Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Trump openly tweeting extortion - "this is the thing House Dems drew analogies to"
Link to tweet
Sam Stein ✔@samstein
A bit wild to see it out in the open here. But Trump is conditioning aid to a state based on whether it is pursuing lawsuits against him. It’s all been sanctioned now by the acquittal I suppose. But this is the thing House Dems drew analogies to in their senate presentation
Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
I’m seeing Governor Cuomo today at The White House. He must understand that National Security far exceeds politics. New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harrassment, start cleaning itself up, and lowering taxes. Build relationships, but don’t bring Fredo!
1:40 PM - Feb 13, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/13/tweet-trump-again-appears-leverage-his-office-his-personal-benefit/
In a tweet, Trump again appears to leverage his office for his personal benefit
By Philip Bump
Feb. 13, 2020 at 2:53 p.m. EST
You may recall that, not very long ago, President Trump faced possible removal from office after he attempted to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations that would benefit him personally. Last Wednesday — amazingly, barely a week ago — the Senate acquitted Trump on the impeachment charges passed by the House. Several senators who voted to acquit nonetheless indicated that Trump had in fact done what the House alleged, leveraging his position for his benefit. They just didn’t think it warranted removal from office.
Trump’s legal team in that effort deployed a number of defenses to convince the Senate to vote the way it ultimately did. Among them was an argument used by Trump attorney Patrick Philbin, who argued that in situations in which there might be both a personal motive for acting and a legitimate public interest, the president couldn’t be held to account. Another Trump attorney, Alan Dershowitz, took this much further, arguing at one point that “public interest” could include a president’s own reelection.
Philbin and others didn’t go that far, but he did, near the end of the trial, argue that in situations in which there was a “purely private pecuniary gain” — a “personal family, financial interest” — impeachment would be warranted. He was talking about former vice president Joe Biden, warping the facts of Biden’s actions in office for a rhetorical point. But that argument also seems as though it might apply to a tweet from Trump on Thursday afternoon.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) is meeting with Trump at the White House to discuss the administration’s decision last week that it would remove New Yorkers from several programs aimed at speeding security checks at airports and the border. The suspension of those programs for New Yorkers was predicated on New York’s immigration laws, including a policy in which the state wouldn’t allow the Department of Homeland Security to access driver records. A memo published last week by BuzzFeed News reveals that DHS staffers saw the freeze on travel programs as a way to punish the state.
</snip>
In a tweet, Trump again appears to leverage his office for his personal benefit
By Philip Bump
Feb. 13, 2020 at 2:53 p.m. EST
You may recall that, not very long ago, President Trump faced possible removal from office after he attempted to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations that would benefit him personally. Last Wednesday — amazingly, barely a week ago — the Senate acquitted Trump on the impeachment charges passed by the House. Several senators who voted to acquit nonetheless indicated that Trump had in fact done what the House alleged, leveraging his position for his benefit. They just didn’t think it warranted removal from office.
Trump’s legal team in that effort deployed a number of defenses to convince the Senate to vote the way it ultimately did. Among them was an argument used by Trump attorney Patrick Philbin, who argued that in situations in which there might be both a personal motive for acting and a legitimate public interest, the president couldn’t be held to account. Another Trump attorney, Alan Dershowitz, took this much further, arguing at one point that “public interest” could include a president’s own reelection.
Philbin and others didn’t go that far, but he did, near the end of the trial, argue that in situations in which there was a “purely private pecuniary gain” — a “personal family, financial interest” — impeachment would be warranted. He was talking about former vice president Joe Biden, warping the facts of Biden’s actions in office for a rhetorical point. But that argument also seems as though it might apply to a tweet from Trump on Thursday afternoon.
Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
I’m seeing Governor Cuomo today at The White House. He must understand that National Security far exceeds politics. New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harrassment, start cleaning itself up, and lowering taxes. Build relationships, but don’t bring Fredo!
1:30 PM - Feb 13, 2020
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) is meeting with Trump at the White House to discuss the administration’s decision last week that it would remove New Yorkers from several programs aimed at speeding security checks at airports and the border. The suspension of those programs for New Yorkers was predicated on New York’s immigration laws, including a policy in which the state wouldn’t allow the Department of Homeland Security to access driver records. A memo published last week by BuzzFeed News reveals that DHS staffers saw the freeze on travel programs as a way to punish the state.
</snip>
14 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
...except 52 GOP Senators. 
