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  • Twist in Trump trial, GOP Senators unable to block witnesses

    Twist in Trump trial, GOP Senators unable to block witnesses

    The Wall Street Journal has reported the changing mood among senators in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, saying Republican senators appear yielding to pressure to allow witnesses to testify in the trial.

    The respected journal in an exclusive report on Tuesday said Trump’s pointsman in the Senate, Mitch McConnell who had vowed to follow White House script during the trial is now downbeat as he told a meeting of GOP senators that there aren’t enough votes to block impeachment witnesses.

    The development has come despite the attempt by Trump lawyers to cast doubts on the importance and credibility of allegations by former national security adviser John Bolton about the president’s motives for freezing aid to Ukraine.

    But at a meeting of all Republican senators late Tuesday, GOP leaders told their conference that they don’t currently have the votes to prevent witnesses from being called, people familiar with the matter said, WSJ reported.

    Republicans had hoped to wrap up the trial with an acquittal of the president by this week, but Democrats have said Mr. Bolton should appear under oath to offer a firsthand account of the president’s motivations for freezing aid to Ukraine—a matter at the heart of the impeachment case.

    “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said the vote total wasn’t where it needed to be on blocking witnesses or documents, these people said. He had a card with “yes,” “no,” and “maybes” marked on it, apparently a whip count, but he didn’t show it to senators.

    “Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who face competitive races in the fall, addressed their colleagues in the meeting, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Gardner said a longer trial would lead to more Democratic attacks, according to a spokesman”.

    Reports said latest opinion polls may also be adding to the pressure on Republican Senators to allow witnesses.

    The latest Quinnipiac University national poll published Tuesday said 75 per cent of registered voters want witnesses to be allowed to testify in the impeachment trial.

    “Support for witness testimony includes 49 percent of Republicans, 95 percent of Democrats, and 75 percent of independents,” the report said.

    “There may be heated debate among lawmakers about whether witnesses should testify at the impeachment trial of President Trump, but it’s a different story outside the Beltway. Three-quarters of American voters say witnesses should be allowed to testify, and that includes nearly half of Republican voters,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Analyst Mary Snow.

  • Impeachment: Trump admits withholding documents from House during trial

    President Trump suggested Wednesday that he is comfortable with the impeachment trial charade going on in the US Senate as he admitted in his own words in Davos, Switzerland that the White House is withholding evidence about his dealings with Ukraine.

    “Honestly, we have all the material. They don’t have the material,” the president told reporters in Davos, Switzerland, where he is attending the World Economic Forum, regarding the documents the White House has refused to turn over and which the Mitch McConnell led majority has blocked from being requessted for.

    “When we released that conversation, all hell broke out with the Democrats because they say, wait a minute, this is much different than shifty Schiff told us, so we’re doing very well. I got to watch enough, I thought our team did a very good job,” Trump said, referencing House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), who has spearheaded the House impeachment inquiry against the president.

    Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), one of the seven congressional impeachment managers, blasted Trump’s admission on Twitter, writing, “The second article of impeachment was for obstruction of Congress: covering up witnesses and documents from the American people. This morning the President not only confessed to it, he bragged about it.”

  • Why we won’t react to speculations on US Travel ban- Presidency

    The Presidency has said Nigeria will need to get proper briefing before reacting to the reported travel ban plan against the country by the United States of America’s government.

    Reports emerged on Tuesday indicating that President Donald Trump’s administration has plans to add seven countries across the world, including Nigeria, to the country’s travel ban list.

    The report, which was credited to some American media, identified the countries to be affected in the new ban to include Tanzania, Sudan, Eritrea and Nigeria from Africa; Kyrgyzstan and Belarus from Eastern Europe and Myanmar from Asia.

    However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a terse message on Wednesday evening, said Nigeria will not react to such diplomatic development based on just media report.

    According to him, the government would take its time to watch how the said development unfolds, take a study and analysis of its expected reach and effect before giving an official reaction.

    Mallam Garba said: “Yes we have read the news that the Trump administration is planning to add a host of African, Asian and Eastern European countries to its travel restrictions list as reported by the U.S. media.

    “We are not going to react to speculations. We urge you to wait for us to see what unfolds under the new policy, its scope, its reach, the implications and its consequences before we react,” he said.

    The Nation gathered that the President of the United States Donald Trump during a recent media interview had hinted of adding some countries to the restriction list of his country.

