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Mercedes Schlapp: Dems made a ‘big gamble’ with Mueller probe and ‘they lost’

White House Strategic Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday night and slammed House Democrats’ continued efforts to impeach the president even after the conclusion of the Mueller investigation.

Schlapp began by expressing that the “ultimate goal” for House Democrats is “impeachment” even after Attorney General Bill Barr shared the summary of the Mueller Report showing that evidence shows that President Donald Trump did not collude with Russia nor was there enough evidence to prove obstruction of justice, something she thinks has the House Speaker worried.

“I think it makes Nancy Pelosi nervous. She is saying, ‘Well, we might night want to go there. We need a bipartisan effort to move towards impeachment,’ but for the Democrats from Day One, their goal- and they’ve run on trying to impeach the president,” Schlapp told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. “And so I think the American people clearly see right through this. I think we know that the Democrats have gone way too far. They’ve been reckless in this process. They have been irresponsible in terms of for two years, spending hour after hour after hour, building this narrative, building this case that the president colluded with the Russians. And Mueller Report, obviously as we know, the president is fully exonerated.”

The top White House official said the “brilliance” of Trump is that he’s “resilient” despite the pressures that came from the Mueller probe.

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“This president has been in high gear, he has stayed focused on the economy, on the trade deals, on securing the border, and keeps fighting every day for the American people,” Schlapp continued. “And I have to say, it really shows that the Democrats- they’ve made a big gamble with this and that they lost because they thought this Mueller report was going to be their winning key.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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Left-leaning Canada opposition leader faces big parliamentary test

A man leaves a polling station during the Burnaby South federal by-election in Burnaby,
A man leaves a polling station during the Burnaby South federal by-election in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, February 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ben Nelms

February 26, 2019

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The struggling head of Canada’s left-leaning New Democrats, an opposition party that competes with the Liberals of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will try to win a parliamentary seat on Monday amid speculation he could be ousted if he loses.

Jagmeet Singh, a practicing Sikh, made headlines in October 2017 when he became the first person from an ethnic minority to be elected leader of a major Canadian political party. But he has failed to lift the New Democratic Party (NDP), which trails its rivals badly.

The NDP and the Liberals – who compete for the same center-left segment of the electorate – will face each other in a federal election this October. The worse the New Democrats do, the better Trudeau’s chances become.

Singh is contesting a special election to fill an empty seat in the parliamentary constituency of Burnaby-South, in the Pacific province of British Columbia. Results should become available at around 11 p.m. Eastern (0400 GMT Tuesday).

Singh, 40, a former legislator in the province of Ontario, had no experience in federal politics when he took over from former leader Thomas Mulcair.

He has clashed openly with senior members of parliament on a number of issues. A quarter of the 44 NDP legislators who won seats in the 2015 election have either already quit or announced they are not running again in October.

In unusually frank remarks, Mulcair said last month that “it would be extremely difficult for Mr. Singh to stick around” if he lost on Monday.

An Ipsos-Reid poll for Global News last week put the Liberals at 34 percent public support and the right-leaning official opposition Conservatives at 35 percent. The NDP was far behind at 17 percent.

The Liberals are stumbling amid allegations that officials in Trudeau’s office leaned on former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould last year to help a major construction company avoid a criminal trial on bribery charges.

Singh and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer are both calling for a public inquiry into the matter. Wilson-Raybould is due to testify to the House of Commons justice committee on Tuesday.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Border Patrol chief under Obama: The border is ‘wide open’

The Border Patrol chief under President Obama told “Outnumbered Overtime” on Thursday that illegal immigrants are coming to the U.S. for economic equality and family reunification, not asylum.

“The reason why they're coming is for economic equality, family reunification and because of our broken system,"  Mark Morgan told host Melissa Francis. "They know that they step one foot on American soil, they're going to be allowed in indefinitely. That's the incentive. That's why they're risking, they pay a lot of money risking their lives because they know once they get here they're going to be let in.”

SARAH SANDERS: DEMOCRATS 'UNWILLING' TO HELP TRUMP SOLVE BORDER CRISIS

Morgan, who spoke to Congress on Thursday morning, said that many legislators at his hearing accepted that there was a crisis at the southern border with Mexico. The differences come in the search for a solution.

To Morgan, asylum laws are the keys to any solution. “Congress has to fix the asylum laws and we have to stop these people from coming in, they need to stay in Mexico. The president's absolutely right with the pressure he's putting on Mexico,” Morgan said.

