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We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps. Specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes, Zelenskyy said on a July 25, 2019, call, the transcript of which became key evidence in Trumps first impeachment. Trump replied: 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.

Now Trump is seeking to undercut Bidens handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict by portraying himself as better-equipped to handle Moscow. Heres a look at how other key players in Trumps first impeachment are operating during the current Ukrainian invasion:

Bill Taylor: Taylor took over as the top U.S. envoy to Ukraine after his predecessor, Marie Yovanovitch, was removed following a conspiracy theory-laden campaign by Trump allies, led by Rudy Giuliani. During the subsequent impeachment probe, Taylor testified to investigators about concerns among Trumps handpicked advisers that the then-president had tied security aid to demands for an investigation of Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and discredited theories that blamed Ukraine, rather than Russia, for interference in the 2016 election. Recently Taylor has become a frequent presence on national TV analyzing Russias incursion into Ukraine and the Wests response.

Rudy Giuliani: Trumps longtime adviser and lawyer played an integral role in pressuring Ukrainian leaders to investigate Joe Biden, who had just entered the 2020 presidential race. Giuliani aligned himself with pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs and even a Ukrainian lawmaker since deemed by intelligence agencies to be a Russian agent. In recent days, hes joined the pro-Trump chorus criticizing Bidens handling of Ukraine.

Mike Pence: Trump pushed his vice president, a key conduit between his administration and Ukraine, to skip Zelenskyys inauguration in April 2019, a decision that came as the newly elected Ukrainian president was seeking U.S. recognition to show solidarity against Russia. Pence later met with Zelenskyy in Warsaw, where they discussed Trumps decision to freeze military assistance. Pence has tangled with Trump in recent months by publicly emphasizing that he had no authority to overturn the 2020 election, but he has also piled on Biden without mentioning earlier events or his role in the impeachment saga.

Jennifer Williams, an aide to Mike Pence, and Alexander Vindman testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, during a public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump.|Alex Brandon/AP Photo

Alexander Vindman: A national security adviser who listened in on Trumps fateful July 2019 call with Zelenskyy, he became one of the key witnesses against Trump during the 2019-2020 impeachment process. He testified that he thought Trumps call undermined national security by essentially pressuring an ally to help the presidents domestic political fortunes. Vindman was removed from his post shortly after Trumps first trial; more recently, he sued Trumps son Donald Trump Jr., Giuliani and other close Trump allies, alleging attempted intimidation during the proceedings. Since Russia began its current invasion of Ukraine, Vindman has spoken out in support of Bidens handling of the conflict.

John Bolton: The former Trump national security adviser refused to testify during the House impeachment investigation, even as other witnesses revealed he sounded grave alarms about Trumps handling of Ukraine and called Giulianis involvement a hand grenade. Instead, Bolton waited to offer testimony until just before the Senate trial as news of his impending book began to circulate and the GOP-controlled Senate denied his offer. This year, Bolton has begun vocally criticizing Bidens handling of Ukraine despite having withheld his evidence against Trump during the key moments of the impeachment probe.

Originally posted here:
How the Ukraine invasion connects to Trump's first impeachment and where the players are now - POLITICO

By Arthur I. Cyr| The Shawnee News-Star

President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.

Former Vice President Mike Pence was clear, calm and accurate in this statement February 4 while addressing the Federalist Society.

These qualities were helpful, to him and our nation, during the turbulent four years of the Trump administration. They continue to serve us all as Trump intensifies his false claims the 2020 election was rigged, declaring Pence could have corrected the situation.

On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence calmly certified the votes of the Electoral College, even as a violent and destructive mob was forming outside. Soon the rioters invaded the Capitol.

Federal prosecutors are systematically identifying and prosecuting the lawbreakers. Meanwhile, also on February 4, the Republican National Committee bizarrely declared the criminal behavior part of legitimate political discourse.

Overlooked in all the ongoing political noise is the nature of the Electoral College. What exactly is this obscure institution? Why not just count the peoples votes? After all, the right to vote is fundamental to our nation.

The answer is the Framers of our Constitution were committed to popular representation, but greatly opposed uncompromised concentration of power. The Constitution begins We, the people … At the same time, the Framers feared mob rule, a point brought home by the January 6 riot.

The men who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft the new Constitution also were well aware central authority was necessary. The earlier Articles of Confederation, put in place from the start of the American Revolution, proved ineffective.

