Impeachment Day 15- As Public Opinion Shifts Against President, Trump Remains Defiant
A significant new Washington Post public opinion survey shows support for the House inquiry in recent weeks rising by 25 points among Democrats, 21 points among Republicans and 20 points among independents.
The poll concluded on October 6, which means the latest examples of the erratic behavior of the President and the existence of a second whistleblower were not factored in. It’s safe to say the next nationwide poll isn’t going to get any better for Trump, especially given the administration’s stonewalling of Congress.
The findings highlight the partisan divisions that surround the Trump presidency and any impeachment inquiry, but also the degree to which there are defections among Republicans.
More than 8 in 10 Democrats endorse the inquiry and nearly 8 in 10 favor a vote to recommend that Trump be removed from office. Among Republicans, roughly 7 in 10 do not support the inquiry but almost 3 in 10 do, and almost one-fifth of Republicans say they favor a vote recommending his removal. Among the critical voting bloc of independents, support for the impeachment inquiry hits 57 percent, with 49 percent saying the House should vote to remove Trump from office.
Just hours before Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, was scheduled to give a deposition Tuesday before a House panel conducting the impeachment inquiry, he was ordered not to appear.
The decision to block Sondland’s testimony at the last moment is suggests the White House has figured out some of his answers would be really damaging. Sondland’s statement in response indicates he was a willing witness; the text messages released last week provide a framework for questioning that would make it difficult to come up with a pro-administration narrative.
Trump and other administration officials have rejected requests for information and testimony in the Democrats’ investigations. The State Department did not respond to a subpoena for documents Friday, and an attorney for two of Rudy Giuliani’s associates who work on the Ukraine matter, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, rebuffed another request Monday.
Of the ten requests for testimony or documents from Congress to the executive branch, nine have been blocked or appear to headed in that direction. Only testimony from former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch on October 11 is on track.
Next up will be a barrage of subpoenas, which are likely to be challenged on executive privilege grounds.
At that point, Democrats will have to make good on a threat to include evidence of obstruction as an article of impeachment.
From Nixon’s impeachment, Art. I, Sec. 4,: "interfering or endeavouring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by the Department of Justice of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the office of Watergate Special Prosecution Force, and Congressional Committees.
https://twitter.com/Rockmedia/status/1181549643529719809?s=20
While Republicans are ratcheting up complaints about the protection of whistleblower #1 identity, Democrats are considering extraordinary measures including testimony from a remote location and obscuring the individual’s appearance and voice.
From the Washington Post (also in today’s Union-Tribune):
One individual familiar with the discussions said this is the first time the panel has had to take such extraordinary measures to protect a witness — including from the individual’s own GOP colleagues.
In a further sign of the breakdown of comity, the committee majority restricted access to the visitor logbook after GOP staffers leaked names of individuals signing in for job interviews when the majority was hiring new staff in early 2019, according to a committee aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely describe the situation.
Of the whistleblower, Trump has said he wants to meet his “accuser” and has warned of “Big Consequences.” Trump even alluded to the death penalty for individuals who gave information to the whistleblower, likening them to spies.
https://twitter.com/SteveScalise/status/1181333492887478272?s=20
Senator Mitt Romney is purported to be quietly reaching out to Republican Senators urging them to consider voting to remove Donald Trump from office, in the event a vote for conviction is allowed.
From Vanity Fair:
According to people close to Romney, he’s firmly decided against primarying Trump, an enterprise he believes to be a sure loser given Trump’s enduring GOP support. Romney has also told people that, as an unsuccessful two-time presidential candidate, he’s the wrong person to take on Trump.
Instead, a Romney adviser told me, Romney believes he has more potential power as a senator who will decide Trump’s fate in an impeachment trial. “He could have tremendous influence in the impeachment process as the lone voice of conscience in the Republican caucus,” the adviser said.
In recent days, Romney has been reaching out privately to key players in the Republican resistance, according to a person briefed on the conversations. “Romney is the one guy who could bring along Susan Collins, Cory Gardner, Ben Sasse. Romney is the pressure point in the impeachment process. That’s why the things he’s saying are freaking Republicans out.” (Romney, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.)
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Lead image via Pixabay