Thank I had forgotten to add the link. Another story: Ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch tells Congress Trump pressured State Dept. to remove her
The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine whose abrupt ouster in May has become a topic of interest for House impeachment investigators said Friday that her departure came as a direct result of pressure President Trump placed on the State Department to remove her, according to her prepared remarks before Congress obtained by The Washington Post.
Marie Yovanovitch told lawmakers that she was forced to leave Kiev on “the next plane” this spring and subsequently removed from her post, with the State Department’s No. 2 official telling her that, though she had done nothing wrong, the president had lost confidence in her and the State Department had been under significant pressure to remove her since the summer of 2018.
In explaining her departure, she acknowledged months of criticisms by Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, who had accused her of privately badmouthing the president and seeking to protect the interests of former vice president Joe Biden and his son who served on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
Yovanovitch denied those allegations and said she was “incredulous” that her superiors decided to remove her based on “unfounded and false claims by people with clearly questionable motives.” She also took direct aim at Giuliani's associates whom she said could've been financially threatened by her anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine.
“Contacts of Mr. Giuliani may well have believed that their personal financial ambitions were stymied by our anti-corruption policy in Ukraine,” she said.
I love this part: She arrived on Capitol Hill on Friday despite the White House’s stated objections and refusal to cooperate with the Democrat-led proceedings.
Regarding the indictments:
According to an indictment that federal prosecutors in New York unsealed Thursday, a Soviet-born associate of Giuliani’s met in the spring of 2018 with a U.S. congressman, who public campaign records indicate is former was Texas Republican Rep. Pete Sessions, to seek “assistance in causing the U.S. government to remove or recall the then-U. S. Ambassador to Ukraine.” The indictment says continues that Giuliani’s associate, Lev Parnas, pushed for Yovanovitch’s ouster “at least in part, at the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials.”
Sessions, who lost his reelection bid in November 2018, said Thursday that he did not know if he was the congressman mentioned in the indictment and denied any wrongdoing.
But they have his text messages. He is part of the Volker text.
But to date, the panels have recorded only one deposition — with former special U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, who quit his post hours after he was requested to appear for a deposition. At his session earlier this month, Volker turned over a series of text messages he exchanged with Giuliani, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior U.S. diplomats including Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.
I am sure there is more to those text messages then the public know. Let’s wait and see. No one is doing Trump a favor by standing up for him. They are actually doing a crappy job. Especially Guiliani. Where is Kelly Conway I have not seen her?
@lawrence, when you read him, are you affected in any way by his darkness? I'm asking because a number of months ago, I was doing a loving-kindness meditation, under the light of a beautiful, full moon. I had never prayed for T., and believed my anger was getting in the way. I wanted to get past that and pray for his healing and divine guidance. So I tried that, and ... yikes! I saw nothing but darkness. Then I was met by this huge, steel door. DO NOT ENTER. Then I got goosebumps (not the good kind). It felt awful. Haven't gone back there since.
Anyway, perhaps my prayers were really intended to change him, and that's not my call. I'm trying to figure that one out. The most I can pray for now is that he be removed from office asap.
For those who might be interested, here is the full text of Marie Yovanovitch's opening statement during her deposition this morning. Reading it, I felt a chill go down my spine. What a wonderful American. We should all be proud that people like her remain true to their oath to protect our Constitution and country.
@deetoo I usually get predictions/feelings about him very quickly and then immediately throw up a protective energy shield.
He's an energy vampire and a bottomless, dark hole. He's trying to fill up on others energy but he's a sieve. It just dissipates. He's empty on the inside with zero self-esteem.
I can't watch him on tv or hear his voice. It makes me feel sick. I don't allow him to enter my vibration. The news about his crimes and slime is heavy enough.
Much love.
Funny, you are not alone in your feelings about even hearing his voice etc. My husband and I have a pact, we always watch a food show (that we dvr) when we are eating at night so we can't even accidentally hear him while we are eating. Many folks who post comments on some of my favorite YT psychics mention they feel sick if they even hear his voice or see him on TV. But you, having met him, must feel even worse.
Also, there's another nail in the coffin so to speak for Orange nightmare and Ghouliani:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/us/politics/giuliani-trump-rex-tillerson.html
And another one according to ABC : Giuliani's relationship with arrested men subject of criminal investigation:
The business relationship between President Donald Trump's private lawyer Rudy Giuliani and the men charged Thursday in a campaign finance scheme is a subject of the ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by federal authorities in New York, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
And don’t worry Trump says he does not know them ? he might have pictures with them
I do the same thing in regards to shows. I only watch after I DVR so just in case he is talking or there is that dumb commercial that he has saying the Democrats are trying to do a coup. I had to watch that since I downloaded a show and you can’t fast forward. I hate to see it hear his voice.
Let’s keep on piling up the bad news for Dumbo
1. His Border wall is not happening anytime soon. He can’t use that for his campaign
A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration to build a border wall is unlawful and appears poised to block the use of those funds
2. Also, The dead eye Miller public charge law has been stopped for now
Judge George Daniels of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan issued a preliminary nationwide injunction prohibiting the administration from enforcing the so-called "public charge" rule just days before it was slated to take effect on Tuesday.
