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READ Lamar Alexander’s Statement: Trump Did It, He Said He Did It on TV, but Removing Him Would Be ‘Frivolous’

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, just announced he will vote against allowing the Senate to call witnesses. His decision likely means President Donald Trump will be acquitted on Friday.

“There is no need for more evidence to prove that the president asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter; he said this on television on October 3, 2019, and during his July 25, 2019, telephone call with the president of Ukraine. There is no need for more evidence to conclude that the president withheld United States aid, at least in part, to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens,” Alexander says.

He adds there’s “no need to consider further the frivolous second article of impeachment that would remove the president for asserting his constitutional prerogative to protect confidential conversations with his close advisers.”

Read Senator Alexander’s full statement below.

United States Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on his vote regarding additional evidence in the impeachment proceedings:

“I worked with other senators to make sure that we have the right to ask for more documents and witnesses, but there is no need for more evidence to prove something that has already been proven and that does not meet the United States Constitution’s high bar for an impeachable offense. 

“There is no need for more evidence to prove that the president asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter; he said this on television on October 3, 2019, and during his July 25, 2019, telephone call with the president of Ukraine. There is no need for more evidence to conclude that the president withheld United States aid, at least in part, to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens; the House managers have proved this with what they call a ‘mountain of overwhelming evidence.’ There is no need to consider further the frivolous second article of impeachment that would remove the president for asserting his constitutional prerogative to protect confidential conversations with his close advisers. 

“It was inappropriate for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent and to withhold United States aid to encourage that investigation. When elected officials inappropriately interfere with such investigations, it undermines the principle of equal justice under the law. But the Constitution does not give the Senate the power to remove the president from office and ban him from this year’s ballot simply for actions that are inappropriate.

“The question then is not whether the president did it, but whether the United States Senate or the American people should decide what to do about what he did. I believe that the Constitution provides that the people should make that decision in the presidential election that begins in Iowa on Monday.

“The Senate has spent nine long days considering this ‘mountain’ of evidence, the arguments of the House managers and the president’s lawyers, their answers to senators’ questions and the House record. Even if the House charges were true, they do not meet the Constitution’s ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors’ standard for an impeachable offense.

“The framers believed that there should never, ever be a partisan impeachment. That is why the Constitution requires a 2/3 vote of the Senate for conviction. Yet not one House Republican voted for these articles. If this shallow, hurried and wholly partisan impeachment were to succeed, it would rip the country apart, pouring gasoline on the fire of cultural divisions that already exist. It would create the weapon of perpetual impeachment to be used against future presidents whenever the House of Representatives is of a different political party.

“Our founding documents provide for duly elected presidents who serve with ‘the consent of the governed,’ not at the pleasure of the United States Congress. Let the people decide.”   

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‘Makes Me Want to Throw Up’: Investor in New Trump ‘Truth’ Network Is Out Now That He Knows It’s a ‘Fake News Business’

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2 days ago

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October 22, 2021

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The launch of Donald Trump’s new social media company “TRUTH” has hit another bump in the road as some early key investors are pulling out after discovering he is one of the principals behind itwhich they were unaware of at the time they put money into the start-up.

As the New York Times reported, “The details of Mr. Trump’s latest partnership were vague. The statement he issued was reminiscent of the kind of claims he made about his business dealings in New York as a real estate developer. It was replete with high-dollar amounts and superlatives that could not be verified.”

According to a report from the Huff Post’s Ed Mazza, one hedge fund manager lashed out when he found out about Trump’s involvement.

As Mazza reports, “[Boaz] Weinstein’s Saba Capital had been a major investor in Digital World, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) formed for the purpose of acquiring another company. As is common in SPAC arrangements, investors put their cash in before the acquisition target was chosen. When Weinstein learned it would be with Trump’s firm, he bailed.”

“I knew that for Saba the right thing was to sell our entire stake of unrestricted shares, which we have now done. Many investors are grappling with hard questions about how to incorporate their values into their work. For us, this was not a close call,” he explained.

Another unnamed investor, who reportedly held a 10 percent stake in the company, was considerably more graphic when talking about being taken in by Trump’s latest venture and he “sold everything as soon as he could,” reports Mazza.

“The idea that I would help [Trump] build out a fake news business called Truth makes me want to throw up,” they said.

You can read more here.

 

Image by U.S. Dept. of State via Flickr

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‘Act of War’: Trump Blasted for ‘Chilling’ Statement Calling Election an ‘Insurrection’

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3 days ago

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October 21, 2021

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Donald Trump, the twice-impeached former president, on Thursday issued what is being called a “chilling” statement on the election and the insurrection he incited.

“The insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!” Trump said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

Former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh simply and clearly calls it an “act of war.”

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) during debate on the House floor has “repeatedly” been “calling on Republicans to denounce the Trump statement,” according to reporter Jamie Dupree.

“All my colleagues were elected on November 3,” McGovern said. “If you believe that Election Day was an insurrection, then your election results are illegitimate.”

McGovern is not the only one to blast the Trump statement:

Some journalists are also slamming the former president’s latest remarks.

S.V. Dáte, the White House correspondent at HuffPost weighed in, saying, “Donald Trump tried to overthrow American democracy after he lost his election by 7 million votes, but nearly a year later, he’s still lying. About all of it.”

Washington Post national political reporter Felicia Sonmez called it a “chilling statement … that makes clear his stance on peaceful democracy vs. violent insurrection.”

Washington Post White House bureau chief Ashley Parker pointed to the statement and said: “In which Trump’s shamelessness continues to be his political super power.”

ProPublica Senior Reporter Peter Elkind says: “This is the position of the widely embraced leader of the GOP. Republicans all behind that?”

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Trump’s New Social Media Site ‘Hacked’ Just Hours After Announcement

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3 days ago

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October 21, 2021

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Donald Trump announced Wednesday night he is launching TRUTH Social, a new social media site next year to fight “Big Tech,” because “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced.”

Within hours that brand new site, in a pre-launch state, was “hacked.”

“Trump announced he was launching a new media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, and its ‘Truth Social’ app,” Newsweek reports. “The ‘Truth Social’ app will begin a beta launch for ‘invited guests’ in November, with a nationwide rollout planned for early 2022, according to a press release.”

The Washington Post’s tech reporter, Drew Harwell, was hard at work late Wednesday night, revealing that accounts for Donald Trump and Mike Pence were either created by those who are not them, or those accounts were vulnerable and hacked.

The Daily Dot’s tech writer says he is the one who created the Donald J. Trump account:

Apparently Trump’s TRUTH agents were able to cut access to the vulnerable site:

 

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