Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
The Good and the Bad News for Trump from Last Night
A Democrat-controlled House will prove to be a headache for the Trump administration, as David French explained last night on Twitter:
It’s looking like a very solid Democratic House majority.
The subpoenas shall rain down on the Trump administration like rain from the heavens.
Also, with a majority like that, impeachment is a live possibility depending on the content of the Mueller report.
— David French (@DavidAFrench) November 7, 2018
As returns were still coming in, House Democrats began leaking to reporters that their first plan of attack would be to subpoena President Trump’s tax returns. The House Democrats elected are of a more radical class, and these aren’t folks who will step easily into the fray; they’re jumping in with both feet. And that can work to President Trump’s advantage.
President Trump operates best when he’s on the defensive and playing victim. Under constant siege from House Democrats, especially if their investigations are overreach, President Trump will have ready-made talking points for 2020 about being the subject of a witchhunt by Democrats stymying his efforts to Make America Great Again.
In a strange twist of fate, the Democrats winning the House could seal President Trump’s reelection campaign if House Democrats overplay their hand, which, as we saw in the Senate with now Justice Kavanaugh, is standard in the Trump-era.
But Ben Shapiro has some bad news for the Trump reelection campaign:
All the talk about Republican victories tonight does obscure a problem: Dems won in WI, MI, and PA. If Trump loses those states, he loses re-election.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 7, 2018
If the reelection took place last night, the Rust Belt may not have delivered for Trump in the same way it did in 2016.
With the end of the 2018 midterms, the 2020 campaign has begun. A great deal depends on how extreme a candidate Democrats put forward, but the tea leaves regarding Trump’s reelection campaign are just as murky this morning as they were last night.
Published in General
Technically, Kavenaugh can’t be impeached even if it can be proven that every word he spoke during his hearings was 100%, knowingly false.
According to the Constitution, judges serve “during good behavior”. As long as he doesn’t do anything once in office, he can’t be removed.
Which doesn’t mean the Dems won’t try. Fidelity to the Constitution/law is not their strong suit.
Knowledge of the Constitution isn’t their strong suit.
Drew,
What wonderful world. False accusations of wrongdoing have become the stock & trade of the left. Meanwhile, a fraud so obvious, stealing an election for real, is just let go. Why isn’t there an investigation? I’m sure there was absolutely no reason that the votes in Milwaukee shouldn’t have been turned in before 1 am. This is the oldest trick in the book and the dirtiest.
Regards,
Jim
Folks, there is impeachment and conviction.
Impeachment is done in the house and sends a bill of impeachment to the Senate for trial. If any Federal official except the President is impeached, the trial is presided over by the Vice President. If the President is impeached the trial is presided over by the Chief Justice. It takes a 2/3rds vote by the Senate to convict.
My question: If Brett Kavenaugh is impeached how long do you think it would take before he is acquitted by this Senate? My bet the majority of the trial would be taken up examining the accusers to expose their bad faith. Complete with referrals to the Justice Department for perjury if they lie under oath. Including referrals against Representatives. (There could be no conviction, but as the saying goes you can beat the rap – but you cannot beat the ride.) This goes doubly since the Senate sets up the rules for an impeachment trial.
With the President it may take a little longer to get an acquittal, since the Chief Justice will be running things, but it won’t take much longer. Certainly one of the things that can be done is take a vote to end the trial via a directed verdict of not guilty – which since the Republicans hold the majority, would pass.
It would be a clown show that would make the Kavanaugh hearings look dignified.
One of my concerns from 2016 was the number of “missing” Her votes in states like Michigan. I still think that a big factor in Trump’s victory was that dems were caught napping. They assumed Her would win, many didn’t like Her after the primaries (and all the other stuff) so they were content to not vote in the presidential, or vote Green. Now they take Trump seriously I don’t think you can expect that to happen again, and the more Trump is Trump, the harder it will be for him to tap new voters.
We are in Castle Rock. We’ve been here since ‘68, college, met at DU, seen lots of changes. Talking with a friend last night, we don’t want to go farther north, don’t want to be Texans, it’s too hard to buy beer in Utah, quite a conundrum! Tennessee maybe?
I have lots of conservative family back in Ohio. I think we should all agree on a state and turn it redder. Give us a little buffer from the leftist hoard for a while.
I think the operative phrase is, “Why weren’t you voting?”
Unbelievable . . .
I almost hope the House Democrats try something like impeachment of Kavanaugh of Trump. Not only will the effort fail in the Senate, but I think our fellow Ricochetti (forgot who) who theorized in a post the House needed a “Kavanaugh event” to show how bad House Democrats were is correct.
If the House Dems move for impeachment, it will likely come back to haunt them in 2020.
Just to be clear on this Omar marrying her brother thing: Scott Johnson from powerline blog did a bunch of good work on this. He’s a lawyer. And then there’s a journalist in New York, that has done some more lately. I think that is on PJ media. She has never responded directly to any of allegations these guys make. Now that the election is over, she really doesn’t have an excuse. I don’t know how the immigration authorities can ignore it, but maybe they can.