{"id":129391,"date":"2019-10-06T21:13:49","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T01:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=129391"},"modified":"2019-10-06T21:13:49","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T01:13:49","slug":"the-dem-cia-impeachment-nothing-burger-with-hrc-in-the-wings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=129391","title":{"rendered":"The Dem-CIA Impeachment Nothing Burger with HRC in the Wings"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Renee Parsons\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It has been more than fascinating if not totally absorbing to watch the chain of events unfold over recent days with the Democrats in open cahoots with the CIA.\u00a0 <\/span>Their joint goal is to remove the implacable Donald Trump from the Oval Office as two-time former Dem presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has suddenly emerged from the Swamp for a few media appearances.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While the problematic candidacy of former veep Joe Biden plods on despite evidence of facilitating a family corruption scandal (also known as influence peddling) and a dementia that confirms he is unable to fulfill the duties of the presidency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Democrats latest frenzied attempt to oust Trump was the result of an assertion by a CIA operative<\/span><\/a> embedded in the White House that the President \u2018<\/span>pressured<\/i><\/span>\u2019 Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> phone call<\/span><\/a> to investigate allegations of misconduct by former veep Joe Biden and his son Hunter and their association with Burisma, Ukraine\u2019s largest energy provider.\u00a0 <\/span>The alleged whistleblower alleged that Trump\u2019s \u2018<\/span>pressure<\/i><\/span>\u2019 was \u2018to solicit interference from a foreign country\u2019 <\/i>for political gain which would constitute abuse of his office thereby justifying an impeachment inquiry.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Before the Dems whipped themselves into a froth of anticipation, they might have checked out the \u2018Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Agreement<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u201d signed by President Bill Clinton with the Ukraine government in 1999.\u00a0 <\/span>Spelling out a \u2018broad range of cooperation in criminal matters<\/i>,\u201d t<\/span>he Agreement is internationally binding, still in force and indicates that Trump was acting within his Constitutional authority in his conversation with Zelensky.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You would think that would be the end of the matter, right?<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s response to the Dem-initiated furor was to release the White House transcript<\/span><\/a> of the phone call which the CIA operative claimed was on \u2018lock down\u2019<\/i> by the White House to prevent its distribution.\u00a0 <\/span>Here is the only portion of that conversation that discussed the Biden Ukraine connection which is clearly asking the Ukraine President to conduct their own investigation.\u00a0 <\/span>Read the transcript and decide for yourself if there is political pressure, a quid pro quo or a violation worthy of impeachment \u2013 or is it all a Big Fat Nothing Burger?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The other thing, there’s a lot of <\/i><\/span>talk about Biden’s son, <\/i><\/span>that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.\u00a0 <\/span>Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look in it<\/i><\/span>\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Contents of that phone call then became the subject of an extensive nine-page whistleblower Complaint<\/span><\/a> filed on August 12<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span>, the filing of which came at about the same time as Intel Inspector General Michael Atkinson changed the standard to allow for second-hand tattling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is stunning is that the alleged whistleblower admits in his lengthy Complaint, that none of the information provided is first hand or personally obtained knowledge but rather informal via second and possibly third hand sources.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>The speculative, hypothetical nature of the Complaint \u201cnot as a direct witness<\/i>\u201d therefore makes the entire document legally indefensible<\/span> in addition to its factual errors.\u00a0 <\/span>Surely, <\/span>IG Atkinson understood that when he allowed such a flawed, legally insubstantial document to be filed, a document based on hearsay, gossip, rumor, innuendo and\/or word of mouth, that such a document would be inadmissible in any court proceeding. <\/span> End of Story, right?<\/span><\/p>\n

And then, voila!, a <\/span>second whistleblower<\/span> with <\/span>first hand<\/span> knowledge has just stepped forward and is being interviewed by the same IG who accepted the first legally flawed document.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The impeachment efforts were further undermined by the inept manipulations<\/span><\/a> of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif), Israeli proxy extraordinaire who appears to have lied about his level of knowledge and\/or involvement, created his own version of Trump statements as well as what amounts to a Brady violation of withholding of evidence from Republicans on the Intel Committee in violation of Committee rules.<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is all almost too good a story with a too perfect cast of characters to be anything less than a great political theatre as a coup generated by the US intel community throws all legitimacy to the wind in its last-ditch effort to impeach a sitting President for \u2026well, we\u2019re not quite sure exactly what the \u201cmisdemeanor and high crime<\/i>\u201d (Section 4, Article 2 of the Constitution) charges might be since the <\/span>Dems are not following the Constitutional impeachment procedures<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So far, the Democrats have <\/span>failed to adhere to basic due process rights with no debate or vote on the Floor of the House of Representatives regarding potential Articles of\u00a0 <\/span>Impeachment<\/span>.\u00a0 <\/span>After which, the House Judiciary Committee would prepare formalized charges for Committee consideration and hold a public hearing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead there is a lot of hot air and grandstanding with the Intelligence Committee holding behind-closed-door-interviews as if there is some dire national security threat at stake which the American public should not be privy to<\/span>.\u00a0 <\/span>In addition, the Intelligence Committee has no legislative role to bring impeachment charges but, alas, all of the above would require the Dems to provide facts of an impeachable offense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, it is time for the Democrats to put up or shut up and get on with the business of running the country \u2013 <\/span>if they have the ability to do so remains in question. <\/span><\/p>\n

