Today’s Impeach
In the tradition of the Clintonometerand the Trump Apocalypse Watch, the Impeach-O-Meter is a wildly subjective and speculative daily estimate of the likelihood that Donald Trump leaves office before his term ends, whether by being impeached (and convicted) or by resigning under threat of same.
After a week of dramatic news in Obstruction of Justice-gate, there wasn’t much in the way of developments on the topic on Monday. There was one interesting report in the New York Times over the weekend, though. The newspaper profiled the president’s private attorney, Marc E. Kasowitz, who will play a key role in defending Donald Trump should he continue to face legal jeopardy in Robert Mueller’s probe. Kasowitz has been talking about establishing an office in the White House, and the Timesexplained why that in and of itself might be obstruction-y:
[Former White House counsel Robert F.] Bauer said that the current White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, should know Mr. Kasowitz’s schedule of conversations so that he could inform the special counsel. “He does not want Kasowitz to do anything that could be interpreted as an act of obstruction, a means of dissuading the witnesses from cooperating in the investigation,” Mr. Bauer said.
Since asserting influence in the White House in recent weeks, Mr. Kasowitz has discussed establishing an office on White House grounds — in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where much of the president’s staff works — according to multiple people familiar with the deliberations. Such an arrangement would have Mr. Kasowitz and his team frequently crossing paths with potential witnesses.Advertisement
The Timesalso noted that Kasowitz has represented Trump for 15 years—including in the Trump University fraud case that the president settled for $25 million—along with pointing out some of his other notable clients:
Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementAlso raising eyebrows are two of Mr. Kasowitz’s other clients — Sberbank, the largest state-owned bank in Russia, on which the Obama administration imposed sanctions, and Oleg Deripaska, a Russian tycoon who is close to President Vladimir V. Putin and had business dealings with Paul Manafort, once Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman.
Fun! Most interestingly, perhaps, is that the president may be stuck with this guy because other lawyers a.) don’t want to work with Kasowitz and b.) are afraid Trump might stiff them on the bill.
AdvertisementPartly because of concerns that Mr. Kasowitz is undermining the White House Counsel’s Office, at least two veteran Washington lawyers — Emmet Flood, a partner at Williams & Connolly, and William A. Burck, a partner at Quinn Emanuel — rejected offers to join the counsel’s office to help represent the administration in the Russia inquiry, according to people familiar with the hiring discussions, although they may yet represent individual White House officials.
Other noted criminal defense lawyers have similarly rejected offers to join Mr. Trump’s private legal team because of a range of uncertainties, including how much control Mr. Kasowitz exercises over his client, whether their advice would be secondary to his and whether Mr. Trump would pay legal bills.
That doesn’t sound good!
Advertisement AdvertisementThe one bit of news that did emerge on Monday that could hint at Trump’s impeachment prospects one way or the other, meanwhile, was a poll by the Democratic-leaning firm PPP that addressed the issue head on. PPP says 47 percent of voters favor impeachment as opposed to 43 percent who oppose it. Believe it or not, this plurality of voters is actually an improvementfor Trump. In the last PPP poll on the subject last month, 48 percent supported impeachment to 41 percent who opposed it. Perhaps more revelatory is that 49 percent of voters nowthink that Trump committed obstruction of justice to 41 percent who don’t. With Trump now accusing fired FBI Director James Comey of lying under oath and preemptively doctoring contemporaneous notes to bolster that lie, voters trust Comey over Trump by a 51 percent to 39 percent margin. By a 56 to 37 percent margin, voters think the president is dishonest. A majority of 53 percent call him a liar to 41 percent who disagree. Finally, 59 percent of voters support an independent investigation into Russia to 31 percent who oppose it, while 37 percent of voters think the Russia story is “fake news.”
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementAgain, though, this might be one of those “good news-bad news” situations for the president. The bad news are all those top-line numbers about a majority of the country believing he’s a liar and strong pluralities believing he committed a felony and deserves to be impeached.
