October 28, 2019

This week in the impeachment inquiry: bombshell testimony and Trump fury
After a chaotic week in Washington, even more damning testimony for Trump could lie aheadSteve Scalise and two dozen other Republican lawmakers stormed into the room used by the House impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump at the US Capitol. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPAAs a watershed week full of bombshell testimony and presidential fury at the impeachment inquiry receded, Washington is now looking ahead to another week promising bombshell testimony – and more presidential fury.For sheer spectacle, Republicans will be hard-pressed to top an invasion last week by lawmakers of the secure area where witnesses were being questioned. And for sheer malice, Donald Trump will have to sink far indeed to go lower than his claim to be the victim of a lynching.Republican senators have been scurrying away from reporters trying to ask about testimony last Tuesday that advanced the central charge in the impeachment inquiry, that the Trump administration had withheld military aid for Ukraine in an extortionate effort to manufacture bad news about Joe Biden.What could the senators say? Trump’s defenders have almost universally stopped trying to deny or defend his conduct, resorting instead to complaints about how Democrats, who are going by rules written by Republicans, were running the process.But even more damning testimony for Trump could lie ahead, with the scheduled appearance on Thursday of the national security council senior director, Timothy Morrison.Morrison has emerged as a key witness to conversations between diplomats and Trump himself linking the military aid and the Biden ask. Morrison had a “sinking feeling” about those conversations, he has been quoted as telling one colleague.“I am lowering my expectations for this testimony. Highly partisan guy,” wrote Tom Nichols, a professor at the US Naval War College and notable never-Trumper. “But also, a professional who, one assumes, will tell the truth – because he had a career before Trump and would likely want to have one after Trump.”Behind Morrison lies a potentially bigger witness, Morrison’s former boss John Bolton, who has been quoted as saying he wanted “no part of whatever drug deal” aides to the president were cooking up. Bolton resigned as Trump’s national security adviser under tense circumstances in September.Bolton’s lawyers are working toward an agreement in which he would testify before the congressional committees running the impeachment inquiry, according to multiple reports.“I think there is a high likelihood that the committees will turn their sights to John Bolton precisely because he was not, strangely enough in some ways, an accomplice to this,” Ned Price, a former CIA officer and national security council spokesman, told Renato Mariotti on the On Topic podcast. “He was against this. He in fact played a key role.”With an increasing number of threats arrayed against him, and the weight of evidence piling up, Trump has become ever more reliant on the support of Republican colleagues, especially in the Senate, which has the power to remove Trump from office.But instead of currying favor with fellow Republicans – allowing them, perhaps, to float light criticisms of him in exchange for their promise to protect him with their votes – Trump has resorted to threats and shaming, declaring Republicans who oppose him to be “human scum”.Trump has also continued to make highly controversial moves – abandoning the Kurds in northern Syria, temporarily awarding himself federal contracts to host next year’s G7 summit – that Republicans warned made defending him increasingly difficult.A move by the Republican Lindsey Graham to demonstrate support for Trump in the Senate on Thursday was slow to draw all the Republicans, with three – Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah – declining to sign on to a resolution criticizing the impeachment process now playing out in the House. About 20 Republican senators would probably be required to oust Trump from office.Public approval of the impeachment inquiry, meanwhile, keeps climbing, with 55% approving and 43% disapproving, up from 51% approval one week prior, according to a new Quinnipiac poll backed up by polling averages.Republicans have complained that the impeachment inquiry has not allowed the White House and other agencies to send lawyers along with testifying witnesses, and has no mechanism for Trump to call his own witnesses to mount a defense.But as the head of the executive branch, Trump “has access to all the witnesses/documents he would need, many of which are being withheld from House Democrats”, wrote Nate Jones, a former national security council and justice department official.“His real problem: the facts are indefensible.”Other expert observers agree with that analysis.“President Trump’s substantive defense against the ongoing impeachment inquiry has crumbled entirely – not just eroded or weakened, but been flattened like a sandcastle hit with a large wave,” wrote the Brookings Institution senior fellow Benjamin Wittes in Lawfare. “The only defense that remains to the president is that it does not amount to an impeachment-worthy offense – an argument difficult to square with either the history of impeachment or its purpose in our constitutional system.”
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Ruby Franke’s Husband REVEALS Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home | E! News
March 28, 2024
_mU-3lE2QwI
#KenanThompson speaks out following the #QuietonSet documentary. (🎥: Tamron Hall Show) #shorts
March 28, 2024
8AGP-Gfw_Ek
King Charles Shares "Great Sadness" at Missing Royal Appearance | E! News
March 28, 2024
lyizFqf1kQY
Martha Reeves Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 27, 2024
QzyezumEPtQ
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
Montell Jordan Dishes On Young MC Wedding, 'This Is How Date Night' Plans | TMZ
March 28, 2024
G3SMExj-qio
Davina Potratz Says TV Not Helping 'Selling Sunset' Relationship Woes | TMZ
March 28, 2024
D4piy4GNm4k
Logan Paul Rips Graham Bensinger Over Documentary, You Promised Apple TV+ | TMZ Live
March 28, 2024
NiSDpZhZklQ
Prince William pinned royal medal to Spice Girl Mel B’s boobs #shorts
March 28, 2024
O1cQ0UW9pco
Jennifer Garner shares ‘hard’ part of raising her and Ben Affleck’s kids
March 28, 2024
3Q7mZaVUdgc
50 Cent's ex Daphne Joy named as an alleged sex worker in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit #shorts
March 28, 2024
yhLFI8DG9rM
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
PSG W - Hacken W
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Barcelona W - SK Brann W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Chelsea W - Ajax W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Lyon W - SL Benfica W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.