politics: Buttigieg leads in Iowa as Senate prepares to acquit Trump – live coverage

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  • Buttigieg just ahead of Sanders as Iowa votes trickle in
  • Pelosi rips up copy of Trump State of the Union speech
  • Only one Republican senator likely to vote to convict Trump
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Pete Buttigieg threw everything into winning the Iowa Democratic caucuses and – with 71% of the vote in following Monday’s results debacle – his gamble may well have paid off.

If so, the former mayor of tiny South Bend, Indiana, may look back on this moment as the peak of his political career, or the start of a long, hard slog that could take him all the way to the White House.

Hello and welcome to another big day in American politics.

It’s fair to see Donald Trump is probably having a pretty good week. Last night he got 80 minutes to make his case for a second term on primetime TV with his State of the Union address, as the Democrats continued to struggle to publish results from their first primary contest on Iowa on Monday.

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Senate leaders make speeches before final vote – video

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Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell called for senators to ‘vote to reject the House abuse of power’ during a speech on Tuesday 4 February before a final vote scheduled for Wednesday afternoon on whether to convict Donald Trump. Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer said that ‘the Republicans refused to get the evidence because they were afraid of what it would show’.

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Donald Trump’s defence team sets out argument in impeachment trial – video

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The US president’s legal team has set out its argument in a three-hour session on the fifth day of the impeachment proceedings against him.

The White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, argued nothing Trump did in withholding aid to Ukraine merited impeachment. The Democrat leader, Chuck Schumer, said the legal team 'did not do a good job'

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Video appears to show Trump ordering Marie Yovanovitch’s removal

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‘Get rid of her. Get her out tomorrow,’ president seems to say of ambassador to Ukraine

Donald Trump demanded the dismissal of Marie Yovanovitch, then US ambassador to Ukraine and now a key figure in the president’s impeachment trial, according to a video recording released to the media.

The footage was reportedly taken during an April 2018 donor dinner at a hotel and released to news media by an attorney for Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

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Video appears to show Trump talking to Lev Parnas about ‘taking out’ Ukraine ambassador – video

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Footage obtained from Parnas's lawyer, dating back to April 2018, appears to show Donald Trump ordering attendees at a meal to 'get rid' of the US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. The video surfaced on Saturday 25 January.

Parnas, who was involved in the impeachment proceedings, worked with Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani to oust Yovanovitch and claimed the president 'knew exactly what was going on', in a televised interview. 

Although they have been pictured together, Trump has said of Parnas: 'I don’t know him, I don’t believe I’ve ever spoken to him. I don’t need the help of a man I haven’t met before, other than perhaps taken a picture.' The removal of Yovanovitch has played a key role in the current impeachment proceedings against the president

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‘Loose with the truth’: Chuck Schumer on the gravity of Donald Trump’s alleged offences – video

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Chuck Schumer, the US Senate minority leader, said Donald Trump’s defence team appeared 'unprepared, confused and unconvincing' during the first day of debate at the president’s impeachment trial on Tuesday.

All but one Republican voted against the amendments offered by Democrats, which was approved by the Senate on a party line vote in the early hours of Wednesday morning

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Impeachment trial against Trump begins: the key moments of day one – video

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Donald Trump’s impeachment trial began in the US Senate, with Democrats pushing back against the rules set out by the Republican-held senate. Democrats accused Republicans of covering up for the president as their amendments to trial proceedings were voted down repeatedly

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As Trump goes on trial, so does the conscience of the Republican party

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Can Republicans divorce themselves from a demagogue? The impeachment trial’s first day offers little hope

A lone figure in a blue suit slipped quietly into the front row of the US Senate public gallery just before 3.30pm on Tuesday and gazed down at his former colleagues.

Jeff Flake, the former Republican senator from Arizona, had returned to Washington to witness two trials. One was that of an impeached American president accused of strong-arming a foreign government for his own political ends. The other was a trial of the conscience of the Republican party.

