One of the reasons that this current phase of impeachment folly is called an “inquiry” is that it is the normal responsibility of the House Judiciary Committee to hold a REAL impeachment hearing – one that will lead to Articles of Impeachment, or not.
What is going on in the House today is nothing more than a long public relations stunt with Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff as the current ringmaster. There was no reason that Democrats could not have simply voted to launch an impeachment HEARING – as has been the normal course in the past. They could have had all the same witnesses – even some behind closed doors. The only difference is that the rights of the accused – in this case the President of the United States – would have been preserved.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose to bypass the normal impeachment process in order to gin up a political lynching. (Yes, I called it that in the colloquial sense of the word.) She assigned six committees to “inquire” as to whether Trump committed any offenses worthy of an impeachment HEARING.
You will notice I did not say “crime.” That is because impeachment – as currently defined — does not require a crime even though the Constitution says that impeachment must be founded on “treason, bribery HIGH CRIMES and misdemeanors.” That sounds like serious stuff.
Pelosi and Co. understand that the Constitution be damned, the only requirement for impeachment is getting a majority of one political party to pass Articles of Impeachment. Consequently, she has undertaken the most political and unnecessary impeachment process in the history of the nation. She has weaponized impeachment.
Of course, such Articles must be filled with language suggesting abuse of power, obstruction of justice and other dubious accusations that can be made to sound like crimes. In fact, the Democrats have all those talking heads on television saying flat-out that Trump is guilty of this crime or that crime. Of course, that is only their opinion – or at least their politically-based claim.
Once the Democrats finish their repetitious “inquiry” – rolling it into a quasi-public phase — they will transfer the impeachment business over to the Judiciary Committee to conduct the “hearing” that will most likely lead to a highly partisan vote on Articles of Impeachment.
In the meantime, we will have the impeachment ball lateraled to Jerry Nadler, the diminutive chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a stridently partisan New York Democrat, who makes Schiff look like the champion of bipartisanship.
Nadler craves the center stage over impeachment. He was among the earliest voices demanding impeachment – a full-fledged member of the #NeverTrump Resistance Movement. We got a preview of Nadler when he was undertaking his own investigation of the Trump administration – saying that HIS investigation was essentially an impeachment hearing.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi squelched that idea as being a bit premature. Instead, she concocted the impeachment “inquiry” concept as a precursor to a legitimate hearing. It was only a temporary setback for Nadler since the impeachment process would eventually have to come to his Committee.
Anyone who holds any hope that Nadler will conduct a fair and nonpartisan hearing does not know the guy. He has already accused Trump of every crime in the book. He even claims that Trump criminally colluded with Russian even though Special Counsel Robert Mueller made it VERY clear that he had not – nor had anyone associated with the Trump campaign.
Nadler insists that the Mueller Report accused Trump of at least 10 counts of obstruction of justice – even though he left that decision to the higher-ups at the Department of Justice – and they declared that NONE of the examples of POSSIBLE obstruction rose to the level of a crime. End of subject.
Some Democrats – apparently including Pelosi – want to limit the charges in any Articles of Impeachment to abuse of power associated with the allegations that Trump attempted to enter into an inappropriate quid pro quo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Others – including Nadler – want to include every conceivable charge – even those discredited in the Mueller Report.
If we were dealing with a court-of-law, all the charges leveled against Trump would not likely survive the first Motion to Dismiss. But this is not a court-of-law. Impeachment is a political process, and Nadler is the consummate political creature. His only interest is to create enough cover for the Democrat majority to impeach Trump.
If you think the Schiff inquiry was marred by political acrimony and shenanigans, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
So, there ‘tis.
There is no low below which the democrats will not stoop to try and force the President from office because they can not defeat him at the ballot box. So far, demorats, with their media cohorts, have made a lot of gains. How long before the average Joe, the moderate voter, sees through this charade?
This impeachment is a witch hunt lead by Shifty Schiff and his puppet master Pelosi is weak Speaker for our government. She demonstrates a Russian Ruler act. And all their documents should be viewed and prosecuted on their written words. Ask any attorney if it can be held against anyone who puts them in writing. It’s a valid evidence!!!! Which can be used to arrest anyone who puts any person(s) into prison.
I demanding that Congress pay back the American people every red cent that have spend on all these false claims against President Trump!! Congress should be impeached!!! Put in Prison for the high crimes they have committed along with Obama and Clinton cartel!!! God bless our President and God bless America!!
Your article is obviously pro-Trump and blames everything on the Democrats. Trump has done more in his term to make politics partisan and demands loyalty from the Republicans.
If he is innocent of any issues then his obstruction of anyone testifying needs to end. When anyone questions him even after working for and with him he immediately badmouths them.
Aren’t the Democrats obstructing justice via all their various, numerous and ongoing shenanigans?
This stinks to high heaven. It’s a waste of time, energy and attention.
Nadler with his Herculean Physique and Schiff with his pencil neck
should get married!
Two peas in a pod!
THIS WILL TURN INTO A DRAMATIC BOOMERANG AND BITE THESE TWO
COUNTERFEITERS IN THE BUTT!!!!
