Puppet MastersS


Info

Impeachment hearing dud: 'Complicated', unclear allegations driving inquiry forward

rep taylor
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
House Democrats' first impeachment inquiry public hearing on Wednesday was widely panned as the two career diplomats who testified failed to offer clear allegations of wrongdoing against President Donald Trump, and Democrats running the show found themselves on defense in response to the Republicans in the minority who were aggressive and effective in pushing their counter-narrative.

"It was a total disaster for us," one senior House Democrat aide told Breitbart News.

"Too complicated," another Democrat aide said.

"This won't make sense to regular people," a third Democrat aide told Breitbart News.

Wednesday marked the first public hearing of the Democrats' formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The hearing opened slowly, taking 93 minutes for the panel's chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and its ranking member Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) as well as the two witnesses Bill Taylor and George Kent to get through their opening statements.

Comment: Jordan's questioning of "star witness" Ambassador Taylor is worth watching:

Jordan said, quoting Taylor, "My clear understanding was security assistance money would not come until President Zelensky committed to pursue the investigations."

"With all due respect, your clear understanding was obviously wrong, because it didn't happen," Jordan added, noting that Zelensky never stated that he was going to investigate the Bidens - not in a tweet, press conference, or media appearance.

"Where did you get this clear understanding?" Jordan asked, reading an excerpt of the addendum from U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. Jordan read:
"Ambassador Taylor recalls that Mr. Morrison told Ambassador Taylor that I told Mr. Morrison that I had conveyed this message to Mr. Yermak on September 1, 2019, in connection with Vice President Pence's visit to Warsaw and a meeting with President Zelensky."
"This is is clarification. Let me read it one more time," he said, reading the excerpt aloud again.

"Ambassador, you weren't on the call were you?" You didn't listen in on President Trump's call and President Zelensky's call? he asked.

"I did not," Taylor said.

"You never talked with Chief of Staff Mulvaney?" he asked.

"I never did," Taylor said.

"You never met the president?" Jordan asked.

"That's correct," Taylor confirmed.

"You had three meetings, again, with Zelensky and it didn't come up," Jordan said.

"And two of those - they never heard of about it as far as I know - there was no reason for it to come up, " Taylor said.

"And President Zelensky never made an announcement," Jordan said, mocking the Democrats for choosing such a weak "star witness." "This is what I can't believe. And you're their star witness. You're their first witness. You're the guy - you're the guy. Based on this, based on - I mean, I've seen church prayer chains that are easier to understand than this," he said:
Tucker Carlson's take is on point:


More on the impeachment hearings:


Arrow Up

Germany removes legal hurdle for Russia's Nord Stream 2, project nears completion

Nord Stream 2
A ship works in the Baltic Sea on the natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 from Russia to Germany.
Germany's parliament has passed an energy law that allows part of Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline project to skirt European rules that forbid one entity from the being both the producer and the supplier of natural gas.

It's one of the last hurdles to be overcome for the completion of the 1,225-kilometer underwater pipeline project owned by Russia's state-owned Gazprom company.

Last month, the project moved forward when Denmark approved construction of the pipeline in waters that are part of its economic zone, saving Gazprom from having to extend the pipeline to circumvent Danish jurisdiction.


Comment: An unnecessary delay that was most likely an attempt to placate (or pander to) the US: Denmark finally agrees to Nord Stream 2 pipeline


Nord Stream 2 is to carry 55 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Germany, doubling the country's imports from Russia.

Comment: See also: Trump loses more than just battle over Nordstream 2


Light Saber

Key pieces of evidence prove impeachment is a sham: Republican memo slams Schiff

schiff impeachment
© AP Photo/Susan WalshHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
A Republican memo released late Monday to GOP lawmakers outlined critical issues with the Democrats impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump and blasted Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff for a "one-sided, partisan, and fundamentally unfair hearing," process.

The memo, issued by Republican staff of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee of Oversight and Reform and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, points to numerous pieces of evidence from the closed door impeachment hearings. Republican's note that evidence contradicts and repudiates the Democratic narrative that Trump "jeopardized U.S. national security" when he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July, 25.

It also reveals that there was 'no quid pro quo' to withhold any military aid from the country unless there was an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden, as suggested by Democrats.

Comment:


Snakes in Suits

Russia-bashers eat their own? Ukrainian ex-minister accuses Bellingcat of being infiltrated by...Kremlin agents?

Eliot Higgins
© (L) Sputnik / Yevgeny Biyatov; (R) AFP / Tolga AKMENEliot Higgins
A website obsessed with blaming Russia for everything - using Google Earth to support its airtight theories - has been infiltrated by Russian agents, according to a Ukrainian MP and former minister. But does it even make sense?

Our strange saga begins with a very level-headed Facebook post penned by Ukraine's former minister of veterans affairs and current member of parliament, Iryna Friz, who expressed deep displeasure with a recent Bellingcat 'investigation' revealing that Ukraine's Ministry of Veterans Affairs had ties to far-right figures (oh no, who could have guessed?).

In her post, Friz accused Bellingcat of regurgitating an "exclusively Russian narrative" that there are "fascists in Ukraine."

Chess

Turkish President Erdogan says he 'can't harm relations with Russia' by ditching S-400 on Trump's demand

erdogan
© (L) REUTERS / Tom Brenner; (R) Sputnik / Alexandr Galperin
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asserted that he won't yield to US President Donald Trump's demand to stop the purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense system. The deal is too important to Ankara's friendship with Moscow.

Despite the protestations of Washington, Turkey, a NATO member, took delivery of its first shipment of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system in July. After a meeting with Erdogan on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that Ankara's "acquisition of the S-400 creates some very serious challenges for us," yet no agreement was reached on limiting or cancelling the purchase.

