By Matthew Knott
The Donald Trump who fronted the media to speak (click here) about his bombshell phone call with Ukraine's President was unrecognisable from the ebullient showman we have come to know.
At Trump's press conference in New York on Wednesday, local time, he appeared more demoralised than at any other point in his presidency. His voice was soft, his energy levels low. He sulked and stewed, reminiscing about the days when he received positive media coverage as a celebrity citizen.
It scotched the idea that Trump feels enthused by the prospect of an impeachment battle with Nancy Pelosi, or triumphant after the release of the summary of his phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky....
Western nations involved with Ukraine need to recognize the corrupt Russian influence with the Donald J. Trump administration. There is no guarantee that he will be removed from office if the US Senate ignores the US Constitution. It is astounding to realize that fact, but, there is a definite anti-democracy movement in Western countries, including the UK as demonstrated by the Prime Minister's proclamation to shut down Parliament.
Trump is introducing corruption back into Ukraine by carrying out personal directives I believe were discussed in Helsinki with Putin. I believe much of what is happening with Ukraine is sabotage of the fledgling democracy by Putin. I sincerely believe more than ever that Trump is Putin's puppet. Obviously, that is the case with this latest Trump episode. Just imagine what would happen in Ukraine if they were completely denied the weapons they need to defend their country. The whistleblower was entirely correct to make the complaint. It is very plain what was transpiring. And there is no defense by any of the parties involved for carrying out such diabolical plans.
The US House has not overreached. If nothing else comes out of this impeachment inquiry, Ukraine is safer today than two days ago. Nothing is wasted on the efforts by the US House. They are taking very brave measures and it is necessary.
September 26, 2019
Donald Trump is facing the biggest crisis of his political career to date. (click here)
It all revolves around a controversial phone call he had with the President of Ukraine in July that was investigated after a whistleblower complained of corruption, reports News.com.au.
Now, thanks to that complaint, a formal impeachment inquiry has been launched against him. Joe Biden, who is also at the centre of the scandal, just went on Jimmy Kimmel's tonight show to say the President had committed a "blatant abuse of power" that "cannot stand"....
...The Short Version
On July 25, Trump had a 30-minute phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In August, a whistleblower from within the US intelligence community complained that Trump's behaviour during the phone call was highly unethical.
On September 19, it was revealed that the complaint alleged that Trump attempted to coerce the Ukrainian government into investigating alleged corrupt acts involving former vice president Joe Biden and his son Robert Hunter Biden.
Specifically, he wanted Ukraine to probe Joe Biden's role in the dismissal of the country's prosecutor-general, Viktor Shokin, who was axed in 2016....
It is no coincidence Trump's ideology parallels that of Russia and China. I believe he is groomed by Putin and his leanings that favor dictators in the world.
September 26, 2019
International cooperation (click here) is crucial for coordinating the interests of each country and maintaining a stable world order. It is important to continue advocating the significance of this approach and prevent the spread of excessive “country first” policies.
In a speech at the United Nations, U.S. President Donald Trump declared: “The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.” Trump also said, “Wise leaders always put the good of their own people and their own country first.”
Of course, every country’s leader gives priority to the interests of one’s own nation. However, terrorism, climate change, poverty and other issues that transcend national boundaries cannot be resolved if each country acts alone. It is obvious that pursuing only the gains of one’s own country will cause conflicts to spread and also harm wider economic interests.
The United States led the creation of the United Nations, which was spurred by reflection on two world wars. The United Nations’ basic principle is that every nation must work together to protect global peace and security. It is unfortunate that the leader of a major country that stood at the forefront of this initiative is clinging to a self-centered approach.
During his speech, Trump suggested that each nation’s independence and sovereignty should be prized above international frameworks. China and Russia use the same argument to reject interference in their affairs by the international community. This line of thinking could result in more heavy-handed politics and human rights violations going unaddressed....
"China Daily"
September 25, 2019
The Three Biden Mentions (click here)
The "evidence field" of the Trump coercion of Ukraine is larger than one conversation. President Zelenskyy is not alone in Ukraine in knowing the degree Trump was leveraging Russia's influence. Zelenskyy advisors were not as timid as he.
25 September 2019
By Jonah Fisher
A year ago (click here) Volodymyr Zelensky was a comedian and an actor who starred as a fictional Ukrainian president in a hit television series. Many people assumed he'd take the straight-talking, principled style from TV to the office with him. It was seen as a big factor in his election win.
The memo of the phone call, detailing President Trump's requests that he speak to Mr Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, shows a very different side.
There were frequent, embarrassing displays of flattery directed at President Trump. This is now considered standard practice among world leaders looking to curry favour with the White House, but if President Zelensky was still a comedian, he'd be using this material.
At one point Ukraine's president told Mr Trump he had modelled his election win on him, that he too wanted to "drain the swamp" and cringingly said how much he enjoyed talking on the phone to him.