Yet above all, the Framers regarded concentrated political power as inherently dangerous. A powerful head of state could easily abuse the position, and the British Crown provided Exhibit A. A powerful legislature could also became dangerously assertive, and the British Parliament provided Exhibit B.

The Framers responded by setting up a rather complex network of institutions in which none was dominant, actually or potentially, by design. They considered having the president selected by Congress. However, ultimately they discarded that concept as encouraging potentially dangerous cooperation between two of the three branches of the federal government.

The final Constitution involved clear separation in allocated powers, but required practical cooperation in carrying out governing functions. People opposed to changing or abolishing the Electoral College express concern about dangers of tinkering with this mechanism.

The Electoral College reflects this network approach. The College consists of people assembled in each state, plus the District of Columbia, to select the president and vice president of the United States after the people vote. The electors are equal in number to a states congressional delegation. Federal office holders cannot serve.

Each state allocates all electors to the candidate for each high office receiving the most votes, except for Maine and Nebraska. In these states, two electors represent the winning ticket, with others allocated to the winning ticket in each congressional district.

Direct election would spur campaigns focused on metropolitan populations. Trumps 2016 Electoral College victory permitted representation of an enormous but diffused alienated population.

In the 1950s, there was serious sustained public debate about abolishing the Electoral College. Freshman Senator John F. Kennedy took a leading role, noting any change involved not only the … presidency …, but a whole solar system of government. He added,If it is proposed to change the balance of power of one of the elements …, it is necessary to consider the others.

Think hard, never easy.

Arthur I. Cyr is the author of After the Cold War (NYU Press and Macmillan/Palgrave). Contactacyr@carthage.edu

Read the original here:
Cyr: Election Integrity, the Electoral College and Mike Pence - Shawnee News Star

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Former Vice President Mike Pence last week rejected former President Donald Trump's claim that he could have 'overturned' the results of the 2020 election. The Morning Joe panel discusses.Feb. 7, 2022

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Read the original:
Mike Pence rebukes Trump, says he had no right to overturn election - MSNBC

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki HaleyNikki HaleyWhy Mike Pence should run for president Trump endorses Rep. Nancy Mace's primary challenger GOP challenger says Mace 'sold out President Trump' MORE said on Monday that she thinks former Vice President Mike PenceMichael (Mike) Richard PencePence to give commencement address at South Carolina university Why Mike Pence should run for president Fight over Trump records puts focus on low-profile National Archives MORE "did what he thought was right" on Jan. 6 when he certified the results of the 2020 election.

"Mike Pence is a good man. He's an honest man. I think he did what he thought was right on that day," Haley told Fox News's Bret Baier on Monday.

"I will always say Im not a fan of Republicans going after Republicans because the only ones that win when that happens are the Democrats and the media, and we have to keep our eyes on 2022," she added.

Haley's remarks came after Pence said last week that the idea of overturning the election results was "un-American."

"President TrumpDonald TrumpGiuliani in discussions with Jan. 6 committee about testifying: report Rapper Kodak Black, three others wounded in shooting outside California bar Sunday shows preview: White House says Russia could invade 'any day'; RNC censure resolution receives backlash MORE is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election," Pence said at a Federalist Society event in Florida. "The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. Frankly, there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president."

Former President Trump has explicitly said Pence should have unilaterally overturned the results, something he did not have the power to do.

If the Vice President (Mike Pence) had 'absolutely no right' to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans, like Wacky Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsOn The Money Inflation hitshighest rate since February 1982 Three indicted following investigation into illegal donation scheme to Collins campaign, PAC Senators introduce a resolution honoring Tom Brady's career MORE, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election? Trump said in a statement.

Trump has repeatedly blamed widespread voter fraud for his loss, but actions at the state level in several states backed by Democrats and Republicans have not found evidence to support his claims.

Haley is also seen as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, though she has said she will not run should Trumpdecide to launch his own bid.

See the original post here:
Nikki Haley: Pence 'did what he thought was right' on Jan. 6 | TheHill - The Hill

Former Vice President Mike Pence told a gathering of world leaders and international dignitaries on Friday that there is still hope for a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear crisis, but stressed that America must show strength in the face of rising missile tests and other provocations from Pyongyang.

Weakness arouses evil, and a resurgence of missile tests and provocations from Pyongyang, [including] this weeks promises to shake the world, are a testament to this truth, Mr. Pence said, referencing North Koreas claim in recent days to be confronting the U.S. by shaking the world with missile tests.

