Impeachment Today: A Crime Is Not A Crime If Trump Did It, Says GOP
We’re a week or so away from the House impeachment hearings going public. Transcripts of witness interviews are being released, starting with those of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State Ambassador Michael McKinley.
And the President’s defenders have run out of excuses.
Get ready for the sh*t show. If you think deceit, deception and distraction were bad before, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Take a look at what’s already in progress and multiply it by at least three.
I’ve broken the defense of Trump scenario down into five easy-to-understand steps. Be aware that there is no intentional strategy behind all this; the President watches Fox News in the morning and reacts accordingly.
First out of the box, bash the witnesses.
Exhibit A is the assault on the credibility of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council officer who testified about Trump’s extortion of Ukraine. After the President’s toadies spent days on Fox News questioning his loyalty to the United States, the Big Man himself rattled off a promise of something more to come:
During a press gaggle outside the White House, Trump was asked if he had any evidence of his baseless claim that Vindman is a “Never Trumper”– the kind of Republican whom Trump has described as “human scum.”
“We’ll be showing that to you real soon, okay?” the President said.
Next up, there’s The WhistleBlower. Federal law protects the identity of persons who bring wrongdoing to the attention of higher ups. Also, the whistleblower is a CIA agent, whose future with the agency would be compromised by exposure. And for Team Trump, getting this person’s name in the public domain is a top priority.
Various conservative websites have circulated their best guess, a couple members of the House GOP Loony Caucus have spread the word, and the President even told reporters they’d be doing a public service if they revealed an identity.
Trump (and thus Republicans) have sustained a burning interest in the whistleblower’s identity despite his or her growing irrelevance to the impeachment inquiry. Democrats, initially hellbent on getting the whistleblower’s testimony, now shrug at the prospect, citing the wealth of evidence they’ve gotten from other witnesses who don’t have to worry so much about protecting their identities.
Nevertheless, over the weekend, the whistleblower’s lawyer offered up the opportunity for Republicans to submit written questions, which his client would answer under oath.
The compromise was not enough for the President:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1191337006615482368?s=20
Obviously the name of this game is “pain” for those who come forward. Here’s William Saletan at Slate on just how sick this is:
The smears are vile, but they’re only half the story. They expose a deeper pathology: the authoritarian mindset of Trump’s surrogates. In this cultish worldview, Trump’s personal interests are identical to the interests of the United States, and anyone who interferes with Trump is anti-American.
Second, build the wall, the stonewall, that is. It’s game on for ignoring subpoenas. Of the 11 present and former administration officials that are supposed to be deposed this week, only two are (maybe) going to show up.
The court case which will likely compel witnesses to appear won’t be ruled on for another month, and the Department of Justice isn’t going to enforce anything Congress asks for without a fight. It’s entirely possible the administration will defy any court ruling, leaving the House of Representatives with adding obstruction of justice as an article of impeachment as their only option.
Speaking of walls…
https://twitter.com/JoshuaHol/status/1190693942100217865?s=20
Third, deny the facts.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1191155312084082688?s=20
Fourth, challenge the law, aka “everybody does it.” Quid Pro Quo is the way we go.
Official U.S foreign policy is distinct from the president’s whims, and Trump and Giuliani subverted that policy. But if the President IS the USA, then never mind.
From the Washington Post:
A growing number of Senate Republicans are ready to acknowledge that President Trump used U.S. military aid as leverage to force Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his family as the president repeatedly denies a quid pro quo.
In this shift in strategy to defend Trump, these Republicans are insisting that the president’s action was not illegal and does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense as the Democratic-led House moves forward with the open phase of its probe.
But the shift among Senate Republicans could complicate the message coming from Trump as he furiously fights the claim that he had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine to pressure it to dig up dirt on a political rival, even as an increasing number of Republicans wonder how long they can continue to argue that no quid pro quo was at play in the matter.
Fifth, rally the true believers.
The President is on the road to states where his base is strong. Rallies in Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky are a road test of his premise that he is his own best defense against impeachment. Political surrogates are extolling his successes and warning of dire consequences should Trump stumble.
Phil Bryant, the staunchly conservative Republican governor of the state who in the spring signed into law a restrictive rule banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, told the crowd that Mississippi would remain a “ruby red” bastion after next Tuesday’s election.
In September, the president’s approval ratings in Mississippi was 13 points below where it was when he first took office, according to Morning Consult, a polling, media and technology company. Still, Mr. Bryant denounced both liberal and moderate political ideals in favor of the base politics that Mr. Trump has championed.
“A moderate is that yellow line in the middle of the road,” Mr. Bryant said, “where the opossums get run over.”
Some of his supporters outside the administration are willing to take things even further, and Trump certainly doesn’t seem to mind. Last month he quoted Pastor Robert Jeffress in a tweet saying “if the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.”
Based on what I’ve seen, the mass media in the United States is incapable of covering what’s unfolding in such a way that the public can comprehend what’s transpiring.
Things to watch...
Outside of the drama between the White House and Capitol Hill, there are developments that could become big deals in the coming weeks.
Trump’s Tax Returns… The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it will not block a New York grand jury subpoena to Trump's accounting firm, finding Trump isn't likely to win by arguing presidential immunity extends to something like this state grand jury investigation. ...“presidential immunity does not bar the enforcement of a state grand jury subpoena directing a third party to produce non-privileged material, even when the subject matter under investigation pertains to the President.”
The President’s legal team has already said it will appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.
The Mueller files… In response to a court order, the Justice Department released the first installment of hundreds of pages of summaries of FBI interviews with witnesses from the Mueller investigation. Here are the high points of what the Buzzfeed lawsuit has pried out thus far:
Paul Manafort was pushing the unfounded conspiracy theory — now part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump — that Ukraine hacked the Democratic National Committee's emails as early as 2016.
The president’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, "had to keep Trump out of the messaging related to Russia” in preparation for his testimony to Congress under oath and that the false testimony was "not his idea."
Top Trump campaign aide Rick Gates said the campaign was “very happy” when a foreign government helped release the hacked DNC emails.
Roger Stone goes on trial this week…The longtime GOP operative and dirty trickster was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller.
It is alleged Stone tried to obstruct the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election by lying to the committee about his efforts to contact WikiLeaks and by encouraging another witness to lie for him as well.
Via Vox:
The proceeding is certain to be a sensation. Steve Bannon, the former top White House adviser, is reportedly likely to testify — against Stone. Prosecutors have signaled they will discuss several phone numbers for Trump himself, apparently to allege Stone spoke with the president about Wikileaks.
Stone, a colorful character, may take the stand in his own defense. And all of this will unfold at a perilous moment for Trump, with unpredictable effects on the House’s impeachment inquiry.
Remember, this is the guy with a tattoo of Nixon on his back.
Finally--for today--the President has reporters thinking a government shutdown to protest the impeachment hearings may be in order. (Lots of luck with that.)
***
https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1191032777463889920?s=20
Hey folks! Be sure to like/follow Words & Deeds on Facebook. If you’d like to have each post emailed to you check out the simple subscription form on the right side of the front page.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com
Lead image credit: Pixabay