    Trump, according to reports, did, however, not give clues to which countries might be affected in the new round of restriction.

  • Trump likely to include Nigeria, six other countries on travel ban list

    Trump likely to include Nigeria, six other countries on travel ban list

    The Trump administration is planning to add Nigeria, along with six other countries to its travel ban list.

    According to U.S. media reports on Tuesday, other countries to be affected are Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sudan and Tanzania.

    Under the current version of the ban, citizens of Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, as well as some Venezuelan officials and their relatives are blocked from obtaining a large range of U.S. immigrant and non-immigrant visas.

    Under the extended ban, Nigeria and some countries will face bans only on some visa categories, the Wall Street Journal reported.

    The list of countries was not final and could yet change, website Politico said.

    President Donald Trump said in an interview with WSJ that he was considering adding countries to the travel ban, but declined to state which ones.

    Politico said an announcement was expected as early as Monday.

    A senior Trump administration official said that countries that failed to comply with security requirements, including biometrics, information-sharing and counter-terrorism measures, faced the risk of limitations on U.S. immigration.

    Chad was previously covered under the existing ban but was removed in April 2018.

    Citizens of the countries can apply for waivers to the ban, but they are exceedingly rare.

    Current ban affects:

    Iran: 99.4% Muslim

    Libya : 96.6% Muslim

    North Korea: not recorded

    Somalia: Large majority Muslim

    Syria: 87% Muslim, 10% Christian

    Yemen: 99.1% Muslim

    Countries being considered for ban

    Belarus: 43.8% Orthodox, 7.1% Catholic

    Eritrea: believed Muslim majority, large Christian minority

    Kyrgyzstan: 90% Muslim, 7% Christian

    Myanmar: 87.9% Buddhist, 6.2% Christian

    Nigeria: 53.5% Muslim, 45.9% Christian

    Sudan: Large majority Muslim

    Tanzania: 61.4% Christian, 35.2% Muslim

  • Impeachment trial of Trump to get under way

    Impeachment trial of Trump to get under way

    The Senate trial of President Donald Trump is due to get underway in earnest at 1 pm (1800 GMT) on Tuesday, only the third impeachment trial of a president in U.S. history.

    The 100 members of the upper chamber will gather for what is likely to be the first full day of proceedings in the case.

    Last week, senators and the chief justice were sworn in.

    Since then, the Democratic Party lawmakers who will head the prosecution, known as the House managers, have filed their legal brief and Trump’s defence team has done the same.

    The president is accused firstly of having abused the power of his office to pressure Ukraine into announcing an investigation of his domestic political rival, Joe Biden, in order to potentially help Trump’s re-election campaign.

    The second article of impeachment says he obstructed Congress’ investigation of the Ukraine affair.

    Both articles were approved last month by the House of Representatives.

    The president denies wrongdoing.

    His legal team said on Monday that the president “is the victim” of a “rigged process” motivated by politics and that he has done nothing wrong.

    The brief argues that the case is “flimsy” and that the two articles of impeachment “allege no crime or violation of law whatsoever”.

    Later on Monday Republicans proposed 12-hour daily sessions for the trial, setting a gruelling pace for the start of the case.

    Democrats immediately expressed their anger, calling the proposal “a national disgrace”.

    Trump is framing the impeachment as an attempt to overturn the 2016 election.

    Democrats say the president’s behaviour is threatening the integrity of the election later this year.

    Senators must remain silent during proceedings, which are due to take place every day except on Sundays, until a decision is reached.

    Two-thirds of members are required to remove a president from office.

    The Senate is controlled by Trump’s Republican party and the most likely outcome is an acquittal.

  • Trump: Will U.S. Senate do impartial Justice?

    Trump: Will U.S. Senate do impartial Justice?

    By Dayo Benson New York

    The much awaited epoch Senate trial of President Donald John Trump, begins tomorrow, January 21,2020, at 1p.m. Eastern time at the Capitol, Washington D.C. The 100 Senators are sitting as Jurors, with the United States Supreme Court Chief Justice
    John Robert, presiding.

    The stage was set for the landmark trial when Chief Justice Robert took the oath of impartiality which the Senate’s presiding officer administered on him Thursday last week. The Chief Justice in turn administered an oath to do “impartial justice according to Constitution and Law” on the Senators in a brief solemn ceremony. The Senators, in a set of four, filed forward to sign the oath book. President Trump, United States 45th President, was impeached December 18,2019, by Democrats controlled House of Representatives on two articles. He is the third American President in history to be impeached.

