President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. (Image via AFP/Saul Loeb.)
On Friday morning the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will hold its secomnd public impeachment hearing looking into allegations that President Donald Trump abused his office by attempting pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation that would benefit the president politically in return for releasing $400 million in much-needed security aid.
Friday's witness is Marie Yovanovich, who, NBC reports, "served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2016 until May of this year, when she was recalled from her post. The longtime diplomat, who President George W. Bush named ambassador to Kyrgyzstan in 2005 and ambassador to Armenia in 2008, was the subject of a disinformation campaign by corrupt Ukrainian politicians that was amplified in the U.S. by [former New York City Mayor Rudy] Giuliani."
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According to a report from the Daily Beast, one of the alleged Capitol rioters accused of trashing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office and stealing police body armor on Jan 6th. has been released from jail pending his trial.
William Robert Norwood III of South Carolina has been charged with obstruction of an official proceeding and theft of government property -- both felonies -- after boasting to his family about his participation in the deadly attack on the Capitol.
According to the Beast, "Norwood, who goes by Robbie, boasted to family members about assaulting a law enforcement officer, according to court documents. 'It worked,' he wrote to family members. 'I got away with things that others were shot or arrested for.' He went on to brag of his bounty. 'I got a nice helmet and body armor off a cop for God's sake and i (sic) disarmed him,' he wrote in messages to friends and family. 'Tell me how that works.'"
The report notes that Norwood, who lied to the FBI and insisted he was a member of Antifa, asked for home detention and his request was granted with the court noting he had no previous criminal record.
The Beast adds that Norwood was taken into custody after texting his brother about his exploits and a friend of the brother, who was told about the texts, contacted the FBI.
Democratic lawmakers hoping to launch multiple investigations into the Jan 6th Capitol riot that led to members of the Senate and House from both parties feeling for their lives, are seeing their efforts to proceed thwarted by Republicans who fear the wrath of Donald Trump who still wields considerable influence with GOP voters.
According to a report from the Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian, "Congress's pursuit of an independent investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection is facing long odds, as bipartisan resolve to hold the perpetrators and instigators accountable erodes, and Republicans face sustained pressure to disavow that it was supporters of former president Donald Trump who attacked the U.S. Capitol."
The report notes that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has drafted a proposal for a commission but it has received pushback from Republicans because it is "... too narrow in scope and too heavily weighted toward Democrats in composition."
By "scope," the report notes, Republicans want the commission to also look into antifa, a movement that had no part in the Capitol riot that followed a rightwing "Stop the Steal" rally where Donald Trump addressed the crowd.
"Initial negotiations aimed at establishing an independent commission in the style of the panel that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks ran aground earlier this year after Republican leaders insisted that it scrutinize left-wing extremism — including the amorphous Antifaa movement that Trump and other conservatives have blamed for fomenting violence in D.C. and other cities — alongside the far-right and white nationalist groups suspected of having planned or encouraged the mayhem," the Post is reporting. "Democrats resisted, accusing the GOP of trying to distract the public from the fact that extremist groups in the Republican base were responsible for the riot."
What also worries Republicans is how Donald Trump will react to disclosures during the investigation which could lead to the former president,who could be implicated, into lashing out at his own party for not squashing the commission -- particularly if findings come out just prior to the 2022 midterms.
Noting the delay in setting up the congressional 9/11 commission, the Post report adds, "Congress would not set up an independent Jan. 6 commission until next spring, when the 2022 midterm elections season will be heading into primaries where Trump has pledged to play a selective, but active, campaigning role. That alone threatens the prospects for achieving the compromise Pelosi has called for."
Former House Speaker (R-OH) on Sunday suggested that former President Barack Obama shared the blame for racist elements in the Republican Party.
During an interview on NBC's
Meet the Press, host Chuck Todd noted that "white supremacist" ideas are "creeping" into the Boehner's.
"And it's matastized," Todd said, referring to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). "Now they're trying to start a caucus that's sort of based on these racist ideas."
"How did this happen? How did this get mainstreamed a bit in your party?" the NBC host asked Boehner.
"Well, Chuck, I have no idea how this even showed up," Boehner replied. "I wouldn't call it mainstreamed in our party. But I can tell you that this so-called America First Caucus is one of the nuttiest things I've every seen."
The former Speaker went on to claim that America "is a land of immigration" and called for Republicans to denounce the America First Caucus.
"I think it's awfully cruel," he explained. "And frankly, it has no place in the Republican Party.
Boehner then suggested that Obama was at fault because immigration reform was not passed while he was president.
"My second biggest regret during my time as Speaker is not being able to come to an agreement with President Obama on an immigration reform bill," he opined. "Our immigration system is a mess, it's broken, from top to bottom. And it needs to be fixed so that it's fairer for Americans that are here and fairer for those that are trying to come here."
"Was it him or was it conservative media?" Todd pushed back, observing that Boehner had been critical of Fox News's role in undermining his ability to pass bipartisan legislation.
"So you put the blame on President Obama," Todd pointed out. "Isn't it [former Fox News chief] Roger Ailes and the radicalization of what happened on sort of right-wing [television] at night that torpedoed immigration?"
"No," Bohener disagreed. "Believe me, Chuck, I wanted to get immigration reform done. President Obama wanted to get it done. But again, every time we'd get ready to move, the president would go out and give some speech or he'd losen up some immigration regulation and just kind of set everybody on fire. And that's not a perscription for getting things accomplished in the Congress."