Republican Senators who are actively aiding and abetting Donald Trump’s obstruction of Congress by voting to obstruct calling any fact witnesses or to subpoena relevant documents in this impeachment trial — the only impeachment trial in American history without calling witnesses — have a serious problem on their hands. They can try to hide the evidence, but eventually the evidence is going to come out and will expose their complicity in Trump’s abuse of power.
As the Washington Post editorialized, The impeachment evidence will catch up to Republicans and Trump — whether they ignore it or not:
Mr. Schiff pointed out that, whether or not GOP senators demand relevant testimony and documents during the trial, more facts will eventually come out. Those who choose now to disregard the evidence against Mr. Trump and abet his obstruction will be reduced to watching in the months and years to come as the case against him — and against their abdication of constitutional duty — grows steadily stronger.
This prescient warning did not take long to materialize. On Friday, ABC News first reported a Recording which appears to capture Trump at private dinner saying he wants Ukraine ambassador fired:
A recording obtained by ABC News appears to capture President Donald Trump telling associates he wanted the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch fired while speaking at a small gathering that included Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman — two former business associates of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani who have since been indicted in New York.
The recording appears to contradict statements by Trump and support the narrative that has been offered by Parnas during broadcast interviews in recent days. Sources familiar with the recording said the recording was made during an intimate April 30, 2018, dinner at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Trump has said repeatedly he does not know Parnas, a Soviet-born American who has emerged as a wild card in Trump’s impeachment trial, especially in the days since Trump was impeached.
“Get rid of her!” is what the voice that appears to be Trump’s is heard saying. “Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.”
On the recording, it appears the two Giuliani associates are telling Trump that the U.S. ambassador has been bad-mouthing him, which leads directly to the apparent remarks by the president. The recording was made by Fruman, according to sources familiar with the tape.
It turns out there is not just an audio recording but a video taken on a cell phone. PBS NewsHour did ABC News one better by airing the full video of Trump. WATCH: Full video of Trump appearing to say Ukraine ambassador should be removed:
A video released Saturday captures President Donald Trump appearing to say he wants to “get rid” of the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.
The recording, which was provided to the PBS NewsHour by a lawyer for one of the people who heard the original conversation, is said to be from a dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2018– a year before Yovanovitch was actually fired.
Joseph Bondy, an attorney for Lev Parnas, told NewsHour that Parnas, an associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was at the dinner with the president and several others when Trump said he wanted Yovanovitch out.
About 42 minutes into the hour-long video, Parnas appears to say, “The biggest problem there, I think where we need to start, is we gotta get rid of the ambassador. She’s still left over from the Clinton administration.”
Trump then appears to say, “Where? The ambassador to Ukraine?”
Parnas replies, “Yes. She’s basically walking around telling everybody ‘Wait, he’s gonna get impeached, just wait.’”
A few seconds later, Trump appears to say, “Get rid of her! Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. OK? Do it.”
Bondy said Parnas attended the dinner along with Igor Fruman, another of Giuliani’s business associates. Both Parnas and Fruman have been indicted on federal charges, including violating campaign finance laws.
Saturday, Bondy said he released the video because he saw it as critical to the public’s understanding. “Given its importance to the national interest, we decided to release this recording in a manner intended to ensure equal public access, and in an effort to provide clarity to the American people and the Senate as to the need to conduct a fair trial, with witnesses and evidence,” he said.
The recording made by Fruman, reviewed and first reported by ABC News, appeared to capture Trump making the comments. Bondy said that after news of the audio recording became public, Parnas searched an online database connected to his iPhone and found a video sent to him by Fruman, from the dinner that was more than an hour long. Bondy has turned the iPhone video over to congressional investigators.
Minutes before discussing Yovanovitch, Trump discussed the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which is part of the reason Ukraine sought military aid from the United States.
In the video, someone is heard saying, “The resources in Ukraine are tremendous.” A voice also says Ukraine is part of pipelines in Europe. In response, Trump appears to ask, “Ukraine has oil?” Someone replies affirmatively. Trump then appears to ask, “Why aren’t companies going in? Too risky?” Someone says, “Exactly. They were supporting Clintons for all these years.”
Seconds later, Trump appears to ask, “How long will [Ukraine] last in a fight with Russia?” Someone replies, “Without us, not very long.” Trump appears to echo the voice saying, “Without us.”
Trump has repeatedly said he does not know Parnas well. He has also attacked Yovanovitch on Twitter by claiming that every place she went “turned bad.”
* * *
Trump and others discuss a number of other topics including international trade deals, negotiating with countries like China and Argentina and trying to find a peace deal in the Middle East.
Trump can also be heard criticizing Germany for its energy partnership with Russia and saying other European nations contribute too little to NATO and Ukrainian efforts to combat Russia.
At one point, Trump asks how Ukraine is feeling about the situation with Russia. “Do they feel they are going to be O.K.?” Trump asked.
