Pelosi Pushes Impeachment Along
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this morning that the House of Representatives will vote tomorrow to send articles of impeachment against President Trump to the U.S. Senate. The House impeachment managers will also be named then.
What is this impeachment thing all about again? It has something to do with a brief phone call between President Trump and the leader of Ukraine, a call Trump knew that several White House officials were listening to.
This is the left's attempt to legitimize its ongoing efforts to overturn the last presidential election ten months before the next presidential election. None of it makes any sense.
In fact, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor today to blast Pelosi's reckless impeachment process, as well as her demands that the Senate reopen the impeachment investigation with new witnesses that the House did not hear from. Below are excerpts of McConnell's remarks:
"Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Schiff did not wait to fill out the factual record. They did not even wait to see their own subpoenas through the legal system. They plowed ahead for two reasons: They said impeachment was too urgent to wait, and they said they'd already proven their case.
"But since then . . . [t]hey've spent four weeks demonstrating through their actions that impeachment is actually not that urgent and they do not actually have much confidence in their case. An arbitrary four-week delay does not show urgency. And these demands for the Senate to pre-commit to reopening the House investigation do not show confidence. . .
"The Constitution gives the sole power of impeachment to the House. If a House majority wants to impeach a president, the ball is in their court. But they have to do the work. They have to prove their case.
"Nothing in our history or our Constitution says a House majority can pass what amounts to a half-baked censure resolution and then insist that the Senate fill in the blanks. There is no constitutional exception for a House majority with a short attention span. . .
"Here's how deep we have come into 'Bizarro World.' The latest [progressive] talking point is that if the Senate conducts a trial based on what the House itself looked at, we'll be engaged in a 'cover-up'! Did you get that? Unless the Senate steps outside our lane and takes it upon ourselves to supplement the House case, it's a 'cover-up.' . . .
"We heard over and over that the House case, on its own, was totally damning and convincing. Clearly a majority of the House felt it was sufficient to impeach. . . But now, all of a sudden, the story has reversed. . .
"We have arrived at a simple contradiction. Two things cannot both be true. House Democrats' case cannot simultaneously be so robust that it was enough to impeach in the first place. . . but also so weak that the Senate needs to go fishing."
Tehran In Turmoil
Protests against the Iranian regime are continuing, even amid reports of violent government oppression. Yesterday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a statement putting Tehran on notice. In the statement, I am quoted as saying:
"I am deeply concerned for the welfare of religious minorities in Iran amid the government's already violent response to the current protests. The United States must closely monitor Iran's treatment of religious minorities as protests continue and speak out strongly against any attempts to target these groups."
There are additional cracks emerging, as a number of news anchors at official Iranian media outlets announced their resignations. One journalist, Gelare Jabbari, posted on her Instagram account, "Forgive me for the 13 years I told you lies."
The Trump Administration's policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran is clearly working. For proof, look no further than this New York Times headline: "Iran's Grim Economy Limits Its Willingness To Confront The U.S." The article notes that Trump's sanctions have decimated Iran's economy, "which is now contracting at an alarming 9.5 percent annual rate."
Our European allies are also stepping up the pressure. Reuters reports that Britain, France and Germany have "formally triggered the dispute mechanism in Iran's nuclear deal," accusing the regime of violating the terms of the 2015 deal.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson seemed open to replacing the Obama deal with a new "Trump deal" that actually prevents Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Debate Night
Six Democrat candidates will take the stage tonight for the seventh and final debate before the critical Iowa caucuses. The debate will take place at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and will air on CNN at 9:00 PM ET. The participating candidates include:
- Former Vice President Joe Biden
- Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar
- Sen. Bernie Sanders
- Billionaire activist Tom Steyer
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Tonight's debate could produce real fireworks as the candidates are sharpening their attacks and time is running out for some of them to break out of the pack. It also comes amid a number of major shakeups in the primary campaign.
Yesterday, Sen. Cory Booker dropped out of the race, citing the upcoming impeachment trial among several reasons. Julian Castro and Marianne Williamson also dropped out recently.
It also comes as Bernie Sanders appears to be surging in the polls. He's leading in Iowa and California, and he's essentially tied for first place in Nevada and New Hampshire.
But Sanders is really blowing out the competition when it comes to fundraising. According to the latest reports, Sanders raised more than $34 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, followed by Buttigieg with $25 million, Biden with $23 million and Warren with $21 million.