As previously predicted here, the president will be impeached in the House. I earlier predicted by the end of November. It may be a little later.
There is a dispute among House democrats: keep the articles simple, without factual dispute, and easily understandable by the public; or include articles that charge more complicated matters else the perception of giving the president a pass on those matters.
The “simple” article is the conditioning of congress-mandated military assistance to Ukraine on the receipt from Ukraine of dirt on the Bidens. Trump did this in his July 25, 2019 conversation with Ukraine president Zelensky. The plain words of the conversation readout from the White House, supplemented by deposition testimony given to the relevant committees of congress leave no factual dispute.
The “complicated” articles would charge obstruction of justice in the Mueller probe, the abuse of power, stiffing congress on subpoenas to the executive branch, and other misdeeds.
I believe that there will be a compromise favoring simplicity.
The White House and its supporters are fighting back with blood-curdling charges of their own, most on the Fox News Channel prime- time lineup led by an apoplectic Sean Hannity, a tweedy Tucker Carlson and a faux-chuckling Laura Ingraham (she appears to be easily amused) . Many of the arguments in opposition to the democrats are couched in language that needs some explication.
“Deep state” is not the mood created by particularly powerful marijuana. It refers to government employees on a frolic and detour who do whatever they want, always contravening the interests of the nation, at least as understood by the Fox folks.
“Soviet-style” refers to the taking of depositions by congressional committees in the presence of democratic members and republican members with transcripts thereof delivered to 45 (forty-five) republicans but otherwise remaining in the private purview of the committees. To my knowledge the Soviet Union had numerous show trials resulting in the banishment, jailing, or execution of defendants, a course not being taken by the committees.
“Treason” is not the giving of material assistance to enemies of the United States in war time, a capital offense. It refers to the conduct of congressman Adam Schiff in publicly satirizing the remarks of the president in his July 25, 2019 conversation with Ukraine president Zelensky.
This was ill-advised but execution is no more appropriate for Schiff’s performance than it would be for Alec Baldwin’s SNL sendups of the president’s third-grade vocabulary or preposterous hairdo. The treason statutes apply equally to elected officials and ordinary citizens.
The playwright George S. Kaufman perceptively said, “Satire is what closes on Saturday night.” Mr. Schiff’s writers missed that.
“The Swamp” is not an area of low-lying, uncultivated ground where water collects like a bog or marsh. It’s folks living in Washington who make a living trying to influence the federal government before and after getting a job in the Trump administration.
So when you hear that the treasonous Adam Schiff’s Soviet-style investigation is doing the bidding of the deep state and the swamp, you will understand.
The democrats use colorful lingo too. Like “jerk,” “racist,” “orange-colored,” “liar,” “thug.” They better watch it lest they end up as treasonous commies.
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In fact the taking of depositions is probably a good idea as is holding them back from the general public until later. As lawyer Bruce Bromley said, “Bust if you must the giant trust but let’s take depositions f’ust.” Preparation is vital here because no investigations preceded these.
What is forgotten is that both the Nixon almost-impeachment and the Clinton impeachment came after detailed and secret investigations by special counsel followed by congressional impeachment inquiries, a circumstance that does not exist with the allegations against this president.
And the vaunted Trey Gowdy’s investigation of Benghazi was entirely secret until he decided it was over and went public.
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In the end, there will be no viable factual defense to any article of impeachment regarding Ukraine.
In a Senate trial on such an article there will be a defense that will not be based on contesting facts that are not in dispute but will be based on the judgment and opinion of individual senators. That defense will be that what happened in the president’s Ukraine behavior was wrong–even reprehensible–but does not rise to the level of the president’s conviction and subsequent removal from office.
Since that is properly a matter of opinion, there is no defense to it.
That defense will be based upon the fact that removal from office will undo an election, something that republican senators will be unwilling to do.