HPSCI Ranking Member Devin Nunes brings an uncomfortable dose of reality to a media discussion and he’s exactly correct.  Appearing on Tucker Carlson Mr. Nunes highlights that a vote to acquit on the impeachment articles will not be the end of this fiasco.
The Crossfire Hurricane hoax was constructed with an insurance policy to initiate the Mueller investigation, another hoax.  This same network of political operatives, all of which know each-other and work together in various government factions, then morphed the Mueller hoax into the Ukraine hoax; it’s one long continuum and it will not stop with a Senate impeachment acquittal.  WATCH:

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Additionally, on the Democrat presidential contest Nunes now predicts the movement for Bernie Sanders is going to succeed and gain the nomination.  I agree.
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There will be 24 hours of presentation by House Impeachment Managers (over 3 days); 24 hours of presentation by Defense team (over 3 days); 16 hours of Senate questioning; 4 hours of closing arguments, equally divided; open Senate deliberations/speeches; and a final vote on the articles of impeachment.
UPDATE:  After a series of defeated Democrat amendments, the Senate evening procedural session ends at 8:00pm with the following outcome:

• Monday: 11:00am closing arguments by House Managers and Defense (two hours each for a total of four hours); then the senate, regular session, floor speeches begin.
• Tuesday: 11:00am full day of floor speeches.  Each Senator limited to ten minutes.
• Wednesday: 4:00pm – A final vote on the articles of impeachment.

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The Senate voted 51-49 on a motion to support prior constitutional precedent and avoid further witness testimony in the Senate.  Republican Senators Susan Collins and Mitt Romney voted with Democrats to break constitutional framework and support witness testimony in the Senate that did not originate from House impeachment process.

Senators are now recessed for dinner while holding meetings within their caucus to debate next steps.  A disagreement within the republican caucus seems to be framed around Senators wishing to have debate time to present their own personal positions on the Senate floor prior to a final vote to remove or acquit President Trump.
One likely scenario is a vote on a resolution tonight outlining next steps, open to amendment and voting; then recess for the evening around 9pm, and a return at 11:00am Monday.  That would position a final acquittal vote for Wednesday.

• Friday night: A Senate vote organizing a resolution for the following:
• Monday: Closing arguments by House Managers and Defense.
• Tuesday: Open deliberations. Senators speak.
• Wednesday: A vote on the articles of impeachment

The situation is fluid.

We can see the basic outline of how a fraudulent impeachment scheme was constructed through an alliance of operatives in the National Security Council (NSC) and staff in the House committees. Our nation is currently dealing with the consequences.  However, if  we go back to Nancy Pelosi’s December 2018 rule changes, there is clear forethought.
It now looks like the Lawfare network constructed the ‘whistle-blower’ complaint aka a Schiff Dossier, and handed it to allied CIA operative Eric Ciaramella to file as a formal IC complaint.  This process is almost identical to the Fusion-GPS/Lawfare network handing the Steele Dossier to the FBI to use as the evidence for the 2016/2017 Russia conspiracy.

NSC resistance member Alexander Vindman constructs a false story about the Trump-Zelenskyy phone call; he shares the false story with CIA operative Eric Ciaramella (a John Brennan resistance associate and former NSC member).  Ciaramella then makes contact with resistance allies Sean Misko & Mary McCord working within the HPSCI.
Mary McCord (former DOJ-NSD and current Lawfare) then helps Eric Ciaramella create a fraudulent intelligence community whistle-blower complaint to submit to her former DOJ-NSD lawyer, now Intel Inspector General, ICIG Michael Atkinson.
…And that’s how this entire Impeachment operation gets started.
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After taking the night to consider the issues at hand, senator Lisa Murkowski announces she will not support a call for further witness testimony.  It appears the primary concern for Murkowski was her ‘yea’ vote creating a 50/50 split; and she anticipates Democrats attempting to manipulate further rules forcing Chief Justice Roberts to be the deciding factor.  Murkowski stated: “I will not stand for nor support that effort.”
Posting to her Facebook Page the Alaska Senator writes:

“I worked for a fair, honest, and transparent process, modeled after the Clinton trial, to provide ample time for both sides to present their cases, ask thoughtful questions, and determine whether we need more.
The House chose to send articles of impeachment that are rushed and flawed. I carefully considered the need for additional witnesses and documents, to cure the shortcomings of its process, but ultimately decided that I will vote against considering motions to subpoena.

