The facts are mostly undisputed, the strategies are clear, and the two sides have filed their briefs. