Thursday, January 30, 2020

TIMELINE Investigating Trump Turns Into A Witch Hunt Since 2015:With Robert Mueller, FBI and Democrats

Nadene Goldfoot                                             
President Donald Trump

"May 17, 2017: The Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel. Mueller led the investigation of Trump into possible ties or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, as well as other matters that "may arise directly from the investigation."  Anyone who ever worked for Trump has fallen through the Mueller Investigations.  I cite just a few of them.  
                                                                     
Robert Mueller

"Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has resulted in five former Trump aides agreeing to work with Mueller’s team under plea deals. Numerous Trump associates had contacts with Russian government officials or business people during the campaign and presidential transition.  A Kremlin based Internet Research Agency, devised a strategy to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Its goal was to spread distrust toward candidates and the American political system."  It was successful as the spying on Trump doesn't seem to stop.

June 16, 2015: Donald Trump announced candidacy for president, and Russia's social media showed preference for Trump over Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton's wife.  Democrats were very strongly expecting support for Hillary.  Trump was an outsider even to the Republican Party.  He had been a Democrat.  


Oct. 28, 2015: Trump signed a letter of intent to negotiate the construction of a Trump Tower in Russia, as first reported by CNN
January 2016: Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime lawyer, emailed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.  Discussions about the project lasted as late as June 2016. Trump had been carrying on his duties as owner of hotels.   He was a friend of Hillary.  They ran in the same social circles.  
March 19, 2016: The chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, John Podesta, fell victim to an email phishing scam. It is believed this is how a group of Russian hackers gained access to his email account.
Early March 2016: George Papadopoulos joined the Trump campaign as an adviser.
March 24, 2016: Papadopoulos met in London with the professor who introduced him to a female Russian national who Papadopoulos believed to be a relative of Putin with links to other senior Russian officials.  Papadopoulos came to hope to arrange a meeting  between Putin and Trump.  Papadopoulos heard of thousands of e-mails of Hillary Clinton's and the dirt he would have on her.  
April 2016: Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak attended Trump’s foreign policy speech in Washington, where he met Trump’s son-in-law and campaign adviser Jared Kushner.
July 2016: The FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee later confirmed that information from Papadopoulos triggered the investigation.
July 27, 2016: During a press conference, Trump said of Clinton’s emails: "Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you can find the 33,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press." This most likely was said with tongue in cheek, for attention.  It received much negative attention, as if it were the Biblical scripture.  
Oct. 21, 2016: The FBI and Justice Department obtained a warrant to monitor Carter Page based on probable cause that Page is Russian agent. Page stepped down from the Trump campaign the previous month.
It had been in early July 2016  when Trump campaign adviser Carter Page traveled to Moscow, where he met with Russia’s deputy prime minister and a high-ranking Russian oil official. Page emailed campaign staffers that the deputy prime minister had "expressed strong support for Mr. Trump," and that he had gleaned "incredible insights and outreach" in Russia.  Page later was found colluding with a female staffer with both being against Trump.  

Nov. 8, 2016: Trump was elected president. Democrats have been shocked, and impeachment talks started right away.  


Jan. 10, 2017: A dossier compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele became public. Steele wrote the dossier on behalf of Fusion GPS, a research firm whose work had been funded in part by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. The document suggested the Kremlin possesses compromising material against Trump and raises the possibility Trump is vulnerable to blackmail.
Jan. 20, 2017: Trump was inaugurated as president.

February 2017 The Impeach Trump Leadership PAC was started by California Democratic Party congressional candidate Boyd Roberts


