Odds trump impeachment

Over the weekend, the president also tried to busy himself with discussions of last-minute pardons and commutations (including regarding potential clemency for a Death Row Records co-founder), a last tranche of which are expected to land the day before he gets out of town. Some close advisers, however, do not expect him to issue a self-pardon, a move that he had repeatedly inquired about in recent weeks of the transition period as he considered a life without the legal insulation and privileges that comes with being a sitting occupant of the Oval Office. And he asked some associates and aides about how they think he could best promote and preserve his legacy as he enters his post-presidency, the sources said. … [Read more...] about Inside Trump’s Pathetic Final Weekend in Office

"That evidence showed that President Richard Nixon had attempted to obstruct justice," he said. "It did not recommend that the president should be prosecuted. It did not say the president should be impeached. It simply stated the evidence so that Congress could do its job." … [Read more...] about ‘If Trump’s Behavior Wasn’t Criminal, Perhaps It Should Have Been,’ Top Democrat Says of Mueller, Impeachment

Separately, Rudy Giuliani's associate allegedly told Kiriakou over drinks at Trump Hotel in Washington D.C. last year that if he paid Trump's personal attorney $2 million, he would use his sway as one of the president's closest advisers to secure him the pardon.  … [Read more...] about Trump will fly out of DC at ‘8am Wednesday’ after ‘issuing 100 pardons and commutations to white-collar criminals, high-profile rappers and a jailed eye doctor’ on his final full day in office

However, there is little disagreement about Trump's power to pardon others. As president, he can issue pardons to anyone he wishes, including those who have not yet been charged with or accused of federal crimes. Accepting a pardon is also not an admission of guilt, despite popular belief. However, he can only pardon federal offenses. … [Read more...] about Rep. Pramila Jayapal Calls Donald Trump’s ‘Last-Second Pardons’ an ‘Abuse of Power’

Then there was the Trump administration's frontal attack on endemic anti-Israelism at the UN. The key person here was then-U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who said at AIPAC: "It cannot be the case that in an organization with 193 countries, the United Nations spends half of its time attacking only one country. We will not accept it any longer." She called out the UN's Relief Work Agency, UNRWA—"It cannot be the case that only one set of refugees throughout the world is counted in a way that causes the number to grow forever." And she lambasted the UN's world heritage arm: "UNESCO recently declared one of Judaism's holiest sites, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, as a Palestinian heritage site in need of protection from Israel. That was enough," she said. "Ten months into this administration, the United States withdrew from UNESCO." The truth that the UN is a home for rabid Israel-hate was laid bare for all to see. … [Read more...] about After Trump, Israel’s Claim To Truth Is Stronger | Opinion