    Earlier that Thursday last week, a seven-man prosecution team led by House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, walked into the Senate Chamber, armed with the two articles of impeachment. Schiff read the charges against Trump contained in the articles. Under House Resolution 755, the President was charged with “high crime and misdemeanor.” Trump who was accused of “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” was described as a threat to national security and unfit to hold the exalted office of United States President.

    Trump has been notified of the charges against him. He has maintained his innocence, even as he derisively described the House impeachment as a “hoax and political witch hunt.”

    The President has looked forward to the Senate trial with bloated enthusiasm. He is confident of being acquitted by the Republican controlled Upper Legislative Chamber.

    This optimism initially waned after the solemn swearing-in of Chief Justice Robert and the Senators.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had Wednesday last week, named the seven-man prosecution team as the impeachment managers at the Senate trial. Other members are House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Hakeem Jeffries Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Val Demings member, House Judiciary and Intelligence committees , Jason Crow, former Army Ranger who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sylvia Garcia , a social worker and legal aid worker, Zoe , No. 2 Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. In choosing the managers, Pelosi said emphasis was placed on prosecutorial ability.

    Tomorrow’s proceeding is expected to take opening statements from both sides. The major issue, however, is the crucial vote on whether or not to call more witnesses. Democrats have been pushing for more witnesses to be called at the Senate trial, even before the jurors took the oath to do “impartial justice.” However, there are pushbacks from Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, appeared to have backed down on the issue. This, probably was unexpected, after Democrats’ much sought after star witness, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, indicated his willingness to testify if subpoenaed by the Senate. Bolton had gone to court to seek a restraining order from testifying when the House invited him during the impeachment hearings. An associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Ruddy Giuliani, Lev Parnas, who is facing criminal charges in New York, has also expressed his desire to testify before the Senate. He has released some relevant documents on the Ukraine saga, including personal photographs and videos with Trump. The President denied knowing Parnas. Republicans however want Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, the Whistle Blower, and others to testify. It remains to be seen whether there will be witnesses reciprocity. Government Accountability Office, GAO, said Trump broke the law by withholding the military aid meant for Ukraine.

    Democrats need four Republicans to add up to their 47 minority to have more witnesses called if the issue is put to vote. The optics suggest this, given the current dynamics in the Senate Chamber. Some Republican Senators like Susan Collins who is critical of Trump and Mitt Romney, who described himself as a “renegade Republican” may break ranks when it comes to voting. However, ultra conservative Republicans like McConnell, are poised to acquit the President at all cost. For the dyed-in-the-wool Trumpers, the House Impeachment is a political hogwash that should be given the treatment it deserves.

    The White House, Friday last week assembled well known legal defence team. The team will be led by Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School. He defended or advised high-profile cases like O.J. Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. He will only present constitutional arguments against impeachment. Kenneth Starr, ex-Baylor president, ex-Pepperdine law professor, ex-independent counsel, and ex-solicitor general. As independent counsel, Starr led the investigation into the Clintons and the Whitewater real estate deal, which led to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Pat Cipollone,
    a product of University of Chicago Law School, he was an assistant to Bill Barr in his first tenure as attorney general in the early ’90s. He replaced Don McGahn as White House counsel in October of 2018. Jay Sekulow, personal attorney to Trump and chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice. Robert Ray, succeeded Starr as independent counsel during the investigations of Clinton and issued the final reports. Before then, he served as assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Pam Bondi, member of the White House impeachment communications team, he was involved in a Trump Foundation controversy after the charity was compelled to pay a penalty for donating to a campaign group connected to Bondi. Jane Raskin, a veteran attorney, she has been in public and private practice. Raskin and her husband joined Trump’s legal team in April of 2018. They engaged Mueller’s team and stonewalled the special counsel’s effort to interview the president.
    Patrick Philbin, deputy White House counsel, he worked briefly at the DOJ under President George W. Bush. Philbin was in private law firm for over a decade before joining the White House Counsel’s Office in December 2018. Mike Purpura, deputy White House counsel, he served as an associate towards the end of Bush administration and went into private practice in Hawaii thereafter.

    Both prosecution and defence teams Saturday beat the 5p.m. Eastern time to file their briefs of arguments. The defence lawyers in aSix-page response said the impeachment was a “brazen attempt to interfere with the 2016 presidential election” adding that the articles of impeachment did not disclose any crime. The prosecution in over 100-page document insisted the President committed serious crime and should be removed from office.