May 9, 2017: Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.
May 12, 2017 As the backlash to President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey escalates, Democratic lawmakers are increasingly raising the prospect of impeachment.
On June 7, 2017, Congressman Al Green announced that Congressman Brad Sherman would join with him in drafting articles of impeachment against President Trump.
On July 12, 2017 Congressman Sherman formally introduced in the House of Representatives an Article of Impeachment (H.Res. 438), accusing the president of obstructing and impeding the investigation of justice, regarding the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
On August 17 to November, 2017 Representative Steve Cohen announced he would introduce articles of impeachment because Trump had "failed the presidential test of moral leadership".
Oct. 5, 2017: Papadopoulos pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his efforts to put the Trump campaign in contact with Moscow. He entered a plea agreement with Mueller.
Oct. 30, 2017: Manafort and Trump campaign associate Rick Gates surrendered to the FBI after being charged with a dozen felonies each, including failing to disclose lobbying activities on behalf of foreign entities, financial crimes and making false statements. They pled not guilty to all charges.
Nov. 30, 2017:   Lieutenant General Michael Flynn and former National Security Advisor to Trump in 2017  pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his discussions with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition, and entered a plea agreement with Mueller.
On December 6,2017, a second privileged resolution on articles of impeachmentH.Res. 646, was brought on the floor by Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas. The resolution listed two articles, i.e. proposed reasons for impeachment: "Associating the Presidency with White Nationalism, Neo-Nazism and Hatred" and "Inciting Hatred and Hostility". House majority leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, moved for the resolution to be defeated ("tabled"), which was agreed to by a 364–58 vote with four members voting present.
April 9, 2018: The FBI raided the offices of Trump’s longtime lawyer and aide Michael Cohen. The case was referred to the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York.
April 27, 2018: Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee released a final report on the committee’s Russia investigation over Democratic objections. The committee's Republican members found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, but concluded that Russia conducted cyberattacks on U.S. political institutions during the 2016 campaign.
The committee’s top Democrat, Adam Schiff of Californiacriticized GOP members for closing the investigation prematurely, and called their findings superficial and politically motivated. Statements made by Michael Cohen, Trump's long-time lawyer and aide,  about Trump Tower Moscow, which Cohen later admitted were lies, go largely unchallenged in the report.  His offices had been raided by FBI on April 9th.  
May 1, 2018: Trump reacted angrily to a New York Times report containing a list of questions Mueller is said to have sent Trump as part of the special counsel investigation, calling it a "witch hunt."  He had only been president for 1 year 3 months and 11 days.  
Aug. 1, 2018: Trump called on his attorney general to end the Mueller probe, tweeting: "This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further."
November 29, 2018:  Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Sater’s comment about Cohen interested in offering a $50 million penthouse in Trump Tower Moscow to Putin because they believed , if true, shows House investigations should continue to probe "what, if any, financial leverage the Russians may hold over President Trump and the Trump Organization."


On March 11, 2019, Nancy Pelosi said, "I'm not for impeachment, Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he's just not worth it. No. I don't think he is. I mean, ethically unfit. Intellectually unfit. Curiosity wise unfit. No, I don't think he's fit to be president of the United States." She then scolded herself for "coming across too negatively".
With the Democrats in control of the House, and with a direct impeachment inquiry deemed somewhat toxic, the work of investigations into Trump's possible crimes were divided into several committees while waiting for some outside force, such as the Mueller probe or the Southern District to force the Democratic leadership's hands.

March 22, 2019: Mueller concluded his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters. Mueller submitted a confidential report to Attorney General William Barr explaining his "prosecution and declination decisions." Barr told lawmakers who lead congressional judiciary committees in a letter that he would advise them the special counsel's principal conclusions, perhaps as soon as this weekend.
                                                           
Zelensky, comedian turn TV actor of a president
Becoming Ukraine's President
Ukrainian presidents are frequently asked by individual citizens for help in solving their personal problems (sometimes successfully); in 2012, (then) president Yanukovych received about 10,000 to 12,000 letters from people every month.  By-passing local governments is an ages-old practice in Ukraine.
May 20, 2019KIEV, Ukraine — Volodymyr Zelensky, a television comedian turned populist firebrand, took office as Ukraine’s president on Monday and immediately began to battle the political establishment.

May 29, 2019: Mueller brought the investigation to a formal close in his first public statement about the Russia probe. Mueller recapped Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and explained why he could not have brought charges against the president even if he found they were substantiated.
               
Start of formal impeachment proceedings

THE BOMBSHELL DISCLOSED 1/31/2020 This is when John Bolton's book is reported to reveal that a meeting took place with heads of his committee that Trump denies taking place.  Bolton is saying that he was asked to pressure Ukraine earlier than has been brought out.  Note that the book has not been published yet, and is said to have included information that Washington says is not passing the muster of being allowable.  


July 26, 2019:  The start of official proceedings was first revealed to the public in a court filing.
September 17, 2019: The first hearings against a president in 21 years took place , and featured the testimony of former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski exhibited a letter from President Trump stating that he was forbidden to answer questions due to executive privilege, even though he had never worked in the White House and was not entitled to it. Several Republican members of the committee attempted to use a number of procedural laws but were ignored by democrats[clarification ? ) to continue the proceedings. Lewandowski, however, did admit to doing the things he was stated as doing in the Mueller Report.

