Crying Wolf on Impeachment
The whole affair was a series of major fouls.
The best outcome is a speedy acquittal.
The impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump is coming down to one big question: Will Democrats, by crying wolf, drown out the more legitimate Republican cry of foul?
“Foul” has served as the GOP’s most powerful and honest argument from the first days of these impeachment maneuverings. Democrats broke every standard of due process, transparency and fairness in their House investigation, making a mockery of their constitutional duty.
They hid the identity of the original accuser, denying Republicans and the country the ability to judge his motives. They held secret depositions, barring more than three-quarters of House members, as well as the press and the American public. They called 18 witnesses, but blocked the president from calling any in his defense. The White House legal team was excluded from the proceedings—prohibited from cross-examining witnesses, denied the ability to introduce any evidence that spoke to the central question of the president’s focus on Ukrainian corruption.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff secretly obtained and published the communications records of the president’s private attorney, a member of Congress and a reporter. Democrats withdrew their court challenge to compel a key witness, depriving the White House of the ability to defend its executive-privilege claim in court. And the legitimacy of the first portion of the House inquiry—including numerous subpoenas—is in doubt, since it was conducted before the House voted to open it.
Democrats approved two articles of impeachment that failed to identify a crime. Senators are instead asked to render verdicts on a vague “abuse of power” claim and on a “obstruction of Congress” charge that is the result of the House’s own decision not to litigate its demand for testimony. Those articles were passed by a partisan vote with no serious expectation of conviction, simply to make a statement: “He is impeached forever,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this month.
Foul, foul, foul. The Democratic affront to basic norms and standards is why most Americans continue to reject impeachment. And it is why Republican senators remained on solid ground in moving toward a quick acquittal. Substantively, they have rightly asserted it is their duty to reject a partisan and procedurally defective impeachment. Politically, they remain on the side of the majority of Americans who oppose removing this president from office.
Yet now come Democrats and the press insisting it is Senate Republicans’ job to call yet more witnesses on their behalf, namely former national security adviser John Bolton. Mr. Schiff and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claim the failure to do this will result in a rigged trial, a “coverup,” an assault on the Constitution. Cue Republican jitters.
Relax. This is a false alarm—and for all the reasons Republicans have articulated to date. Calling Mr. Bolton wouldn’t remedy a fatally flawed proceeding. It wouldn’t erase the secret hearings, or fix the failure to settle “contempt” in the courts, or restore due process. Mr. Bolton’s testimony would add nothing. His supposed big reveal is that Mr. Trump tied the withholding of aid to Ukrainian investigations of corruption. And? Mr. Trump’s defense team has spent the week highlighting his focus on Ukrainian corruption that goes back to 2018. It has also documented completely separate reasons for the aid delay.
Everyone understands that Mr. Bolton’s testimony wouldn’t change a single Republican vote on acquittal. The only merit to calling him would be the opportunity it would provide to reopen the investigation, to allow the president’s team an honest defense with its own full roster of witnesses. But how many senators have the stomach for the months this duty to fairness would require? How many Republicans think weeks and weeks more of this torturous process is beneficial to their re-election? And who thinks that this is the Senate’s job anyway?
Republicans who hope a vote for witnesses will protect them from Democratic assault are in denial. They are surely savvy enough to know that even testimony from Mr. Bolton wouldn’t stop cries of “coverup.” Any assertion of executive privilege—any refusal to answer any question—would be cast as concealment. Democrats would claim dozens of other officials were muzzled. They can’t afford ever to concede that Mr. Trump was acquitted in a fair trial.
Far better for Republicans to shut down the whole circus. The whole affair was a series of major fouls. Get acquittal in the history books and roar out with a renewed condemnation of the Democratic abuse of a serious process. Go about reminding voters of the merits of Republican governance versus the theatrics of the partisan “resistance.” Move on to the true way Americans are meant to settle political differences in this country—the November elections.
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