President Donald Trump’s embattled personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, fresh off of a continued effort to dig up dirt in Ukraine, made waves by showing up at the White House on Friday as the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee was about to vote along party lines on two articles of impeachment against the president: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The timing was the first but not the only aspect of this appearance that evoked a response. Some immediately commented that something more sinister was afoot, as, indeed, Giuliani returned from Ukraine days ago with promises of a 20-page report on his findings.
To be clear: President Trump is accused of abusing his power by inviting foreign interference in the 2020 election. The impeachment inquiry focuses on the withholding of congressionally appropriated military aid in order to get Ukraine to announce investigations of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, and their connection to the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. The president also sought an investigation of the debunked CrowdStrike conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 election. Giuliani just returned from a trip to Ukraine that was an open attempt to bolster the case for seeking such investigations.
“‘What did you get?’” Trump asked Giuliani by phone on Saturday. “More than you can imagine,” Giuliani answered.
Is that a folder — or a dossier, if you will — tucked under Giuliani’s arm?
MSNBC legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah called the scene “surreal.”
“Mafia in action at the White House,” she said.
CNN analysts and anchors also jumped into the fray, noting that Giuliani was doing all of this while a counterintelligence investigation and an investigation by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are active.
https://twitter.com/sam_vinograd/status/1205509017415671810?s=20
Some were stumped as to what to call this scene.
Legal eagles (@AshaRangappa_ @eliehonig @Mimirocah1 and others ) — what do you call it when someone who should be a witness in an investigation is communicating with (and coaching?) the target of the investigation on what to say?
— Sam Vinograd (@sam_vinograd) December 13, 2019
Others were not.
You can watch the historic vote to approve the articles of impeachment below.
These articles will next get the attention of the full House. If everything goes as expected there, a Senate trial with a preordained outcome will occur and President Trump will not be removed from office.
[Image via Image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images]
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