When Mr Trump said that he had heard that the previous prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, was "very good and he was shut down and that's really unfair", Mr Zelensky accepted it.
In fact Mr Shokin was widely seen, both by international donors and activists in Ukraine as an awful prosecutor general and an obstacle to fighting corruption.
Then Mr Trump rubbished the former US ambassador to Ukraine calling her "the woman" and "bad news". Mr Zelensky said he agreed with him "100 percent". Most reformers in Ukraine consider Marie Yovanovitch to have been an ally and a friend.
Then there was the surprise.
It had previously been assumed that President Zelensky had politely declined Mr Trump's request to launch a new investigation into the Ukrainian company that Joe Biden's son Hunter worked for.
To most it seemed a smart decision. Despite the best efforts of Mr Giuliani, no evidence has been put forward to support the claims of President Trump that the former US vice president intervened in 2015 to help his son's company.
Many thought the absence of a Biden-related investigation was the reason US-Ukraine relations went into the deep freeze this summer. Defence funding and a trip to the White House had after all been put on hold.
In fact the phone call shows that President Zelensky appeared to roll over and agree to start an investigation.
"We will be very serious about the case," he told Mr Trump before agreeing to talk to Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr.
Whether this subsequent phone call happened - and indeed what happened to the promised investigation - is not clear.
Perhaps one of President's Zelensky's advisers had a firm word....
2019 Global Teacher Prize winner, Kenya’s Peter Tabichi meets U.S. President Donald Trump on September 16, 2019.
15 September 2019
By Francis Mureithi
The world's best teacher, (click here) Peter Tabichi, will set a record yet again as the first such professional in Kenya to address the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Brother Tabichi is a member of the St Franciscan Friars, a religious order founded by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century.
He teaches science at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School at Pwani village in Njoro, Nakuru County.
In March, the teacher won the 2019 Global Teacher Prize that came with a $1 million reward..
Not a word about the impeachment inquiry, but, Uganda is complaining about sanctions. Johannesburg's local news isn't mentioning Trump's impeachment inquiry, but, they receive a lot of their news from the BBC.
From "Buenos Aires Times:"
September 26, 2019
US SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI, DEMOCRAT OF CALIFORNIA, ANNOUNCES A FORMAL IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY OF US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IN WASHINGTON, DC.
Top Democrat and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (click here) dramatically announced on Tuesday the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump, saying he betrayed his oath of office by seeking help from a foreign power to hurt his Democratic rival Joe Biden.
The dramatic move – the first step in a complex process that stands little chance of driving Trump from office – pushed US politics into a perilous new chapter just 14 months before new elections over control of the White House and Congress.
Following the bombshell developments from Trump Tower in New York – after addressing the UN General Assembly – the president denounced the inquiry as "Witch Hunt garbage" while also claiming it would help his re-election chances in 2020.
"The actions of the Trump presidency revealed the dishonourable facts of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections," Pelosi told a highly anticipated press conference in the US capital....
end
The US House has not overreached. If nothing else comes out of this impeachment inquiry, Ukraine is safer today than two days ago. Nothing is wasted on the efforts by the US House. They are taking very brave measures and it is necessary.
September 26, 2019
Donald Trump is facing the biggest crisis of his political career to date. (click here)
It all revolves around a controversial phone call he had with the President of Ukraine in July that was investigated after a whistleblower complained of corruption, reports News.com.au.
Now, thanks to that complaint, a formal impeachment inquiry has been launched against him. Joe Biden, who is also at the centre of the scandal, just went on Jimmy Kimmel's tonight show to say the President had committed a "blatant abuse of power" that "cannot stand"....
...The Short Version
On July 25, Trump had a 30-minute phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In August, a whistleblower from within the US intelligence community complained that Trump's behaviour during the phone call was highly unethical.
On September 19, it was revealed that the complaint alleged that Trump attempted to coerce the Ukrainian government into investigating alleged corrupt acts involving former vice president Joe Biden and his son Robert Hunter Biden.
Specifically, he wanted Ukraine to probe Joe Biden's role in the dismissal of the country's prosecutor-general, Viktor Shokin, who was axed in 2016....
It is no coincidence Trump's ideology parallels that of Russia and China. I believe he is groomed by Putin and his leanings that favor dictators in the world.
September 26, 2019
International cooperation (click here) is crucial for coordinating the interests of each country and maintaining a stable world order. It is important to continue advocating the significance of this approach and prevent the spread of excessive “country first” policies.
In a speech at the United Nations, U.S. President Donald Trump declared: “The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.” Trump also said, “Wise leaders always put the good of their own people and their own country first.”
Of course, every country’s leader gives priority to the interests of one’s own nation. However, terrorism, climate change, poverty and other issues that transcend national boundaries cannot be resolved if each country acts alone. It is obvious that pursuing only the gains of one’s own country will cause conflicts to spread and also harm wider economic interests.
