With the 51 to 49 vote not to call witnesses, the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump is on track to an acquittal. And so the Trump impeachment saga is coming to an end not with a bang but a whine. “We wuz robbed!” shriek the foot-stomping Democrats as they repeat their poll-tested mantra that the trial was rigged because no witnesses were called to testify. Consequently, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decreed that the president will remain impeached forever, and his presidency and all that flows from it will be deemed unclean and illegitimate.
Obviously, this latest failed effort to depose Trump has left the Democrats frustrated, bitterly disappointed and, quite possibly, wondering how their sure-fire impeachment gambit turned into such a political train wreck. Though the Democrats never believed that they could actually remove Trump from office, when they launched the impeachment proceedings, they and their wholly-owned mainstream media adjunct anticipated that there would be bilateral support in the House for impeachment which would cause the president material political damage. Instead, there was bilateral opposition to impeachment as all House Republicans and a handful of Democrats voted not to charge the president. And now the Senate Republicans — and possibly a handful of Democrat senators — are poised to acquit Trump. How, the Democrats may ask, did things go so wrong?
On this last point, maybe I can help explain why the impeachment became an unmitigated, self-defeating mess. Having spent almost fifty years as a grunt-level, in-the-trenches prosecutor and courtroom lawyer, as events unfolded, I spotted a number of glaring case prep and trial errors by the House Democrats.
First, the Democrats should understand that not all impeachments are created equal. For example, Bill Clinton was impeached after a multiyear grand jury investigation by Independent Counsel Ken Starr and an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives in which Clinton’s lawyers participated and were able to present and cross-examine witnesses. All of this resulted in Clinton, the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, being charged with the actual crimes of lying under oath and obstruction of justice.
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See Also:
(1) Why the Senate Passed on Witnesses
(2) Trump impeachment: What’s next now that no witnesses will be called?
(4) Democrats’ History Of Intimidating SCOTUS Justices Carries Over Into Impeachment
(5) CPAC says Mitt Romney not welcome at annual confab after his impeachment trial vote
