[296] 24 DAYS IN JANUARY 2020 Painting by Ralph Lazar

Painting: Paint on Cardboard.

An extraordinary start to the year – relentless news from every angle.
One square for each day: 01-24 January 2020

01 Jan
* US Embassy in Baghdad attacked by mob

02 Jan
* Top Iran military commander Qasem Soleimani killed by US in Iraq

03 Jan
* Iran vows “severe revenge”

04 Jan
* Iran’s Soleimani was mythologized among Shiites and loathed by US

05 Jan
* Iran Challenges Trump, Announcing End of Nuclear Restrictions

06 Jan
* Bolton willing to testify

07 Jan
* Pompeo again declines to show evidence of threat
* Impeachment festers as Washington eyes war
* McConnell says he will proceed on impeachment trial without witness deal
* Rockets hit Iraq base where US troops are located

08 Jan
* Ukraine passenger jet crashes after Teheran takeoff
* Trump backs away from further military conflict with Iran
* At the edge of war, US and Iran appear to step back

09 Jan
* US increasingly believes Iran shot down Ukrainian airliner by accident
* Trump vs. Iran – it’s not over
* Double helix of crises: Iran + Impeachment

10 Jan
* Pelosi alerts House to be ready for impeachment articles next week
* U.S. says it won’t discuss withdrawing troops from Iraq as requested
* Iranian missile accidentally brought down Ukrainian jet – US

11 Jan
* Iran admits to shooting down Ukrainian plane unintentionally
* Protesters in Iran call for Khamenei to step down

12 Jan
* Protests in Iran over downed jet

13 Jan
* US reverses China “currency manipulator” label
* Cory Booker out of race for Democratic nomination
* Iran denies shooting anti-government protesters

14 Jan
* Barr and Pompeo shift justification for Iran strike from ‘imminent’ threat to deterrence
* UK, France & Germany complain if Iran nuclear breaches
* Nancy Pelosi gambled and lost on the impeachment delay

15 Jan
* Pelosi announces seven impeachment managers
* Last decade confirmed as warmest on record
* The entire Russian government is resigning
* House votes to send articles of impeachment to Senate
* Impeachment is now in the Senate’s hands

16 Jan
* Senate formally opens Trump impeachment trial
* GAO: White House ‘broke law’ by withholding Ukraine aid

17 Jan
* Trump adds three high-profile lawyers to his defense team
* Clinton impeachment investigators Kenneth Starr and Robert Ray, plus constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz, are joining the Trump defense team
* Pompeo: State will investigate possible surveillance of ex-US ambassador
* New documents released on possible surveillance of ambassador

18 Jan
* Lev Parnas has shown us Trumpism from the inside
* Issues abound at 4th Women’s March, ‘but it all ties into Trump’
* Trump legal team dismisses impeachment charges

19 Jan
* Trump ‘can’t understand why he is impeached’
* President’s looming legal problems continue past impeachment
* Trump lawyers say impeachment charges ‘dangerous’

20 Jan
* NYT endorses Elizabeth Warren & Amy Klobuchar
* McConnell releases proposed impeachment trial rules

21 Jan
* Nadler says White House counsel should be recused
* Parties clash over how to run Impeachment trial
* Democrats accuse McConnell of “cover-up”
* Trump decries climate ‘prophets of doom’ with Thunberg in audience
* Democrats demand documents and witnesses

22 Jan
* Senate approves trial rules after bitter debate
* China locks down city at center of deadly virus outbreak

23 Jan
* US State Department will no longer issue temporary visas to visitors found to be traveling with the purpose of birth tourism

24 Jan
* Baghdad protesters call for an end to US troop presence in Iraq