Whistleblower

Meet the Press  -  November 24, 2019

Chuck Todd:  I know where you are on the whistleblower and the belief that you really don't need to hear from the whistleblower anymore, but you did pledge that the Intelligence Committee would hear from the whistleblower in some form or another. Are you going to fulfill that pledge?

Rep. Adam Schiff:  We had a deep interest in having the whistleblower testify until two things happened. One, we were able to prove everything in the whistleblower complaint with witnesses that had firsthand information, and second, the president and his allies effectively put that whistleblower's life in danger. The president said the whistleblower and others should be treated as a traitor or a spy and we ought to use the penalty we used to use for traitors and spies, and that's the death penalty. So, here's the thing, Chuck, we don't need the whistleblower's secondhand evidence anymore. It would only serve to endanger this person and to gratify the president's desire for retribution, and that is not a good enough reason to bring in the whistleblower.

Two Points of View

He Saved Hong Kong

President Donald Trump boasted today that he is the only reason China has not yet "obliterated" Hong Kong, where protesters have been marching against Beijing for months.

“If it weren't for me, Hong Kong would have been obliterated in 14 minutes,” Trump said in a phone interview on Fox & Friends, the morning news show known for its fierce defenses of the president.

China, Trump said, "has got a million soldiers standing outside of Hong Kong that aren’t going in only because I asked him,” he continued. “Please don’t do that. You will be making a big mistake. It’s going to have a tremendous negative impact on the trade deal, and he wants to make a trade deal.”

Trump doubled down on his assertion that he is single-handedly saving lives in Hong Kong through his ongoing trade negotiations with China, saying “thousands of people” would be dead without the trade talks.

“If it weren't for me, thousands of people would have been killed in Hong Kong right now,” he concluded. “And you wouldn't have any riots. You would have a police state. But thousands of people. The only reason he is not going in is because I'm saying it is going to affect our trade deal. You don't want to do that. I speak to him.”

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Politico  11/22/2019

Impeachment Eve

It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With Republicans screaming
And Democrats dreaming
Impeachment is near
It’s the most wonderful time of the year

It’s the im-peachiest season of all
Getting dirt from the Ukraine
To help your next campaign
Will be your downfall
It’s the im-peachiest season of all

There’ll be transcripts for reading
The president’s tweeting
That this whole thing is a hoax
There’ll be Nunes and Jordan
Ignoring extortion
Executive privilege invoked

It’s the most wonderful time
Yes, the most wonderful time
Oh, the most obvious crime
You’ll ever hear

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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert  11/12/2019