Trump is Right: There is a Coup Going on in the Government. And it's from his Administration.
- Oct 3, 2019
- 6 min read
So, Democrats in the House have finally come around to the idea of beginning impeachment inquiries over Trumps' latest impeachable offense, of which there are now multiple to choose from, including but not limited to:
-Paying hush money to a porn star with campaign finances,
-His administration handing out polling data on US citizens to Russian operatives.
-His son and campaign manager meeting with Russian operatives over suspected dirt for his political opponent.
-Detailed reports of multiple instances of him personally obstructioning justice in the Mueller Report, or attempting to:
-His consistently flagrant disregard for the emoluments clause, failing to divest whatsoever from his businesses and in fact using said businesses on multiple occasions to enrich himself (Ill even make a subsection for it):
" Foreign governments have been quick to figure out how to stay on the president's good side. They've "donated public land, approved permits and eased environmental regulations for Trump-branded developments, creating a slew of potential conflicts as foreign leaders make investments that can be seen as gifts or attempts to gain access to the American president through his sprawling business empire," McClatchy's Anita Kumar reported in January. The Chinese government has granted Trump at least 39 trademarks, some of which had been previously rejected, since he took office; Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and senior adviser, has also gotten at least seven since she joined the administration. "
"In the 12 months after he clinched the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, "70% of buyers of Trump properties were limited liability companies – corporate entities that allow people to purchase property without revealing all of the owners' names. That compares with about 4% of buyers in the two years before."
" He spent one third of his first year in office visiting his own commercial properties. And he wasn't alone: According to a January report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, more than 100 executive branch officials and members of Congress also visited Trump properties during his first year in office; at least 40 special interest groups held events at Trump properties; and at least 11 foreign government's paid Trump businesses. The Kuwaiti Embassy, for example, held a National Day celebration at Trump's Washington, D.C. hotel last year and then again last month. "
" The Center for Responsive Politics sorted the spending of political committees at Trump properties, and Trump’s own campaign events topped the list. In 2017 alone, Trump’s 2020 campaign spent $720,064 at buildings Trump owns. Right here is an example why U.S. presidents are expected to divest from their businesses. Since Trump still holds these properties, he and his family make bonus money every time he holds a fundraiser. "
" After the election, Trump signaled he would spend a great deal of time at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. So the club simply doubled its membership fees to $200,000 before taxes. USA Today found that executives from 50 government contractors and 21 lobbyists hold memberships at Trump clubs. "
" Not only do Trump’s frequent golf trips burn taxpayer dollars; they also make the Trumps lots of money. The system is rather simple and, once you see how it works, you can see why Trump spent over 25% of his first year in office at his own golf clubs.
Overall, the easiest mark is the U.S. Secret Service tasked with the job of protecting Trump. As the law stands, the agency cannot receive payments from presidents. This law exists to limit potential conflicts of interest (irony alert). So the Secret Service paid $137,000 to Trump’s Florida and New Jersey properties for golf cart rentals in just the first nine months of 2017."
He even went so far as to suggest the next G7 summit meeting be held at his Resort in Florida. Just because its close to the airport.....Sure.
Really, this is just some of the stuff we know about. I'm sure there's more but I need to step away from the black hole of Trumps' previous transgressions and focus on what's currently the shitstorm of the week: The Ukraine Fiasco. This one is nice and easy to digest; the President withheld about 400 million dollars of US aid to Ukraine, then had a phone call with the Ukrainian president in which Trump asks him to look into a variety of things, including Democratic front runner Joe Biden and his son's involvement in dealing with a corrupt prosecutor.
These are facts, and hard to deny when the Trump Administration released a (heavily redacted) memo summarizing a portion of the call. No, it is not a full transcript as Fox News would like you to believe, which for some reason has been locked down and put on a secret highly classified server. What they have actually released, while even redacted, still appears extremely suspect and basically quid-pro-quo from the President. He withholds 400 million dollars in aid, then has this phone call. When the aid is brought up by the Ukrainian president, Trump goes into a list of favors (demands) he "wants him to look into though". It can't really get any more cut and dried than that and is, well, illegal and also treason.
So, Dems in the House finally grew a pair and have officially started inquiry into impeachment. Great, awesome, Congress can exercise their prerogative to be a check and balance on the administration and we can finally get some investigating done and see whether Trump should be removed from office (he should). Well, not really.
First, Trump is actually not going to be convicted. That's about as close to a fact as you can bet on. 2/3 of the Senate are required to go through with a conviction of impeachment, and I mean, by all appearances Republican Senators are just fine to follow Trump down to the murkiest levels of The Swamp™ possible. As long they get those sweet tax cuts for the richest of the population, allow corporations to keep funneling truckloads of dark money into their campaigns, and cut all entitlements to the neediest of the population, they'll hold his water.
Already we have most republican senators going line for line on the talking points that the Trump administration sent out.
(embarrassingly to House Democrats as well as Republicans and then attemped to "recall" the email:
But, more importantly, impeachment really isn't going to get anywhere from the start. Because Trump and his band of corrupt traitors have realized they can just.....not do anything. Well, maybe Trump hasn't entirely figured that part out, as his tweets have gotten even more unhinged since this Ukraine scandal broke, including telling the American people to start a civil war and that the democrats are instigating a coup:
But already word is coming from up high to ignore all requests for information from the Impeachment inquiry:
"Pompeo signaled the department would not comply with Democrats’ recent requests to speak with several State officials, complaining of “serious substantive and procedural deficiencies” in their investigation. "
Trump and his cronies are realizing that these "Checks and Balances" that our constitution says we have, well, they're just kinda words on a page. We have seen that this administration and the people they appoint are just fine ignoring subpoenas for documents and court testimony.
William Barr did it:
Steve Mnuchin did it:
And nothing of note happened to them so far. Sure there's lawsuits and other contempt of court proceedings occurring, but that is moving quite slowly, all the while the Trump Admin has been quietly stacking judicial appointments with whoever they want.
Basically, there's no real way for our government to deal with an administration who simply decides to ignore those checks and balances. Well, nothing so long as 53 Republican senators and 40% of the voting population are totally fine with it. They can take House subpoenas and wipe their asses with them it seems like, tying the courts up for years before anything of note occurs.
So, while Trump spouts that the Democrats are attempting a "coup" on his twitter, well, he's partially right. We are witnessing a coup of our government. But as ever, Trump is projecting onto everyone else exactly what he's guilty of doing.
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