GOP to argue Trump's "state of mind" on impeachment

[babylonsister]

https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-impeachment-republican-defense-ukraine-bb469517-6b6f-45f9-979e-b7758ccb1a69.html

Mike Allen, Jonathan Swan, Zachary Basu58 mins ago
GOP to argue Trump's "state of mind" on impeachment
Memo at link~


Confronted with a mountain of damaging facts heading into tomorrow's opening of the public phase of impeachment, House Republicans plan to argue that "the President's state of mind" was exculpatory.

The state of play: "To appropriately understand the events in question — and most importantly, assess the President's state of mind during his interaction with [Ukrainian] President Zelensky — context is necessary," says the 18-page staff memo, circulated to committee members last night.

"The evidence gathered does not establish an impeachable offense," the memo concludes.

Why it matters: By focusing their defense on intangibles like impeachability and President Trump's mindset, House Republicans don't depend on undercutting a narrative that has been bolstered by witness after witness.

Republican senators, who would vote on whether to remove President Trump if the House impeached him, are also thinking this way.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told the WashPost 10 days ago: "To me, it all turns on intent, motive. ... Did the president have a culpable state of mind?"

The memo points to "four key pieces of evidence" to try to undermine Democrats' arguments for why the president should be impeached:

"The July 25 call summary — the best evidence of the conversation — shows no conditionality or evidence of pressure."
"President Zelensky and President Trump have both said there was no pressure on the call."
"The Ukrainian government was not aware of a hold on U.S. security assistance at the time of the July 25 call."
"President Trump met with President Zelensky and U.S. security assistance flowed to Ukraine in September 2019 — both of which occurred without Ukraine investigating President Trump's political rivals."

Between the lines: The memo fails to consider counterarguments that Democratic members have been making for weeks.

It cites witnesses like Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, to argue that Ukraine was not aware of the hold on military aid. It doesn't, however, address the core claims at the heart of several explosive depositions.
Chief among them is the fact that top officials involved in Ukraine policy, including Taylor and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland, were under the impression that there was a quid pro quo involving aid, and that they communicated that understanding to their Ukrainian counterparts.

🥊 What's next: Look for Democrats to begin using the phrase "cheating our democracy."

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. objection! assumes facts not in evidence! prove there's a mind, first.

[dewsgirl]

2. Well if his "state of mind" is in question then, the 25th

should be considered.🙄

[HAB911]

3. THIS!

[EndlessWire]

13. Oh, absolutely!

If he is so incompetent that he jeopardizes our country's security, and their argument is "no bad intentions," he's got to go!!! This stupid argument infuriates me.

How do you start a 25, then? As soon as they say that during impeachment proceedings?

It is a basic, fundamental tenet of law that ignorance of the law is not a defense. If he doesn't realize what he's doing, he should be 25ied. But, maybe they are now thinking of a way to get him out of office without any jail time. Maybe that is what they want. Maybe he's decided to throw in the towel.

After all, he's getting residency in Florida, he's planning another TV show with Burnett, and Jr. is peddling the end of career book (Save Our Party.) Maybe he will quit? Maybe he will buy an apartment in Moscow, move away and leave us alone. Take all the brats with him.

[yellowcanine]

4. Believing it was okay to ask Ukraine to investigate Biden is not exculpatory.

Falls under the rubric of ignorance of the law is not a defense.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

16. Not to mention

that he previously stated OUT LOUD to George Stephanapolous that he would definitely take incriminating information on a political opponent should it be offered. He KNEW what he was doing!

[Vinca]

5. His state of mind is "exculpatory???" More like his state of mind qualifies him for a bed

at the nearest psychiatric unit followed by a stint in jail.

[True Blue American]

6. Being a lunatic makes it all OK?

[Vinca]

18. Did I say that? No . . . of course not.

He should be removed primarily because he's totally off his rocker.

[True Blue American]

20. You didn't!

I was referring to people like Lindsey Graham saying Trump was too confused,etc. to plan.

[Vinca]

21. Sorry - I misunderstood.

[Raftergirl]

7. Sounds to me

this is “he’s an incompetent boob” defense gussied up.

[kentuck]

8. They don't even know his "state of mind" at this moment.

It's hard to read anyone's "state of mind". It's better to read his words and actions.

We have seen the words and actions.

[Farmer-Rick]

9. If Dems were smart they would go deep into Traitor Trump's mind.

Why are his speeches mostly lackadaisical word salads? Why are his speeches so difficult to understand and riddled with obvious child like errors?

Why does he accidentally release classified information? Why does he have irrational outbursts of anger? Why does he admit to crimes on public television? Why does he not have press conferences anymore? Why are so many federal governmental positions left empty?

Why does he make policy through Twitter? Why are his tweets so often misspelled, badly worded and incoherent?

Yeah, they really need to look into Trump's state of mind, really look into it. If the GOP brings it up, bring it ALL up, all his weird behavioral problems.

[Iwasthere]

10. I so hope this is exactly what they will do

On public tv... for all to see

[Firestorm49]

12. It's a shame that it may take years for us to find out how truly nuts this guy is.

[Firestorm49]

11. Questioning his "state of mind"? Impossible. He's the smartest man in the world!

To come to the idiot’s defense by saying he just doesn’t understand the job? What a blow to the Ego Supreme! How will he handle being made to look like the fool that he really is by his own party loyalists? This should be juicy. Maybe he’ll go full blown nuts......I mean like, more than he already is.

Oh boy, I can’t wait for the circus to start.

[struggle4progress]

14. "When our client asked 'Wouldn't it be a shame if those Russian thugs

smashed your country's kneecaps and pulped its kidneys, just because you couldn't do me a harmless little favor or two?' he really had no idea anybody might think that sounded inappropriate! He's really just a naive but very religious man: he knows two Corinthians and he'd go to church more often, except he doesn't like eating those little crackers"

[Proud Liberal Dem]

17. I think that a lot of Republicans in Congress are afraid

of actually having their own kneecaps smashed by Russian thugs (or worse).

[gratuitous]

15. One way to ascertain Trump's state of mind

Personal appearance, under oath, and answer the committee's questions in full for as long as it takes to determine Trump's state of mind as testified by Trump himself. The hearing should last at least 11 hours, like the examination of the Secretary of State took. Should last even longer, since the President is a higher office.

[uponit7771]

19. MAYBE for the phone call but definitely not everything else