While none of the House Republicans supported the Trump impeachment votes, two Democrats, Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, crossed the party lines and voted "nay" to the abuse of power charge, and one, Jared Golden of Maine, disagreed with the article accusing Trump of obstruction of Congress.
In one of the more interesting Oval Office meetings we've seen, President Trump announced the party switch of Jeff Van Drew, who expressed his "undying support" for the president. More here on the meeting: https://t.co/GdnxQSioVE
— Morgan Chalfant (@mchalfant16) December 19, 2019
Having impeached the president, House Speaker Pelosi remained mute on when exactly she would send impeachment articles to the Senate: "That would have been our intention, but we'll see what happens over there", she said during a press conference later in the evening. It is nearly impossible for the Democrats to get Trump convicted in the Republican-controlled Senate, as the Constitution requires a two-thirds supermajority to do this.
So after the Democrats gave me no Due Process in the House, no lawyers, no witnesses, no nothing, they now want to tell the Senate how to run their trial. Actually, they have zero proof of anything, they will never even show up. They want out. I want an immediate trial!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019
Entirely Politically Motivated Impeachment
"This impeachment is entirely politically motivated", opines Max Parry, an independent American journalist and geopolitical analyst. "Even if what Trump did was arguably unethical or even an abuse of power, it doesn't fall underneath treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Of course, the latter category is ambiguous and gets into a grey area."
According to the analyst, "if Trump is impeached based on vague definitions or on a technicality, this ensures that any president going forward can be removed for politicised reasons".
Speaking to Fox News Tuesday, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., suggested that House Democrats "have set the bar so low" for what constitutes an impeachable offense that the Republicans now have a precedent for doing the same to a future Democratic president.
"I can't speak for the representative but this is what many analysts have been saying," Parry notes. "How is it that George W. Bush was not impeached for lying about weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) to go to war in Iraq?"
Instead it's Trump who is being impeached, the journalist highlights, arguing that the president came into the Dems' cross hairs not because he had allegedly persuaded Kiev to persecute his political rival Joe Biden but "for deviating from the bipartisan anti-Russia consensus, though only rhetorically".
Even Impeached Trump is Leading His Rivals
Ahead of the House vote, the US mainstream media admitted that recently pro-impeachment rallies had become much smaller than earlier anti-Trump protests. Furthermore, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released on Monday indicated that Trump is leading all of his potential Democratic rivals in the 2020 presidential race even if he is impeached.
"The pro impeachment 'protests' are dominated by an upper middle class layer of liberals," the journalist suggests. "Trump's poll numbers have seen an uptick since the impeachment began and the American people have been reduced to spectators in these proceedings that are really an inter-war between different factions of the elite and have nothing to do with the issues that affect ordinary Americans."
According to Parry, "it is reminiscent of Watergate, where Nixon was impeached, not for the Counter Intelligence Programme (COINTEL PRO) but abusing power against the Democratic Party establishment".
"In fact, many analysts argue Nixon was really removed because he broke from the foreign policy blob consensus on China in a manner similar to Trump's rhetoric toward Russia," the geopolitical analyst points out.
More Corruption Revelations Involving the Bidens May Come to Light
Parry rules out the idea that the impeachment may somehow disrupt the Trump 2020 campaign; quite the contrary, impeachment will only help him, the journalist opines.
"[Trump] successfully ran as an outsider up against the establishment the first time so these proceedings will help him continue that impression in the eyes of his supporters," he foresees.
On Thursday, CNN raised the alarm over "warning lights flashing for Democrats as they impeach Trump". Citing a new Gallup poll released on the morning of the impeachment day, the media outlet, that has extensively covered the House inquiry into the so-called Ukraingate launched by Pelosi on 24 September, pointed out that Trump's job approval rating has gone up from 39 to 45 percent since October, while support for the president's impeachment and removal has slid from 52 to 46 percent.
According to the journalist, Trump will unquestionably score a point if the nominee is Joe Biden because so-called Ukrainegate "has exposed the former vice president's undeniable abuse of power profiteering off the 2014 coup in Ukraine to install a pro-Western government".
Meanwhile, The Hill's investigative journalist John Solomon revealed on 17 December that in February 2016 the Latvian prosecutor's agency responsible for investigating money laundering alerted Ukraine about suspicious loan payments totalling about $16.6 million "that were routed from companies in Beliz and the United Kingdom to Burisma through Ukraine’s PrivatBank between 2012 and 2015". According to the Latvian authorities, the funds were "partially transferred" to Hunter Biden, a Burisma board member at the time.
Fresh evidence emerges that investigation of Burisma was active and concerns were being raised about Hunter Biden payments just before Joe Biden force the firing of the Ukraine prosecutor overseeing the case in 2016. https://t.co/JGhE44WBLK
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) December 17, 2019
"Democrats are digging their own grave by pursuing this because it risks unearthing more corruption involving Biden and his son that we may only know half of already", Parry concludes.
