* This is not a coup, it is not unconstitutional, and it is not a witch hunt. Impeachment is a process put in the Constitution by the founding fathers as a remedy for an unethical president. It does not overturn an election, it allows us to hold the most powerful person in the country accountable if they don't adhere to the Constitution.
* There were no "secret" hearings. More than 100 members of Congress, including Republicans, had access. They were conducted in the same fashion as the public hearings with Democrats and Republicans having equal time to question the witnesses. The initial hearings were not public because it was an investigation, and private hearings are required to prevent witnesses from aligning testimony or influencing testimony.
* The inquiry had to mostly rely on witness testimony (which is not hearsay) because the Trump administration refused to release any documents and prevented key witnesses from testifying. Even with the stonewalling, the witness testimony and documents that were able to be obtained painted a very clear picture. Here's a link to everything they've stonewalled.
* Republicans initiated the Steele dossier prior to the 2016 election cycle. The DNC picked up the funding at a later point. Whether you agree with the use of it or not, it was initiated by Republicans.
* All of the witness testimony, documents, and public statements by Trump, Mulvaney (Trump's Chief of Staff), and Giuliani all confirmed the intent and target of the investigations.
* It was well understood in the involved diplomatic circles that the meeting and aid were contingent on the investigations. While withholding aid happens as part of foreign policy, subverting foreign policy for personal gain is a huge abuse of power, and puts our national security and credibility at risk. Marie Yovanovitch is a well-respected anti-corruption expert, and was removed when she got in the way of corruption.
* This was not normal foreign policy; both the illegitimate manner in which it was conducted and the goal of it put the national security of both Ukraine and the United States at risk.
* Trump obstructed both the Mueller investigation and impeachment inquiry. Whether you agree with the Mueller investigation and the impeachment inquiry is irrelevant, obstruction is illegal. For a comparison, during the 33 hearings about Benghazi, the Obama administration provided complete transparency. Hillary Clinton sat for 11 hours of deposition, for example.
* Whether the aid was released or not is irrelevant. Whether the investigations happened or not is irrelevant. The demand of a quid pro quo is enough on its own. An attempted but unsuccessful crime is still a crime.
* Ukraine did not meddle in our election. Russia conducted as massive interference operation, and that was confirmed by the Mueller investigation, all 17 intelligence agencies, and a bipartisan Senate investigation.
* The testimony from Hill and Holmes, the respected, nonpartisan, career professionals who were brought in as fact witnesses, was crystal clear and unequivocal.
* People in Trump's circle who have either pleaded guilty or been found guilty of crimes since investigations started:
Those convicted
- Roger Stone: Convicted of obstruction, giving false statements to a House committee and witness tampering. He also lied to Congress about his efforts to learn more about when WikiLeaks would publish damaging emails about 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
- Former Trump 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort: Sentenced to 7.5 years in prison this March for bank and tax fraud and crimes related to his work as a political consultant in Ukraine.
- Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen: Received a three-year prison sentence in Dec. 2018 for tax evasion, bank fraud, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations.
- Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos: Convicted of lying to investigators about about Russian contacts. He served 12 days in prison and in October, filed to run for former Rep. Katie Hill's California seat.
- Ex-Trump campaign deputy chairman Rick Gates: Pleaded guilty in Feb. 2018 to conspiracy and lying to the FBI. His sentencing was delayed several times as he cooperated with ongoing investigations such as Stone's. His sentencing date is scheduled for Dec. 17, NBC News reports.
- Former national security adviser Michael Flynn: The retired three-star general pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in Dec. 2017, and he is still awaiting sentencing.
* Devin Nunes keeps referring to the investigations he's conducted as evidence. It's worth noting that he was working with Lev Parnas, the Giuliani associate and member of Trump's legal team who is now indicted and has ties to Russian organized crime.
* This was a clear abuse of power for personal gain, and Trump is a danger to the rule of law because he thinks he's above it. His lawyers actually claimed (unsupported by anything) in court that he could murder someone in the street and he's immune to any scrutiny while he's in office. Here's an article discussing their immunity claim.
* Republicans stopped trying to contest any of the basic facts (other than the legality) that I listed above. Their entire defense is that everything was acceptable because Trump, who is on record lying more than 12,000 times since he took office, said so. Because the GOP could not defend Trump on the facts, they tried to smear decorated members of the military and dedicated career officials.
* This is way beyond party politics, and I would hope everyone would be on the same page about it. This is about the rule of law and how the rest of the world regards us. We're either a democracy whether everyone is accountable under the Constitution, or the Constitution is meaningless. Trump actually referred to part of the Constitution as "phony."
Do you believe in upholding the Constitution, or do you believe the president is above the rule of law? This sets a precedent for all future presidents. This is bigger than politics, and is the most significant threat to the Constitution that this country has ever seen. Treat it as such.
This is Adam Schiff’s closing remark from the Hill/Holmes testimony. Every single person should watch it in its entirety. It’s 20 minutes, and I cannot overstate its importance.
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