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Schiff: DOJ lawyer argued in court Thursday that House can impeach if subpoenas are ignored Schiff drew laugher after he referred to an exchange that took place in federal court Thursday. "We’ve been debating whether a president can be impeached for essentially bogus claims of privilege for attempting to use the courts to cover up misconduct” and after the Justice Department has resisted House subpoenas," Schiff said. "So the judge says, 'Well if the Congress can’t enforce its subpoenas in court, then what remedy is there?'" said Schiff. "And the Justice Department lawyer’s response is: 'Impeachment. Impeachment.' You can’t make this up," said Schiff, drawing laughter from senators in the chamber. Share this -







Bondi, Demings get fired up The energy in the chamber seems flatter on Thursday. Several senators were absent shortly after the proceedings began, and the press and public galleries have lots of empty seats. That changed, however, when White House lawyer Pam Bondi got up to take a friendly question on the Bidens. After getting criticized online for fumbling through her large binder on Wednesday, Bondi took the podium with just two pages of notes, including Sharpie bullet points, which she read through at a much higher volume than most senators have done. In rebuttal, Rep. Val Demings seemed fired up, too, and repeatedly looked directly at Bondi during her response. During an answer from Schiff about subpoenas, and when and how they were issued, both Sens. Collins and Murkowski appeared very engaged, listening and taking notes. Share this -







Rand Paul criticizes Roberts for rejecting his question, saying it didn't refer to whistleblower Sen. Rand Paul criticized Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday after he refused to read Paul's question out loud, apparently because it included the name of the person right-wing media alleges is the whistleblower who set off the impeachment inquiry. Paul, a Kentucky Republican, read the question — and the person's name — at a news conference held after he walked out of the president's impeachment trial following Roberts' decision. Paul, who has repeatedly called for the whistleblower to be identified publicly, claimed he wasn't trying to out the whistleblower with his question, which asked if the person in question had a close relationship with a House committee staffers and had "worked together to plot impeaching the president." "I think this is an important question, one that deserves to be asked, and makes no reference to anybody who may or may not be a whistleblower," Paul said. Paul said he thought Roberts made "an incorrect finding" by failing to read the question, which he'd wanted both House managers and White House lawyers to respond to. When NBC News asked if he should be attending the trial, Paul said: "Yeah, I will be there very shortly. Thanks for the question." John Tye, CEO of the nonprofit law office Whistleblower Aid, issued a statement saying: “Senator Paul’s effort to out the whistleblower is reckless and intended to distract and intimidate, not educate. Attaching any name to the identity the whistleblower, whether accurate or not, puts the named individual at tremendous personal risk.” Share this -







Dershowitz challenges critics to a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate Let’s elevate the quality of the dialogue and avoid ad hominems.The issues are too important to trivialize. The debate could be live or on TV. (MTC) — Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) January 30, 2020 I believe Joe Biden is a patriot who cares deeply about the national interest, but he also cares deeply about his family. Under the Manger’s dangerous theory, he would have to be psychoanalyzed to determine the role each motive may have played in an entirely lawful action.(MTC) — Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) January 30, 2020 Share this -







Schiff says Dershowitz argument amounts to 'normalization of lawlessness' Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the lead House manager in the impeachment trial, said an argument made by Dershowitz amounted to the "normalization of lawlessness" and said the Senate trial has witnessed "a descent into constitutional madness" over the past few days. Dershowitz faced intense backlash Thursday over an eye-opening argument he made against impeaching his client. Dershowitz argued Wednesday that if a president engaged in a quid pro quo arrangement for his or her own political benefit, it is not impeachable because all politicians believe that their elections are in the public interest. "If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment," he said during the first day of the question-and-answer period of the trial. Schiff said a lawyer only makes an argument like that "because you know your client is guilty and dead to rights." "That is an argument made of desperation," he said. Share this -







Chief justice refuses to read Rand Paul question Chief Justice John Roberts refused to read the second question of the day at the president's impeachment trial, which came from a Republican senator who's tried to out the whistleblower who raised red flags about the president's July phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart. "The presiding officer declines to read the question as submitted," Roberts said after looking at the question from Sen. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, who'd reportedly tried to get a similar question read on Wednesday. Immediately after Roberts’ decision, Paul stood and left the chamber. Politico reported that Roberts had let senators know on Wednesday he would not read questions naming or identifying the whistleblower, whose lawyers have said has been subject of death threats. A spokesman for Paul, Sergio Gor, tweeted earlier Thursday that Paul planned to keep pushing. "Senator Paul will insist on his question being asked during today’s trial. Uncertain of what will occur on the Senate floor, but American people deserve to know how this all came about ..." Gor tweeted. Chief Justice Roberts declines to read question from Sen. Rand Paul Jan. 30, 2020 00:50 Share this -





