The point has been made by many, that Trump shows by his actions — his stonewalling of witnesses and documents — that he knows that he is guilty, that he’s got plenty to hide, and that his “I did nothing wrong” is a lie.
So Trump’s defenders — who work to continue that stonewalling to keep Trump’s conduct from being fully exposed, while defend that conduct — expose themselves as liars as well. Trump and the Trump Party are blatantly showing “consciousness of guilt” even as they protest Trump’s innocence.
Though the point has been made many times, it is really only NOW that this point has become the main point to stress, to make into a kind of refrain, at the end of every stanza, to call the attention of the American people to the lie at the heart of Trump’s defense. A lie so central that the people might be helped to see that nothing the Republicans are saying can be believed.
up that underlies the second of the Articles of Impeachment.
The Democratic prosecutors should pound this point: that the Republicans, with their obstructive rules for conduct the Senate trial
are showing that they know Trump is as guilty as hell (both on the Ukraine matter, to which witnesses like Bolton should surely testify, and on the obstruction of Congress, to which they are now acting as accomplices), that that they don’t want the American people to get the information they would need to judge whether Trump should be removed from office, that these are patently violating the clear intent of the Constitution when our founders spoke of a “trial,” for every trial makes room for all the relevant evidence and testimony to be presented, and violating also two oaths they have sworn: their oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution, and their oath as the jurors/judges in an impeachment trial to render “impartial justice, according to the Constitution and laws.”By the way, “impartial justice” here does not mean they need to come into the trial with no opinion— which would imply some stupidity in view of the overwhelming evidence that is already public. Rather, it means that the judgment will be rendered with only the “Constitution and laws” guiding one, with any other interest one might have — partisan or otherwise — being ignored. This, the Republicans are clearly not doing.
These Republicans have clearly acted as loyalists to the President, who has for years now shown that he does not want the American people to know what he’s done— from firing James Comey to obstructing the Mueller investigation to stonewalling the constitutionally legitimate impeachment investigation by the House of Representatives.
The Constitution commands them — and they are only empaneled to judge if they swear the oath that commands them — to render “impartial justice.” And here is a Senate Majority leader writing up rules after having declared publicly that he will work hand-in-glove with the President/defendant, taking no position but theirs. It doesn’t get more clearly “partial” than that.
The Democratic prosecutors should pound this point: that the Republicans, with their obstructive rules for conduct the Senate trial
are showing that they know Trump is as guilty as hell (both on the Ukraine matter, to which witnesses like Bolton should surely testify, and on the obstruction of Congress, to which they are now acting as accomplices), that that they don’t want the American people to get the information they would need to judge whether Trump should be removed from office, that these are patently violating the clear intent of the Constitution when our founders spoke of a “trial,” for every trial makes room for all the relevant evidence and testimony to be presented, and violating also two oaths they have sworn: their oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution, and their oath as the jurors/judges in an impeachment trial to render “impartial justice, according to the Constitution and laws.”By the way, “impartial justice” here does not mean they need to come into the trial with no opinion— which would imply some stupidity in view of the overwhelming evidence that is already public. Rather, it means that the judgment will be rendered with only the “Constitution and laws” guiding one, with any other interest one might have — partisan or otherwise — being ignored. This, the Republicans are clearly not doing.
These Republicans have clearly acted as loyalists to the President, who has for years now shown that he does not want the American people to know what he’s done— from firing James Comey to obstructing the Mueller investigation to stonewalling the constitutionally legitimate impeachment investigation by the House of Representatives.
The Constitution commands them — and they are only empaneled to judge if they swear the oath that commands them — to render “impartial justice.” And here is a Senate Majority leader writing up rules after having declared publicly that he will work hand-in-glove with the President/defendant, taking no position but theirs. It doesn’t get more clearly “partial” than that.
The heart of this battle over whether there is to be a “fair trial” can be well illuminated by that central contradiction: everything the Republicans are doing in terms of the rules of the trial are in contradiction to all their arguments about Trump’s conduct being innocent and no legitimate matter for this impeachment trial. The heart of his defense is the perpetuation of the cover-up that underlies the second of the Articles of Impeachment.
The Democratic prosecutors should pound this point: that the Republicans, with their obstructive rules for conduct the Senate trial
are showing that they know Trump is as guilty as hell (both on the Ukraine matter, to which witnesses like Bolton should surely testify, and on the obstruction of Congress, to which they are now acting as accomplices), that that they don’t want the American people to get the information they would need to judge whether Trump should be removed from office, that these are patently violating the clear intent of the Constitution when our founders spoke of a “trial,” for every trial makes room for all the relevant evidence and testimony to be presented, and violating also two oaths they have sworn: their oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution, and their oath as the jurors/judges in an impeachment trial to render “impartial justice, according to the Constitution and laws.”By the way, “impartial justice” here does not mean they need to come into the trial with no opinion— which would imply some stupidity in view of the overwhelming evidence that is already public. Rather, it means that the judgment will be rendered with only the “Constitution and laws” guiding one, with any other interest one might have — partisan or otherwise — being ignored. This, the Republicans are clearly not doing.
These Republicans have clearly acted as loyalists to the President, who has for years now shown that he does not want the American people to know what he’s done— from firing James Comey to obstructing the Mueller investigation to stonewalling the constitutionally legitimate impeachment investigation by the House of Representatives.
The Constitution commands them — and they are only empaneled to judge if they swear the oath that commands them — to render “impartial justice.” And here is a Senate Majority leader writing up rules after having declared publicly that he will work hand-in-glove with the President/defendant, taking no position but theirs. It doesn’t get more clearly “partial” than that.
That is the heart of the matter, and the Democrats should repeatedly make this point in the battle over the rules for a fair trial. For this point makes clear the Republican rot straight through the McConnell Republican Senators all the way to a President who refuses to allow himself to be held accountable as the Constitution requires him to bee.
The battle over the rules represents an important opportunity: the opportunity to show that they all know Trump is guilty, that they are his accomplices — and thus to show the moral bankruptcy of this “Trump Party,” a party that continually behaves in unprecedented ways — like their unprecedented proposal for an impeachment trial — all of which are corroding the very foundations of the American system of government.