Wed. 1/22: Our president is a giant walking, talking national security leak.

He’s trying to distract us by tossing more countries onto his travel ban bonfire…

With breathless fearmongering – “We have to be safe. Our country has to be safe. You see what’s going on in the world. Our country has to be safe,” Trump tries to divert Americans’ attention from a greater danger to our country and our democracy –  the malign foreign influences brought in and encouraged by Trump himself.

Action #1: Keep FLOODING Senate offices with calls. If you have family and friends in GOP-country, make sure they’re calling too.

The vote at the end of the Senate trial will be partially determined by GOP senators who think they’ll be kicked out by disgusted constituents. Update: Some GOP senators must be nervous, because McConnell gave up some territory. 

• McConnell had to add more time to the proceedings –  The new plan allows up to 48 hours of opening arguments over six days, instead of four, from the House of Representatives lawmakers making the case for impeachment and Trump’s defense team
• The resolution now “automatically” enters the House’s records from its impeachment hearings into evidence unless there’s an objection. McConnells’s draft released earlier would have required a vote to enter that evidence.

Minimum script for GOP senators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to know that I want [him/her] to

1. Support witnesses, depositions, and the public release of testimony. We know that Clinton’s trial had witnesses. Anything less is a deliberate cover-up and [he/she] will be implicated in that.
2. Realize that we know that it’s actually the President’s duty to protect whistleblowers and if his team intends to call this person, how will [he/she] be protected.
3. Realize that security experts have stated that the actions that led to these articles of impeachment show that our president is a very real security risk to our nation. How is [he/she] going to do their duty by their oath to protect this nation from this compromised president run amok?

Minimum script for Democratic senators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to first thank Sen. [___] for publicly demanding a fair and open impeachment trial. We want a trial with open press coverage, reasonable start and ending times and witness testimony from Bolton, Guiliani, Perry, Perry, Pompeo, Lev Parnas and a representative of the GAO, which has determined that an actual “CRIME” had been committed.

Contact:
Senator Feinstein: email, DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
and Senator Harris: email, DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884
Who is my representative/senator?: https://whoismyrepresentative.com

Action #2: Tell your representatives to start serving subpoenas for their own hearings based on bucket-loads of new information.

The Senate GOP voted against subpoenaing documents and witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton. So, House, get going and invite the press!

Minimal script to representatives: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want the House to honor the sacrifices of the witnesses who came before them by questioning all those implicated in the Just Security report and the evidence provided by Lev Parnas. Trump’s actions affect our national security and the American public deserves the full story of his possible crimes. Congress should use their power of inherent contempt to compel testimony from all parties knowledgable of Trump’s deliberate blocking of  Congressional-approved funding for Ukraine, which now has been confirmed as an actual crime by the GAO. The House should also investigate the possible stalking of an American ambassador, an investigation already underway in Ukraine, without any monetary inducement.

Contact:
Rep. Julia Brownley:email, (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
or Rep. Salud Carbajal: email.(CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
Who is my representative/senator?:https://whoismyrepresentative.com

Action #3: Thank Rep. Adam Schiff for his outstanding opening address!

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Rep. Schiff for his opening statement to the Senate and his continuing service to our nation.

Contact: email, twitter, (818) 450-2900, (323) 315-5555, (202) 225-4176

Deeper Dive – President Trump is an vain, corrupt and greedy man, but he’s being impeached because he’s a threat to American democracy.

“President Trump used the powers of the Presidency in a manner that [1] compromised the national security of the United States and [2] undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process.” Trump is being impeached not just because he is a bad president, but because he is a glaring national security threat, who has sought to normalize both election insecurity and an extreme form of executive unilateralism. (Just Security)

His vanity, corruption and financial vulnerability, combined with a stunning lack of curiosity and knowledge about international issues, are perfect qualities for becoming either an asset or a “useful idiot.”He told officials that he believed that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 presidential election because Russia’s president Vladimir Putin ‘told me” and he remains convinced that Crowdstrike, a company in CA, is actually a server in Ukraine. Former FBI acting director Andrew McCage stated that Donald Trump dismissed advice from his own security agencies on the threat posed by North Korea’s missiles, saying “I don’t care. I believe Putin.” In Helsinki, he offered American citizens up for questioning by Russian intelligence officers and then went on to contradict his own intelligence agencies by saying Putin had no reason to interfere with our elections.

No one knows the full extent of Kremlin disinformation that has been passed to our credulous president in transcript-free face-to-face meetings like in Helsinki. After a meeting with Putin at the Group of 20 Summit in Hamburg, Trump took the notes away from his own translator. White House staff have placed rough transcripts of at least 11 phone calls in the same top secret repository that held his infamous Zelinsky extortion, which we would have known nothing about except for the bravery of one whistleblower.

Trump’s foreign corruption is in the open now. He’s stated that he’d take derogatory foreign opposition research if it served his interests. He also believes that Article II of the Constitution provides him limitless power, a form of extreme executive unilateralism more common to a king than an elected official. Here are the basic points of Trump’s security breaches here: (the full report, with additional points and links, is here.)

• Trump violated his oath of office and abused his power.
• Trump undermined U.S. national security interests for his own personal gain.
• The Trump Administration has attempted to hide its wrongdoing by abusing classified systems and threatening whistleblowers, which is illegal and undermines our national security.
• If he is not held accountable, Trump will continue to corrupt our foreign relations and put our national security interests at grave risk.
• Trump’s actions are doing lasting damage to American alliances, security partnerships, and standing in the world.

Reading

• A National Security Impeachment (Just Security)
• The U.S. has no rules for when the president is a national security threat. (Wapo
• Trump took huge risks with US national security (cnn)
• Four fundamental flaw in President Trump’s impeachment memo (Just Security)