September 24, 2019: After Nancy Pelosi formally announced an impeachment inquiry into Trump,  several opinion polls reflected an increase in support for an impeachment inquiry. According to a Morning Consult poll, 43% of Americans support impeachment proceedings, a 7-point increase, tying with Americans who do not support such proceedings. Additionally, an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll showed support for an impeachment inquiry into Trump at 49%, while 46% opposed.
An analysis of polls showed that through mid-December, Americans remained sharply divided on whether Trump should be removed from office. According to a CNN poll taken on December 12–15, 45% of Americans support the impeachment and removal of Trump from office, while 47% oppose impeachment.
                                                    
Patrick Philbin, Republican Defender
Questions at Senate Impeachment probe center on
Trump's motives on Ukraine probe
If Trump's motives are not pure, can the president be impeached?
It's down to the nitty gritty; motivation.    
Patrick Philbin, one of the president’s lawyers, said even if President Trump had some personal interest in asking Ukraine to investigate a political opponent, as long as there was some public reason, the impeachment case falls apart.

January 30, 2020:  We have been watching the impeachment trial during the last few days.  The question and answer period had gone on yesterday.  Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, Democrats, answered many questions which helped their side.  Patrick Philbin, Republican, answered many questions for the Republican side and certainly impressed me.  Alan Dershowitz, a criminal lawyer of great repute, as I have many of his books in my library, made surprising  comments in defense of Trump.  He was added to the group recently for this rare occasion.  

If I had to live with the tumult around me about impeachment since the day I was inaugurated, some talk of it even before taking office, I would have had a nervous breakdown.  How about you?  I have come to the opinion that the job of President is harder than any other position, and one must be a rare bird to withstand the pressure and as wise as Solomon, who certainly had his problems, even with a brilliant mind. 
                                                       

 Trump started showing the affects when he realized he was the subject of a witch hunt, and about as popular with the Democrats as the wicked witch of the West.  However, he has continued with his duties with all the zeal since he began.  
                                                         
Meeting on January 27, 2020 in Israel 
Trump's plan defines the future of Israeli settlements, how Palestinians might conditionally form a state, and America’s view of Israel’s myriad security concerns but it's being met with poor reviews.  The Palestinians rejected it
completely without hearing it out because they were not a part of it. True

to form, they've been doing this for the past 70 years.
Netanyahu is under the gun, as well with another election coming
up in March.  


"The Constitution charges the House of Representatives with the “sole power” to investigate, and if necessary, impeach a president by charging them with committing “Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Once the House of Representatives votes and passes Articles of Impeachment against the president, the president is then entitled to a trial. Once impeached, the accused president is tried by the full Senate, which is presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. If convicted by a 2/3 majority, the president is then removed from office.

While the Founders ultimately agreed to invest the president with broad executive powers, they again clashed over what should constitute an impeachable offense, and how impeachment (and then removal) should be carried out. What would happen if a president purposefully violated the Constitution or otherwise was deficient in discharging their duties? How could the other branches of the federal government rein them in?

The Constitution states that presidents may be impeached for “Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” They chose the words for very specific reasons. “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” is ambiguous enough for Congress to define its precise contours on a case-by-case basis, while also being rooted in British and early American history via past impeachments of public officials. " " Harvard Law Review says that  "The majority view is that a president can legally be impeached for 'intentional, evil deeds' that 'drastically subvert the Constitution and involve an unforgivable abuse of the presidency' — even if those deeds didn’t violate any criminal laws."

President Donald Trump was acquitted on Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 4:30pm EST.of the two charges of reason for impeachment.  It was the night before that he made an hour and a half State of the Union  speech before Congress.   Both his speech and his acquittal showed us that the country is quite divided and has taken either Democrat or Republican sides almost equally.   

Edited: 1/31/2020;   Resource:  https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2018/jul/16/russia-investigation-donald-trump-timeline-updated/
https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2020/01/2017-scene-of-wanting-trump-impeached.html
https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/12/politics/kfile-democrats-impeach-trump/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efforts_to_impeach_Donald_Trump
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jan/29/first-question-senate-impeachment-trial-focuses-tr/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/he-once-played-ukraines-president-on-tv-now-he-just-took-office-as-the-real-one/2019/05/20/594c6322-77e5-11e9-a7bf-c8a43b84ee31_story.html
https://pacificlegal.org/impeachment-explained-a-constitutional-primer-and-history/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA4NTxBRDxARIsAHyp6gD5TY1Cy_W5iB60es1uoHoud_-NHAx1S2Gk4MqjQ0dKd6HGVR1VQE4aAkHWEALw_wcB

Monday, January 27, 2020

Hezbollah: That Iranian-backed Terrorist Organization That Threatens Israel 24/7

Nadene Goldfoot
Holocaust Day yesterday reminds me that there are still terrorists whose aim is to destroy Israel and its 6 million Jews who live there.  We've already lost 6 million in the Holocaust.  We say, NEVER AGAIN!  
                                                                               
Hezbollah uses the Lebanese population as human shields, hiding its weapons and terrorists within civilian infrastructure."   That's just what the Palestinians have done in their rejection of the right of Israel to exist, especially those led by Hamas in Gaza.                                
Hasssan Nasrallah
born in Lebanon on August 31, 1960
 is the third and current Secretary General of the Lebanese political and paramilitary party Hezbollah since his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, was assassinated by the Israel Defense Forces in February 1992
Said to be a direct descendant of Mohammad, 
under his tenure, Hezbollah has been designated a terrorist organization, either wholly or in part, by the United States and other nations, as well as by the European Union.   Russia rejects the claims that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, and considers Hezbollah a legitimate sociopolitical organization. The People's Republic of China remains neutral, and maintains contacts with Hezbollah.

