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Farmgirl1961

(1,493 posts)
Thu Sep 22, 2016, 12:46 PM Sep 2016

This from Huffington Post: Dems Hijack IRS Impeachment Hearing With Skittles And Trump Taxes

While I saw this a day or so ago, I didn't read it until today. It's a good read.

WASHINGTON ― House Republican leaders managed to derail a House floor vote last week on impeaching the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, but Donald Trump may wish they also squashed a hearing Wednesday on whether or not impeachment was a good idea.

That’s because Democrats hijacked the hearing with Commissioner John Koskinen when they got their chance to speak, and managed to skewer Trump’s refusal to release his taxes.

One Democrat, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), elevated the exercise to A-level trolling by opening his round of questions while munching on a bag of Skittles in a reminder of Donald Trump Jr.’s recent gaffe about Syrian refugees and the likelihood that they “would kill you.”

But that was just pointed mockery.

The larger point was to turn a hearing that Democrats deemed a political stunt into a display that instead raised the serious issue of the Republican presidential nominee’s refusal to disclose his taxes.

All presidential nominees since the 1970s have released their tax returns, but Trump says he cannot unveil his because they are being audited by the IRS.

Plenty of pundits have called the excuse phony, so Democrats decided to nail it down with Koskinen.

Although the commissioner refused repeatedly to get into specific talks about Trump, Democrats got him to make the general point.

“Is there anything that would prohibit someone from releasing tax returns, if they want to, because they’re under audit?” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) asked.

“No,” Koskinen answered.

-snip-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-hijack-irs-impeachment-donald-trump_us_57e2a858e4b0e28b2b5170aa

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This from Huffington Post: Dems Hijack IRS Impeachment Hearing With Skittles And Trump Taxes (Original Post) Farmgirl1961 Sep 2016 OP
The video to this is a riot..... Jade Fox Sep 2016 #1
So glad you shared this. Sunny05 Sep 2016 #2
K&R Gothmog Sep 2016 #3

Sunny05

(865 posts)
2. So glad you shared this.
Thu Sep 22, 2016, 01:07 PM
Sep 2016

This morning, I turned on the car radio in time to hear reference to this, and then a man's voice (now wondering if it was Gutierrez) saying that he had to finish his Skittle. Then the radio station went on, pretty soon off the topic. It was still a great way to start the drive.

Now I have the bigger context, though, and this is even better. Awesome.

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