Democrat Rep. Jason Crow, a House impeachment manager says Trump attempted bribery. That is something the Democrats did not impeach him for, bribery. The difficult thing about Trump’s impeachment is that he’s not accused of any crime. This whole impeachment has been partisan and political to the extreme.
The Charge
Some scholars say committing a crime is not a prerequisite for impeachment and removal. Their basis for such an assertion seems to be impeachment is an inherently political act. Does that argument ring true with you? Why hold a presidential election if the House is just going to impeach because they don’t the guy’s policy decisions? Isn’t that election interference? Why do the House Democrats think they get to overrule the people’s elective choice?
When we elect someone to the presidency shouldn’t they be allowed to serve unless they do something provably illegal? Look, Clinton was charged with 11 felonies, and remained in office. The House Democrats want to remove Trump without charging him with anything except being hard to get along with. How does that make sense?
Democratic impeachment manager Rep. Jason Crow is now, after the fact, insisting Trump attempted bribery. Well, Mr. Impeachment Manager if that is true and you have the proof why did you not include that charge? The Colorado Democrat just can’t explain why that wasn’t in the articles of impeachment. Isn’t that simply trying a case, not before the court and doing it in the press? Can you say grandstanding?
Political posturing
Crow is trying to create an argument for the Senate to call witnesses. He insists the Democrats in the House want fairness in the upper chamber. I suspect the House Democrats actually fear that fairness is exactly what they will get. The house in their rush to judgment did slipshod work. They hurried the process and denied due process. The product is unconvincing bordering on frivolous. The charges do not rise to the constitutional standard. All they did is sling accusations to see it anything would stick in the court of public opinion.
Crow’s own words:
“We have to look at the entire context of what happened here. That is what this is about. It is about the abuse of power. It’s about jeopardizing our national security, our troops. It is about undermining our free and fair elections. The broad context of the pattern of this president is what is really important, and that is why we proceeded with the impeachment… Let’s broaden back out here and talk about what is really going on here.
The president’s team is trying to say that the president can’t be indicted, because it is DOJ policy that a standing president or sitting president can’t be indicted… At the same time, they are also making arguments that the House of Representatives and Congress cannot subpoena documents or witnesses, and that we can’t bring an impeachment case, that it has to be a crime. That high crimes and misdemeanors do not include abuse of power and abuse of the public trust… So if all of the president’s arguments are true, that a president cannot be indicted, that the abuse of power and abuse of the public trust does not constitute impeachable offense. If that is true, then no president can be held accountable, that the president truly is above the law…”
Woulda, shoulda, coulda
Right. Now, Crow and his Democrat colleges want to say Trump is guilty of bribery. They can’t. They had that opportunity. And they considered the charge. After realizing it was not provable with the evidence they did not make the charge. Federal statutes indicate bribery occurs when an official “directly or indirectly, corruptly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept anything of value personally … in return for … being influenced in the performance of any official act.”
The House Democrat majority likely realized they couldn’t prove there was a corrupt demand. They understood nothing of value changed hands. So now, their impeachment case hinges on something more nebulous. That was their choice. This means it’s mostly just election-year posturing. They are making sure they have a talking point on impeachment. Their action is extremely partisan and overtly political to the exclusion of valid charges. And they know it.
And that’s the important thing for Democrats. Nancy Pelosi’s position on this: “He has been impeached and you can never erase that…” But impeached for what? There have been three presidential impeachment trials in the history of the country. This one is starting out with the weakest evidence against the accused. It also has the sketchiest charges.
There was no chance of ever proving bribery and the Democrats knew it. They couldn’t even get their own conference to agree to include it in the articles of impeachment. Those articles are entirely cosmetic. Now it’s time for them to put up or shut up. Prove your charges rise to the standard and that you have evidence to prove them. Impeachment manager says Trump attempted bribery but sir, the House is not charging that.
