"BIG GUY" JOE AND HUNTER WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH IS IN IT FOR THEM???
So what are they to do? Well, here’s an option. They could conduct a reverse impeachment hearing, and hold an inquiry into whether to rescind the first impeachment vote against Donald Trump, which was based on his request to Ukrainian authorities to look into the corruption of the Biden family in Ukraine, or not.
Zelensky Says He Won’t Hold Elections Unless U.S. and EU Pay for Them
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded that taxpayers in the United States and European Union send the country even more aid if the West wishes for elections to be held next year.
In an interview published by the president’s office on Sunday evening, Zelensky said that he would be willing to hold elections despite the ongoing martial law amid the war with Russia, so long as the U.S. and EU bankroll the voting process.
The Ukrainian leader said that elections during peacetime typically cost around 5 billion hryvnia ($135 million) but did not speculate as to how much more they would cost during a war, though presumably it would be much higher.
Zelensky said that he discussed the topic of funding for the 2024 elections with U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been one of the staunchest supporters of sending more aid to Ukraine on Capitol Hill.
“I told [Sen. Graham]: If the United States and Europe give us financial support… I’m sorry, I will not hold elections on credit, I will not take money from weapons and give it to elections either. But if you give me this financial support, if the parliamentarians realize that we need to do this, then let’s quickly change the legislation and, most importantly, let’s take risks together,” Zelensky said.
“Observers should be in the trenches. I told him: observers must be sent to the frontline so that the elections are legitimate for us and for the whole world. And this is absolutely fair,” he added.
Zelensky, a former comedian who prior to becoming president actually portrayed a fictitious president on the television programme Servant of the People, was elected in 2019 with over 73 per cent of the vote on the backs of promises to cut down on corruption and normalising relations with Russia. However, this would not come to pass, with a hot war breaking out between the two countries last year after Russia launched an invasion in February.
Currently, elections are prohibited while the country is under martial law, the renewal of which takes place every 90 days. The next expiration date of martial law is set for November 15th, meaning that it is unlikely that parliamentary elections will be held during their typically scheduled October.
Under normal circumstances, the next presidential election would normally be held in March of next year. In addition to the uncertainty around the vote itself, it also remains to be seen if President Zelensky will lift the ban of several opposition parties he imposed last year under the pretence of them being pro-Russian.
In Sunday’s interview, Zelensky went on to describe some of the logistical challenges of holding elections, noting that millions of Ukrainians are currently living abroad, principally in the European Union, and therefore he said EU countries would need to set up polling stations for the refugees.
“We need help from Europe here, because Ukrainians today are mostly in the European Union. Polling stations must be opened there so that people can come. 7 million people have to vote. We do not have such infrastructural capacities – we need to provide appropriate opportunities there,” he said.
The Ukrainian president also said that he was unsure of how to allow the military to vote in full, saying: “How will the military be able to vote? Show me the infrastructure. No one has shown it yet. How will people abroad be able to vote? No one has shown me. There is a way out. I am ready for it. I am talking about this publicly now, I told [Graham]. I have no secrets.”
“We need an election in Ukraine next year. I want to see this country have a free and fair election even while it is under assault,” the president said.
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McCarthy: House Could Launch Impeachment Inquiry ‘When We Come Back Into Session’
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Tuesday on Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow” that the House could launch an impeachment inquiry when they return in September.
McCarthy said, “Somebody is lying in this process. And the only thing I realize here is the only stories that have not changed are the whistleblowers from the IRS. Their story has held up time and again, and it really looks like there’s two justice systems here. If the Biden administration continues to fight to withhold information that could really clear all this up. Did they take bribes? Did they deal in the business?”
He continued, “If they hold that up, we would have to move to an impeachment inquiry. Which you know, Larry, gives the apex of power to Congress when it comes to our subpoena power and others to get the documents we need. The bank statements, the credit card statements and others. Show us where the money went, show us were you taking money from outside sources? And that would clear most of this up, but they seem to fight it every step of the way.”
He added, “If they use this special counsel to say that they can’t provide us the information, then it just shows more politics. And it will not stop us. Then we would move to impeachment inquiry and we would be able to still get the documents that we need as we move forward.”
