A quick recap of the last month from the WSJ for all the fanboys who think there's no "there" there.
-----
What Has Happened Since House Vote to Impeach
As lawmakers wrangle over which documents and witnesses should appear in the Senate trial, here’s what’s new
WASHINGTON—Nearly a month passed between the House vote to impeach President Trump and its
transmission of the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
In that time, Democrats say,
new information has raised the need for additional documents to be subpoenaed and witnesses called, which senators will vote on after the trial begins. Mr. Trump’s legal team argues
the articles of impeachment are frivolous and dangerous and should be swiftly rejected by the Senate.
Here’s what has happened since the House vote:
Giuliani associate makes a splash
Lev Parnas, who assisted Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani in his push for the Ukrainian investigations, in recent weeks
turned over documents to the House Intelligence Committee that reveal new details about the extent of their efforts.
In prime-time interviews last week, Mr. Parnas, who has been
indicted on campaign-finance charges in a separate matter, said Mr. Trump knew what he was doing and “was aware of all of my movements.”
The text messages Mr. Parnas provided to the House don’t corroborate his assertion that the president was aware of his activities, but do outline the
close relationship he established with Mr. Giuliani and other high-level associates of Mr. Trump.
Documents released by the House on Tuesday included a letter in which Mr. Giuliani said he was seeking a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
with Mr. Trump’s “knowledge and consent.” Mr. Zelensky didn’t end up taking the meeting, fearful of getting sucked into a U.S. political drama.
Congress’s watchdog finds hold on Ukraine funds broke the law
Congress’s nonpartisan watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office, released a report finding that the Trump administration
lacked the legal authority to put the Ukraine security assistance on hold.
GAO wrote that the White House Office of Management and Budget improperly froze the money for policy reasons, in violation of federal law requiring the president to spend funds appropriated by Congress except under limited circumstances.
A spokeswoman for OMB said the office disagreed with GAO’s opinion and said it had authority “to ensure taxpayer dollars are properly spent consistent with the President’s priorities and with the law.”
Connecticut Republican’s texts suggest he had ambassador under surveillance
Among the disclosures in the trove of documents released by Mr. Parnas through the House: Information that prompted Ukraine’s Interior Ministry to
launch its own probe of “whether there were any violations of Ukrainian and international laws…or [if it was] just bravado and fake talk in an informal conversation between two U.S. citizens.”
In the documents, a long-shot Connecticut Republican House candidate who runs a landscaping business suggested in text messages to Mr. Parnas that he had then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch under surveillance. The candidate, Robert Hyde, has said his texts to Mr. Parnas were a joke and that he didn’t monitor the ambassador’s movements. Mr. Parnas has said he didn’t believe Mr. Hyde was surveilling Ms. Yovanovitch.
Still, Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel visited Mr. Hyde’s Connecticut home and business last week, according to a person familiar with the matter.
OMB directed officials to ‘hold off’ releasing Ukraine funds after Trump-Zelensky call
In December, the Defense Department released a batch of emails, including one sent July 25 by a senior official at the White House Office of Management and Budget asking Pentagon officials to hold off releasing funds for Ukraine pending the administration’s review.
The official, OMB Associate Director for National-Security Programs Michael Duffey, sent the email less than two hours after Mr. Trump pressed his Ukrainian counterpart to undertake the investigations into Mr. Biden and alleged election interference—two investigations that could benefit him politically.
Mr. Trump had ordered nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine frozen weeks before the phone call, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The assistance was ultimately released.
‘I am speechless’
New emails showed a senior Pentagon official
clashing with the White House last summer over the decision to freeze security aid to Ukraine. The official warned that the hold could complicate the administration’s ability to distribute the money before the congressionally mandated deadline.
In emails to officials at the White House Office of Management and Budget, Elaine McCusker, the acting Pentagon comptroller, raised concerns about the legality of the hold.
Her frustrations escalated in early September. After she warned OMB that the U.S. might not be able to spend $120 million by the end of the fiscal year because of the hold, Mr. Duffey responded with a letter blaming the Defense Department for not doing enough to prepare to spend the funds if they were released.
“You can’t be serious,” Ms. McCusker replied. “I am speechless.”
Bolton willing to testify—if subpoenaed
On Jan. 6, former national-security adviser John Bolton said he
would testify in a Senate trial if subpoenaed by lawmakers—which remains unlikely.
Current and former National Security Council officials have testified that Mr. Bolton was alarmed by the push for investigations in Ukraine and urged aides to report their concerns to a White House lawyer.
Mr. Bolton’s lawyer has suggested his client’s testimony would be tantalizing.
In a letter to the House lawyer in November, he said Mr. Bolton knew about “many relevant meetings and conversations” that had not yet been made public.
As lawmakers wrangle over which documents and witnesses should appear in the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, here’s what information has emerged in the last few weeks.
www.wsj.com
-----------
A bipartisan majority of Americans want to see new witnesses testify in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, and the public appears to be largely following the proceedings even after a bruising congressional inquiry that lasted several months, according to Reuters...
www.reuters.com
. I get it, in your world, the president and half the populace are racist, terrible people. You live in a country that is just awful and terrible and full of a horrid history. And you are concerned about everyone melting and cities falling into to sea. Sounds like a sad existence. Try to lighten up and smell the roses, and be thankful you live in literally the best country and best time in the history of the world. 
. I get it, in your world, the president and half the populace are racist, terrible people. You live in a country that is just awful and terrible and full of a horrid history. And you are concerned about everyone melting and cities falling into to sea. Sounds like a sad existence. Try to lighten up and smell the roses, and be thankful you live in literally the best country and best time in the history of the world.
. Later. . Later.