The United States led the creation of the United Nations, which was spurred by reflection on two world wars. The United Nations’ basic principle is that every nation must work together to protect global peace and security. It is unfortunate that the leader of a major country that stood at the forefront of this initiative is clinging to a self-centered approach.
During his speech, Trump suggested that each nation’s independence and sovereignty should be prized above international frameworks. China and Russia use the same argument to reject interference in their affairs by the international community. This line of thinking could result in more heavy-handed politics and human rights violations going unaddressed....
"China Daily"
September 25, 2019
Washington - US President Donald Trump (click here) asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July telephone call to investigate whether former Vice President Joe Biden shut down an investigation into a company that employed his son, a summary of the call released by the Trump administration on Wednesday showed.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced that the Democratic-led House was moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry and directed six committees to proceed with investigations of the president's actions.
Democrats have accused Trump, who is seeking re-election next year, of soliciting Ukraine's help to smear Biden, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, before the 2020 election.
"There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that, so whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great," Trump said in the call, according to the summary provided by the Justice Department.
"Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it. ... It sounds horrible to me," Trump said, according to the memo.
The call occurred after Trump had ordered the US government to freeze about $391 million in American aid to Ukraine....
The BBCThe Three Biden Mentions (click here)
The "evidence field" of the Trump coercion of Ukraine is larger than one conversation. President Zelenskyy is not alone in Ukraine in knowing the degree Trump was leveraging Russia's influence. Zelenskyy advisors were not as timid as he.
25 September 2019
By Jonah Fisher
A year ago (click here) Volodymyr Zelensky was a comedian and an actor who starred as a fictional Ukrainian president in a hit television series. Many people assumed he'd take the straight-talking, principled style from TV to the office with him. It was seen as a big factor in his election win.
The memo of the phone call, detailing President Trump's requests that he speak to Mr Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, shows a very different side.
There were frequent, embarrassing displays of flattery directed at President Trump. This is now considered standard practice among world leaders looking to curry favour with the White House, but if President Zelensky was still a comedian, he'd be using this material.
At one point Ukraine's president told Mr Trump he had modelled his election win on him, that he too wanted to "drain the swamp" and cringingly said how much he enjoyed talking on the phone to him.
When Mr Trump said that he had heard that the previous prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, was "very good and he was shut down and that's really unfair", Mr Zelensky accepted it.
In fact Mr Shokin was widely seen, both by international donors and activists in Ukraine as an awful prosecutor general and an obstacle to fighting corruption.
Then Mr Trump rubbished the former US ambassador to Ukraine calling her "the woman" and "bad news". Mr Zelensky said he agreed with him "100 percent". Most reformers in Ukraine consider Marie Yovanovitch to have been an ally and a friend.
Then there was the surprise.
It had previously been assumed that President Zelensky had politely declined Mr Trump's request to launch a new investigation into the Ukrainian company that Joe Biden's son Hunter worked for.
To most it seemed a smart decision. Despite the best efforts of Mr Giuliani, no evidence has been put forward to support the claims of President Trump that the former US vice president intervened in 2015 to help his son's company.
Many thought the absence of a Biden-related investigation was the reason US-Ukraine relations went into the deep freeze this summer. Defence funding and a trip to the White House had after all been put on hold.
In fact the phone call shows that President Zelensky appeared to roll over and agree to start an investigation.
"We will be very serious about the case," he told Mr Trump before agreeing to talk to Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr.
Whether this subsequent phone call happened - and indeed what happened to the promised investigation - is not clear.
Perhaps one of President's Zelensky's advisers had a firm word....
15 September 2019
By Francis Mureithi
The world's best teacher, (click here) Peter Tabichi, will set a record yet again as the first such professional in Kenya to address the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Brother Tabichi is a member of the St Franciscan Friars, a religious order founded by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century.
He teaches science at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School at Pwani village in Njoro, Nakuru County.
In March, the teacher won the 2019 Global Teacher Prize that came with a $1 million reward..
Not a word about the impeachment inquiry, but, Uganda is complaining about sanctions. Johannesburg's local news isn't mentioning Trump's impeachment inquiry, but, they receive a lot of their news from the BBC.
From "Buenos Aires Times:"
US SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI, DEMOCRAT OF CALIFORNIA, ANNOUNCES A FORMAL IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY OF US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IN WASHINGTON, DC.
Top Democrat and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (click here) dramatically announced on Tuesday the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump, saying he betrayed his oath of office by seeking help from a foreign power to hurt his Democratic rival Joe Biden.
The dramatic move – the first step in a complex process that stands little chance of driving Trump from office – pushed US politics into a perilous new chapter just 14 months before new elections over control of the White House and Congress.
Following the bombshell developments from Trump Tower in New York – after addressing the UN General Assembly – the president denounced the inquiry as "Witch Hunt garbage" while also claiming it would help his re-election chances in 2020.
"The actions of the Trump presidency revealed the dishonourable facts of the president's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections," Pelosi told a highly anticipated press conference in the US capital....
end
