Fiona Hill Torches Republicans, Netanyahu Indicted and Lindsey Graham Sells His Soul
1. Hill's Impeachment Testimony: Former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill torched her Republican inquisitors yesterday during her impeachment testimony describing Trump's Ukraine bribery scheme as a “domestic political errand” that interfered with real US policy goals in the region. She also gutted President Trump's and the GOP's Ukraine conspiracy theories and warned them that they were assisting a Russian disinformation campaign saying, "I would ask that you please not promote politically driven falsehoods that so clearly advance Russian interests.” And Hill, along with David Holmes, further substantiated the charges against Trump.
New York Times: "Both Dr. Hill and David Holmes, a top aide in the United States Embassy in Kyiv, detailed what they understood to be a concerted campaign that linked a White House meeting and vital military assistance to an announcement by Ukraine’s president that his country would investigate 2016 election interference and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr."
The House of Representatives will now move on to draft specific articles of impeachment in December. The evidence of bribery is overwhelming.
2. Lindsey Graham Sells his Soul: In order to muddy the waters of the impeachment investigation, Sen. Lindsey Graham sent a formal request to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday requesting documents related to Joe Biden and his communications with Ukrainian officials. Its a painfully transparent effort to provide Donald Trump some cover, suggesting that perhaps Biden acted improperly in his relations with Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's former president.
Washington Post: "Graham’s document request suggests he is seeking to legitimize Trump’s accusations that Biden, then vice president, put pressure on Ukraine to fire its lead prosecutor to protect his son, a claim without evidence that has been disputed by officials familiar with the investigation."
History will not be kind to Lindsey Graham. And what would John McCain say to his old friend?
3. Netanyahu Indicted: After three years of investigation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust yesterday, making him the first Israeli leader to be indicted while in office.
New York Times: "The cases against Mr. Netanyahu involve allegations of giving or offering lucrative official favors to several media tycoons in exchange for favorable news coverage or gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars."
The charges come at an awkward time for Netanyahu who is fighting for his political life in Israel.
Washington Post: "The indictment came on the first day of an unparalleled phase in Israeli politics: a 21-day window in which any member of parliament can try to form a governing majority. Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz both failed at that task in recent weeks. If no one succeeds, Israel would head back to national elections for the third time in 12 months."
In response, Netanyahu borrowed from Donald Trump's impeachment defense. He denied the charges, calling the investigation a "witch hunt" and calling on Israel’s citizens to “investigate the investigators.” He also suggested that Israelis were “witnessing an attempted coup.”
Israelis would be wise to harbor some doubts about Netanyahu's defense. The charges were brought by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, a former political ally who served in Netanyahu's government as Cabinet Secretary.
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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