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There will be 24 hours of presentation by House Impeachment Managers (over 3 days); 24 hours of presentation by Defense team (over 3 days); 16 hours of Senate questioning; 4 hours of closing arguments, equally divided; and then a Senate debate/vote on further motions to include witnesses. If there are going to be witnesses, they will first be deposed prior to testimony. No witness testimony will be permitted without first being deposed.
The Senate Trial continues today on day nine at 1:00pm ET. Today is the second of two days of alternating questions from Senators 8 hours each party, totaling 16 hours.
Fox News Livestream Link – CSPAN Liveestream Link –

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There will be 24 hours of presentation by House Impeachment Managers (over 3 days); 24 hours of presentation by Defense team (over 3 days); 16 hours of Senate questioning; 4 hours of closing arguments, equally divided; and then a Senate debate/vote on further motions to include witnesses. If there are going to be witnesses, they will first be deposed prior to testimony. No witness testimony will be permitted without first being deposed.
The Senate Trial continues today on day eight at 1:00pm ET. Today is the beginning of two days of alternating questions from Senators 8 hours each party, totaling 16 hours.
Fox News Livestream – Fox Business Livestream – PBS Livestream Link

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With Wednesday and Thursday scheduled for senators questions, the date for any other deliberative action would most likely be Friday.  During an interview with Martha MacCallum Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham predicts the potential for the conclusion to any further deliberative action and an acquittal vote on Friday.
On an optimistic note, Senator Graham does articulate a personal awareness of  the constitutional precedent that any further witness testimony in the Senate would create; and outlines his republican caucus colleagues also being aware of the issue.

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Earlier today Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced an agreement with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for the Senate questioning phase of the impeachment trial that begins tomorrow.

Senator Schumer and McConnell have agreed to alternating back-and-forth questions from Republicans and Democrats over the course of two days totaling a maximum of sixteen hours.   The alternative would have been 8 hours of questioning by Democrats followed by 8 hours of republican questions.  Obviously, and curiously, McConnell and Schumer see a benefit to alternating back-and-forth over the two days.
Additionally, according to several media reports, McConnell took a ‘whip of the Senate’ regarding witness testimony and does not currently have enough republican votes to block the pre-planned House Managers’ unconstitutional scheme to call witnesses.
The appropriate constitutional position for the Senate to take would be that the House investigates; the House calls witnesses within their investigation; the House assembles articles of impeachment; and the Senate is the trier of fact from those articles.
Ergo if a witness was not included in the article assembly, that would be a defect of the House articles; incurable in the Senate.  However, it appears there are enough republicans willing to establish a new extra-constitutional process whereby the House can assemble speculative supposition; avoid the executive branch using their lawful process to appeal to the judicial branch for opinion; and put the burden of witness testimony on the Senate.

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There will be 24 hours of presentation by House Impeachment Managers (over 3 days); 24 hours of presentation by Defense team (over 3 days); 16 hours of Senate questioning; 4 hours of closing arguments, equally divided; and then a Senate debate/vote on further motions to include witnesses. If there are going to be witnesses, they will first be deposed prior to testimony. No witness testimony will be permitted without first being deposed.
The Senate Trial continues today on day seven at 1:00pm ET. Today is the third and final day of the Trump defense presentation. The next phase is two days of Senate questioning.
Fox News Livestream – NBC News Livestream – PBS Livestream Link

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