Pomp and Circumstance and New Witnesses Will Not Add Credibility to Impeachment
Post #3 (January 19, 2020)
With a great deal of pomp and circumstance, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi signed the Articles of Impeachment this past Wednesday (January 15, 2020) and they were delivered to the Senate by the Impeachment Managers for the House of Representatives. In my previous post, also on Wednesday, I gave my assessment of the Democrats' case against the President based on their Articles of Impeachment, Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. I explained that the impeachment case did not meet the constitutional standard of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. I also stated that the Democrats' impeachment case was further undermined by the fact that President Trump never asked President Zelensky of Ukraine to do anything underhanded in his request for an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden during the July 25, 2019 phone call. In that phone call, Trump asked Zelensky to find out what happened with Crowdstrike, and what happened with Joe Biden's withholding of aid in exchange for the firing of a prosecutor that was investigating a Ukranian company that employed his son Hunter. None of the witnesses that testified during the impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives remotely suggested that President Trump has asked anyone involved in this scandal to commit fraud or any other crime. Even if you take the worst case scenario that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine investigating the Bidens, it would not meet the constitutional standard of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. The best evidence of this fact is that the Democrats did not charge Trump with a crime.
The pomp and circumstance surrounding Speaker Pelosi's signing of the Articles of Impeachment and the delivery of the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, while historically impressive, does not make them any more credible from the standpoint of the Constitution. The Democrats have to know that their impeachment case is weak and constitutionally infirm. This must be the reason that Democrats are pushing so hard for the Senate trial to have testimony from new witnesses. However, the potential witnesses mentioned, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, are not expected to testify that President Trump pressured the Ukranians to fabricate any claims against the Bidens or commit any other crimes in an effort to damage the Biden presidential campaign. Pomp and circumstance and testimony from new witnesses might generate entertaining press coverage, but it will not make Democrats' weak impeachment case more credible. The only witnesses that can give credibility to the impeachment case against Trump are those that can testify with corroborating evidence that the President engaged in criminal misconduct.
With a great deal of pomp and circumstance, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi signed the Articles of Impeachment this past Wednesday (January 15, 2020) and they were delivered to the Senate by the Impeachment Managers for the House of Representatives. In my previous post, also on Wednesday, I gave my assessment of the Democrats' case against the President based on their Articles of Impeachment, Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. I explained that the impeachment case did not meet the constitutional standard of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. I also stated that the Democrats' impeachment case was further undermined by the fact that President Trump never asked President Zelensky of Ukraine to do anything underhanded in his request for an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden during the July 25, 2019 phone call. In that phone call, Trump asked Zelensky to find out what happened with Crowdstrike, and what happened with Joe Biden's withholding of aid in exchange for the firing of a prosecutor that was investigating a Ukranian company that employed his son Hunter. None of the witnesses that testified during the impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives remotely suggested that President Trump has asked anyone involved in this scandal to commit fraud or any other crime. Even if you take the worst case scenario that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine investigating the Bidens, it would not meet the constitutional standard of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. The best evidence of this fact is that the Democrats did not charge Trump with a crime.
The pomp and circumstance surrounding Speaker Pelosi's signing of the Articles of Impeachment and the delivery of the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, while historically impressive, does not make them any more credible from the standpoint of the Constitution. The Democrats have to know that their impeachment case is weak and constitutionally infirm. This must be the reason that Democrats are pushing so hard for the Senate trial to have testimony from new witnesses. However, the potential witnesses mentioned, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, are not expected to testify that President Trump pressured the Ukranians to fabricate any claims against the Bidens or commit any other crimes in an effort to damage the Biden presidential campaign. Pomp and circumstance and testimony from new witnesses might generate entertaining press coverage, but it will not make Democrats' weak impeachment case more credible. The only witnesses that can give credibility to the impeachment case against Trump are those that can testify with corroborating evidence that the President engaged in criminal misconduct.
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