Here's What to Watch for in the Impeachment Hearings

By Michael H. Fuchs, Guardian UK

13 November 19

Members of the House and Senate must live up to their oaths of office and vote to impeach and convict – or make a mockery of the constitution

onald Trump withheld US military assistance to Ukraine until it agreed to help Trump’s re-election campaign. That is an abuse of power of the highest order - a corruption of American democracy that undermines national security – and requires that Trump be removed from office.

As Congress begins public hearings to determine whether Trump’s actions merit impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate, it’s vital that the process focuses on these simple facts of Trump’s corruption. Over recent weeks the House has conducted depositions of current and former officials, all of which have corroborated Trump’s abuse of power. But since the deposition transcripts from those officials are thousands of pages long, the details can get lost in the endless spin by politicians and the media. Don’t expect much new information from the public hearings because the facts are already clear and conclusive. Rather, this is an opportunity for the public to hear directly from participants in this saga and for the American people to understand just how dangerous Trump’s actions are.

So, what should the American people watch for in the hearings and the process that could lead to impeachment?

First, focus on the facts. As the 2020 campaign began, Trump tried to force Ukraine to manufacture a scandal about Trump’s domestic political opponent – the former vice-president, Joe Biden – despite zero evidence of wrongdoing. Trump also wanted Ukraine to fabricate evidence of a false conspiracy theory that somehow connects Ukraine to the 2016 campaign. Trump withheld military assistance from Ukraine and a White House meeting with the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, until Ukraine agreed to smear Trump’s opponents. And Trump got numerous US government officials – including the vice-president, Mike Pence, and US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland – as well as his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to take part in the extortion scheme.

The bottom line is clear, and confirmed by the transcript of the 25 July phone call between Trump and Zelensky released by the White House: Trump abused his power and admitted to it.

Second, the impeachment process must show Americans why Trump’s actions were so bad. Trump abused his official power to get a foreign country to help his re-election campaign. Trump potentially disobeyed the law by withholding aid that Congress had already ordered be given to Ukraine. And Trump subjected a key US foreign policy goal – supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty in the face of Russia’s invasion – to his personal goals. These are devastating consequences that strike at the heart of American national security and democracy.

Some of Trump’s supporters have argued this is how foreign policy works. When asked whether the extortion scheme was a quid pro quo, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said, “we do that all the time in foreign policy.” As the impeachment process continues, we are likely to hear Trump supporters attempt to gaslight Americans into believing that this behavior is normal.

But it’s not normal. Many of those deposed – and whom the public will hear from in the coming weeks – are life-long, highly trained national security officials who told Congress that Trump’s attempt to extort Ukraine for personal gain was wrong and that many of them tried to stop it and reported the wrongdoing. Trump even ousted the US ambassador to Ukraine for trying to stop this extortion.

And while so much of the recent public debate has swirled around the question of a quid pro quo, the American people must not let this debate distract them. Even if there had been no explicit quid pro quo – and there was – Trump still grossly abused his power. Any conversation with the president carries tremendous official power, and Zelensky knew exactly what Trump was asking and felt the pressure of the world’s most powerful country pushing him to advance the personal interests of its president. Furthermore, it is illegal to ask for campaign help from a foreign entity.

While Trump and his supporters claim that Trump was attempting to root out corruption in Ukraine, in reality Trump was pressuring Ukraine into committing corrupt acts – acts the Ukrainians knew were wrong, and repeatedly tried to resist despite desperately needing US military aid. In a telling moment from the testimony of deputy assistant secretary of state George Kent, we learned that when former US special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker objected to Ukrainian officials investigating the previous Ukrainian president, Ukrainian officials responded by pointing out American hypocrisy: “You mean the type of investigations you’re pushing for us to do on Biden and Clinton?” The sad fact is that Trump was turning the US government into a corrupt enterprise in the service of his own personal interests, making America look like just another kleptocratic dictatorship.

As the impeachment process heats up, Trump and his allies will do whatever it takes to try to muddy the waters. They will throw around the words “Clinton,” “Biden,” and “corruption” to distract. And when all else fails they will admit that Trump’s actions were wrong, but not impeachable, as some have already begun to do.

But this is a slam dunk case. The question is not whether Trump did it – it’s whether the members of the House and Senate will live up to their oaths of office and vote to impeach and convict. Allowing Trump to get away with this would be to condone wrongdoing at the highest levels, and to make a mockery of the constitution. And if Trump is not removed from office, it will give him the green light to further abuse his power – and it would make clear that future presidents can too.

