that s particularly bad for the president s republican supporters in congress who all have their own political fates to worry about. so the politics of the impeachment inquiry are a , on the move and b, trending badly both for the president and for republicans in congress. and while it technically should not matter who conducts a nationwide poll like this, as long as it s a scientifically sound poll, if we re being realistic about it, the fact that this is a fox news poll and is, therefore, being covered all over fox news, which the president waup watches 24 hour day, that has a particular sting and particular effect for president and his staunchest defenders. the other thing that is at work here, i think this is the most interesting thing about this impeachment even when you compare it to other impeachments of the last century, right, even when you compare it to the watergate impeachment effort and the bill clinton impeachment effort, the thing i find fascinating here that i really
day, that has a particular sting and particular effect for president and his staunchest defenders. the other thing that is at work here, i think this is the most interesting thing about this impeachment even when you compare it to other impeachments of the last century, right, even when you compare it to the watergate impeachment effort and the bill clinton impeachment effort, the thing i find fascinating here that i really think is it sort of stands alone, is that this impeachment crisis as the house moves to vote on articles of impeachment against the president this week, it is not a dead letter. it s not over. the impeachment scandal, what we know about it, continues to evolve and continues to break open bit by bit. for example, you remember michael cohen, right? it was this time last year that michael cohen was sentenced to prison for among other things making illegal payments totalling over a quarter million dollars to benefit the trump campaign for president by effectively payi
prize as a pro democracy disdent, a woman staunchly defended her government against charges of genocide against a muslim minority group, the rohingya. there have been evidence of gang rape and arson with genocide intent. and this is all just in this week. if you broaden the lens, we re living through what larry diamond has called a democratic recession. international human rights watchdog group freedom house registered global declines in political rights and civil liberties for 13 consecutive years. this is the context in which to consider america s impeachment crisis. the fact of the case are blindingly clear. president trump pressured the new ukrainian government to investigate the bidens as has been described in sworn testimony by 17 witnesses. many of them sitting senior government officials with each
larry diamond has called a democratic recession. international human rights watchdog group freedom house registered global declines in political rights and civil liberties for 13 consecutive years. this is the context in which to consider america s impeachment crisis. the facts of the case are blindingly clear. president trump pressured the new ukrainian government to investigate the bidens as has been described in sworn testimony by 17 witnesses. many of them sitting senior government officials with each person s account confirming the others and emails, texts and the rough call transcript further documenting it all. the republican s defense is that this elaborate campaign to help trump s reelection was actually a big misunderstanding. trump had never asked for it. all the officials working feverishly for months across contents for all simultaneously diluted. call it the walter mitty defense.
president to face articles of impeachment and on this day trying aid russia by ab solving them of wrong doing in the 201 election, he s meeting with russia, specifically sergey lavrov. the last time he met with him was at the white house in 2017. you might remember this. the ta after he fired james comey and he told lavrov by firing comey, he quote relieved the great pressure he was under from the russia veinvestigation. joining me now, shannon and michael. the former deputy assistant secretary of state. shann shannon, we were, me and a few others were try iing to figure t how to strib this split screen. the impeachment crisis and trump meeting lavrov in the oval office. is it surreal? is it maddening? gaslig gaslighting. we setteden led on fitting.