Paul Craig Roberts: A Successful Coup Against Trump Will Murder American Democracy

Source: https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/11/07/a-successful-coup-against-trump-will-murder-american-democracy/
Published: Nov 9, 2019
Author: Paul Craig Roberts
Post Date: 2019-11-09 01:27:11 by Horse
Views: 595

President Trump calls it a witch hunt, but it really is a coup against American democracy. The Democrats who want Trump impeached don’t realize this. They just want Trump impeached because they don’t like him. The impeach Trump people don’t understand that if the coup against the elected president succeeds, every future president will know that if he attempts to “drain the swamp” or bring any changes not acceptable to the ruling elite, he, too, will be destroyed. Voters who want real change will also get the message and give up trying to elect a president or members of the House and Senate who will be responsive to voters. It will mean the end of democracy and accountable government. Unhindered rule by the Deep State and associated elites will take democracy’s place.

It is unfortunate that progressives do not understand this. Progressives want real change and Trump impeached, but these desires are at variance with one another.

Few, if any, of the impeach Trump crowd are paying any attention to the fabricated case against Trump that has taken the place of the Russiagate fabrication that failed. They could not care less what the case is or whether it is a fabrication. Dislike of Trump suffices.

Nevertheless, let’s look at the fabricated case.

First of all, the alleged whistleblower is not a legitimate whistleblower. He is Eric Ciaramella, a CIA officer with a second-hand complaint who met with House Intelligence (sic) chairman Adam Schiff a month ahead to orchestrate the event. Ciaramella served on Obama’s staff when VP Joe Biden was point man for Ukraine. Ciaramella also worked with CIA Director John Brennan, the architect of “Russiagate,” and with a Democratic National Committee operative who encouraged Ukraine officials to come up with dirt on President Trump.

All of this and more has caused the “whistleblower” to withdraw from testifying.

Desperate for a substitute, Democrats have come up with tainted career bureaucrats who favor military aid to Ukraine and a hard line toward Russia. Bill Taylor a US diplomat in Ukraine claims that Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, said that US military aid to Ukraine was conditional on Ukraine reopening the government’s investigation into the Ukrainian company, Burisma, an investigation that VP Joe Biden had closed down. Burisma is the company that paid as much as $1.75 million to Biden and his son.

Taylor claims that another bureaucrat, Tim Morrison, told him that Sondland communicated the “quid pro quo” to an aide to Zelensky.

Sondland rejects the claims by Taylor and Morrison.

A Ukrainian born rabid anti-Russian US Army officer serving on the National Security Council, Alexander Vindman, also offers two cents of unverified quid pro quo claims. Vindman’s motive seems to be that President Trump is inclined to follow a different policy toward Ukraine than Vindman prefers.

This is the extent of the case against Trump. Amazingly weak considering that Ukrainian president Zelensky has stated publicly that there was no quid pro quo and that the released transcript of the Trump-Zelensky conversation shows no quid pro quo.

Now for the issue of the alleged quid pro quo. It seems that everyone on both sides of the argument takes for granted without a second of thought that if there was a quid pro quo, there was an offense, possibly one sufficiently offensive to warrant impeachment. This is utter ignorant nonsense.

Quid pro quos are endemic in US foreign policy and always have been. The US government offered Ecuador president Lenin Moreno a $4.2 billion IMF loan in exchange for revoking Julian Assange’s asylum. Moreno took the deal.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/assange-bought-4-2-billion-former-ecuadorian-president-confirms-imf-loan-exchange-assange/5674374

Washington offered the Venezuelan military money to overthrow President Maduro. The military refused the offer.

Dozens of examples come readily to mind. Research would produce enough to fill a book.

What do you think the sanctions are that the US president places on countries? They are punishments that Washington imposes for not accepting Washington’s deal.

As for a quid pro quo deal between the US executive branch and president of Ukraine, we have VP Joe Biden’s boast that he got the Ukrainian prosecutor fired who was investigating corruption in the firm that had purchased US protection by putting Biden’s son, Hunter, on Burisma’s board. Joe Biden brags in front of the Council on Foreign Relations that he gave the Ukrainian president 6 hours to fire the prosecutor or forfeit $1 billion in US aid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCF9My1vBP4

https://www.dailywire.com/news/ukraine-prosecutor-that-biden-got-fired-says-he-was-told-to-back-off-investigation-report-says?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Actengage

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/463307-solomon-these-once-secret-memos-cast-doubt-on-joe-bidens-ukraine-story

As Biden was US Vice President at the time and is currently the leading Democratic candidate for the US presidential nomination, he is clearly guilty of what Trump is accused. Why is only Trump subject to investigation? If an offense that is merely suspected or alleged suffices for impeaching a president, why isn’t a known and admitted and bragged about offense reason to disqualify Biden from being president?