Morgan also told Francis that while “good people” are trying to make their way into the United States, “bad people” are also coming and the border is more “wide open” than ever.

IT'S A 'CAT 5' IMMIGRATION CRISIS: NIELSEN

“The truth is that we don't know who's coming in because we can't verify who these people are," he said.

Source: Fox News Politics

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The Latest: Police ID suspect arrested in Seattle shootings

The Latest on a multiple shooting in Seattle (all times local):

10:45 a.m.

Seattle police have identified the man they arrested in an apparently random spree of shootings and a carjacking that left two people dead and two injured as Tad Michael Norman.

King County Jail records show the 33-year-old Norman was booked on investigation of homicide, robbery and assault Thursday after his release from a hospital where for treatment of what were characterized as minor injuries.

Police said Thursday said Norman left his home Wednesday afternoon, shot and wounded a woman driving a car and a male bus driver, then shot and killed another man in a carjacking and got in a head-on crash with another vehicle, killing the man who was driving the other car.

It was not immediately clear if Norman has an attorney.

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8:30 a.m.

A Seattle bus driver hailed as a hero for steering the bus away from a gunman who opened fire on him and his passengers says he was just doing his job and is"glad to be alive."

Eric Stark was hit in the torso Wednesday afternoon by a bullet but authorities say he still managed to turn the bus around and drive away.

Officials say the gunman who opened fire on the bus while walking in a neighborhood Wednesday then opened fire on a motorist, killing him.

Stark told ABC's "Good Morning America" he did what "any other driver would be able to do if they were physically able."

Stark was hospitalized and spoke from his hospital room.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan says he "saved lives and took action even after being harmed."

Source: Fox News National

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Barr hammered for stating ‘spying did occur,’ despite confirmation of Trump team surveillance

Attorney General Bill Barr ran into a buzz saw of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and media figures for testifying Wednesday that “spying did occur” against the Trump campaign in 2016. But despite the backlash, Barr appeared to be referring to intelligence collection that already has been widely reported and confirmed.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page are currently the subject of a Justice Department inspector general investigation looking at potential misconduct in the issuance of those warrants. That review also is reportedly reviewing the role of an FBI informant who had contacts with Trump advisers in the early stages of the Russia investigation.

DEMS RAGE AGAINST BARR FOR BACKING CLAIMS OF TRUMP CAMPAIGN 'SPYING' BY FBI 

When asked about the controversy surrounding Barr’s remarks, a person familiar with his thinking denied that he was trying to fuel conspiracy theories or play to the conservative base.

“When he used the word spying, he means intelligence collecting,” the source told Fox News, also noting Barr’s history as a CIA analyst in the 1970s. “He wasn’t using it in a pejorative sense, he was using it in the classic sense.”

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘spying’ as: “to collect information about something to use in deciding how to act,” or to “observe furtively.”

The use of the term as it applies to the FBI's surveillance in 2016 has been fiercely disputed. The New York Times, even as it reported last year on how the FBI sent an informant to speak to campaign advisers amid concerns about suspicious Russia contacts, stated that this was to "investigate" Russia ties and "not to spy."

But Barr's testimony suggests he makes no distinction between the two. He also stressed that the question for him is whether that "spying" was justified.

“I think spying did occur. The question is whether it was adequately predicated,” Barr testified Wednesday, adding that he believed it is his “obligation” to review whether there was misconduct in the original investigation. “Congress is usually very concerned with intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane.”

He added that “spying on a political campaign is a big deal.”

Democrats, though, charged that this week's testimony indicated Barr was a compromised witness.

“He is acting as an employee of the president,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said. “I believe the Attorney General believes he needs to protect the president of the United States.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told the Associated Press that she doesn’t “trust Barr,” but she trusts Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., later accused Barr of “peddling conspiracy theories.”

BARR REVEALS HE IS REVIEWING 'CONDUCT' OF FBI'S ORIGINAL RUSSIA PROBE

Media figures and outlets also panned Barr's use of the term, with some declaring he had provided no evidence for it.

NBC News’ Chuck Todd accused the attorney general of giving credence to a “conspiracy theory.”

“Using the word spying,” the “Meet the Press” moderator said, “plays into the president’s language and argument that the Russia investigation to him is just a witch hunt, and every time they’ve brought up this allegation, there has been zero factual basis for it. Every effort to perpetrate the spying conspiracy theory has been debunked.”

Conservatives in the media sphere pushed back. The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway tweeted, "There is no dispute about whether spying occurred. There has not yet been a proper investigation about whether that spying--which included human informants, wiretaps, national security letters, etc.--can be justified."

