January 22, 2020

Jan 23, 2020

The large theme of today, for me, was just how freaking prepared House impeachment managers, led by Adam Schiff (D-CA) are for this moment. Today they began to lay out the case that Donald Trump abused the power of the presidency and obstructed Congress. They did so in such a way that they told a coherent, compelling story, with testimony from the House impeachment hearings and evidence from relevant documents inserted into the correct places.

For folks who don’t do this sort of presentation frequently, I cannot impress enough on you how masterful this presentation was. It looks easy to turn to clips as they did, but it takes hours and hours of work to find those, cut them, and clip them in as they did, so that they flow easily. And they have created a long, complicated, thoroughly sourced narrative that they are laying out in easy clarity, in about a month. Indeed, I came to suspect today that some of Pelosi’s withholding of the impeachment articles was to buy Schiff and his team time to put together something this impressive.

And it was impressive, impressive enough that a number of reporters noted that Republicans were taken aback at hearing the timeline, as full as it now is with the evidence that the Democrats have compiled even with the president’s stonewalling. But it was not simply clear and compelling. Schiff turned again and again to the principles on which America is founded, and urged Republicans to defend those principles.

“We have, for generations, been the shining city upon a hill that President Reagan described,” Schiff reminded his colleagues. “America’s not just a country, but also an idea. But what worth is that idea when tried we do not affirm the values that underpin it? What will those nascent democracies conclude? That democracy is not only difficult, but maybe that it’s too difficult? Maybe that it’s impossible? And who will come to fill the void that we leave when the light from that shining city upon a hill is extinguished? The autocrats with whom we compete. Who value not freedom and fair elections, but the unending rule of a repressive executive. Autocrats that value, not freedom of the press and open debate, but disinformation, propaganda and state sanctioned lies. Vladimir Putin would like nothing better.”

Schiff and the other impeachment managers repeatedly reminded the GOP senators that more information was going to come out. Wouldn’t they prefer for it to come out before they had acquitted the president? They pointed out that every previous Senate impeachment trial has had evidence—a point Lincoln Project founder George Conway also made quite effectively on television with CNN’s Jake Tapper this morning-- and tied the GOP to Trump, warning senators they will be seen as part of a coverup if they continue to protect him. They are not exaggerating; today’s poll numbers show that 72% of Americans want to hear witnesses, including 69% of Republicans.

The trial, conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote, is “making clear to the entire country that Trump did exactly what he is accused of, but that his own party, suffering from political cowardice and intellectual corruption, do not have the nerve to stop him.” Reporter Elie Mystal signed off Twitter tonight saying: “Goodnight, Twitter. My wish for all you people I like is that you never commit a crime Adam Schiff has reason to prosecute you for.”

At Davos, Switzerland, today, Trump continued to try to flood the zone, repeatedly insisting that “the transcript” cleared him of wrongdoing (remember, there is no transcript, and even what he released as a readout of the July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky shows him talking about the Bidens and Burisma but not “corruption”). But he also said something new and unfortunate. He defended his team for doing a good job and then said: “But honestly, we have all the material. They don’t have the material.” Um… yeah. The fact he stonewalled the House is kind of the point.

Tonight, at the end of the day’s events, Schiff transmitted to the Senate a classified document written by Jennifer Williams, assistant to Vice President Mike Pence, who was on some of the key phone calls between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. There appears to be no reason for the document to be classified except to protect Pence. Last night, the Senate rejected an amendment to the resolution McConnell had written to establish the rules of the trial; that amendment would have allowed the Senate to receive classified information into evidence. But Chief Justice John Roberts permitted the letter into the record under the Standing Rules of the Senate. The Senators can all now see this document under a classified setting… if they choose to.

And there’s the rub. Republican senators are not paying particularly close attention to the proceedings. Senators are all supposed to be in attendance and listening, but a few, mainly on the Republican side, are openly refusing. Today Rand Paul (R-KY) displayed handwritten message pretending to be a hostage victim, openly worked a crossword puzzle, and then just got up and left. Other Republicans openly chatted, despite the admonishment that “all persons are commanded to keep silence, on pain of imprisonment.” South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham left. (On the Democratic side, 86-year-old Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) left for at least a half hour, and Corey Booker (D-NJ) went to the cloak room to make phone calls.)

The open disdain of GOP congress people for our democratic process speaks volumes. If Trump is acquitted—as many of us expect—he will consider himself justified in continuing to concentrate our nation’s power into his own hands, and there seems little reason to think his party will stop him. Indeed, a very smart lawyer I follow on Twitter (but whose account is locked and he had not given permission to name him, so for now let’s leave him anonymous) observed this morning that perhaps even the few GOP Senators who would like to hear witnesses and see documents don't dare to demand them because they are afraid Trump will refuse even them, thus illustrating that they are powerless.

And he is making it clear that he is moving toward the sort of leadership he sees among the oligarchs he so admires. Yesterday, the Commerce Department said it would not follow a law (!) saying it had to release the report of a controversial investigation it conducted that concluded certain auto imports pose a national security threat. It refuses on the grounds that releasing it “would interfere with the president’s ability to protect confidential executive branch communications and could interfere with ongoing negotiations.” And today in Davos, Ivanka Trump took precedence over our cabinet officers, acting as her father’s second. She was the only person he called out for praise in his 30 minute speech. (Do you recall shortly after Trump’s inauguration when she moved into the White House, and there was such a hue and cry about it she vowed she would never have an official position? In three years, this unprecedented nepotism has become normalized.)

For all this, though, Trump appears angry and nervous, tweeting or retweeting 132 times before 5:00 pm, a new record for him. The White House also announced that Trump will be appearing personally at this Friday’s anti-abortion March for Life, a move that would seem to indicate his desperate need to reassure his base, except that it runs the risk of alienating pro-life Democrats. Trump will be the first president ever to speak at the event in person, and my read on it is that he feels the need to be before a cheering crowd. Any crowd.

Notes:

Schiff argument: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/22/democrats-trump-impeachment-case-102504

March for Life: