WITHOUT A FAIR TRIAL, WE ARE NOT A DEMOCRACY

…This Senate Majority Leader wants a bogus trial for the US President

An impeachment must have witnesses and documents to show what really happened.

It is amazing that there are a number of Republicans that are refusing to seriously deal with the Democrat’s two articles of impeachment and all of what is behind them. The outrageous statement of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) who said: “I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here”, and that appears to be the attitude of a number of those in his party, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).  McConnell, who has pledged to coordinate closely with the White House on having a so-called, “Fair trial whose outcome is an acquittal!”, as he has already declared.

He and his caucus need to consider the damage they are doing to the US Constitution for the sake of their politics.

The impeachment of any president, which this one is due to come to a vote in the House of Representatives tomorrow, ought to inspire the seriousness and patriotism from members of Congress. But instead of it being a serious endeavor, the current process is becoming a totally partisan House vote, to be followed by a short and inadequate Senate trial. Crucial witnesses to Mr. Trump’s abuses of power may never be heard.  The reality is that the president’s  stonewalling of the congressional authority may actually be allowed to stand.  That is occurring while third-party operations like the Fox network are supporting the tuning out of many Americans from the facts of the impeachment.

On the positive side, some representatives are showing real courage, including several Democrats in those swing districts who have announced they will vote for impeachment, even at the risk of losing their current seats. “There are some decisions in life that have to be made based on what you know in your bones is right,” wrote Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in an well distributed op-ed. A few Republicans, such as Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX), have acknowledged that Mr. Trump’s actions toward the Ukraine were improper.  But Rep. Hurd did say that he questions if it justifies Trump’s removal from office.

The situation is that many Republicans are intent on refusing to seriously consider the Democrat’s two articles of impeachment and the obvious evidence behind them.

Major newspapers such as the New York Times and The Washington Post have argued that the evidence gathered by the House justifies the impeachment of the president.  This justification is because the US President was pushing the president of Ukraine to announce politicized investigations of Joe Biden and the 2016 US election.  Also the justification for the president’s obstructing the House’s investigation of the Executive Branch, which is required by the US Constitution.  

However, due to the overall speed of the inquiry, it has shown that the Democrats have been overly eager to deal with the matter.  Unfortunately, that, plus the White House’s “Obstruction of Congress” has left many important questions, and it has caused a large number of American’s to as yet, be unconvinced as to the impeachment of Donald Trump.

This uncertainty has allowed the absolute refusal of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee to accept that the president and his and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani have been conducting a month’s long campaign against the impeachment. Instead, the Republicans on the committee have offered ridiculous complaints about the “Democrat’s process and their totally false alternative narratives,” which include the ridiculous Russian false allegation that “Ukraine and not Russia intervened in the 2016 election”.

The hope is that more rational Republican voices will be heard during the House floor debate.  It will be up to Senate Republicans to ensure that Mr. Trump is fully and fairly judged. But they can only do so by rejecting the rushed trial Mr. McConnell appears to be considering and supporting.  A fair trial will require the summoning of key witnesses whose testimony, that to date has been missing.

In a letter to Senate Leader McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried to convince McConnell to have a fair trial.  Senator Schumer proposed that “to have a trial, you must have witnesses”, and he proposed four witnesses to be called, including: acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; former national security adviser John Bolton; Robert Blair, an adviser to Mr. Mulvaney; and Michael Duffey, an official at the Office of Management and Budget. It is agreed that their testimony might not change the outcome of the trial, but it would at least offer the fact that the allegations against Mr. Trump had been fully examined. 

Something as important as a presidential impeachment requires that all allegations must be fairly examined.

The Republicans as well as the Democrats must invest in the impeachment process with the serious gravity that it should have.  It is an absolute requirement that there must be an ultimate constitutional check on presidential Congressional abuses.

The obvious alternative would be to open up the way for Mr. Trump to continue to abuse his office with impunity.

This would also be the end of the 243 year experiment called The United States of America and as being a “real democracy”.

Copyright G. Ater 2019