Due process protects you and me and America. The whole due process thing is important because we are Americans. It is a cornerstone of American law and government. Due process is the thing that keeps us from being railroaded in legal proceedings. It keeps fairness in the process. What is the nature of the due process argument over impeachment? What is happening is not about Donald Trump getting due process. This is about the American people getting due process.
Fairness in legal proceedings
Our government, legal system and our way of life depend on it. Impeachment is not supposed to be about over turning election results. It is about removing proven corruption from our government. What is being challenged is our choice for president. You get due process under our Constitution when you are about to have your individual rights infringed. It is always in play when you are having your freedom or money taken away.
President Trump has no individual right to be president. It’s a position that we citizens gave him in order to work for us. The presidency is not his; it is the title of the job he has been properly elected to carry out. The real due process rights at issue here belong to us, America’s citizens. We are faced with the prospect of having our right to choose our president infringed upon.
Today AOC, Al Green and Ilhan Omar each said this impeachment is an election tactic. Whether it was undertaken to unify the Democrat Party, to damage the 2020 presidential candidate of the opposing party or simply from animus if it is undertake without basis it damages America for some perceived political gain. That is wrong. That is perversion of our constitution. Due process protects you and me and America.
Right to know the charges, confront you accuser, bring witnesses
When the politician in charge prevents putting on a defense it’s not Trump who is losing his due process rights. It’s the American people who are losing their due process rights. It is improper to bring charges without evidence to support to the impeachment inquiry. The inquiry should be to determine the credibility and sufficiency of the evidence supporting the charge. That is not what is happening here.
Due process means a chance to have your say, to tell your side of the story. We all used to accept that everyone has a right to make their case. It is implicit in the presumption of innocence. It should never occur to us not to tell him the charges. We should never refuse to let his lawyer ask questions.
It is completely out of line to deny the defendant the right to call witnesses. We require the hearing happen before an impartial judge and jury. Due process is not about a result. Due process is about giving everyone a chance to tell his side of the story. It is how we try to get the best possible representation of the truth of what happened.
We used to presume the accused was innocent until proven guilty
Until the Kavanaugh hearing and now the impeachment, it had seemed we all agreed on the desirability of adhering to due process. But, it appears that our ruling caste thinks that Trump is a special case. They are making an exception to the rules for him. Regardless the reason, the House has abandoned due process. The representative from Vermont yesterday said hearsay is preferable to direct evidence. We should beg to differ.
It is not too much to ask for Adam Schiff to do the same basic things for the American people in this process that would apply to any other defendant. The defendant should get told exactly what charges he is going to be defending himself against. So, what charges are we defending ourselves against here?
The defendant would get a judge and jury that were impartial and unbiased. They should not come into the proceedings with preconceived notions about the facts. But Schiff et al have spent three years telling us Trump must be removed. So, we are facing a prosecutor/judge. That’s a due process abomination.
Show trials are not about fairness and fact
The defendant would get to question witnesses against him. Really question them. We don’t get to here. Schiff is willing to allow “relevant” questions. The problem that started coming to light is that the only thing Schiff finds “relevant” is stuff supporting his pre-existing narrative. Anything disputing it is “irrelevant.” That’s like a prosecutor who gets to stand up and say, “Objection; hurts my case!”
The defendant could call his own witnesses. That definitely includes witnesses the other side doesn’t want heard. That is the point of calling them. But we can’t do that when it comes to removing the president we elected. How is that reasonable? Due process protects you and me and America. What is going on in DC is about use of impeachment for partisan political gain.