    Even with the Chief Justice Robert presiding over the trial which is expected to last weeks, he lacks the power of a sitting Judge. He is only expected to cast a breaking vote where there is a tie of 50-50 votes. Those who know him said he never wishes to play such a role in this deeply partisan situation. The ground rules will be set by the Senators who can also overrule him. This is where the trial is merely wearing the garb of Judicial proceeding, when it is actually a political trial.

    Expectedly, the pretended solemnity that characterised the oath of impartiality would be subsumed in the anticipated charged atmosphere when the fireworks begin. Democrats need 20 Republican Senators to get the two third required to remove the President. The Constitution requires 67 Senators to fulfil this requirement. Analysts believe that getting this figure is unlikely.

    In the trial of President Trump, will the verdict be based on form or substance, fact or fiction, reason or emotion, law or politics, innocence or guilt, or as predicted, will it be a sheer partisan show between Democrats versus Republicans? Will the Senate trial of the President do impartial justice according to law and constitution? The answer resides in the womb of the weeks ahead.

  • Trump overturns Michelle Obama’s legacy on her birthday

    The Trump administration, not content in blotting out Barack Obama’s legacy, has hit the wife Michelle’s legacy as well, on her birthday.

    In an announcement on Friday, the administration announced plans to roll back school lunch standards on vegetables and fruits originally promoted by Michelle Obama.

    The new standards will allow schools more flexibility “because they know their children best,” the Agriculture Department said in a press release.

    “Schools and school districts continue to tell us that there is still too much food waste and that more common-sense flexibility is needed to provide students nutritious and appetizing meals. We listened and now we’re getting to work,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement.

    The proposed rules build on previous steps taken by the Trump administration to unwind the controversial school lunch rules championed by Obama as part of her “Let’s Move!” healthy living campaign. Those rules were implemented through an executive order signed by former President Obama.

    Under the new rules, schools would be allowed to reduce the number of fruits and vegetables required at each meal. The latest change follows a 2019 rollback of restrictions on milk and sodium content in school lunches.

    Critics said the change will pave the way for greasier, more unhealthy foods such as pizza, french fries and burgers.

    “[It] would create a huge loophole in school nutrition guidelines, paving the way for children to choose pizza, burgers, french fries and other foods high in calories, saturated fat or sodium in place of balanced school meals every day,” Center for Science in the Public Interest’s deputy director of legislative affairs, Colin Schwartz, said in a statement Friday.

    The Obama administration’s school lunch plan increased the requirement for fruits and vegetables in meals, cut trans-fat and reduced sodium levels in food. It also required cafeterias to serve only skim or low-fat milk.

    In 2019, the first comprehensive analysis of the Obama administration’s lunch plan by the Department of Agriculture found the updates “had a positive and significant influence on nutritional quality” as students ate more whole grains, greens, and beans, as well as fewer “empty calories.”

    The report found evidence of food waste, but the levels were not substantially higher than food waste under previous lunch regulations

  • US senate announces date for Trump impeachment trial

    The impeachment trial of US President Donald Trump in the Senate is likely to begin next week Tuesday with key players sworn in later this week, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

    McConnell said he expected the House of Representatives to deliver the articles of impeachment against Trump to the upper chamber today.

    “We believe that if that happens — in all likelihood — we’ll go through preliminary steps here this week which could well include the chief justice coming over and swearing in members of the Senate and some other kinds of housekeeping measures,” McConnell told reporters.

    “We hope to achieve that by consent which would set us up to begin the actual trial next Tuesday.”

    Trump faces charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and the 100 senators will be his judge.

    On Thursday or Friday this week, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is expected to be sworn in to preside over the trial, which should last at least two weeks, and could run through mid-February.

    Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House speaker, called for a fair trial and demanded the Senate subpoena witnesses and documents from the White House that will be crucial in the trial.

    “The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial… The president and the senators will be held accountable,” she added.

    Trump will become only the third president in US history to go on trial, risking his removal from office.

    But his conviction is highly unlikely, given Republicans’ 53-47 control of the Senate, and the high two-thirds vote threshold required to find him guilty.

     

  • Impeachment: Democrats add ‘new evidence’ to nail Trump

    Impeachment: Democrats add ‘new evidence’ to nail Trump

    Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Tuesday they would include new evidence when they send formal impeachment charges against President Donald Trump to the Senate on Wednesday, seeking to expand the scope of a trial that will dominate Washington for the next several weeks.