Erdogan said on Thursday that Trump had attempted to convince him to walk away from the deal with Moscow, but he refused. "We currently have a bilateral relationship with Russia," he told reporters upon his return to Turkey. "We cannot set aside our strategic relationship."

Comment: If Trump really was a "Russian asset" or whatever nonsense the Dems want to peddle to the public, it seems that attempting to force Erdogan to drop his S-400 deal would be antithetical to that narrative. But then again using logic to understand Trump Derangement causes one mental anguish.


Chess

Russia considers power shift in Bolivia a coup, but will work with Anez as interim president

Jeanine Anez
© Reuters / Carlos Garcia RawlinsBolivian Interim President Jeanine Anez
Events leading to Bolivian president Evo Morales leaving office had all the features of a coup d'etat, Russia's deputy foreign minister has said. But Moscow will be working with interim president Jeanine Anez until the election.

"We view everything that preceded the power shift [in Bolivia] as actions that equal a coup," Sergey Ryabkov told reporters at the BRICS summit in Brasilia.

The Deputy Foreign Minister reminded that there was no quorum in the Bolivian parliament when Anez was declared interim president.

"But it's clear that she will be perceived as the leader of Bolivia until the issue of electing a new president is settled," he said.

Evo Morales, who had been Bolivian president since 2006, announced his resignation on Sunday, after receiving an ultimatum from the country's military. The leftist leader said he had to make the move in order to pacify the heated protests and protect the country's indigenous people from persecution. He later found political asylum in Mexico and vowed to keep fighting for his return to office.

A few days later, Senate leader Jeanine Anez declared herself acting president of the country. Her candidacy was backed by the MPs, but the historic session was skipped by Morales' Movement for Socialism (MAS), which holds the majority in the parliament.

War Whore

Audios containing details of alleged coup plan and US involvement emerge amid Bolivian crisis

bolivia protesters
© REUTERS/ KAI PFAFFENBACH
Bolivian President Evo Morales announced his resignation on 10 November after the heads of Bolivia's armed forces and police urged him to step down amid ongoing violent protest in the country which erupted in the wake of the recent presidential election.

As Evo Morales stepped down as the President of Bolivia amid ongoing anti-government protests and the military urging him to resign, a series of audio recordings which allegedly feature opposition leaders calling for a coup against him were leaked via social media, El Periodico reports.

Bullseye

Best of the Web: 'A classic coup': Bolivia's new government is a 'military regime with no constitutional authority' - Max Blumenthal

bolivian soldiers
© REUTERS/Henry Romero
The political upheaval in Bolivia is a textbook coup that was carried out through violence and intimidation, Max Blumenthal told RT. The journalist marveled that some still deny the unconstitutional nature of the power grab.

Opposition politician Jeanine Añez declared herself interim leader of Bolivia on Wednesday, after President Evo Morales was urged by his country's military chief to step down. But her legitimacy has already come into question. As the editor of the Grayzone Project pointed out, Añez is a fringe figure who garnered only 1.7 percent of the votes cast in Bolivia's last elections.

Realizing that there was no popular support, threats of violence were used to ensure that senators who opposed Añez would not be able to vote on a motion declaring her Bolivia's acting president. According to Blumenthal, politicians belonging to Evo Morales' Movement for Socialism Party, which has a majority in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, "had guns to their heads, their families were threatened, and if they showed up they could have been arrested and killed."
There's absolutely no way that Áñez would have obtained power without the help of the Bolivian military and the police... You essentially have a right-wing dictatorship, a military regime in power now in Bolivia, with no constitutional authority.

Star of David

Buttigieg supports Israel's missile attacks on Gaza, but condemns Palestinians when they respond

Pete Buttigieg
© FacebookPete Buttigieg, on keyboards. From his Facebook page, June 11.
Israel's military campaign against Gaza has entered its second day and so far it has left 24 Palestinians dead (including a 7-year-old boy) and at least 70 injured. The current round of violence began on Tuesday after Israeli strikes killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Bahaa Abu el-Atta, his wife, and four others. The attack prompted retaliatory rocket fire from a number of Palestinian groups. Israel continues to attack the region. "They have one choice: to stop these attacks or absorb more and more blows. Their choice," declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

South Bend Mayor and Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has tweeted his support for Israel's actions and a condemnation of the rocket fire from Palestine. "I strongly condemn the rocket attacks on the citizens of southern and central Israel," the tweet reads, "Israel has a right to defend itself against acts of terror that set back any progress towards peace and will only serve to inflame the humanitarian situation in Gaza."

Comment: Buttigieg is, just like Pence and Biden, a spineless shill for the Israelis. See also:


Magic Wand

'Defending our democracy' or Schiff show? Impeachment hearing reveals world where establishment feelings trump facts

George Kent, Bill Taylor
© Reuters / Joshua RobertsGeorge Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, and Ambassador Bill Taylor, November 13, 2019.
So far, the efforts to impeach President Donald Trump have revealed far more about the corruption in US foreign policy and the Washington bureaucracy than any White House wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the establishment persisted.

To hear Adam Schiff (D-California), chair of the House Intelligence Committee and the Democrats' point-man for the impeachment process, this is about no less than "defending our democracy" and stopping Trump's "abuse of power." His staff even made an ominous-looking web page laying out the "evidence."

Republicans point out, not incorrectly, that the evidence amounts to second-hand hearsay from career bureaucrats who seemed either completely uninterested in admitted Ukrainian meddling into the 2016 US presidential election; or Joe Biden's son serving on the board of a Ukrainian gas company; or Biden's public boasts about threatening Kiev in order to have a Ukrainian prosecutor fired - or eager to make excuses for all these actions, while somehow considering Trump's behavior unacceptable, beyond the pale, outside all norms, and just not the way things are done in Washington.