The Quid and the Quo: In a stunning admission on the brink of impeachment for the President, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani told The NY Times last night that  he gave President Trump detailed information about how the US ambassador to Ukraine was, in Giuliani’s opinion, impeding investigations that could benefit the President, resulting in Marie Yovanovitch being recalled from her post.

  This is the heart of the impeachment case. President Trump asked a foreign power for help getting re-elected. Giuliani’s frankness with the Times indicates a boldness from the Trump camp that they believe they will get away with it.

  The paper reports that, “In conversations in the first months of the year with the president, Mr. Giuliani, by his account, cast Ms. Yovanovitch as impeding not only investigations in Ukraine that could benefit Mr. Trump, but also Mr. Giuliani’s efforts to gather evidence to defend him — and target his rivals — in the United States.”

High Crimes: A 658-page report produced by the House Judiciary Committee says President Trump “betrayed the people of this nation” and committed actual crimes in his dealings with Ukraine.

  The report says Trump’s withholding of military aid in exchange for an investigation of Vice President Joe Biden and his son was an act of bribery. 

“Although President Trump’s actions need not rise to the level of a criminal violation to justify impeachment, his conduct here was criminal,” the panel’s Democrats say, labeling Trump’s behavior “both constitutional and criminal in character.” 

  The report includes a 20-page dissent from the vocal ranking member, Doug Collins of Georgia. He wrote, “The record put forth by the majority is based on inferences built upon presumptions and hearsay. In short, the majority has failed to make a credible, factually-based allegation against this president that merits impeachment.”

  Actually, the memo of conversation from Trump’s phone conversation with the president of Ukraine includes Trump’s blunt request for “a favor” — the investigation he wanted. 

  “President Trump has placed his personal, political interests above our national security, our free and fair elections, and our system of checks and balances,” the Democrat majority says. “He has engaged in a pattern of misconduct that will continue if left unchecked. Accordingly, President Trump should be impeached and removed from office.”

  It goes on, “When the president demands that a foreign government announce investigations targeting his domestic political rival, he corrupts our elections.” The report states, “To the founders, this kind of corruption was especially pernicious, and plainly merited impeachment. American elections should be for Americans only.”

  The report to accompany the articles of impeachment also urges the House to charge the President with obstruction of Congress for refusing to cooperate. It says, “President Trump’s obstruction of Congress does not befit the leader of a democratic society. It calls to mind the very claims of royal privilege against which our founders rebelled.”

Republican Resistance: Four heavyweight Republicans write in The NY Times today that President Trump must be defeated in 202.

  The four include George Conway III, the husband of Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, and Steve Schmidt, a republican political operative who worked on John McCain’s presidential campaign.

  They announced what they call The Lincoln Project to beat Trump. “Over these next 11 months, our efforts will be dedicated to defeating President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box and to elect those patriots who will hold the line,” they say.

  They also say that, “National Republicans have done far worse than simply march along to Mr. Trump’s beat. Their defense of him is imbued with an ugliness, a meanness and a willingness to attack and slander those who have shed blood for our country, who have dedicated their lives and careers to its defense and its security, and whose job is to preserve the nation’s status as a beacon of hope.”

Heavy Weather: At least 27 tornadoes touched down in the deep south yesterday, killing three people, including a husband and wife. The storms hit in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

  This morning a belt of snowy and icy weather stretches all the way from Kansas to New Hampshire. Eleven people have died in traffic accidents.

The Drug Trade: The family that owns Purdue Pharma, the company accused of feeding the national opioid addiction crisis, drained $10.7 billion out of the business as legal pressure began to threaten the whole operation, according to an audit.

  The money, which was eight times what the Sackler family took out in the 13 years they sold the addictive Oxycontin painkiller, was drained into trusts and overseas holding companies.

  The audit was performed as part of bankruptcy proceedings. It doesn’t reveal how much the Sacklers are worth and exactly where their money is now, nor does it estimate how much they should pay to settle 2,800 lawsuits.

Hard Landing: After two crashes that killed 346 people and left all Boeing 737 jetliners grounded for nine months, the company announced it will stop producing new Maxes in January. The FAA has given no indication as to when it will allow the Max to fly again.

  The plane is Boeing’s most important product, arepresenting billions of dollars’ worth of orders backed up for years. It’s made in Renton, Washington and Boeing said it will try to avoid layoffs by moving workers to other projects.

The Bulletin Board: Democrats and Republicans in Congress worked together to approve $425 million for election security in 2020. — Fewer Americans are going to college according to new statistics. About 250,000 fewer students registered in September than the year before. One factor is that in a strong economy a lot of students skip college or drop out to go to work.

Forgotten Man: As he approaches his criminal trial, disgraced movie mogul and serial sex perv Harvey Weinstein sparked outrage claiming that he’s a “forgotten man” who helped many women in their careers. Often he tried to “help” them by demanding they go to bed with him. He’s up for trial on charges that he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex. Likely they haven’t forgotten him.

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