Senate blocks Democrats' pre-trial demand for Trump documents

President Trump’s impeachment trial opened with a vote to block a subpoena for White House documents related to Democratic allegations the president abused the power of his office by withholding security aid from Ukraine. The Senate Republican majority defeated a measure 47-53 offered by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to demand the White House turn over a trove of documents stemming from President Trump’s conversations with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Republicans stayed unified in opposition to the move by Schumer, a New York Democrat.

Republicans instead back a resolution setting the terms of the impeachment trial that would postpone consideration of additional evidence until after House impeachment managers and Trump’s defense lawyers have presented their cases. The vote followed arguments by Democratic impeachment managers and the defense lawyers, which provided a glimpse of the cases each side will present in the coming days. The Senate rules allow impeachment managers and the defense lawyers three days each to present arguments. “The Senate should act on this subpoena now, at the outset of the trial,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, argued. “Documents that are directly relevant to evaluating the president’s scheme. If it won’t even ask for this evidence, this trial, and your judgement, will be questioned.”

Trump’s legal team, led by White House Counsel Pat Cippolone, argued the House impeachment investigation was partisan, lacked due process and took shortcuts to speed up the probe. The Senate should not be forced to fix the shortcomings of the House impeachment proceedings, Trump’s lawyers argued. “Never before in the history of our country has a president been confronted with this kind of impeachment proceeding in the House,” Cippolone argued before the Senate.

The House impeachment team, led by Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, of California, said the Senate trial, like any trial, should have evidence and witnesses. Democrats want the Senate to subpoena former National Security Advisor John Bolton and acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. “No trial in America has every been conducted like that,” Schiff argued. “If you are going to make a decision about whether to remove this president from office, you should want to see what this documents say.” Schiff called Bolton and Mulvaney to come testify, even though Schiff last year backed down from a court fight that may have forced them to testify in the House impeachment inquiry. “Let’s get this trial stared,” Schiff said.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate-blocks-democrats-pre-trial-demand-for-trump-documents

Trump Administration Plans to Expand Travel Restrictions to Seven Countries

Nations being considered for new rules: Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania

The Trump administration plans to add to the number of countries covered under its travel restrictions, including Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, along with others in Africa and Asia, according to administration officials who have seen the list. The administration plans to place visa restrictions limits on travelers from seven new countries: Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. The countries wouldn’t all face blanket bans on travel to the U.S., but could have restrictions placed on specific types of visas, such as business or visitor visas, administration officials said. The officials said the list isn’t final. The names of the seven countries was first reported by Politico. The administration plans to roll out its expanded travel restrictions on Monday, marking the three-year anniversary of the initial travel ban Mr. Trump signed on his seventh day in office.

The administration has said its policy restricting travel is necessary to prevent potential acts of terrorism, as countries on the list don’t adequately vet their travelers to the U.S. Its first order, which banned travel to the U.S. by most residents of seven majority-Muslim countries, was struck down by a federal court and withdrawn. A second iteration of the ban, issued in March 2017, was also struck down by a federal judge who said it still amounted to religious discrimination against Muslims. A third version of the travel ban, issued in September 2017, was upheld by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling in June 2018 on the grounds that federal law gives the president broad authority to suspend entry to the U.S. That 'current restrictions' blocked travel by individuals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and North Korea and by political officials from Venezuela. The administration briefly included Chad on the ban list, but removed the country in April 2018.

Unlike the initial list, most of the new countries don’t have majority-Muslim populations. Several of them, however, have had relatively higher rates of their citizens overstaying visas in the U.S., according to Department of Homeland Security data. In the 2018 fiscal year, 24% of Eritreans on business or visitor visas overstayed their permits, along with 15% of Nigerians and 12% of people from Sudan. Those compared with a total overstay rate in the category of 1.9%.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-plans-to-add-seven-countries-to-travel-ban-list-11579638341

Trump Doubles Down on Threats to Impose Tariffs on European Cars

U.S. president is attending World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

DAVOS, Switzerland—President Trump said Tuesday that he is serious about imposing tariffs on European automobiles if he can’t strike a trade agreement with the European Union. “They know that I’m going to put tariffs on them if they don’t make a deal that’s a fair deal,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. Mr. Trump declined to say what deadline he is imposing on the negotiations before he would move ahead with the auto tariffs. “They know what the deadline is,” the president said, adding that he would reveal it publicly soon.

