Middleboro Review: Senator Doug Jones | Every Trial Is a Pursuit of Truth. Will My Colleagues in the Senate Uphold That?

31 December 19

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Senator Doug Jones | Every Trial Is a Pursuit of Truth. Will My Colleagues in the Senate Uphold That?

Sen. Doug Jones. (photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

Doug Jones, The Washington Post

Jones writes: "Soon, my colleagues in the Senate and I will be called on to fulfill a solemn constitutional duty: to render verdicts - to say the truth - in the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump."

For Americans to have confidence in the impeachment process, the Senate must conduct a full, fair and complete trial with all relevant evidence regarding the president’s conduct. I fear, however, that we are headed toward a trial that is not intended to find the whole truth. For the sake of the country, this must change.

Procedures in prior impeachment trials set no precedents because each is unique to its particular set of facts. Unlike what happened during the investigation of President Bill Clinton, Trump has blocked both the production of virtually all relevant documents and the testimony of witnesses who have firsthand knowledge of the facts. The evidence we do have may be sufficient to make a judgment, but it is clearly incomplete.

There are four witnesses who could help fill those gaps: the president’s former national security adviser, his acting chief of staff, the senior adviser to his acting chief of staff and a top national security official in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Each has direct knowledge regarding the charges against the president and should testify under oath at a Senate trial.

Let me be clear: I do not know what their answers would be, but I want to hear from them, and so should every senator and every American. We cannot allow the full truth to evade this trial only to be revealed in some future memoir or committee hearing.

Foremost among these four is former national security adviser John Bolton. Public testimony under oath revealed that Bolton abruptly ended a meeting with Ukrainian officials concerning withholding congressionally approved military assistance, as well as a White House visit, later characterizing the discussions as a “drug deal” he wanted no part of. He was alarmed enough to order that the top National Security Council lawyer be informed of what acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, were doing.

Anyone truly interested in the truth should demand to hear Bolton’s answers to a number of questions under oath:

“Did you call actions of Mulvaney and Sondland and the withholding of a White House meeting and military assistance from Ukraine a ‘drug deal’? What so alarmed you that you ordered your deputy, Fiona Hill, to report it to the National Security Council’s top lawyer? Or did Dr. Hill get that all wrong?”

Additionally, the existence of the whistleblower complaint became public on Sept. 9. Later that day, Bolton either resigned or was fired. Regardless, two days later, military assistance to Ukraine was released. Bolton should also answer these questions under oath:

“At the time you left the White House, were you still sounding alarms about what was going on with regard to Ukraine? Were you fired, or did you resign because you raised concerns? Did the public awareness of the whistleblower complaint cause the administration to release the military aid?”

These questions need to be answered now, not later in Bolton’s upcoming book.

The directive to withhold military assistance to Ukraine came from OMB, where Mulvaney pulls double duty as director. During a news conference, Mulvaney made clear that there was a “quid pro quo” regarding actions taken toward Ukraine, admonishing us to “Get over it” and adding that “We do that all the time.” Within hours, the White House issued a written statement from Mulvaney saying there was “absolutely no quid pro quo.”

Mulvaney should answer a simple question under oath:

“Now that you are sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God, which is it?” What can Mulvaney’s senior national security aide Robert Blair testify to under oath about this?

We now know that 91 minutes after Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, senior OMB official Michael Duffey sent emails halting the military aid. Only two people could plausibly sign off on that order: Mulvaney and Trump. Duffey should testify under oath as to who it was and his knowledge of the circumstances surrounding it, which can then be evaluated against Mulvaney’s testimony under oath.

Importantly, to evaluate any testimony, all relevant documents need to be produced. Everyone knows a paper trail exists — one always does — and it will either corroborate or contradict the testimony.

Trump has loudly criticized the House investigation but has said he believes the Senate will provide him a fair trial and that he wants witnesses to testify. If he chooses to maintain his blockade, however, the Senate needs only a simple bipartisan majority to issue subpoenas for witness testimony and relevant documents. A full, fair and complete trial demands nothing less.

Every trial is a pursuit of the truth. That’s all I want. It’s all each of us should want. Now that it’s the Senate’s time to fulfill its duty, my final question is: Will a majority of senators pursue the truth over all else?

Chelsea Manning was detained on 16 May after refusing to testify before a grand jury. (photo: Win McNamee/Getty)

Top UN Official Accuses US of Torturing Chelsea Manning

Edward Helmore, Guardian UK

Helmore writes: "A top United Nations official has accused the US government of using torture against Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst currently jailed in the US over her refusal to testify against WikiLeaks."

EXCERPT:

Virginia prosecutors are determined to force Manning to testify in what they hope will be an eventual trial of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.

Assange has been charged with conspiring with Manning to break into military computers to help her transmit a vast trove of US state secrets to the open information organization in 2010 which then published them, causing an international uproar.

Manning was subsequently sentenced to 35 years in military prison in 2011. Manning spent seven years behind bars before Barack Obama commuted her sentence in 2017.

Website cursor. (photo: Josh Edelson/AFP)

The Big Change Coming to Just About Every Website on New Year's Day

Aaron Mak, Slate

Mak writes: "Starting New Year's Day, you may notice a small but momentous change to the websites you visit: a button or link, probably at the bottom of the page, reading 'Do Not Sell My Personal Information.'"