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Senators are sworn in as Trump’s impeachment trial gets under way – video

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Seven House impeachment managers delivered impeachment articles against the US president, Donald Trump, to the Senate, officially marking the opening of the trial.

Adam Schiff, the lead impeachment manager, read from impeachment resolution 755, impeaching Trump for high crimes and misdemeanours. The trial is scheduled to begin on January 21

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Trump: ‘I don’t feel like I’m being impeached’ – video

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Donald Trump has said he 'doesn't feel like' he's being impeached because the impeachment inquiry into him was 'a hoax'. Responding to the question of how it feels to be the third president impeached by the House, Trump criticised the Democratic party saying 'they happen to have a small majority and they took that and forced people', adding: 'they put the arm on everybody'.

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Nancy Pelosi condemns Mitch McConnell as ‘rogue leader in the Senate’ – video

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The House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, condemned Mitch McConnell as a 'rogue leader in the Senate' on Thursday after he dared Democrats to send articles of impeachment to the Senate, claiming they were getting 'cold feet'. Pelosi responded by saying: '[McConnell's speech] reminded me that our founders, when they wrote the constitution, they suspected there could be a rogue president. I don't think they suspected we could have a rogue president and a rogue leader in the Senate at the same time'

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Nancy Pelosi silences applause after impeachment vote – video

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The House speaker sternly shut down House Democrats who began to clap as she announced the results of a vote on the first of two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump.

Pelosi said the vote, on Wednesday, was a 'sad' occasion and that it was 'tragic' the president’s reckless actions had made it necessary.

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Trump reacts to his impeachment: ‘It’s a political suicide march for the Democratic party’ – video

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As members of Congress moved to make him the third US president in history to be impeached, Donald Trump spoke at a campaign rally in Michigan. He shrugged off the historic vote at Washington, saying: 'It doesn’t really feel like we’re being impeached.' 


The House voted 230-197 to approve the first article of impeachment, charging Trump with abuse of power, and 229-190 for the second article, charging Trump with obstruction of Congress. 

But Trump was not fazed by the vote, instead remarking that it had only made him politically stronger. 'This lawless, partisan impeachment is a political suicide march for the Democratic party – have you seen my polls in the last four weeks?' The crowd roared in response

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Impeachment debate drama: six hours distilled into three minutes – video

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Members of the House of Representatives debate the two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, with both parties accusing each other variously of defending the indefensible, tearing families apart and even being nastier to the president than Pontius Pilate was to Jesus. After a day-long debate, Trump became the third president in US history  to be impeached.

 

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Republican congressman Mike Kelly compares impeachment inquiry to Pearl Harbor – video

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During the impeachment debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Mike Kelly compared the impeachment vote to Pearl Harbor, predicting 18 December would be 'another date that will live in infamy,' referring to Roosevelt's famous quote about 7 December 1941. The debate will be followed by a vote on two articles of impeachment against Trump which, if approved, will send the matter to the Republican-led Senate to hold a trial on whether to remove him from office. The Senate is unlikely to vote to convict the president

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Republican congressman compares impeachment inquiry to trial of Jesus – video

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Barry Loudermilk made a comparison between the Trump impeachment inquiry and the trial of Jesus in the Bible during the impeachment debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The Republican congressman argued that Pontius Pilate was fairer to Jesus than Democrats had been to the president. The debate will be followed by a vote on the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump

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Pelosi says Democrats have ‘no choice’ but to impeach Trump as she opens impeachment debate – video

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Nancy Pelosi has said Donald Trump gave Democrats 'no choice' but to impeach him. Opening the debate on the impeachment of the US president in the House of Representatives, the House Speaker said if politicians did not act now, they would be 'derelict in their duty'. The debate will be followed by a vote on two articles of impeachment against Trump which, if approved, will send the matter to the Republican-led Senate to hold a trial on whether to remove him from office. The Senate is unlikely to vote to convict the president

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