The Impeachment of President Donald J Trump

[The Minsky Moment]

Would privilege cover that? In the UK communications with third parties aren't privileged unless they're for litigation.

Same basic idea in the US.  Communicating with a third party breaks privilege unless there is a common legal interest.  In NY the highest court ruled this is limited to a litigation context; some other states apply it more broadly to transactions (Delaware is the most notable).  Freelance foreign policy and political blackmail, however, is not likely to qualify.  Rudy also likely waived the privilege by disclosing key details in public interviews.  I can't speak to the PR aspects for certain but the lawyering here is awful.

[Valmy]

Rudy...damn. Hard to believe this is the same dude sometimes.

[jimmy olsen]

https://twitter.com/LarryNoble_DC/status/1176980507667652608

[DGuller]

Rudy...damn. Hard to believe this is the same dude sometimes.

Probably Trump's only real talent is hypnotizing people into utterly debasing themselves, with no reasonable expectation of reward.

[Josephus]

Has the whistleblower letter been posted here?

https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/20190812_-_whistleblower_complaint_unclass.pdf

[The Minsky Moment]

Yes - basically it's a roadmap and witness list for the investigating committees.

[The Minsky Moment]

BTW the public release of this document despite heroic efforts of the President and his men to suppress it, is an indication the "system" is working as designed.

[Razgovory]

In the future when a Democrat has the Presidency and is pushing foreign nations to prosecute Republicans who will they have to blame?

They'll be retired.

That's amazing, how did you come by this remarkable information?

[Malthus]

BTW the public release of this document despite heroic efforts of the President and his men to suppress it, is an indication the "system" is working as designed.

The concern is whether this will have actual consequences. Trump's been investigated before. It provided the new cycle with fodder, but evidently did not rein him in.

The problem with this administration isn't that it has successfully avoided scrutiny for its misdeeds. On the contrary, sometimes it seems the entire government apparatus appears to be doing nothing but scrutinizing his misdeeds. The problem is that the misdeeds continue to happen despite scrutiny.

[Razgovory]

Rudy...damn. Hard to believe this is the same dude sometimes.

Probably Trump's only real talent is hypnotizing people into utterly debasing themselves, with no reasonable expectation of reward.

You lived in New York when he as mayor, was he always like this?  He sounds like he's suffering from mania.

[The Minsky Moment]

The memo itself is one significant consequence.  Trump wanted to force the new President of Ukraine into opening a criminal investigation into Biden's son and tried to withhold $250 million in aid.  The aid was released and the investigation isn't happening.

[Eddie Teach]

That's amazing, how did you come by this remarkable information?

https://youtu.be/GibiNy4d4gc

[The Minsky Moment]

You lived in New York when he as mayor, was he always like this?  He sounds like he's suffering from mania.

No he's lost his mind.  I know some older colleagues - leftie Democrat types - that worked with him during his US attorney days and had a great deal of respect for him as a lawyer and professional.  He went a little far out on civil liberties/national security issues after 9-11 but that is sort of understandable in context.  This really does look like Trump Derangement Syndrome - i.e. the process by which otherwise seemingly intelligent people have their judgment increasingly compromised in their desire to prove their loyalty to the king. 

[The Minsky Moment]

This is going to real messy for Rudy.  It seems he was using two very shady characters as "associates" who met with all sorts of Ukrainian officials saying god knows what.  These guys used an LLC to funnel tons of money to the Trump campaign (using/abusing Citizens United).  Privileged status of any or all of these conversations or reports to Rudy is dubious.  The whole issue of the ambassador's firing is going to come back up.  This looks like it could be a Watergate-esque carnival of "colorful" witnesses and plots within plots.

[viper37]

If Trump is convicted, what is the mechanism for physically taking over the control of government when he refuses to go?

Identical to removing a drunk passenger from an airplane.

Drunk passengers on airplanes do not have an army of loyal fanatics armed to the teeth, ready to defend them.

A better question: Is there a formal transition process, other than swearing in the VP as POTUS?

Much bette question: Where do Pence's loyalties lies?  Will he be leading a charge against the Democrats while plotting to have GOP Senators vote against Trump?