This is a massive case of Democrat CYA. Mueller failed, the girlfriends failed, this is their last hope to impeach BEFORE Barr uncovers the source of all of this.>>The Obama Administration and their weaponized CIA.
They BOTH need to be led away in HANDCUFFS to a PRISON cell at LEAVENWORTH (military prison) for SEDITION and TREASON. POTUS Trump did NOTHING wrong, and this impeachment SCAM will be the DEMOCRAT’S undoing . . . Team Trump and his allies 2020 – KAGA (Keep America Great Again).
Schiff, Nadler, Swalwell, Waters, Pelosi, Schumer and all the many federal judges appointed by the Democratic party adhere and embrace the principles of which Communistshariazionhasidism is founded while betraying and denouncing the principles of which our fair and just laws Constitutional Republic are founded they are the ones who should be executed for high treason.
IT’S TIME THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DEMAND THE IMPEACHMENT OF THE RADICAL CRIMINAL CORRUPT, COMPULSIVE LIAR DEMORATS.
THE DEMORATS ARE ALL OUT OF THEIR MINDS AND HAVE SO MUCH TO HIDE, THAT THEY ALL MUST BE EXPOSED FOR THE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES THEY HAVE COMMITTED FOR YEARS AND YEARS.
THEY HAVE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THE PAST 3 YEARS BUT WASTE TIME AND THE TAXPAYERS MONEY ON THIS FAKE, FRAUD IMPEACHMENT .
DEMORATS HAVE DONE NOTHING GOOD FOR AMERICA OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
VOTE RED …If it weren’t for President Obama we might not have done the intelligence community assessment that we did that set up a whole sequence of events which are still unfolding today including Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation. President Obama is responsible for that. It was he who tasked us to do that intelligence community assessment in the first place. CLAPPER’S OWN CONFESSION
AMERICANS WE HAVE TO TAKE BACK OUR AMERICA FROM THE EVIL CRIMINAL ACTS OF DEMOCRATS………………………..TO SOLVE AMERICAS PROBLEMS MAKE THIS CHOICE WE THE PEOPLE’ HAVE THE POWER OF OUR VOICES AND OUR VOTES, TO VOTE OUT THE ENTIRE LYING,CORRUPT, TREASONOUS DEMOCRAT PARTY COME NOV 2020, VOTE TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN AND TO END ALL CORRUPTIONS IN WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT
Ya know if Schiff wasn’t so dumb the Dem’s probably wouldn’t so stupid!
If all it takes for an impeachment process to get started is for the house speaker to singularly declare the process started, and the Senate to finish it, God help us if the Democrats succeed in getting control of the Senate along with the house of representatives; Trump (or any Republican president) is finished, with or without cause. And this goes for either party. This is ridiculous as now anytime a particular party is in power in both houses of congress, a sitting president of the opposing party is in peril of being impeached and ousted at the whim of the congressional majority party; making a mockery of the very foundation of our entire democratic system of government, the vote!
Nadler and Schiff need to be brought up on charges that expel them from Congress. Then they need to be put in prison for their treason!
Both need to be charged with treason which they are guilty of!
If only these partisan hacks could be brought up on charges of sedition. They are definitely guilty, so someone needs to get the ball rolling.
Larry Horist is the dumbest columnist you have! The impeachment process in the House is legal, fair and constitutional. The Constitution gives full authority to the House to conduct impeachment ANY WAY they want! Read your Constitution, Larry! The House doesn’t have to look to past impeachments. It can even make up rules as it goes along. This is the “grand jury” phase of impeachment where Trump doesn’t get any rights. He will have is rights in the trial in the Senate. I can’t believe you don’t know this already, Larry!
I hear a lot of young people talking and they realize that the democrats have and are doing nothing for them or the country 2020 will be an interesting election season.
Andrenodak. Perhaps you did not read the commentary very carefully. I fully understand the LEGAL right of Congress. The majority in the House can set any rules they desire. It is a political process. When you say that what the Democrats are doing is “legal, fair and constitutional,” you are correct two out of three. The process is by no means fair. IF you do not think fairness is important, then so be it. It is disgracefully one sided, however. The examples of the Nixon and Clinton impeachments set a standard of a fairer process. It established a tradition that should not have been ignored even if the alternative is legal constitutional. The idea that this is like a grand jury is wrong on all counts. First of all, ALL that is said in a Grand Jury is secret. This process is marred by selective leaks — something that would have the leakers in jail if this was, indeed, like a grand jury. Democrats have weaponized impeachment in one of the most shamefully politicized process in American history. The only thing that will really matter is when this is all turned over to the Judiciary Committee. We will then go through the fourth version of this repetitious circus. Everything else is political posturing. And in the final analysis, it is unlikely that Trump will be removed from office — and Democrats could wind up with a second helping of egg on their faces as they received when the Mueller Report was release.
Fat Jerry needs to get off his lilypad, and stop belching like the toad that he is. The liberals are a disgrace to the congress of the American people to which they serve. 3 plus years of this crap is disgusting.