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also said Barr “should not casually suggest that those under his purview engaged in ‘spying’ on a political campaign.”

“This type of partisan talking point may please Donald Trump, who rails against a ‘deep state coup,’” Schiff said. “But it also strikes another destructive blow to our democratic institutions. The hardworking men and women at the DOJ and FBI deserve better.”

But Barr did not criticize the Justice Department or the FBI as a whole, instead noting he was looking at the “upper echelons” of leadership at the bureau at the time as he confirmed he was reviewing the “conduct of the investigation” that began in the summer of 2016.

“Frankly, to the extent there were issues at the FBI, I do not view it as a problem of the FBI. I think it was probably a failure of the group of leaders—the upper echelons of the FBI. I think the FBI is an outstanding organization and I am very pleased Director Chris Wray is there,” he said.

Barr was again asked about his claim of “spying” during the Senate hearing Wednesday, with Democrat Brian Schatz asking for Barr to be more “precise” in his wording.

“I want to make sure there was no unauthorized surveillance,” Barr responded.

Whether proper or improper, the issue of surveillance of the Trump campaign has been widely documented.

The FISA warrants, for example, were the subject of a GOP House Intelligence Committee memo last year. That memo alleged the unverified anti-Trump dossier provided much of the basis for law enforcement officials to repeatedly secure FISA warrants against Page, though Democrats have pushed back on parts of the GOP report.

COMEY MEMOS CONTAINED FAR MORE SENSITIVE INFO THAN PREVIOUSLY KNOWN, FBI FILING REVEALS

Meanwhile, as part of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s investigation, he is reportedly probing the involvement of FBI informant Stefan Halper—whose role first emerged last year.

Halper, an American professor who reportedly is connected with British and American intelligence agencies, has been widely reported as a confidential source during the FBI's original investigation. That official counterintelligence operation was opened by then-senior agent Peter Strzok, who has since been fired from the bureau.

During the 2016 campaign, Halper reportedly contacted several members of the Trump campaign, including former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and Page. Halper also reportedly contacted former campaign aide Sam Clovis.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign was a clear focus of the FBI’s 2016 counterintelligence investigation looking at suspicious Russia contacts.

Former FBI Director James Comey testified that when the agency initiated its counterintelligence probe into possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government, investigators "didn't know whether we had anything" and that "in fact, when I was fired as director [in May 2017], I still didn't know whether there was anything to it."

Fox News’ Jake Gibson, Gregg Re, Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Electric vehicle demand likely to drop if tax credit ends: U.S. official

FILE PHOTO: A charging port is seen on a Mercedes Benz EQC 400 4Matic electric vehicle at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto
FILE PHOTO: A charging port is seen on a Mercedes Benz EQC 400 4Matic electric vehicle at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

March 12, 2019

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Electric vehicle demand is likely to drop if the United States eliminates a tax credit worth up to $7,500 as President Donald Trump has proposed, a senior U.S. Transportation Department official said on Tuesday.

The White House said on Monday that nixing the credit, which phases out after companies hit 200,000 vehicles sold, could save taxpayers $2.5 billion over the next decade. Automakers have pushed for the credit to be extended.

“As you take away some of these incentives, demand will likely come down a bit,” Derek Kan, the Transportation Department’s under secretary of transportation for policy and a former Lyft Inc executive, said at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. “When you take away a tax credit, we know from basic economics demand will likely fall because the price is a little high.”

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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Oil prices extend losses despite surprise drop in U.S. inventories

FILE PHOTO: A seagull flies in front of an oil platform in the Bouri Oilfield some 70 nautical miles north of the coast of Libya
FILE PHOTO: A seagull flies in front of an oil platform in the Bouri Oilfield some 70 nautical miles north of the coast of Libya, October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi/File Photo

April 18, 2019

By Colin Packham

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Oil prices edged down on Thursday despite a surprise decline in U.S. inventories, with international benchmark Brent retreating from a five-month high touched in the previous session.

Brent crude futures were at $71.51 a barrel at 0056 GMT, down 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close. Brent fell 0.1 percent on Wednesday, after earlier touching its highest since Nov. 8 at $72.27 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.67 per barrel, down 9 cents, or 0.1 percent, from their previous settlement. WTI closed the last session down 0.5 percent.

“Prices are soft despite a surprise drawdown in U.S. inventories,” ANZ Bank said in a research note.

U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels in the week to April 12, compared with analyst expectations for an increase of 1.7 million barrels.