EXCERPT:

The change is one of many going into effect Jan. 1, 2020, thanks to a sweeping new data privacy law known as the California Consumer Privacy Act. The California law essentially empowers consumers to access the personal data that companies have collected on them, to demand that it be deleted, and to prevent it from being sold to third parties. Since it’s a lot more work to create a separate infrastructure just for California residents to opt out of the data collection industry, these requirements will transform the internet for everyone.

Ahead of the January deadline, tech companies are scrambling to update their privacy policies and figure out how to comply with the complex requirements. The CCPA will only apply to businesses that earn more than $25 million in gross revenue, that collect data on more than 50,000 people, or for which selling consumer data accounts for more than 50 percent of revenue. The companies that meet these qualifications are expected to collectively spend a total of $55 billion upfront to meet the new standards, in addition to $16 billion over the next decade. Major tech firms have already added a number of user features over the past few months in preparation. In early December, Twitter rolled out a privacy center where users can learn more about the company’s approach to the CCPA and navigate to a dashboard for customizing the types of info that the platform is allowed to use for ad targeting. Google has also created a protocol that blocks websites from transmitting data to the company, which users can take advantage of by downloading an opt-out add-on. Facebook, meanwhile, is arguing that it does not need to change anything because it does not technically “sell” personal information. Companies must at least set up a webpage and a toll-free phone number for fielding data requests.

The NYPD increased patrols in Williamsburg and other neighborhoods after recent anti-semitic attacks. (photo: Karsten Moran/The New York Times)

Jewish Community Denounces Anti-Semitic Attacks Fueled by a "White Nationalist Administration"
Democracy Now!
Excerpt: "Anti-Semitism is on the rise. It is in the water. It is being fueled by a white nationalist administration."

In Alabama, jail inmates' health care costs could depend on the county they're arrested in. (photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

How Some Sheriffs Force Their Inmates Into Medical Debt
Connor Sheets, AL.com and ProPublica
Sheets writes: "In Alabama, the county in which you're arrested could be the deciding factor in who will be financially responsible for your medical bills behind bars."

EXCERPT:

The difference between the two sheriffs’ approaches demonstrates the unique power Alabama sheriffs have to set their own rules and answer only to voters. Legal experts and civil rights advocates say sheriffs like Cochran are likely violating both state law and the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and excessive fines.

It’s not just happening in Mobile County. In multiple instances confirmed by AL.com and ProPublica, inmates have had medical bills sent to collections while they were still behind bars, damaging their credit and putting pressure on their family members to pay up to ensure the care continued.

Brandon DeLaFosse is among them. He was arrested on domestic violence, burglary and robbery charges and booked into the Mobile County Metro Jail in November 2018, three months after he underwent surgery on his inner ear. Since then, he has received bills totaling thousands of dollars for necessary follow-up appointments and tests, some of which have gone to collections while he remains behind bars.

“He keeps getting bills in the mail,” said Alicia DeLaFosse, Brandon’s mother, who has paid hundreds of dollars for care he has received while in custody. “It’s all money he owes from going back and forth to the doctor.”

Like many inmates, DeLaFosse doesn’t have significant income or access to public or private insurance in jail.

Alabama law is clear: If an “inmate develops a medical condition which requires immediate treatment at a medical-care facility outside the county jail, the department shall be financially responsible for the cost of the treatment of the inmate.”

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Tacoma, Washington. (photo: AP)

A French Man Has Died While at a Hospital in ICE Custody
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed News
Excerpt: "This is the fourth person to die in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in the current fiscal year, which began in October."

EXCERPT:

ICE officials have long said that it is dedicated to providing timely and comprehensive medical care to immigrants in its custody, noting that they have access to a daily sick call and 24-hour emergency care. The agency has publicized that it spends more than $269 million each year on health care services.

The medical care in ICE detention has come under scrutiny by congressional officials in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, the House Oversight and Reform Committee announced it had opened an investigation into the medical care of immigrant detainees in the wake of a BuzzFeed News investigation that revealed a series of allegations of substandard care from a whistleblower.

The congressional committee issued letters demanding a series of documents from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE officials.

BuzzFeed News first reported the memo and documented how it contained reports of detainees being given incorrect medication, suffering from delays in treating withdrawal symptoms, and one who was allowed to become so mentally unstable he lacerated his own penis and required surgery.

Evacuation on the beach of Batemans Bay, Australia. (photo: Alastair Prior/Twitter)

Thousands Flee to Shore as Australia Fires Turn Sky Blood Red
Barbie Latza Nadeau, The Daily Beast
Nadeau writes: "More than 4,000 people, including residents, hundreds of tourists, and children, are trapped on beaches near the town of Mallacoota on Australia's east coast, surrounded as raging wildfires fueled by strong winds are barreling toward them."

EXCERPTS:

David Jeffrey, a local business owner, told BBC News that he and other residents sheltering on an adjacent beach nearby were preparing to jump into the sea before sudden winds pushed the flames in the other direction. “There’s a rock wall that they’ve built to keep back the sea, and that was where we were going to jump into the water if the radiant heat had hit,” he told BBC by Skype. “It looks a lot like Armageddon. It’s terrifying.”

A father and son are reported to have died and four other people are missing after several people tried to escape through the fires, despite government warnings to shelter in place until they can be rescued, according to government officials.

The Australian government has called for assistance from the U.S. and Canada, which are preparing to send fire crews to help fight the blazes that have burned some 10 million acres and killed more than a dozen people over the last several weeks. The fires have been fueled by extreme temperatures and strong winds coupled with a three-year drought.

Many of those trapped have posted eerie photos on social media of the blood-red skies and night-like conditions in the afternoon as smoke from the raging fires blocks the sun.