people want to get into semantics. I don't want to get into the needless "conspiracy / collusion" debate. Do I believe Trump wanted help from a foreign entity in a US election? YES. He pretty much said it after the Mueller investigation. However, there was no smoking gun. It was always going to be hard to prove. There was also the excuse the Russians sought Trump out ... not the other way around (it's legally irrelevant but for the court of public opinion, it mattered). When MLB got caught for "collusion," I believe there was a memo and Peter Ueberroth went blabbing about being "not smart" signing players to long term contracts. It's needs to be that obvious.

I completely agree with your interpretation of high crimes and misdemeanors. I dont even think it's really up for debate. It's just a lot of mental gymnastics from the Trump supporters. Hamilton was clear that a crime is NOT necessary for removal from office. This is directly from Hamilton:

“ those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to society itself.”

I'll say it again, if this was a criminal trial ... my friends, who are prosecutors, believe they can get a conviction on just the known public evidence and testimony (indictment is a given). Imagine if they had enforceable subpoena powers? Unfortunately, impeachment and conviction is a politcal process. The Democrats need to build public support.

[Post edited by Blah at 11/01/2019 11:47AM]