Trump’s Legal Defense Team Won’t Deny His Actions, Just Say Not Impeachable | Deadline | MSNBC

Trump’s lawyers will argue that the actions being debated in the Senate impeachment trial are not impeachable, instead of engaging in a legal battle over the facts. Aired on 01/20/20.
» Subscribe to MSNBC:

MSNBC delivers breaking news, in-depth analysis of politics headlines, as well as commentary and informed perspectives. Find video clips and segments from The Rachel Maddow Show, Morning Joe, Meet the Press Daily, The Beat with Ari Melber, Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace, Hardball, All In, Last Word, 11th Hour, and more.

Connect with MSNBC Online
Visit msnbc.com:
Subscribe to MSNBC Newsletter:
Find MSNBC on Facebook:
Follow MSNBC on Twitter:
Follow MSNBC on Instagram:

Trump’s Legal Defense Team Won't Deny His Actions, Just Say Not Impeachable | Deadline | MSNBC

57 comments

    1. True. To bad they didnt find any. “We” the people want to know about creepy joe! Not orange man. Do our country a favor and wake up already

    2. @Jim Hower “Take their guns first. Worry about due process afterwards.” -Donald J Trump Trump has suppressed the 2nd Amendment while Obama had expanded it. You really want to vote for that?

  1. They most certainly are impeachable offenses. And while you don’t have to have been a fan of Bill Clinton, dt’s offenses are far worse and far more important than Clinton’s.

    1. @David Drake That’s a good question. I have no idea but obviously his son getting all that money is a bribe or a favor of some sort. I think they’re all corrupt somewhat. It probably happens all time.

  2. The unredacted emails between Defense Department and Office of Management and Budget officials revealed that between June and September — when the Ukrainian aid was ultimately released following the whistleblower’s complaint — the Defense Department repeatedly asked the OMB why the military aid was being held up.

    The unredacted emails were secured through a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act launched by the Center for Public Integrity. The DoD warned several times that continuing to withhold the aid violated the Impoundment Control Act, which stipulates that if the federal funds are not spent on their designated purpose within a certain period, they will be taken, or impounded, by the Treasury Department.

    The timeline of Trump’s impeachable acts, and the DoJ sloppy attempt at a cover-up:

    ● June 19, OMB aide, Robert Blair, learned that Trump was questioning the delivery of the aid package, at which point Blair told Russell Vought, the acting head of the office, that “we need to hold it up.”

    ● That day, another OMB official, Michael Duffey, emailed the acting Defense Department comptroller, Elaine McCusker, and copied Mark Sandy, an OMB official on national-security programs, to ask if she had “insight on this funding.”

    ● After McCusker explained on June 25 which companies were producing the military equipment and said that only $7 million of the Pentagon’s $250 million part of the package had been spent, Blair told Mick Mulvaney on June 27 that they should “expect Congress to become unhinged” by withholding the aid.

    ● July 25, Sandy officially froze the Ukraine aid. This was also the day Trump spoke with President Zelensky on the phone and asked him to launch a bogus investigation on Joe Biden and his son. Shortly after Trump’s call, Duffey emailed several Pentagon officials and asked them to “please hold off on any additional DOD obligations of these funds.” He requested that the recipients keep the directive “closely held to those who need to know” because of “the sensitive nature of the request.”

    ● McCusker replied that same day and asked whether the OMB had cleared the hold with the Defense Department’s lawyers. This was the first sign of the Pentagon’s concerns about the legality of withholding the aid.

    ● July 26, John Rood, the head of policy at the Pentagon, emailed Defense Secretary Mark Esper a readout of a meeting in which top national-security officials voiced their “unanimous support” for sending the security assistance. On August 9, McCusker warned Sandy, Duffey, and other senior OMB officials that if the aid was not released soon, it might affect the “timely execution” of the program. “We hope it won’t and will do all we can to execute once the policy decision is made, but can no longer make that declarative statement,” she wrote. The DOJ redacted this warning from McCusker, which, notably, contradicted the OMB’s talking points.

    ● August 12, when it became clear that Trump would continue the aid freeze, McCusker emailed Duffey and asked him to include language in a footnote in a budgeting document to reflect the growing risk of withholding funding. The language was not included, and the request was redacted in the initial document release.The DOJ also redacted several emails from McCusker near the end of August raising additional legal questions about withholding the aid and the possibility that Trump’s actions violated the Impoundment Control Act..

    ● August 28, after Politico publicly revealed the aid freeze, the OMB’s general counsel, Mark Paoletta, sent around talking points including that “no action has been taken by OMB that would preclude the obligation of these funds before the end of the fiscal year.”

    ● McCusker pushed back, writing: “I don’t agree to the revised TPs — the last one is just not accurate from a financial execution standpoint, something we have been consistently conveying for a few weeks.” Her response was initially redacted.