McCarthy concluded, “The thing that holds up whether we do impeachment inquiry, provide us the documents we’re asking. The whole determination here is how the Bidens handled this. If they provide us the documents, there wouldn’t be a need for impeachment inquiry. But if they withhold the documents and fight like they have now to not provide to the American public what they deserve to know, we will move forward with impeachment inquiry when we come back into session.”
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Impeachment reimagined: a new approach to addressing Biden’s corruption
Let’s be clear, Joe Biden deserves to be impeached. There is more than enough evidence that he was involved in a pay-for-play influence peddling scheme, that he lied about it, and that he involved high ranking government officials to cover it up.
But let’s also acknowledge that we live in the real world, and expecting the GOP to do the right thing is more often than not a fool’s errand. And, to be fair to them, even if they were to impeach Biden there is virtually no chance he would be convicted in the Senate and, if he were, Kamala Harris would be elevated to the presidency, which somehow may result in an even worse situation for the country. What’s more, the public might view an attempt to impeach Biden as the kind of tit-for-tat partisan squabbling that turns off many independents.
So what are they to do? Well, here’s an option. They could conduct a reverse impeachment hearing, and hold an inquiry into whether to rescind the first impeachment vote against Donald Trump, which was based on his request to Ukrainian authorities to look into the corruption of the Biden family in Ukraine, or not.
Why should they do this? Well, to begin with, the issue at the heart of that impeachment was that Trump threatened to withhold aid from Ukraine unless they “dug up” dirt, or as Democrats frequently argue, “made up” dirt against the Bidens. So the central question to be asked as to whether or not to rescind the impeachment would be, “was President Trump justified in asking Zelensky to look into the corruption of the Biden family?” What better vehicle could there be to lay out before the American people the crimes of the Biden family without having to actually call for Biden to be removed?
This strategy has several advantages: For one, Democrats can’t mount a legitimate defense like they could in an impeachment because theoretically, Biden wouldn’t be on trial. The question wouldn’t be “is Joe Biden guilty” rather it would be, “was it reasonable for President Trump to inquire about corruption in Ukraine?” All of the evidence presented would go to answering the latter question, not the former, but for all practical purposes would in fact answer both questions in the affirmative.
Sure Democrats could call back some of their witnesses from the first impeachment but do you really think people like Marie Yovanovitch want to come back and testify about what they knew was happening in Ukraine? What we now know happened in Ukraine? Even if they did, they’d have little to offer in terms of refuting the claims about Biden's corrupt activities.
Secondly, the hearing could be framed as seeking to right a wrong rather than taking revenge against the opposite political party. This would make the proceedings more palatable and the media would have a very difficult time convincing the mainstream that this was a partisan witch hunt.
What’s more, it would give the GOP an excuse to subpoena all correspondence between Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, or Schiff and “The Anonymous Whistleblower”, or Schiff and his staff regarding the events that took place during the first impeachment hearing. I’m pretty sure there are quite a few interesting tidbits we might be able to discover from that paper trail as well.
Furthermore, since Donald Trump was not convicted in the Senate, the House wouldn’t need its approval on any such resolution; impeachment requires a two-thirds vote in favor of removal, something that would almost certainly not happen. As a result, the left will not be able to point to an acquittal as some type of repudiation of the findings by the House.
Additionally, it would allow Republicans to frame the issue as President Trump suffering improper prosecution by Democrats, and could be used as a talking point when discussing Trump’s current legal situations.
Conducting a hearing in this manner will allow the GOP to make the case publicly that Biden is corrupt without having to meet some standard of guilt, whether made up or not. The average person, after having seen the evidence that currently exists against Biden, would be hard pressed to conclude anything other than he is a corrupt liar who used his position in government to both enrich himself and to cover up his crimes.
By reverse-engineering the impeachment process, Republicans can lay out the case against Biden in a low pressure hearing that is cloaked in the mantle of securing justice rather than persecuting a political opponent. It will allow Republicans to achieve all of the things they could hope to in a normal impeachment hearing while allowing them not to take any serious political risk. It’s the perfect way for a party adverse to doing the right thing to do the right thing.
Tim is the author of the book “Financial Freedom for Kids” available on Amazon. He can be reached on Twitter @mister_irony.
Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required.
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