The Daily Moth 9-26-19
Summary of the impeachment process; Whistleblower’s complaint released; 12 people dead from vaping-related illnesses; Man indicted for causing Pittsburgh overdoses; Man regrets introducing labradoodle dog breed
[Transcript] Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Thursday, September 26. Ready for news?
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Summary of the impeachment process
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House would start a formal impeachment inquiry in response to Trump’s request for Ukraine to help with investigating Joe Biden.
I read a nice article in the New York Times about the impeachment process and I’ll share it.
First, what is impeachment? The U.S. Constitution says Congress can remove presidents if enough lawmakers vote to say that the president committed treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, which refers to an abuse of power. Those instances of wrongdoing are called “articles of impeachment.”
Only two presidents have been impeached — Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both were acquitted by the Senate and completed their terms. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 to avoid being impeached.
The impeachment process starts with the House. The Judiciary Committee or a special panel can start an investigation. If they find no evidence of wrongdoing, they won’t recommend any articles of impeachment, and the president can remain in office.
However, if they find evidence of wrongdoing, they can recommend articles of impeachment. The full House will then vote on it. If at least one article gets a majority vote, it means the president is impeached. This doesn’t mean the president is “removed,” but is indicted and formally accused of wrongdoing.
The next step will be a trial by the Senate. The Senate is the jury.
A team of lawmakers from the House will be the prosecutors. The formal term for those positions is “managers.” The president will have defense lawyers to argue his case.
The Senate will then hold a vote. If at least 2/3 of the senators, or at least 67 senators finds the president guilty, then the president is removed from office with the vice-president taking over. There is no appeal.
So, where are we now with the Trump impeachment process? We’re at the very beginning stages with Pelosi announcing a formal impeachment inquiry. So it’s the investigation phase. It appears the House Judiciary Committee will lead this investigation along with support from other committees. It could take months before they make a decision on whether to propose articles of impeachment or not.
It is also very doubtful that the Senate, who is controlled by Republicans, would turn against Trump and find him guilty.
Many have suggested that the impeachment process be held back in favor of allowing American voters decide how they feel about Trump in the 2020 elections.
So, this is a summary of what the impeachment process looks like.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/us/politics/impeachment-trump-explained.html
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/nancy-pelosi-formal-impeachment-inquiry/
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Whistleblower’s complaint released
The whistleblower complaint about President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky in which they discussed an investigation against Joe Biden and his son has been released to the public.
The complaint said that Trump “used the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 election” and that Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr was involved.
The complaint said White House officials wanted to “lock down” the word-for-word transcript of the phone call by removing it from a “normal” computer system and instead putting it on a secure computer system that is used for classified information.
The compliant said that Giuliani worked behind the scenes to meet with an adviser for Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials after their call. The whistleblower was concerned because he learned that Trump had ordered all security assistance to Ukraine to be suspended without a clear reason why. This aid was worth almost $400 million.
The person who wrote it is still anonymous. The New York Times reported that it is a male CIA agent who appears to be an analyst with a deep understanding of Ukrainian politics. The whistleblower did not directly listen in to the call, but learned about the call and related activities by the White House from other government employees.
Justice Department officials said the whistleblower may have a political bias and may be in favor of a rival political candidate.
President Trump tweeted that the whistleblower was another fake news story because (he) only had secondhand information. He told others at a UN gathering that he considered people who shared the information with whistleblower as “spies” and equated their actions with treason, then said that the U.S. punished spies and treason in a different way back then — which was some kind of joke that the whistleblower and his sources deserved severe punishment or death.
https://www.axios.com/trump-ukraine-whistleblower-complaint-released-e2524316-fb2f-418e-ae57-51892e709a4c.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/us/politics/who-is-whistleblower.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-suggests-whistleblower-guilty-of-treason-2019-9
https://heavy.com/news/2019/09/whistleblower-complaint-declassified/
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12 people dead from vaping-related illnesses
The Centers for Disease Control announced that at least 12 people have died from lung disease from vaping. There are at least 805 people with either confirmed or probable cases of lung disease.
The deaths were confirmed in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, and Oregon.
The CDC said most of the patients who were sickened said they used vaping products that has THC (cannabis products) in it.
It is not yet known exactly what is making people sick. Some people only use vaping products with nicotine — no THC in it — but are still sickened.
The symptoms of the illness is coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pains, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
The CDC said if you are concerned about health risks, to consider not using e-cigarette or vaping products. If you have symptoms similar to the outbreak, you should see a healthcare provider.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/cdc-says-vaping-lung-cases-surge-52percent-in-the-last-week-to-805-with-at-least-12-deaths.html
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html
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Man indicted for causing Pittsburgh overdoses
A 25-year-old man from California has been indicted for providing a white powdery substance with fentanyl in it at an after-party in Pittsburgh that led to three men’s overdose deaths. Four men were hospitalized.
His name is Peter Rene Sanchez Montalvo. He was indicted by a federal grand jury with seven drug-related counts.
Authorities said all seven men were at the same bar on Saturday night, then went to an after-party at an apartment where Montalvo allegedly provided the drug. The men thought it was cocaine.
Two men died in an apartment room. One died in the apartment elevator.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/man-indicted-deadly-mass-overdose-pittsburgh-party-65874083?cid=clicksource_4380645_null_headlines_hed
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Man regrets introducing labradoodle dog breed
Wally Conron, an Australian dog breeder who first introduced the labradoodle dog breed in 1989, said it was his life’s regret to create the Labrador and poodle hybrid.
The reason why? He said the breed’s popularity is out of control with backyard breeders who create dogs with health problems. Conron said he opened a Pandora’s box and released a Frankenstein’s monster.
He first came up with the idea of a labradoodle because he received a request from a blind woman who needed a guide dog that did not shed. The Labrador had good traits for a guide while a poodle had fur that did not shed.
The new dog breed quickly became popular and demand was high.
Conron said the majority of Labradoodles are either crazy or have a hereditary problem and that there are a few healthy examples of the breed.
But there are Labradoodle owners who disagree with Conron and said they love their dogs, that they are perfect. There are many social media posts of dog owners defending their labradoodles.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/26/world/labradoodle-creator-frankenstein-monster-scli-intl/index.html
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending-now/labradoodle-owners-defend-the-breed-after-creator-calls-it-his-lifes-regret/990753584?utm_source=homestream&utm_medium=site_navigation&utm_campaign=homestream_click
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/09/26/creator-labradoodle-says-he-made-frankensteins-monster/
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
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