Day: December 13, 2018

Background Briefing: December 13, 2018

 

The Senate Votes to End US Complicity in MBS’s Cruel War in Yemen

We begin with the 56 to 41 vote in the U.S. Senate today to end U.S. backing for the Saudi war in Yemen which is considered the worst humanitarian disaster on the planet. And in a separate vote the Senate unanimously condemned MBS the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holding him responsible for the grisly murder of the Washington Post Columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Together with a new CNN poll which finds a majority of Americans feel the Trump administration has not been tough enough on the Saudi rulers, today’s vote is an unmistakable rebuke of President Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner who have steadfastly defended MBS in the face of worldwide condemnation and continue to deny the glaring fact that this arrogant, entitled boy-king who started the war in Yemen is responsible for Khashoggi’s murder. Yemeni-born Shireen Al-Adeimi, a professor of education at Michigan State University joins us to discuss her article at In These Times “Our Presence Is a Nightmare: 100 Yemenis Speak Out against the U.S. Saudi War” and give credit to Senator Chris Murphy for leading the effort to end America’s engagement in this pointless cruel war that has 14 million Yemenis facing starvation. Conversely House Speaker Paul Ryan invites condemnation for frustrating efforts in the House to end this disgraceful chapter of U.S. complicity in war crimes and the destruction of a country.

 

Impeachment Does Not Preclude Indictment

Then we speak with David Schultz a Professor of Political Science at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota School of Law. He joins us to discuss his article at The Hill, “Mueller’s choice: Impeachment does not preclude indictment” and look into the unusual press release issued by the federal prosecutors with the Southern District of New York after the sentencing of Michael Cohen in which they made it clear that the publisher of The National Enquirer who facilitated a hush-money payment to avoid what could have been a fatal blow to the Trump campaign in the closing week of the 2016 campaign, was cooperating, and that felonies had been committed to help elect Trump president.

 

How to Make the Partisan Issue of Impeachment Non-Partisan

Then finally we explore further the issue of impeachment now made more likely following the sentencing of Trump’s fixer Michael Cohen and examine this issue which is likely to dominated politics in 2019, exploring the pros and cons of impeachmentJoshua Matz, a constitutional lawyer, Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School and the publisher of Take Care, joins us to discuss his latest book with Lawrence Tribe, “The End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment”.