Daniels faulted the government for not adequately explaining why it was changing the definition of a "public charge" or why the change was needed. "The Rule is simply a new agency policy of exclusion in search of a justification," he wrote in his ruling. "It is repugnant to the American dream of the opportunity for prosperity and success through hard work and upwards mobility."
What can be dead eye Miller explanation on why they need to change it
@lawrence, ah yes, the protective shield ... makes perfect sense. I did see that dark hole you mentioned, and it made me very sad. I assumed that since I was praying for him, I was safe. I guess one should never assume. The whole thing was really yucky -- like I said, a DO NOT ENTER sign. I can't stand looking at or hearing him either. His energy is really dark and invasive. I don't even like when someone on the news is quoting one of his moronic tweets (unless Stephen Colbert is being wickedly funny with it). My husband sometimes likes watching the news while I'm cooking dinner, and suddenly I'll hear T's voice and yell "MUTE! MUTE! MUTE!"
Must have been very unsettling meeting him, Lawrence. I bet it would even feel worse now. Can you imagine attending one of those rallies? On occasion I've encountered people with dark energy, and afterwards I've done an energetic "wipe down" to get rid of the funky stuff. I'm still learning to be mindful with keeping a protective shield around me.
On an unrelated matter, I was sorry to hear about the loss of your dear friend, Rip Taylor. I fondly remember how zany he was! He also made my mother laugh, which was a big deal at the time. Mom was frequently in a lot of emotional pain, so to see her laugh was a joy to see.
I think that in Rip's honor, we should throw some major confetti when T. and his gang of thieves are booted out of office!
Holy guacamole! thanks for that - gotta just laugh at this part of the article:
"Parnas and Fruman, two Soviet-born, Florida-based businessmen, assisted Giuliani in his effort to dig up dirt on Joe Biden and his family. The association among the three men goes back several years. Giuliani has represented Parnas and Fruman in the past."
That Russian connection is just unreal. So I'm wondering does anyone get a time frame they see the orange nightmare and ghouliani going down?
Wait it gets better according to CNBC Trump hopes his buddy Guliliani does not get charged and how Trump does not know the man in question. But as always...
The indictment says Parnas and Fruman made illegal donations totaling $325,000 to a political action committee that supports Trump.
"I don't know those gentlemen," Trump told reporters Thursday.
The Miami Herald earlier this week ran an article about Parnas' and Furman's refusal to comply with requests for documents and testimony from House committees conducting an impeachment inquiry into Trump.
That article was illustrated with a photo showing Trump, Parnas, Furman and Giuliani standing together, smiling, at a prior event.
One of Trump's prior personal lawyers, Michael Cohen, currently is serving a three-year sentence in federal prison in New York state for crimes that include campaign finance violations.
I just heard that Shep Smith is leaving Fox News. As you've probably heard, he had arguments with many of the their opinion hosts, like Tucker Carlson and the like. Smith signed off his newscast stating, "Even in our current polarized nation, it is my hope that the facts will win the day, that the truth will always matter, that journalism and journalists will thrive."
I'd read that Shep was already planning to leave. But when you consider that he has often criticized T., and Barr visited Murdoch a few days ago ...
I think that in Rip's honor, we should throw some major confetti when T. and his gang of thieves are booted out of office!
Why wait? * * * ** * * *
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Smith had a look of relief on his face as he made the announcement. (CNN has a clip here) He also noted it was his choice. He was mid contract, and I would expect as with most on air talent, they have non-compete clauses in their contracts. I would guess that would mean that if they agreed to allow him to leave before his contract expired, he would be given the condition that he can't work for a competitor before the term of the contract expires.
The Turks have fired on a location thisclose to US forces, and at the same time the Kurds feel we sold them out. What a buffoon to put everyone in such positions.
Couple of comments on the two Ukrainian mooks (NYC word for losers):
1. They look like a pair of swollen big toes that just got liberated from their shoes:
2. One of the phony LLCs they used to pay Draculani was called Fraud Guarantee
You literally can't make this stuff up!!
Further to what @lawrence said about energy vampiring - I can't watch more than 15 seconds of Trumple Dumpskin without feeling ill, 30 seconds if it's audio only. I cannot send him light/enlightenment/energy - I can feel the drain, akin to flushing my own positive energy down a toilet. In Hell. I've decided it's pointless and to let the universe/karma deal with him how it sees fit in terms of spiritual stuff, my work will be voter-registration based, real world stuff. I pray for strength, clarity and kindness for everyone engaged in the impeachment process, and for enlightenment for all the people caught in the web of lies and evil, that they may come over to the side of light and right their wrongs.
*Reminder - I had that very strange experience the first time I went into Trump tower, when it first opened in midtown. I'm sure it's archived here somewhere, but long story short, I only got as far as the lobby, not far from the infamous down escalator, I had a feeling of the walls tumbling down on me, I felt my energy drain down through my feet into the floor, and couldn't breathe and I had to leave asap.