Enter HRC, not widely regarded as a friend of the rule of law, who sought to relieve the House of their Constitutional prerogative by suggesting\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/i><\/span>If the impeachment provision in the US Constitution will not reach the offenses charged here then perhaps that 18<\/i><\/span>th<\/sup><\/i><\/span> Century Constitution should be abandoned to a 20<\/i><\/span>th<\/sup><\/i><\/span> Century paper shredder<\/i><\/span>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It should be shocking that Clinton finds nothing sacrosanct about \u2018abandoning<\/i>\u2019 the Constitution to a paper shredder. \u00a0 <\/span>It should make every American fearful of what a Clinton Administration might look like as she suggests that if the crime doesn\u2019t fit the law, then change the law to fit the crime.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While the American public earnestly awaits the next chapter of Ukraine-gate, Biden warned Trump \u201cyou\u2019re not going to destroy my family<\/i>\u201d although the former VP and son are doing a pretty good job of that without help from the often hapless Trump.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2012, the 42-year-old Hunter Biden, with no prior military experience, was one of six recruits selected to serve as a Reserve Officer\u00a0 <\/span>in the Navy\u2019s Direct Commission Officer Program<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>He sought two waivers; one because of his age and a second because of a previous drug charge years earlier.\u00a0 <\/span>In May, 2013, Biden was commissioned as an Ensign in the Navy\u2019s Public Affairs Division in Norfolk, Virginia.\u00a0 <\/span>By June, he tested positive for cocaine and was dishonorably discharged in February, 2014.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By May, 2014, Hunter Biden was appointed to a seat on the Board of Directors for Burisma Holdings Ltd.<\/span><\/a>, Ukraine\u2019s largest gas company and as a graduate of Yale Law School, he was in charge of its legal department for a cool $50,000 a month.\u00a0 <\/span>Biden joined Devon Archer another American new to the Burisma Board who also serves with Biden at Rosemont Seneca, a private equity firm.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Burisma\u2019s owner oligarch was under examination by Ukraine investigators after which, at Joe\u2019s urging, the lead prosecutor was fired and the case dropped.\u00a0 <\/span>At a January Council on Foreign Relations meeting, Biden related threatening<\/span><\/a> the government of Ukraine with the loss of a $1 billion loan guarantee in March, 2016:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got the commitment from Poroshenko and Yatsenyk that they would take action against the state prosecutor and they didn\u2019t. We\u2019re not going to give you the billion dollars. I\u2019m going to be leaving here in six hours and if the prosecutor\u2019s not fired, you\u2019re not getting the money. Well, son of a bitch, he got fired and they put in place someone who was solid.<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, \u201cSecret Empires<\/i><\/span><\/a>: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Benefits Family and Friends<\/i>\u201d revealed that the younger Biden traveled to China during an official state visit aboard Air Force Two in December, 2013 with his father, VP Joe Biden.\u00a0 <\/span>That trip occurred several months after Hunter Biden failed the Navy\u2019s drug test but before he was discharged.\u00a0 <\/span>The younger Biden was accompanied<\/span><\/a> by Devon Archer and James Bulger, nephew of gangster Whitey Bulger when he met with Chinese State Bank officials.\u00a0 <\/span>A week later, Biden secured a $1.5 billion investment for Rosemont Seneca Partners, a hedge fund the younger Biden partnered with John Kerry\u2019s stepson and Archer.\u00a0 <\/span>It is not known if Archer and Bulger traveled aboard Air Force Two as part of the US delegation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2014, after Hunter Biden joined the Burisma Board, Chris Heinz who had been a partner at Rosemont Seneca, left the equity firm and ended his business relationship<\/span><\/a> with the younger Biden. \u00a0 <\/span>In early 2019, Hunter Biden left the Burisma Board. <\/span><\/p>\n

Renee Parsons<\/b> has been a member of the ACLU\u2019s Florida State Board of Directors and president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, an environmental lobbyist with Friends of the Earth and staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC. She can be found on Twitter @reneedove31<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Renee Parsons\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}