More Obstruction of Justice, Congress warned about Trump, Nuke tech to Saudis, WV folds on teacher strike

By Robert A. Vella

The number of bombshell news stories raining down on President Trump is so heavy that it reminds me of Adolf Hitler’s last days deep inside his Berlin bunker.  Considering the scope and depravity of Trump’s conduct, one must wonder how much longer this debacle can continue.  The American people are suffering from this nightmare and the nation is tearing itself apart.  Both the Department of Justice and the U.S. Congress have the most profound and painful duty to remove the Megalomaniac-in-Chief from the White House.  Yes, they must be careful and deliberate.  Yes, they must follow the law.  But, they also must be expeditious as best as they can be.

The weight of direct and circumstantial evidence against Donald Trump as a willfully unlawful president who has openly obstructed justice, abused the power of his office, facilitated the geopolitical goals of foreign actors including those who are hostile towards America, and destabilized the safety of the entire world, is overwhelmingly apparent.  His guilt is without question;  still, it must be proven legally and convincingly.

The following additional news developments which broke today reveal that Trump’s attempts to obstruct justice are ongoing and wide-ranging, that his former interim Attorney General appears to have lied to Congress, and that he is unfit to have any control over the nation’s nuclear technology.  The last story posted here details an abrupt and embarrassing fold by West Virginia after the state’s teachers renewed their strike just this morning.

More Obstruction of Justice

From:  Trump DOJ Meddling Included Whitaker Call Seeking New Prosecutor On Cohen Probe

President Trump’s repeated efforts to meddle with Justice Department investigations into him and his inner circle included a phone call to then acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker asking for an ally to be put in charge of the Michael Cohen probe, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

The report lays out several previously unknown episodes showcasing the private attempts by Trump and his supporters to impede the Cohen investigation as well as special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

According to the Times, the phone call to Whitaker happened in late 2018. Trump asked Whitaker if Geoffrey Berman, the Trump-aligned U.S. attorney in Manhattan who is recused from the Cohen probe, could be put back in charge, the Times reported.

Congress was warned about Trump

From:  McCabe says he told Congress ‘Gang of 8’ leaders about FBI probe into Trump, and they had no objection.

Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday that he briefed congressional leaders about the counterintelligence investigation he had opened into President Donald Trump and that “no one objected.”

“That’s the important part here,” McCabe told Savannah Guthrie, who had asked if he had informed the “Gang of 8” bipartisan group of leaders on the Hill. “No one objected. Not on legal grounds, not on constitutional grounds and not based on the facts.”

The purpose of the briefing in 2017 was to let the congressional leadership, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, then-House Speaker Paul Ryan and their Democratic counterparts, know what the FBI was doing in the probe into Russian election interference and possible collusion by the Trump campaign, McCabe said.

Nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia

From:  Top Trump appointees promoted selling nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia over objections from national security officials, House Democratic report says

Several current and former Trump administration appointees promoted sales of nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia despite repeated objections from members of the National Security Council and other senior White House officials, according to a new report from congressional Democrats.

The officials who objected included White House lawyers and H.R. McMaster, then the chief of the National Security Council. They called for a halt in the nuclear sales discussions in 2017, citing potential conflicts of interest, national security risks and legal hurdles.

Yet the effort to promote nuclear sales persisted, led by retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who served briefly as President Trump’s national security adviser, and more recently by Energy Secretary Rick Perry. The possible nuclear power sale was discussed in the Oval Office as recently as last week.

West Virginia folds on teachers’ strike

From:  West Virginia House tables bill that prompted teacher strike

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — This time the teachers’ strike was only hours old when lawmakers acted.

Just as the strike began Tuesday, the West Virginia House of Delegates effectively killed a complex education bill that sent state teachers to the picket lines nearly a year after a nine-day strike closed schools.

The Republican-led House voted 53-45 to approve the motion to table the bill indefinitely. It means the bill won’t go to the next step: a committee of Senate and House members who would try to come up with a compromise.

Cheers erupted from the House galleries where hundreds of teachers were in attendance.