Most every country except Russia and China considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization except the following, and seeing who it is tells you much about them and their beliefs and why the USA is leery of such countries:
The following countries do not consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization:
 AlgeriaAlgeria refused to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization[110]
 ChinaThe People's Republic of China remains neutral, and maintains contacts with Hezbollah.[citation needed]
 CubaHezbollah operates a base in Cuba.[111][citation needed]
 Iran[4]
 Iraq[112]
 North KoreaAllegedly supports Hezbollah.[113]
 RussiaConsiders Hezbollah a legitimate sociopolitical organization.[citation needed]
  SwitzerlandSwitzerland considers as terrorist only those organizations which are in the terrorist list of the United Nations.[65]
 Syria[114]
 VenezuelaOnly Maduro government[74]
                                                                       

United States

"The United States believes Hezbollah is an organization with ties to terrorism. The United States officially support the peaceful restructuring of Israel, and reconciliation with the Palestinian territories, (i.e. West Bank and the Gaza Strip). Due to their terrorist activities, neither Hezbollah or Hamas have been invited to be a part of any peace process led by the United States.
1983: 241 US servicemen killed in Hezbollah bombing of the US Marine base in Beirut, Lebanon.
                                                   

Arab League
On 11 March 2016, the Arab League designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization during a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers at the organization's headquarters in Egypt's capital Cairo. Nearly all 22 Arab League members supported the decision, except LebanonSyriaAlgeria and Iraq which expressed "reservations" about the decision."  Perhaps this is because 
Hezbollah is an arm of Iran, a Shia country and the Arab League are Sunnis. Sunni and Shia are two sides of the same coin or of the Islamic religion.  

Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement

Flag of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine.
There have been American claims that Hezbollah has engaged in joint operations with the Sunni Palestinian militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement. The Islamic Jihad Movement has sent "its gratitude to the brothers in Hezbollah, the Islamic resistance in South Lebanon. Particularly Hassan Nasrallah, for their stance and support, be it financial, military or moral support".
Israel
Hezbollah is one of the most imminent threats facing Israel.  Here's why:
1. They have dug tunnels to infiltrate and attack Israel.
2. They are capable of launching 1,500 rockets per day into Israel.
3. They have 6,000 to 8,000 fighters in Syria.
4. They have 45,000 active and reserve fighters.
5. They have an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel.
6. They have converted as many as 240 Shiite villages in southern Lebanon into fighting zones. 

1992:  29 people killed in Hezbollah bombing of Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1994:  85 people killed in Hezbollah bombing of Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires.
2006:  165 Israeli civilians and soldiers killed during war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Palestinians: Remember the 2-state solution?  70 years has passed and they still are attacking Israel; not the country anyone would want as a nearby neighbor:  
  Gaza, ruled by Hamas terrorists: 
Hezbollah is a role model to Hamas in terms of its military, political, and media operations. The two groups share common tactics and common goals as well as close ties to Iran. According to an Israeli military source, Hezbollah assists Hamas with bomb production. Nasrallah has declared his support for the al-Aqsa Intifada.
In 2013, Hezbollah had ordered Hamas to leave Lebanon, due to Hamas support for opposition forces fighting against the Syrian President Bashar Assad. Hamas and the Lebanese Islamic Jihad denied these reports.

European Union:  Netherlands and Germany have not always loved each other, especially since WWII.  
   Netherlands: Hezbollah is a terrorist group.  The Netherlands has proscribed the organisation fully.
   Germany: however, initially only designated the military wing of Hezbollah as terrorist but not the political wing. A 2018 research initiative found strong links between Hezbollah and illegal activity in Germany and this garnered a substantial response from the German public, asking to condemn Hezbollah's political wing as well. Later on, the entire organization was proscribed in Germany on 19 December 2019.  Both wings answer to the same leader.  
United Nations:  There are two primary non-State groups, namely the Taliban and Al-Qaida, which have been designated "terrorist" organizations by the Security Council.
AIPAC bulletin on Hezbollah