Net U.S. crude imports last week dropped by 659,000 barrels per day (bpd).

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Source: OANN

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Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta
Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta, Cyprus, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stefanos Kouratzis

April 26, 2019

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriot police searched on Friday for more victims of a suspected serial killer, in a case which has shocked the Mediterranean island and exposed the authorities to charges of “criminal indifference” because the dead women were foreigners.

The main opposition party, the left-wing AKEL, called for the resignation of Cyprus’s justice minister and police chief.

Police were combing three different locations west of the capital Nicosia for victims of the suspected killer, a 35-year-old army officer who has been in detention for a week.

The bodies of three women, including two thought to be from the Philippines, have been recovered. Police sources said the suspect had indicated the location of the third body, found on Thursday, and had said the person was “either Indian or Nepali”.

Police said they were searching for a further four people, including two children, based on the suspect’s testimony.

“These women came here to earn a living, to help their families. They lived away from their families. And the earth swallowed them, nobody was interested,” AKEL lawmaker Irene Charalambides told Reuters.

“This killer will be judged by the court but the other big question is the criminal indifference shown by the others when the reports first surfaced. I believe, as does my party, that the justice minister and the police chief should resign. They are irrevocably exposed.”

Police have said they will investigate any perceived shortcomings in their handling of the case.

One person who did attempt to alert the authorities over the disappearances, a 70-year-old Cypriot citizen, said his motives were questioned by police.

The bodies of the two Filipino women reported missing in May and August 2018 were found in an abandoned mine shaft this month. Police discovered the body of the third woman at an army firing range about 14 km (9 miles) from the mine shaft.

Police are now searching for the six-year-old daughter of the first victim found, a Romanian mother who disappeared with her eight-year-old child in 2016, and a woman from the Phillipines who vanished in Dec. 2017.

The suspect has not been publicly named, in line with Cypriot legal practice.

A public vigil for the missing was planned later on Friday.

(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.

The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo

April 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.

The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.

Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.

But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.

Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.

High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.

It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.

Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.

“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.

The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.

Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.

Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.

Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.

Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.

This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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The German share price index DAX graph at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.

The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.

Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.

Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.

“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.

Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.

“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.

U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.

Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.

Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.

Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.

Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.

Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.

Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.

Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.

Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan

(Reuters) – The “i word” – impeachment – is swirling around the U.S. Congress since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report, which painted a picture of lies, threats and confusion in Donald Trump’s White House.

Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice.

Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.

WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?

The U.S. Constitution says the president can be removed from office by Congress for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Exactly what that means is unclear.

Before he became president in 1974, replacing Republican Richard Nixon who resigned over the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the history of impeachment, said Congress could look beyond criminal laws in defining “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historically, it can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.

HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?

The term impeachment is often interpreted as simply removing a president from office, but that is not strictly accurate.

Impeachment technically refers to the 435-member House of Representatives approving formal charges against a president.

The House effectively acts as accuser – voting on whether to bring specific charges. An impeachment resolution, known as “articles of impeachment,” is like an indictment in a criminal case. A simple majority vote is needed in the House to impeach.

The Senate then conducts a trial. House members act as the prosecutors, with senators as the jurors. The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over the trial. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the 100-member Senate to convict and remove a president from office.

No president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of an impeachment and conviction by Congress.

Nixon quit in 1974 rather than face impeachment. Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were impeached by the House, but both stayed in office after the Senate acquitted them.

Obstruction of justice was one charge against Clinton, who faced allegations of lying under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Obstruction was also included in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.

CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?

No.

Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats tried to impeach him. But America’s founders explicitly rejected making a Senate conviction appealable to the federal judiciary, Bowman said.

“They quite plainly decided this is a political process and it is ultimately a political judgment,” Bowman said.

“So when Trump suggests there is any judicial remedy for impeachment, he is just wrong.”

PROOF OF WRONGDOING?

In a typical criminal court case, jurors are told to convict only if there is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” a fairly stringent standard.

Impeachment proceedings are different. The House and Senate “can decide on whatever burden of proof they want,” Bowman said. “There is no agreement on what the burden should be.”

PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?

Right now, there are 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans and three vacancies in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority could vote to impeach Trump without any Republican votes.

In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat.

The Senate now has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. Conviction and removal of a president would requires 67 votes. So that means for Trump to be impeached, at least 20 Republicans and all the Democrats and independents would have to vote against him.

WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?

A Senate conviction removing Trump from office would elevate Vice President Mike Pence to the presidency to fill out Trump’s term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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