    Senior Democrats said they would include phone records and other documents provided by Florida businessman Lev Parnas when they make their case that Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

    Parnas was an associate of Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who says Parnas helped him investigate Biden. The Ukraine-born Parnas has pleaded not guilty to federal campaign-finance violations in a separate criminal case.

    The late inclusion of Parnas’ records, which were only made available to investigators in the last few days, suggested Democrats were trying to further substantiate their case before it heads to the Senate for trial.

    Trump became only the third U.S. president to be impeached when the House last month approved charges that he abused the powers of his office and obstructed Congress in its investigation into his conduct.

    The House will vote on Wednesday to send the impeachment charges to the Senate, kicking off a trial that could last through early February. It will also name the House lawmakers who will prosecute the case against Trump.

    The Senate is expected to acquit Trump, as none of its 53 Republicans have voiced support for ousting him, a step that would require a two-thirds majority in the 100-member Senate.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had delayed sending the impeachment charges to the Senate in an unsuccessful effort to get Republicans who control the chamber to agree to include new witness testimony that could be damaging to the Republican president.

    Republicans mocked Pelosi for the delay, saying it undercut her argument that Congress needed to impeach Trump because he was inviting foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election.

    Democrats said the delay allowed new evidence to emerge through government records requests — and now, the material provided by Parnas.

    Democrats said Parnas’ phone included a screenshot of a previously undisclosed May 10, 2019, letter from Giuliani to then President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine.

    “In my capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent, I request a meeting with you,” Giuliani wrote.

    WITNESSES?
    One of the most contentious issues that has not yet been resolved is whether to have witnesses in the Senate trial.

    Democrats want to hear from current and former White House officials, such as former national security adviser John Bolton, who they believe could provide insight into Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine.

    Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has resisted the idea of calling witnesses or digging up new evidence in the trial, saying his chamber should only consider evidence that has been collected by the House.

    Wednesday’s House vote would allow the Senate to begin considering the charges against Trump next week, McConnell said. All the U.S. senators present will act as the jury at the trial, which will be overseen by the head of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts.

    Slideshow (13 Images)
    Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has dismissed his impeachment as a partisan bid to undo his 2016 election win as he tries to win re-election in November.

    “It’s just to try and smear this president because they know they can’t beat him at the ballot box,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told Fox News.

    The case against Trump is focused on a July 25 telephone call in which he asked Zelenskiy to open a corruption investigation into Biden and his son Hunter, as well as a discredited theory that Ukraine, not Russia, meddled in the 2016 U.S. election.

    Joe Biden, whose son served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, is a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination to face Trump in the Nov. 3 election. Both Bidens have rejected the allegations and no evidence has emerged to substantiate them.

  • Poll scores Obama higher than Trump in handling Iran

    Poll scores Obama higher than Trump in handling Iran

    A plurality of the American public opposes Donald Trump’s overall approach to the Islamic Republic of Iran and believes his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama was more effective in dealing with Tehran.

    However, Americans are evenly divided over Trump’s decision to kill Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

    Conducted from Jan. 8 to 10 — after Iranian ballistic missiles struck Iraqi bases in retaliation without causing American casualties and Trump declared that “Iran appears to be standing down” — the poll found that 42 percent of Americans oppose Trump’s approach to Iran (versus 36 percent who support it).

    Forty percent say Trump was wrong to withdraw from the Obama administration’s nuclear treaty with Tehran (versus 35 percent who say he was right), while 41 percent say Trump has been less effective on Iran than Obama (versus 34 percent who say the current president has been more effective). On all three questions, about a quarter of respondents said they were either not sure or neutral.

    The percentage of the public (38 percent) that approves of Trump’s decision to kill Soleimani, which his campaign has been touting in fundraising emails and Facebook ads, is statistically indistinguishable from the percentage that disapproves (37 percent) — a divide that may stem from the fact that only a third of Americans believe the administration’s claim that Soleimani was planning an “imminent” attack on the U.S. (A slightly smaller proportion — 29 percent — disbelieved the claim; the rest were unsure.)

    More Americans also said Trump’s handling of recent events in the Middle East made them less likely to support him in the 2020 election (35 percent) than said they were more likely to support him as a result (29 percent). A plurality (36 percent) said Trump’s approach would have no effect on their vote.