Let us take a moment and look back on the events surrounding the third official impeachment of a President of the United States. The quest for impeachment started as early as April 17th 2016 based on this Politico Europe article I was able to find. President Trump wasn’t even the nominee and the word impeachment was at least in the hearts and minds of the Democrats and their sycophantic media, if not on their actual lips. In Congress the first actual attempt at an impeachment resolution was done by Representatives Al Green (D-TX) and Brad Sherman (D-NY) on December 6th 2017.
Following that failed attempt, the I-word was tossed around several times a week by pundits, talking heads and the subjective “news” media throughout 2018 and 2019. I defy anyone to find me a single prime time Monday through Friday broadcast week on MSNBC, CNN, ABC News or CBS News that lacked at least one person talking not just about the possibility of impeachment but rooting for it, I’ll wait…
In 2019, when the House gavel was unwisely passed back to Nancy Pelosi, there was little doubt in anyone’s mind that she was salivating to impeach Donald Trump. That little scheming gleam in beady, dead eyes, that sly side clap she rendered at the 2019 State of the Union Address and her constant denial about impeachment not being a priority, when anyone with higher brain functions knew better. She was of course biding her time, waiting for the Mueller Report to drop to give her all the starting power she needed to launch a full-throated impeachment inquiry. When that report landed with a thud and shoulder shrug by most people, it was time for Plan B, PLAN BULLSHIT.
Plan Bullshit was to find anything they could hang on Trump. This included but was not limited to: violations of the Domestic Emoluments Clause, violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, obstruction of justice, inappropriately disclosing classified information, destruction of public records, payment of ransom with federal funds in violation of international law, authorizing security clearances for people who are known security risks, failure to protect U.S. elections from foreign interference, campaign finance law violations, condoning white nationalism, using law enforcement to punish political enemies, attacking the press as “enemies of the people”, mismanagement by failing to fill vacancies, separation of immigrant children from their families and on and on. Then what should pop up for Adam Schiff, a notice from a “whistleblower” about a phone call, one the “whistleblower” did not have direct knowledge of as he or she, oh we all know it was a he, was not a participant on the call.
Supposition begins. Here is where the scheme fell apart. Schiff goes to Pelosi and tells her he has Trump dead to rights. That he has a “whistleblower” that can prove Trump tried to either bribe or extort the country of Ukraine for his own political gains by using money Congress had lawfully appropriated for Ukraine. It was at that moment Pelosi pounced and started the gears of impeachment turning. Then, in what is probably the most masterful stroke of monkeywrenching, Trump releases the call notes, stop calling it a transcript people, from the call. This totally threw the narrative by the Democrats into disarray. They were expecting to be able to frame the call in anyway they saw fit. Schiff’s opening statement of lies, or “parodies” as he calls them, about the contents of the call prove this. But Pelosi had already rung the impeachment bell, something impossible to unring. They proceeded with the investigations anyway to get Trump to just quit, to walk away, in the same way Nixon walked away. But Trump endured. And what did the House conjure up, two whole Articles of Impeachment, one for Abuse of Power and the other for Obstruction of Congress. Two of the weakest impeachment articles to ever hit the Senate since its founding. Then, inexplicably, Pelosi does not immediately transmit the Articles to the Senate. She sits on them, for reasons only known to her, but she was really trying to goad Trump into resigning. She was hoping he would step down instead of going through a full Senate trial. But again, Trump endured. Supposition ends.
Now that we are on day 9 or 10 or 200 of the impeachment trial in the Senate, a new debate has come forth about allowing John Bolton and other witnesses to testify in the Senate. This is nonsensical from every perspective. Bolton has never given any sworn testimony about Trump and his dealings with the Ukraine. Any testimony he provides would be entirely new to the impeachment investigation. This would never be allowed in a court of law at any level. If the Democrats are going to continue this charade of wanting a fair trial, then a fair trial must honor the rules of discovery or face Brady violations. Also, a fair trial would not allow the entry of propensity evidence, AKA uncharged misconduct, AKA violations of Federal Rules of Evidence 404(b) to take place, which they have done on numerous occasions. The only witnesses that should be allowed are those that have already provided sworn testimony about the matters on trial, whether the original testimony was acquired during the formal House impeachment investigations, the Mueller investigations or any other previous, relevant investigations. This honors the historical precedent of witnesses that have appeared in all the previous, modern Senate impeachment trials.
In closing I offer a bit of advice, an escape hatch, to Senator Schumer and his Democrat colleagues in the Senate. Put forth a resolution for a Senate vote to terminate, without ruling, the current trial and allow the House Managers to withdraw the current Articles so they may prepare a more thorough and complete record of the investigation. Inform your House colleagues it is not the job of the Senate to conduct the investigation, it is the job of the Senate to rule on what has previously been investigated by the House as required by the Constitution. This would basically force the Schiff sandwich back to Pelosi, where it rightly belongs. Let her decide the next step. Everyone knows this is going down in flames. It is unlikely the Republicans are going to allow for unvetted witnesses to testify. Be smart Senator Schumer, you have gotten a good whiff of this Schiff sandwich, you know what taking the bite of it is going to taste like.