Impeachment articles are here. Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled the charges today, officially accusing President Donald Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for his alleged "quid pro quo" with Ukraine and efforts to cover it up.
"President Trump solicited a foreign nation, Ukraine, to publicly announce an investigation into an opponent [Joe Biden] … to help his reelection campaign," said Rep. Adam Schiff (D–Calif.) at a press conference this morning, calling the evidence of Trump's guilt in this regard "overwhelming and uncontested." And "when the President got caught, he committed his second impeachable act," said Schiff.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D–Calif.) schedule sends a bit of a confusing message, however:
Pelosi has literally scheduled back-to-back press conferences to announce articles of impeachment against Trump and then support for his trade deal. This is insane. What is the message here pic.twitter.com/QGlHjM7JOK — Will Stancil (@whstancil) December 10, 2019
The House Judiciary will vote on the impeachment articles Thursday, and if they get through (as expected), a full House vote will happen the following week.
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The Inspector General report on the federal investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign speaks to the FBI's corruption and incompetence, independent of any partisan angle. Democrats and Republicans are both spinning it to their benefit…
Choose your reality https://t.co/yPGEMp9TEC — Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) December 10, 2019
But at the heart of the matter lies the same old overreach and incompetence among America's top law enforcement agency.
Initial reaction: The IG report is indeed incredibly bad for the FBI, though not for the reasons Trump & his defenders assert. Only against the backdrop of their exaggerated claims could anyone call this any sort of "vindication" of the Bureau. — Julian Sanchez (@normative) December 10, 2019
Said Hina Shamsi of the American Civil Liberties Union in a statement yesterday:
While the report found that there wasn't an improper purpose or initiation of the investigation, it also found significant problems that are alarming from a civil liberties perspective…. The system requires fundamental reforms, and Congress can start by providing defendants subjected to FISA surveillance the opportunity to review the government's secret submissions. The FBI must also adopt higher standards for investigations involving constitutionally protected sensitive activities, such as political campaigns.
Read more on the report from Robby Soave here.
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FYI. Deficit, still rising. https://t.co/DI6ZFW4jAz — Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) December 9, 2019
QUICK HITS
No shortage of news today, but House Ethics Committee report on Duncan Hunter includes this line itemization of campaign funds spent on personal trips, items. Included: "Flights for pet rabbit"- $625 pic.twitter.com/ZnIIjV4Vgq — Lauren Fox (@FoxReports) December 9, 2019
Deconstructing some common porn-censorship claims.
Vice looks at how Chicago got safer when police started doing less.
Our government is insane:
DOJ has done it again. A handful of people from New Jersey were released last month after serving 19.5 years, thanks to the crack retroactivity provision in the First Step Act. Today, on the 30th day of their freedom, DOJ filed appeals to send them all back. Disgraceful. — Kevin Ring (@KevinARing) December 9, 2019
In case you're running low on images to haunt your nightmares:
Omg pic.twitter.com/hP5AMLUVLt — Doug Henwood (@DougHenwood) December 9, 2019
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