Others at the dinner say they will be O.K. with U.S. support and tell Trump that Petro Poroshenko, who was then the president of Ukraine but is now facing criminal corruption charges since he left office, is a “good guy.”
Trump turns to the question of U.S. aid to Ukraine.
“It’s always us that has to support everybody? You have to wonder why doesn’t Germany support them? Why aren’t these others?”
“They are supporting Russia,” someone tells Trump. “A lot of countries are backstabbing us and supporting Russia.”
The name “Biden” can be heard mentioned by someone other than Trump, but the context is unclear and the conversation continued to focus on other issues relating to Ukraine.
The release of the video recording comes the day that White House lawyers began their argument in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial. The impeachment process has largely centered on the president’s actions toward Ukraine.
The HuffPost summarizes 6 Wild Things Said In The Secret Recording Of Trump’s Dinner (short version):
Here are six of the wildest things that happened in the recording of Trump’s private dinner.
1. Trump said he could have beaten former President Barack Obama in 2012
2. Trump claimed the European Union formed to “screw” the U.S.
3. Trump floated plans for a “see-through” border wall
4. Trump bragged about insulting Rep. Maxine Waters’ IQ
5. Trump asked how long Ukraine would survive in a war against Russia; he withheld funds from them a year later
6. A numerology calculation of Donald Trump’s name adds up to the same number for the Messiah, according to Lev Parnas
But Wait! Just as the Washington Post warned, there’s more! There Are More Recordings Of Donald Trump And Lev Parnas, Attorney Reveals:
The lawyer for Lev Parnas told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Saturday that there are other recordings of his client and President Donald Trump.
Joseph Bondy revealed the existence of other tapes just hours after he released a video of the president giving the order to “get rid of” then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
“Are there more recordings that Lev Parnas has? With the president?” Cooper asked Bondy.
“Yes,” Bondy replied.
“Do you plan to release those?” Cooper asked.
“Perhaps,” said Bondy, who added that recordings have already been provided to officials of the House Intelligence Committee. He said the video released Saturday “certainly addresses the issue of the ambassador, and we thought it was really important to get that recording out in public.”
Bondy said if Parnas and other witnesses are not called to testify about what they know occurred in Ukraine, the Trump impeachment trial in the Senate will be “like a silent movie or a puppet show.”
It is important to note that the “Lev Parnas tapes” and a trove of documents he has provided to the House Intelligence Committee are not part of the impeachment investigation record transmitted to the Senate. There is evidence not currently before the Senate only because Republicans in the Senate do not want this evidence to become public, because the evidence is incriminating and weighs in favor of Trump’s guilt.
But eventually this evidence will become public, and Republican Senators will be exposed as co-conspirators or accessories who have aided and abetted Donald Trump’s obstruction of Congress and obstruction of justice. This is a crime in progress.
As I have said before, the Party of Trump is a criminal enterprise led by a third-rate mafia “Don” Trump. They are all accomplices, coconspirators and accessories who aid and abet his criminality and corruption. There is not a patriot among them. They put fealty to their “Dear Leader” above all else, including loyalty to their country and our national security, and their oaths of office to defend the Constitution. They reject the rule of law and are amoral. It is a betrayal of the faith of the American people in our constitutional government. They must all be held accountable.
UPDATE: If the tag team of Lev and Igor were keeping their recorded conversations on their personal cell phones while traveling in Ukraine, for security purposes we must assume that Russian intelligence intercepted their phone calls in Ukraine and may have compromised their cell phones to gain access to all the stored data.
Do you know who else was traveling in Ukraine with these assclowns using his personal cell phone? Rudy “butt dial” Giuliani who, in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, held up his mobile phone and said he reported every conversation he had to the Trump administration and that evidence of his communications with the State Department were all on his device. For security purposes, we must assume that Russian intelligence intercepted his calls in Ukraine and may have compromised his cell phone(s) to gain access to all the stored data. Rudy wouldn’t know. Rudy Giuliani needed Apple genius help to unlock his iPhone after being named Trump cybersecurity adviser.
So members of the Trump administration and their operatives, who have refused to cooperate with the impeachment proceedings, and Russian intelligence know the truth about what happened. (That’s known as kompromat).
The only people who don’t know the truth about what happened are members of Congress — who have the right to know as representatives of the American people — because the Trump administration has engaged in a policy of “total obstruction” of Congress, and Republicans in Congress are actively engaged in aiding and abetting this coverup.
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Because it’s early and I’m not awake enough to think up something less offensive yet equally as to the point, both McSally and Sinema need to grow a pair.
McSally needs to stop pretending Trump’s not a crook and Sinema needs to stop pretending nothing is happening.
It’s embarrassing that both of Arizona’s Senators are cowards who only care about getting re-elected.
Or in McSally’s case, just elected.
May these and future evidence/tapes give Madame Speaker the means to launch endless impeachment missiles at this criminal Administration. At least enough to keep the Vulgar Talking Yam & his Senate henchmen (ruled by Moscow/Massacre/Midnight Mitch) from salting the Judiciary with even more bottom of the barrel judges.