    ● As September came around, McCusker raised concerns about whether the Defense Department would be “adequately protected from what may happen as a result of the Ukraine obligation pause.” She added, “I realize we need to continue to give the WH as much decision space as possible, but am concerned we have not officially documented the fact that we can not promise full execution at this point in the fiscal year.”

    ● September 9, Duffey sent McCusker a misleading email suggesting that if the president greenlighted the aid but the Pentagon was not able to obligate the funding, it would be on the Pentagon and not the OMB..

    ● McCusker responded: “You can’t be serious. I am speechless.”

    ● September 11, after Congress became aware of a whistleblower’s complaint accusing Trump of “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country” in the 2020 election, Duffey emailed McCusker and said the president had lifted the hold on Ukraine’s military aid.

    ● “Glad to have this behind us,” he wrote.

    1. david  great work on timeline, trump supporters are either not going to read it or just not going to understand its implications.

    2. David J – Sad to say, but we will probably be better informed than the Senators at the Impeachment Trial.

  3. t’rump’s legal team’s argument is that abuse of power isn’t impeachable.
    But isn’t that the whole reason why impeachment is in the Constitution? 🤔
    I’ll just file this under: When Stable Geniusing Goes Wrong. 😆😅

    1. @Jim Hower that is text book abuse of power if obama had done it you’d have his nuts in a sling. But he didnt.

  4. The Republican argument is, “So what if crimes we’re committed?” Try using that argument if you’re ever arrested or on trial.

    1. razor  …………….  The criminal Nazis before and during the Nuremberg Tribunals tried making the same ‘no crimes’ non-defense Defense . The first refuge of the guilty .

    2. @Dre Day Go look up the GAO investigation where they found he in fact did commit a crime. Regardless they dont need a crime, this is a clear misuse of the office of the president. if you want to dispute FACTS within this case that have been shown in the evidence shown to the house and out of trumps own mouth I would implore you to call the lawyers for trumps defense team in the senate trial, there professionals and cant even manage to defend against a single piece of evidence. otherwise put back on your maga goggles and dont bother replying, actually just dont bother replying.

  5. In my opinion if Bolton is such a grand patriot he should just step up and tell the press what he knows. Like he should have done with the Congress months ago.

    1. John Bolton is a chicken hawk. Otherwise know as a coward – lets other people do the hard stuff. He won’t come forward.

    2. Correct. The idea that he has to wait is obscene. Bolton needs to start acting as if the U.S. is the country he pretends it is.

    3. Bolton is waiting for his book to come out….. Then he’ll have plenty to say. He’ll be on every talk show promoting sales. (He might even buy his own book in bulk.)

  6. They don’t really believe that, its a strategy, just like Maga is a campaign slogan. Whatever Trump and his ” lawyers” say, its about staying in office. Not rocket science.

    1. @BLAIR M Schirmer ​ I totally agree with your liberal comment. And what’s your take on criminals committing crimes , while looking for one. On the GOP side?

    2. @Jim Hower The Stock Market benefits about 20% of the people, mostly the Fat Cats who used their Tax Breaks to buy back their Stocks and give themselves Fat Bonuses but thanks for admitting that Trumpsters integrity is for sale, Bootlicker.

  7. Moscow Mitch is going to try a cover up. Something must be done to prevent Mitch from doing this injustice.

    1. It was just announced that Mitch is going to allow certain things only to be revealed in the wee hours of the morning when the majority of people are sleeping. Mitch needs to be removed with Trump indeed. If that’s not hiding things, I don’t know what is. International citizens will be recording for Americans though for those that don’t see it and I am sure the news will have recordings on as well.

  8. GOP: DEM POTUS lying about a consensual BJ is the end of the world but GOP POTUS conspiring with the Kremlin to attack America is all good

    1. 😅. Imagine if you had almost every media outlet and currupt politition out to get you. And three years later he has more support than ever before. Why? People love orange men? No. People see how currupt and tainted the media and dem party are.

    1. Louis was very corrupt in his power, and it shown in all he did to change France; he got what he wanted, when he wanted it. Louis’ reign brought large economic gain and severe economic recession.

  9. They treat Trump’s like he’s above the law, And he’s beyond the law, Now in head Childish mind he really thinks, And believes he can be actually lawless, So now he goes around doing, What ever too who ever ! 🙄

    1. @Gabe Dudley
      I agree the media is doing a bad job representing the news
      And on the other hand trump is doing a very bad job also

  10. His lawyers are snakes of course, but this argument is coming directly from the Orange Sphincter himself in that he feels he can to anything and everything he wants to do without interference.

    1. There is barely any thing to defend lol… have you even read the articles of impeachment? Or even Trumps transcript??

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.