The Trump-Ukraine Scandal: More than a Quid Pro Quo, It’s Extortion
Jacquelyn Martin/AP Donald Trump is at it again. In the face of new and damning evidence in the Trump-Ukraine scandal, he is making false claims and trying to mount diversions. On Wednesday morning, Trump responded to William Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, who the day before presented testimony to Congress confirming the White…
Republicans Are Acting Like Babies Because They Know That Babies Get What They Want
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via ZUMA When a group of Republican congressmen led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz crashed a House impeachment hearing Wednesday, it was hard not to think of a specific historical parallel: The image of several dozen middle-aged white men in suits shutting down a closed-door meeting brought to mind the infamous…
One of Trump’s Biggest Defenses in the Ukraine Scandal Falls Apart
Ron Sachs/ZUMA In a Wednesday morning tweet, Donald Trump pointed his supporters to a Fox News segment from the night before, during which Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) denied that the president’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democrats didn’t constitute a quid pro quo. “You can’t have a quid pro quo with no quo,” Ratcliffe…
Trump Could Get Away With Shooting Someone, His Lawyer Says
Yuri Gripas/Zuma As the impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump grips the nation, his lawyers continue to pursue the argument that he is above the law—and that his immunity from punishment would apply even if he were to shoot someone in the middle of New York’s Fifth Avenue. 🚨 Trump’s attorney Consovoy just agreed that…
Inside the US Marshals’ Secretive, Deadly Detention Empire
A large rectangle of red dirt on the flat expanse of West Texas’ Permian Basin reminds Sadrac Garcia every day of what his family has lost. A few months ago, he could stand on the small porch of his brother Juan’s double-wide and peer into the window of their parents’ trailer a few meters away.…
Ukraine Ambassador: Yes, There Was a Direct Quid Pro Quo
Tom Williams/Congressional Quarterly via ZUMA Bill Taylor, our ambassador to Ukraine—i.e., our actual ambassador, not one of the many hangers-on who screwed around there like callow children—testified before Congress that, hell yes, President Trump held up aid to Ukraine until they agreed to investigate Joe Biden’s son: In a 15-page opening statement, obtained by The…