Take Her Out!
ABC News reported Friday morning that they had reviewed audio that “appears to capture President Donald Trump telling associates he wanted the then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch fired." “Get rid of her!” the voice, said to be of Trump, says in the video. “Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it.” The recording was made, per ABC’s sources, at a 2018 dinner at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. that included as guests Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, Rudy Giuliani’s indicted pals caught up in the Ukraine scandal. Trump has repeatedly claimed not to know Parnas, who in recent interviews has accused the president of ordering their actions in Ukraine. The comment from Trump came after Giuliani’s associates told Trump that Yovanovitch was bad-mouthing him. Fruman is believed to have recorded the video, according to ABC. “The biggest problem there, I think where we need to start is we gotta get rid of the ambassador,” Parnas reportedly told Trump. “She’s basically walking around telling everybody ‘Wait, he’s gonna get impeached, just wait.” Yovanovitch was recalled from her position in April 2019. Adam Schiff: Does Anything Even Matter Anymore? The third day of Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial concluded on a moving and emotional note when House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff gave an impassioned speech against the president's alleged abuse of power throughout the Ukraine scandal. Schiff's closing remarks lasted almost half an hour, and he argued that Trump's belief in Russian conspiracy theories -- amplified by his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani -- is further proof that "he needs to be removed."
As Schiff wrapped up about the "sad truth" that Trump can't be entrusted with national security or the integrity of America's elections, he concluded by saying "if 'right' doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter how good the Constitution is. It doesn’t matter how brilliant the framers were. Doesn’t matter how good or bad our advocacy in this trial is. Doesn’t matter how well written the oath of impartiality is. If right doesn’t matter, we’re lost."
It was the kind of moment so many on the left side of the spectrum were seeking. You can watch highlights here.
Fox News Anchor Ed Henry... Doing Work On the other side of the political spectrum, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham appeared on the often cozy confines of Fox News Friday morning. But newly appointed America's Newsroom anchor Ed Henry did not give her a pass, and instead confronted her on some pretty specific and critical allegations. The focus was the ongoing impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, and Henry listed a number of examples of malfeasance listed by House Managers. Henry cited previous testimony of Fiona Hill saying of Trump's controversial dealings with Ukraine "It was improper, it was appropriate," mentioned Col. Alexander Vindman, saying "The call was wrong, had a duty to report it," and Ambassador Bill Taylor saying "there was no good national security reason to hold up the aid. That it was, in his words, 'Wrong.'" Henry finished with "how can you say there was nothing wrong here? " Grisham pushed back, saying "those people are just giving their opinions." She then dismissed the analysis of these lifelong civil servants, all of whom have led well-respected and scandal-free careers adding "those people also admitted that he didn't do anything wrong and that there was no crime there." Good work Ed. 6.5.0 | 