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CNN host blasts Trump sycophant: 'The shell that occupies the space that Lindsey Graham once did'
January 18, 2021
CNN host John Berman on Monday noted that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has become a "shell" of his former self after turning into a sycophant for President Donald Trump.
During a segment about the pardons that Trump could issue before leaving office, CNN host Alisyn Camerota reported that Graham had urged the president not to let Capitol Hill rioters off the hook.
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"I think it would destroy President Trump and I hope we don't go down that road," Graham told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.
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"It impossible to know who President Trump listens to," Camerota observed on Monday.
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"It's impossible to know if Lindsey Graham listens to himself," co-host John Berman agreed. "The shell that occupies the space that Lindsey Graham once did."
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CNN contributor David Gregory called Graham "Captain Obvious" for the recommendation not to pardon insurrectionists.
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"We don't know if that calculus means anything to President Trump," he pointed out.
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Watch the video below from CNN.
</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xakNIIQpep8" width="560"></iframe>
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'Seditious' Trump is leaving office in shame and has lost 'command of his own faculties': Carl Bernstein
January 18, 2021
On CNN Monday, legendary Watergate reported Carl Bernstein broke down how outgoing President Donald Trump's final week in office differs from the end of Richard Nixon's presidency.
"Carl, [Nixon and Trump] are both leaving in shame and anonymity," said anchor John Berman. "What is the comparison?"
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"No comparison," said Bernstein. "Richard Nixon isn't a madman. These pictures that you have shown this morning, we have been looking at the landscape of Trumpism. A map of his mind and what the logical result of his mindset and sensibilities are. Who is Donald Trump? We now know he is a seditious, uncontrolled, out-of-control madman. That's what we have seen. We haven't seen anything in the history of the United States presidency such as we witnessed in these final days. The final days of Donald trump are something that is so out of total comparison to anything in the history of this democracy."
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"He is an autocrat," said Bernstein. "He has no command of his own faculties at this point, according to those closest to him, who are surrounding him. They're trying to put him in a constitutional straitjacket in these last days because of his total inability to govern as the president of the United States with sanity, with sensibility. And also he is a criminal president. Nixon was a criminal president. He is a constitutional criminal and we are seeing every evidence of it as he leaves office. Let's hope the next few days as he leaves that nothing terrible, more terrible than what we have seen occurs."
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Watch below:
</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/48dTG408DIg" width="640"></iframe>
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Democrats have compiled an 'open and shut' case for the Senate to convict Trump: legal expert
January 18, 2021
According to an attorney with over 40 years of legal experience, the House Democrats have compiled a compelling impeachment case for the U.S. Senate to convict Donald Trump for "incitement of insurrection" that even Republicans should agree with.
Writing in the conservative Bulwark, litigator Philip Rotner stated that articles of impeachment present an "open and shut" case whenever the Senate takes up the trial -- likely after Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) becomes the new Senate majority leader.
<p>Writing, "the case for conviction is clear and compelling," Rotner explains that the articles were written in such a way that the two primary defenses the president's defenders would likely present -- echoing their defense of the president during his first impeachment trial -- are effectively blown to pieces.</p><p>"Incitement of insurrection is a crime, full stop: <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2383" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">18 U.S.C §2383</a> states that any person who 'incites' or 'assists' an insurrection, or 'gives aid or comfort thereto,' shall be fined or imprisoned for not more than ten years, 'and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States," he wrote.</p><p>Citing previous Supreme Court decision of the limits of free speech, Rotner explained that Trump's words -- <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-protests/trump-summoned-supporters-to-wild-protest-and-told-them-to-fight-they-did-idUSKBN29B24S" target="_blank">urging the crowd to march</a> on the Capitol building -- would not be protected under the First Amendment.</p><p>Writing, "Speech designed to incite <em>imminent</em> lawless action is not protected," the attorney explained, " Trump's pre-January 6 grooming of his supporters wasn't just a campaign of lies, it was a call to action. Trump summoned his supporters to Washington D.C. specifically on January 6, not merely to express their dissatisfaction, but to do something concrete: 'Stop the Steal.'"</p><p>Rotner said it was clear that many people in the crowd were planning to take violent action.</p><p>"On the morning of January 6, the mob Trump had summoned assembled just a short walk from the Capitol, where a joint session of Congress was underway to tabulate the election results. This group was angry and prepared for violence: Many in attendance were dressed in combat gear, with helmets and body armor. Some were openly brandishing weapons," he wrote.</p><p>The attorney said a key part of the case against the president was his statement, "We will stop the steal," as he urged the amped-up crowd to march on Congress where they were certifying the Electoral College vote.<br/></p><p>"And so the insurrection was launched. It succeeded in part and failed in part. It succeeded in delaying Congress from performing its constitutional duty—and likely in intimidating a number of members of Congress into supporting their cause, " the attorney wrote. "At the end of the day, there is no legal defense for Trump's conduct. He incited the insurrection."</p><p>With that, Rotner put Republicans on notice that failure to find the president guilty of a clear case of insurrection will haunt them for years to come.</p><p>"There is nothing to be gained by trying to assuage the feelings of white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, and other MAGA crazies," he wrote before lecturing, "It's time to hold bad actors accountable, not to appease them. It is time to let the truth have its day."</p><p>You can <a href="https://thebulwark.com/the-legal-case-for-the-senate-to-convict-trump/" target="_blank">read more here</a>.</p>
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