| | | | Donald Trump, at his absolute worst |  | | President Donald Trump is clearly angry and shaken -- despite his occasional public insistence that he is neither -- by the revelations surrounding his efforts over the summer to pressure the Ukrainian President to investigate Joe Biden.
How do I know? Because I watched the President's news conference with the Finnish President on Wednesday -- a spectacle of bullying, victimhood, anger and vengeance that is shocking even for Donald Trump.
Asked whether he would cooperate with the subpoenas from the House related to the impeachment investigation, Trump said this:
"This is a fraudulent crime on the American people, but we'll work together. With shifty Schiff and Pelosi and all of them, and we'll see what happens, because we did absolutely -- I had a great call with the President of Ukraine. 100%."
Trump went on to accuse House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-California) of having a "mental breakdown" during his questioning of acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire. "He should resign, and some people even say it was treason," Trump added of Schiff.
He said that the rough transcript of the Ukraine call, which administration officials made very clear was not an exact transcript, was, in fact, "a transcript done by very, very talented people, word for word, comma for comma, done by people that do it for a living."
He referred to himself as a "very stable genius." He claimed, with zero proof, that Schiff has co-authored the whistleblower complaint. He said to the assembled media, "You never had wins with other presidents, did you?"
On and on and on it went.
What we know of Trump is that when he feels most in jeopardy and most cornered, he retreats into his worst instincts -- namely, bullying and paranoia. Everyone is against him -- and they are all terrible, evil, vicious people. He is being persecuted like no president ever before. His sole crime? Doing more great things better than anyone else.
The Point: Wednesday's news conference revealed -- whether Trump knew it or not -- a President absolutely consumed by scandal and reacting the only way he knows how: with anger, resentment and bitterness.
-- Chris | | "That guy couldn't carry his 'blank' strap. You understand that?"
-- President Trump, censoring himself when referring to House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, respectively. | | | CNN Fact Checker Holmes Lybrand answers a major question in the impeachment saga in a Point-exclusive fact check.
Q: Can an impeached president be reelected even if the Senate votes to convict him?
A: Yes, but... only if the Senate doesn't ALSO vote to disqualify him from future office. That separate vote is the only thing (constitutionally speaking) between a convicted president and a reelection bid.
The Constitution allows the Senate to, in addition to a conviction, disqualify a president from holding "any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States." Historically, the Senate has held a separate vote, in addition to a conviction, on whether to disqualify someone from holding office in the future.
As it's laid out in the Constitution, the House can impeach a president with a majority vote for articles of impeachment. The articles of impeachment then move to the Senate, which holds a trial on those articles.
The Senate needs two-thirds (or more) of its members to vote to convict in order to remove the president from office – which, barring some Nixonian-level revelation, is unlikely given the current Republican majority.
There's disagreement as to whether the Senate would need the same two-thirds majority to disqualify someone from future positions in government. But it's possible (legally speaking) to see a convicted ex-president get reelected. Maybe even in 2020.
Have a burning question you want fact checked in The Point? Drop us a line! | | This is my surprised face
Will President Trump leave the White House, asks Tom Edsall
Jokers, ranked
Every junior high school dance I ever went to ended with "Stairway to Heaven." Every one.
The DC private school scene is, uh, something | | | A Winged Victory for the Sullen makes beautiful ambient music. Here are two new tracks from them. | | DEMOCRATS GET IN FORMATION | | T-minus 13 days until the fourth Democratic debate brings 12 candidates to one stage for one night in Ohio.
Polling determines the just-announced podium order, with Joe Biden in the middle, flanked by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. This will be Tom Steyer's first debate, and a return to the stage for Tulsi Gabbard (she did not qualify for the September debate). | |
LAUREN'S CAMPAIGN TRAIL LATEST | | Bernie Sanders: Is off the campaign trail "until further notice" while he recovers from an artery blockage. His campaign has also postponed his just-announced TV ad buys.
Amy Klobuchar: Released her first TV ad for voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Elizabeth Warren: Announced a plan to tax corporate lobbying, imposing a 35% tax on lobbying expenditures between $500,000 and $1 million. The cost would escalate from there, rising to 75% once a company's lobbying costs surpass $5 million.
Julián Castro: Released a labor plan promoting union membership and supporting and protecting domestic workers and farmworkers. | | | 59 President Trump made 59 false claims in the last week, including claiming that CNN built and dismantled a studio for a special North Carolina congressional election (it didn't). | | | | | | |
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