One would think that a question this obvious would be the topic of debate. But not a word from the presstitutes, Democrats, or Republicans.

Finally, there is the question of the whistleblower law. If this interpretation sent to me by a reliable source is correct, there is no basis in law for the alleged whistleblower complaint.

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/09/30/the-whistleblower-complaint-is-an-orchestration-not-in-compliance-with-whistleblower-law/

Post Comment   Private Reply

#1: GreyLmist    To: Horse (#0)

let’s look at the fabricated case.

First of all, the alleged whistleblower is not a legitimate whistleblower. He is Eric Ciaramella, a CIA officer with a second-hand complaint who met with House Intelligence (sic) chairman Adam Schiff a month ahead to orchestrate the event. Ciaramella served on Obama’s staff when VP Joe Biden was point man for Ukraine. Ciaramella also worked with CIA Director John Brennan, the architect of “Russiagate,” and with a Democratic National Committee operative who encouraged Ukraine officials to come up with dirt on President Trump.
>
Finally, there is the question of the whistleblower law. If this interpretation sent to me by a reliable source is correct, there is no basis in law for the alleged whistleblower complaint.

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/09/30/the-whistleblower-complaint-is-an- orchestration-not-in-compliance-with-whistleblower-law/


The “Whistleblower Complaint” Is an Orchestration Not in Compliance with Whistleblower Law - PaulCraigRoberts.org | September 30, 2019

There is a Clinton era treaty with Ukraine signed in 2000 I did not know existed which seems to authorize the very conversation Trump was having with the President of Ukraine. Here is the treaty language:

Article 1 that “[t]he Contracting States shall provide mutual assistance, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty, in connection with the investigation, prosecution, and prevention of offenses, and in proceedings related to criminal matters.” [+ 4um Ref. re: 1998]


The so-called "whistleblower" is an accomplice parroting whoever the "gossipy" leaker is that illegally spoke to them about a classified phone call between President Trump and the President of Ukraine. Who is that national security breaching leaker and why haven't we heard yet that they've been charged as a lawbreaker?

GreyLmist posted on 2019-11-26 03:19:21   Reply   Private Reply


#2: GreyLmist    To: Horse (#0)

Joe Biden brags in front of the Council on Foreign Relations that he gave the Ukrainian president 6 hours to fire the prosecutor or forfeit $1 billion in US aid.
>
As Biden was US Vice President at the time and is currently the leading Democratic candidate for the US presidential nomination, he is clearly guilty of what Trump is accused. Why is only Trump subject to investigation? If an offense that is merely suspected or alleged suffices for impeaching a president, why isn’t a known and admitted and bragged about offense reason to disqualify Biden from being president?

One would think that a question this obvious would be the topic of debate.


This manifestly disqualifes the nonsensical Democrat Party from the 2020 election, imo:

McConnell: Democrats would rather impeach Trump than fund our military - YouTube, 4 minutes | Published on Oct 30, 2019 by Fox News

Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell addresses the impeachment inquiry from the Senate floor and Democrats' threat to filibuster defense funding legislation

@ 0:52 , (R-KY) Senator McConnell: "If Democrats filibuster this Defense funding, as they've threatened to, they will literally be filibustering the exact kind of Military assistance for Ukraine over which they are trying to impeach the President. Let me say that again: This legislation is what appropriates the money for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative - precisely the program the Democrats are trying to impeach President Trump for supposedly slow-walking. And yet, tomorrow - right here in the Senate, they say they're going to filibuster funding for the exact same program. Only in Washington - only in Washington would you see a show like that. They want to impeach the President for delaying assistance to Ukraine while they block funding for the program themselves. I'd say it's unbelievable except that's exactly what's happening."

GreyLmist posted on 2019-11-26 04:51:53   Reply   Private Reply


#3: BTP Holdings    To: GreyLmist (#2)

They want to impeach the President for delaying assistance to Ukraine while they block funding for the program themselves.

Is this what this phony impeachment is all about? Talk about double standards.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. Maybe these clowns should be thrown out themselves or censured at the very least. ;)

BTP Holdings posted on 2019-11-26 05:19:55   Reply   Private Reply


#4: GreyLmist    To: BTP Holdings (#3)

Maybe these clowns should be thrown out themselves or censured at the very least. ;)

Yes, at the very least. Evidently, they can't even read properly:

washtimes.com transcript.pdf | MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION | SUBJECT: (C) Telephone Conversation with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine | PARTICIPANTS: President Zelenskyy of Ukraine | Notetakers: The White House Situation Room | DATE, TIME: July 25, 2019, 9:03 - 9:33 a.m. EDT | AND PLACE: Residence | Declassified by order of the President | September 24, 2019 | Excerpts:

(S/NF) The President: I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike... I guess you have one of your wealthy people... The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you are surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General" [Note: AG Bill Barr, not Attorney Rudy Giuliani] "call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it." ... "they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it's very important that you do it if that's possible." [Note: The only favor Pres. Trump requested was not about investigating the Bidens at all. It was about the alleged DNC server issues of Russiagate.]