The remarks came on Mr. Trump’s first day at the annual summit of world leaders and business executives. He spoke to the Journal shortly before participating in a bilateral meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He didn’t mention auto tariffs in brief remarks to reporters during the meeting. The Trump administration let a previous deadline of Nov. 13 for the imposition of auto tariffs lapse. Former European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said last year the EU considered that lapsed deadline as an indication Washington wouldn’t enact the duties on auto imports from Europe. She said the EU would strike back with duties on American exports.

The president also confirmed that he has come to an agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron to postpone until the end of 2020 the tax that France levied on big tech companies last year. Mr. Trump said he threatened to impose a 100% tax on French wine if the digital tax wasn’t paused. “It’s not that I’m in love with them,” Mr. Trump said of U.S. tech companies, “but if anybody is going to tax these companies, it’s going to be U.S. that taxes these companies.” Mr. Trump is scheduled to take part in several bilateral meetings with world leaders during his two-day trip to Davos. He said he did not currently have plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is also attending the summit. “I didn’t know he was here. I don’t think we had it planned,” Mr. Trump said when asked by the Journal about a potential meeting. But he said he would be willing to meet with him: “I think he’s a really good guy.”

The president said his administration is developing a middle-class tax cut that would go into effect if he keeps the presidency and Republicans control Congress. He declined to offer any details about the measure. “We’re talking a fairly substantial…middle-class tax cut that’ll be subject to taking back the House and obviously keeping the Senate and keeping the White House,” he said. The president said the administration is crafting it now and it will be unveiled in 90 days. Mr. Trump confirmed that he is planning to add additional nations to an updated version of his travel ban that the administration is expected to release later this month. He wouldn’t reveal which countries would be added. The Supreme Court in 2018 affirmed Mr. Trump’s power to block citizens of several Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S., finding the authority was justified on independent national-security grounds including an administration study that found weaknesses in how some countries vetted their travelers.

As for the administration’s longstanding effort to oust Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Mr. Trump said he is still weighing additional options without offering details. “We’re looking at many different things,” he said. “We have a lot of options.” The president said he didn’t know Greta Thunberg, the teenage Swedish climate activist whom Mr. Trump criticized in a December tweet for what he described as an “anger management problem.” Ms. Thunberg is speaking at the Davos summit as well. “I don’t really know anything about her,” Mr. Trump said before adding that she’s “very angry.”

The president occasionally paused the interview to comment on Fox News, which was playing on a television in the background during the interview. At one point, he commented on footage of the gun-rights protests in Virginia, calling the state’s governor, Democrat Ralph Northam, a “wack job.” He suggested the protests have benefited him politically. “Thank you very much for handing me Virginia,” he said.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-doubles-down-on-threats-to-impose-tariffs-on-european-cars-11579623694

>>7868302

>A baker not posting the fresh bread post in a slow bread at times when the board and catalogue have major issues is nit a mistake.

>

>Same baker pushing "muh jew" narrative is not a mistake.

>

>BO and his clown crew have taken over the kitchen and bake 90% of the breads.

>

>Jim and Ron, controlled opposition clowns, are just fine with that.

>

>Providing this board but trying to make anons leave while pushing fake narratives is EXACTLY how controlled opposition works.

>>7868302

>A baker not posting the fresh bread post in a slow bread at times when the board and catalogue have major issues is nit a mistake.

>

>Same baker pushing "muh jew" narrative is not a mistake.

>

>BO and his clown crew have taken over the kitchen and bake 90% of the breads.

>

>Jim and Ron, controlled opposition clowns, are just fine with that.

>

>Providing this board but trying to make anons leave while pushing fake narratives is EXACTLY how controlled opposition works.

And Yet you are here 24/7 pushing the same narrative.