The Supreme Court Will Hear My Case Today. Trump Will Not Win on DACA.

By Martín Batalla Vidal, Vox

13 November 19

I will not live in fear. And neither will the 700,000 undocumented immigrants like me.

wo years ago, when President Donald Trump moved to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, I said, “I’ll see you in court, Mr. President.” Now, the case that bears my name, McAleenan v. Vidal, is one of three consolidated cases that has reached the highest court in the land. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on which my future hangs.

As a person who depends on DACA to remain in this country, I vividly remember that September day in 2017 when former Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the administration’s decision to terminate the program that protects undocumented immigrants like myself from deportation. I was at the rehabilitation center where I work, helping a therapist with a patient. My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing from text messages and calls from my friends — the news broke, what were we going to do? My stomach tightened, my body felt weak, tears welled in my eyes. My best friend sent me a message, “That’s it. It’s over.” 

But it was not over. As scary as that moment was, I didn’t let fear consume me. The immigration story of my family has centered on our resilience — to cross the border, to make it to New York, and to make it in New York — and no presidential decree could take that away from me. DACA has changed my life and protected my family: It has allowed me to go back to school, start my career, and feel safe with my family knowing I wouldn’t be separated from them. And I knew that, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented youth across the country and our allies, we would fight to keep it.

Fight it we have, with immigrant youth, immigrant rights organizations, and many states challenging the administration’s reckless decision to end DACA. Thousands of us have taken to the streets and proudly come out as undocumented across the country. We have marched, protested, taken over congressional offices, and even put our bodies on the line to demand dignity and respect for all of our communities. And, because of this persistence, we have won in the courts. The program remains in place for now. 

But today the Supreme Court is considering President Trump’s unlawful termination of the DACA program. Courts across the country have repeatedly agreed that the Trump’s administration termination of DACA was arbitrary and capricious, and now the question lies with the highest court.

If the Court sides with Trump, the consequences would be devastating for me, my family, and communities across the country. For the past seven years, over 700,000 young undocumented immigrants, who came to the United States as children, have been able to work at the jobs of their choosing, graduate from schools around the country, contribute billions of dollars to the economy, and support their families and communities — all because of DACA. 

We are business owners, artists, school teachers, lawyers, mothers, fathers, and nurses like me. Even though the program’s structure has meant that I have been living my life in two-year increments (recipients must reapply every two years), DACA provides me with critical immigration relief, allowing me to work and remain in the United States with my family.

With DACA, I have been able to grow up with my siblings. Together, we have been able to celebrate our birthdays and christenings. I have been able to help them with their homework, see them graduate from middle school and high school, and even help them get over their first heartbreak.

DACA has allowed me to find myself and build a future. I am now back in college and have a chance to pursue a career as an occupational therapist. Plus, I have been able to become an economic support for my mother and my younger brothers. My mother has worked immensely hard to always provide a home where we can sleep peacefully and fill our bellies with her delicious cooking. As the Supreme Court arguments grow near, my mother constantly wonders what is going to happen to me. My eyes fill up with tears as I try to stay strong. I hold my mother and tell her: “Ma, don’t worry, we will win.” My fight is as much for her as it is for me. 

Just as importantly, the security of having DACA helped me to be able to proudly come out as gay and unafraid. I no longer live in fear. I will fight until the very end to not be ripped away from my mother, my community, and the place I have called home for over 20 years.

That’s why I have also joined immigrant youth from all over the country in a historic march that started in New York City and ended in Washington, DC this weekend. Over a hundred DACA recipients, community leaders, and allies with Make the Road New York, NAKASEC, and the Home Is Here campaign marched 230 miles to the steps of the US Supreme Court. Our message is clear: The termination of DACA was unlawful and we will continue to show our resilience as we fight for our futures. We aren’t going back into hiding. We’re standing up as a community, stronger than ever — ready to fight.

Since the day the Trump administration unlawfully terminated DACA, we have repeatedly been used as pawns, like our lives are pieces that could be easily moved to negotiate whatever policy seems most convenient at the moment. But my life, and the lives of immigrant youth, are not bargaining chips in any political game. We demand that this country recognize our full humanity, period. 

The law and the overwhelming majority of the country are on our side. Now it’s time for the US Supreme Court to uphold the rule of law, affirm the lower court injunctions, and leave DACA in place.

Immigrant youth will win, Mr. President. And, like it or not, we and our families are here to stay.