Listened to The Daily: The Saga of Gordon Sondland from New York Times
How a loyal Trump donor ended up at the center of the impeachment investigation — and why Republicans now accuse him of betrayal.

Watched November 21, 2019 - PBS NewsHour from PBS NewsHour
Thursday on the NewsHour, another packed day of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry, including testimony from Dr. Fiona Hill and David Holmes. Plus: The impeachment inquiry in historical context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted, the fifth Democratic presidential debate, how two Nobel-winning economists are fighting poverty and high honors in the arts and humanities.
Watched PBS NewsHour West Live Episode, Nov. 20, 2019 from PBS | YouTube
Wednesday on the NewsHour, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland shares explosive testimony during the fourth day of the impeachment inquiry’s public hearings. Plus: Counselor to President Trump Kellyanne Conway and Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., respond to Sondland’s claims and a preview of the Wednesday night debate among 2020 Democrats.
I’m still not sure why any reputable news agency still gives Kellyanne Conway airtime, much less this much.
Liked a tweet by Michael SteeleMichael Steele (Twitter)
Watched The Trump Impeachment Hearings - Day 2 - PBS NewsHour Special from YouTube
Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was ousted from her position, is scheduled to testify Friday, Nov. 15, in a public hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. The hearing comes the same week that two other diplomats-- George Kent and William Taylor, testified that they believed Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, tried to dig up dirt on former vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Kent testified that Giuliani also orchestrated a smear campaign against Yovanovitch in an attempt to force her out. The impeachment probe has entered a new, public phase and centers on Trump’s dealings with Ukraine—particularly a July phone call in which he asked Ukraine’s president to investigate the Bidens. Watch Yovanovitch’s full testimony here.

📺 November 13, 2019 – PBS NewsHour full episode | PBS NewsHour

Watched November 13, 2019 - PBS NewsHour full episode from PBS NewsHour
Wednesday on the NewsHour, a historic day in Washington with the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump, featuring witnesses William Taylor and George Kent. Plus: Reaction to the diplomats' testimonies from House members as well as legal and foreign policy experts, and why Turkish President Erdogan was welcomed at the White House despite U.S.-Turkey tensions over Syria.
The impeachment hearings begin.

I love how so many Republicans are saying there’s no there there or the one from Georgia here who says, “We’ve learned nothing new today.” Of course he hadn’t because he saw it all in the past several weeks. This still doesn’t mean that nothing untoward has happened. The double standard they’re all holding is just crazy. It’s as if throwing Trump overboard means they’d lose everything, when, in fact, the system is specifically built to continue on with the Vice President or some other leader in his place.

👓 Broadcast, cable news networks to preempt regular programming for Trump impeachment coverage | The Hill

Read Broadcast, cable news networks to preempt regular programming for Trump impeachment coverage (TheHill)
ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS on Wednesday will preempt their regularly scheduled programming for live coverage of the House Intelligence Committee's open impeachment hearings of President Trump.

👓 In Seeking to Join Suit Over Subpoena Power, Mulvaney Goes Up Against the President | New York Times

Read In Seeking to Join Suit Over Subpoena Power, Mulvaney Goes Up Against the President (New York Times)
In effect, the acting chief of staff hopes the court will tell him whether to listen to his own boss, who wants him to remain silent, or to comply with a subpoena from the House, which wants his testimony.

👓 Yes, let’s begin impeachment | Fogknife

Read Yes, let’s begin impeachment by Jason McIntoshJason McIntosh (Fogknife)
I hereby add my small voice to the rising chorus of those with their minds changed by Yoni Appelbaum's "Impeach Donald Trump", published in The Atlantic this month.
Amen

👓 Impeach Donald Trump | The Atlantic

Read Impeach Donald Trump by Yoni ApplebaumYoni Applebaum (The Atlantic)
Starting the process will rein in a president who is undermining American ideals—and bring the debate about his fitness for office into Congress, where it belongs.
Just the sort of great, historic writing that The Atlantic is well known for creating.

Highlights, Quotes, Annotations, & Marginalia

As a House Judiciary Committee staff report put it in 1974, in the midst of the Watergate investigation: “The purpose of impeachment is not personal punishment; its function is primarily to maintain constitutional government.” Impeachable offenses, it found, included “undermining the integrity of office, disregard of constitutional duties and oath of office, arrogation of power, abuse of the governmental process, adverse impact on the system of government.”  

January 18, 2019 at 07:36PM

The question of whether impeachment is justified should not be confused with the question of whether it is likely to succeed in removing a president from office.  

January 18, 2019 at 07:41PM

Here is how impeachment would work in practice.  

January 18, 2019 at 08:01PM

The Nixon impeachment spurred Charles L. Black, a Yale law professor, to write Impeachment: A Handbook, a slender volume that remains a defining work on the question.  

January 18, 2019 at 08:07PM

In fact, the Nixon impeachment left Weld with a renewed faith in the American system of government: “The wheels may grind slowly,” he later reflected, “but they grind pretty well.”  

January 18, 2019 at 08:12PM

🎧 The Daily: The Man Who Wrote Mueller’s Rules | New York Times

Listened to The Daily: The Man Who Wrote Mueller’s Rules by Michael Barbaro from New York Times

The regulations for investigating a president were devised with checks and balances in mind. That’s why Congress may have the final say.