The good news is that his party’s base—a good 40 percent chunk of the country—is stalwart in its support for him despite the sworn testimony of Comey and mountain of evidence that appears to be available that would bolster his word over the president’s. House Republicans, who would ultimately have to make the determining call on the issue of impeachment no matter where Mueller comes down, are in a complete thrall to this base. Meanwhile, even Trump-skeptical Republicans have not yet abandoned him. If push comes to shove and Mueller’s investigation finds that Trump obstructed justice, will they? That question is still open and so the Impeach-O-Meter stays at 45 percent.
Advertisement Tweet Share Share Comment(责任编辑:关于我们)
-
Black Friday GPU Buying Guide: November GPU Pricing Update
There's a lot to discuss in this month's GPU pricing update with some updates regarding Nvidia's upc ...[详细] -
捐树有着数!认捐雷高一棵树,一大波门票活动福利等你来!_南方+_南方plus2月6日“我在雷高有棵树”——绿美雷高乡村绿化项目正式上线!参与认捐认养雷州一棵树除了能为雷高人民带来美丽和发展更有大把福利 ...[详细]
-
本报讯近日,市禁毒办、市公安局、市交通运输局联合举办“毒驾”整治专题教育培训暨重点驾驶人员全覆盖检测活动,进一步加强重点驾驶人员管理,有效提升驾驶人员识毒、拒毒、防毒能力,保障人民群众出行安全。在雅安 ...[详细]
-
8月30日,青岛地铁4号线顺利通过项目工程验收。本次验收,青岛地铁邀请了多名行业专家全程参与,通过听取汇报、现场查勘、资料检查、问询交流等环节,一致同意通过项目工程验收,4号线迎来了建设史上的又一重要 ...[详细]
-
Washington Mystics vs. Chicago Sky 2024 livestream: Watch live WNBA
TL;DR:Watch Washington Mystics vs. Chicago Sky in the WNBA with WNBA League Pass. Avoid blackouts an ...[详细] -
人工智能是建设科技强国和实施创新驱动发展战略的重要组成部分。市北区抢抓青岛人工智能产业集聚区建设的新风口, 着力打造人工智能产业新高地。位于胶州湾海岸线核心地段的人工智能产业集聚区,已经完成了地下施工 ...[详细]
-
閲戣瀺鐭ヨ瘑鏅強鏈坾骞冲畨浜哄闈掑矝鍒嗗叕鍙告俯棣ㄦ彁绀猴細淇濋櫓鍚堝悓鐨勮矗浠诲厤闄ゆ潯娆撅紝鎮ㄩ兘浜嗚В鍚?
銆€銆€銆愭渚嬪洖椤俱€慄/p>銆€銆€瀹㈡埛寮犲厛鐢熷墠鏈熸姇淇濅簡鏌愪汉韬剰澶栦繚闄╀骇鍝侊紝鍥犻┚椹跺皬杞胯溅涓嶅皬蹇冨彂鐢熸剰澶栦綇闄㈡不鐤楋紝鍚庤嚦淇濋櫓鍏徃鐢宠浣忛櫌鍖荤枟鐞嗚禂琚 ...[详细] -
鍏嶈垂瑙傜湅锛岀煡鍚嶄箰闃熺洏灏艰タ鏋楃瓑鍦ㄩ噾娌欐哗鍟ら厭鍩庡紑婕擾涓浗灞变笢缃慱闈掑矝
銆€銆€闅忕潃绗?1灞婇潚宀涘浗闄呭暏閰掕妭寮€骞曪紝閲戞矙婊╁暏閰掑煄灏嗗紑鍚枃鍖栫媯娆㈢洓瀹淬€?鏈?7鏃ヨ嚦8鏈?鏃ワ紝鍦ㄩ潚宀涜タ娴峰哺鏂板尯閲戞矙婊╁暏閰掑煄涓績鑸炲彴锛屼紬澶氱煡鍚嶄箰 ...[详细] -
Prime exclusive deal: $50 off Govee floor lamp
GET $50 OFF:As of July 19, the Govee floor lamp 2 is available at Amazon for $99.99, down from $149. ...[详细] -
本报讯8日,省农担公司雅安分公司联合邮储银行石棉县支行,向石棉县后园生物科技有限公司发放抗震救灾农担贷款135万元,系雅安首笔“抗震救灾专项担保贷款”。“9·5”泸定6.8级地震发生后,石棉县受灾严重 ...[详细]