The First Trump Impeachment Thread

[BigRedBuster]

32 minutes ago, Nebfanatic said:

I don't think that will happen. Roberts will have a say in what witnesses are allowed and people like Mitt Romney want to hear from Bolton. I'm sure he wants to hear from Lev now too. I really don't think this is gonna go down how Trump and Mitch want it to.

That's what I don't get.  If Roberts is the judge during the trial, doesn't he have ultimate say as to who is allowed to testify?  I would think that both sides can call whomever they want and he would then have the final say.

 

I'm confused as to how Moscow Mitch has so much say in it.

[schriznoeder]

To call this guy shady would be an understatement...

 

 

 

 

[commando]

5 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

That's what I don't get.  If Roberts is the judge during the trial, doesn't he have ultimate say as to who is allowed to testify?  I would think that both sides can call whomever they want and he would then have the final say.

 

I'm confused as to how Moscow Mitch has so much say in it.

the senate is voting on rules of how the impeachment will go.   part of the rules he wants to include is no witnesses.  most republicans were agreeing with him.  but this new info might be enough to push the vote towards allowing witnesses.  

[BigRedBuster]

So, Republicans can put rules in that there will be no witnesses and the judge overseeing the trial can do nothing about it.

 

 

[Nebfanatic]

5 minutes ago, commando said:

the senate is voting on rules of how the impeachment will go.   part of the rules he wants to include is no witnesses.  most republicans were agreeing with him.  but this new info might be enough to push the vote towards allowing witnesses.  

There were already enough Republicans to force witness testimony before this Parnas stuff.

[Nebfanatic]

7 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

So, Republicans can put rules in that there will be no witnesses and the judge overseeing the trial can do nothing about it.

 

 

That I believe is correct but once the rules are in place I'm not sure Mitch can do much about blocking witnesses 

[QMany]

That's a pretty talented and experienced list, but I'm a little surposed not to see Rep. Swalwell. 

[TGHusker]

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

That's what I don't get.  If Roberts is the judge during the trial, doesn't he have ultimate say as to who is allowed to testify?  I would think that both sides can call whomever they want and he would then have the final say.

 

I'm confused as to how Moscow Mitch has so much say in it.

Roberts isn't a judge in the normal sense as we would think of in a criminal or civil court action.  He basically is more of a process person in this case.  He can't call witnesses, rule on what is admissible or not, he can't overrule or sustain, - all of the power resides in the Senate.

During the Clinton Impeachment,  Chief Justice Rehnquist quoting  a Gilbert and Sullivan musical stated " I did nothing in particular and I did it very well."

 

 

[BigRedBuster]

 

[Decoy73]

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

So, Republicans can put rules in that there will be no witnesses and the judge overseeing the trial can do nothing about it.

 

 

I don't believe Roberts has much power as far as procedural things.  He's in more of a moderator type role.  It's basically up to the Senate and that is what will be voted on.

[BigRedBuster]

Such good people.

 

 

[Ratt Mhule]

Should have just held onto the articles and not sent them to senate ever or at least until the senate approved witnesses. Go on tv and blame McConnell every day and remind everyone that Trump was impeached. Impeachment approval was rising to over 50%. Not sure what the senate dems are doing telling her its time to send them. I guess they just want him to be acquitted as soon as possible so his approval rating goes up like Clintons did. 

[QMany]

1 hour ago, Frott Scost said:

Should have just held onto the articles and not sent them to senate ever or at least until the senate approved witnesses. Go on tv and blame McConnell every day and remind everyone that Trump was impeached. Impeachment approval was rising to over 50%. Not sure what the senate dems are doing telling her its time to send them.

I agree.

 

1 hour ago, Frott Scost said:

I guess they just want him to be acquitted as soon as possible so his approval rating goes up like Clintons did. 

I've seen this mentioned before but not the actual support.

 

His Wikipedia page says, "After his impeachment proceedings in 1998 and 1999, Clinton's rating reached its highest point," but the article cited doesn't exactly support that statement:
 

Quote

 

December 20, 1998

 

In the wake of the House of Representatives' approval of two articles of impeachment, Bill Clinton's approval rating has jumped 10 points to 73 percent, the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows.

 

Poll: Clinton's approval rating up in wake of impeachment

 

So, his approval was the highest after the House passed the articles. (So, right now in comparison). That single December 19-20 Gallup poll was the only time Clinton was >70%. His approval rating went down after that. By comparison, Trump is currently 42.2% (post-impeachment Gallup should come out today or tomorrow, probably bouyed by Iran). 

 

In the next poll after trial started, it had already dipped to 65%. 

His was acquitted on February 12, 1999. 

By April 1999, his approval was <60% and stayed in the 50s for most of the rest of 1999. 

 

EDIT: Trump can't afford the same +13% drop that Clinton experienced between House impeachment and post-acquittal, which is why Senate Republicans are trying to sweep this under the rug with as little testimony and documents as possible in public.

[BigRedBuster]

This is very VERY important.  The public needs to be able to see the proceedings and not just have to rely on the politicians to walk out and tell us what happened.

 

We saw that dog and pony show when the House had their behind closed doors hearings to start this process. 

 

 

[BigRedBuster]