While he did not mention the Biden administration by name, Mr. Pence suggested Washington is not responding aggressively enough to a growing wave of missile tests by Pyongyang, asserting that former President Donald Trumps diplomatic breakthrough with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un proved that peace follows strength.

The former vice president made the remarks at a summit to promote world peace and mobilize hope behind efforts to end the North Korean nuclear crisis and the decades-old conflict between North and South Korea.

The World Summit 2022 event was organized by the Universal Peace Federation and is bringing participants from every continent together, both virtually and at an in-person program in Seoul, where Mr. Pence was a featured speaker at an opening ceremony Friday.

Other top officials of the former Trump administration, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper, were slated to address the gathering in Seoul over the weekend.

During Fridays opening ceremony, Mr. Pence said the former administration showed that the dream of peace on the Korean peninsula is possible.

Under our administration we proved to the astonishment of the world that peace is possible when America is strong, the former vice president said. He referenced direct summits that Mr. Trump held with Mr. Kim after exerting economic and other pressure on Pyongyang in response to a surge in North Korean missile tests and nuclear provocations in 2017.

Few people imagined that they would see the leaders of the United States and North Korea sitting down to discuss peace, but thats exactly what happened at that historic summit in Singapore in 2018 and the summit and meetings that followed, said Mr. Pence. President Donald Trump showed it was possible, the nuclear testing stopped, the missile testing stopped and we began a productive dialogue for peace between our nations.

The historic diplomacy ultimately failed to achieve a breakthrough denuclearization deal. Mr. Trump walked away from a second summit with Mr. Kim in 2019, saying the North Korean side had demanded sweeping relief from sanctions in exchange for only a limited commitment to destroy part of the nuclear arsenal it has been building for decades in violation of repeated U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Attempts at diplomacy with the North Koreans have gone nowhere during the years since, while the Kim regime engages in increasingly brazen new missile tests.

Mr. Pences sobering remarks on the situation came amid speeches by a range of other prominent international figures at Fridays opening ceremony for the World Summit, an event being hosted by Hak Ja Han Moon, the co-founder of UPF, and co-hosted by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and former U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Mrs. Moon, the widow of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, is the leader of the Unification movement that grew from the Unification Church that the Rev. Moon founded in 1954 a year after war between North and South Korea was frozen by a U.S.-backed armistice. She and her late husband devoted their lives to the reunification of the Korean Peninsula and to the promotion of world peace. They founded The Washington Times in 1982.

A range of prominent political figures and current world leaders are participating in this weekends summit, including Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Albanian President Ilir Meta, Senegal President Macky Sall and former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Mr. Pence and other speakers praised the work of Mrs. Moon on Friday. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who also addressed the gathering in Seoul, praised participants for coming together in the name of peace for the world and for the Korean peninsula.

The human race will move forward to safety, to prosperity and to freedom only if good people take the time, show the courage, and get involved, Mr. Gingrich said.

The human race is at one of those amazing turning points, when the technology that brings us together can also be the technology that destroys us, and I think these efforts, this commitment to talk together, to bring together the kind of really remarkable groups that come from all over the world to this kind of conference, to make friendships, to go back home realizing that you have things in common that allow you to build a better future, I think all this is very, very vital, he said. So I want to commend everyone both people who are here, people who are with us virtually, and people who will, in the future, see all of this on social media.

Mr. Pence spoke of humankinds inexhaustible thirst for freedom, asserting that the U.S. plays a special role in promoting freedom around the world.

In the face of such renewed belligerence from North Korea, of Russian tanks on the border of Ukraine, of Chinas warplanes flying into Taiwans defense zone in record numbers, you can be sure of this: The American people will always stand for freedom and we will always stand with the people of the Republic of Korea, the former vice president said.

America will always be freedoms greatest champion, libertys greatest protector and the armed forces of the United States will remain the greatest force for good the world has ever known, he said.

As our administration proved. Much can be accomplished through a combination of strength and engagement, he said. Based on the progress that I saw under the Trump-Pence administration, I remain supremely confident that a brighter future is on the horizon, for the United States, for the people of the Korean peninsula, the Asia-Pacific and the world.

No oppressive regime can last forever, Mr. Pence said. For inside every human heart is an unquenchable fire that burns to be free. Inside every human soul is an insatiable desire for freedom.

Read more:
Mike Pence tells world peace rally that U.S. must show strength in face of North Korean provocations - Washington Times