(S/NF) President Zelenskyy: [Note: The first time that Guiliani is mentioned in the conversation is by Pres. Zelenskyy, not Pres. Trump.] ... "one of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine." ... "I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the" [Note: DNC server and CrowdStrike] "investigations will be done openly and candidly. That I can assure you."

(S/NF) The President: "Good because I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that's really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and" [Note: in response to Pres. Zelenskyy's comment above re: Giuliani] "I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General." ... "The other thing," [Note: on the shutdown topic of Ukraine's Prosecutor, besides making phone call arrangements about that re: AG Barr + phone call arrangements for Zelenskyy's stated interests re: Atty. Giuliani] "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. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it... It sounds horrible to me."

GreyLmist posted on 2019-11-26 07:19:58   Reply   Private Reply


#5: BTP Holdings    To: GreyLmist (#4)

washtimes.com transcript

And to think this was all out in public view for anyone to read at their leisure. Maybe they need some new advisors too. ;)

BTP Holdings posted on 2019-11-26 07:41:31   Reply   Private Reply


#6: GreyLmist    To: BTP Holdings (#5)

washtimes.com transcript

And to think this was all out in public view for anyone to read at their leisure. Maybe they need some new advisors too. ;)

The Communistas seemingly exist in an alternate dimension where they believe nothing from anyone that contradicts their inane lies and fictions. Examples [4um Ref.]:

the two foundational texts of the deceitful Russiagate narrative [are]: the Steele Dossier and, directly related, the contrived but equally ramifying Intelligence Community Assessment of January 2017. (Not coincidentally, they were made public at virtually the same time, inflating Russiagate into an obsessive national scandal.)
>
if Kremlin leader Putin so favored Trump, as a Russiagate premise insists, is it really plausible that underlings in the Kremlin would have risked Putin’s ire by furnishing Steele with anti-Trump “information”?

Nevertheless, they continually insist against logic that Russia wanted to "help" Trump win the election and harm HRC's electability. As a result of that lie, America was put on a war footing against any nation of the world the Commiecrats accuse of "election interference" because DHS Sec Jeh Johnson declared elections to be among our Critical Infrastructures, making even alleged Facebook ads that they don't like the equivalent of an Aggressive Act of War in the range of a War Crime. He did that based on the so-called "Intelligence Community Assessment of January 2017" re: the alleged Russia hacks of Democrat cyber-systems data and such -- based on no inspection by any Intel agency here whatsoever of the DNC server, which the Democrat Party refused to turn over to them despite several requests.

What that Russia-villification "Assessment" was bizarrely based on is just the CrowdStrike reportings by that company's Moscow-born "cyber security" official, Dmitry Alperovitch -- who is suspected himself of staging the mess on behalf of the supposedly "Anti-Russian" Democrat Party, Neocons&Never Trumpers, Globalist agendists, Oligarchish money moguls, et al. Now we're in the Ukrainegate phase where they want Trump impeached for what they've done and threatened to do themselves, with an Inquisitional "Dem. Star Chamber"/Soviet-styled kangaroo court that obstructs and denies Due Process procedures for Republicans -- but Leftists aren't concerned at all about the national security breaching leaker and lawbreaker, who they claim informed their alleged "whistleblower" of wrongful actions by Trump that the Ukraine phone call transcript verifies didn't happen. Pelosi didn't even wait for it to be publicly released for reading before she launched the Impeachment "Inquiry". Maybe she thought of it like "national health care legislation" or something that would have to be Congressionally voted on as "approved" before it could be read and understood by others. They definitely do need better advisors but most likely wouldn't be convinced to reconsider unless it's what they want to hear.

GreyLmist posted on 2019-11-26 19:40:49   Reply   Private Reply


#7: BTP Holdings    To: GreyLmist (#6)

if Kremlin leader Putin so favored Trump, as a Russiagate premise insists, is it really plausible that underlings in the Kremlin would have risked Putin’s ire by furnishing Steele with anti-Trump “information”?

they continually insist against logic that Russia wanted to "help" Trump win the election and harm HRC's electability.

ROTFLOL

And to think that Hillary and Bill benefitted from "donations" to the Clinton Foundation by arranging 20% of U.S. Uranium to be taken by the Russians.

This indeed was a Quid Pro Quo that Trump has been accused of that never happened. This was the Uranium One scandal.

Hillary was Secretary of State at the time. So why has she not been tried, convicted and put in prison yet? ;)

BTP Holdings posted on 2019-11-26 19:52:42   Reply   Private Reply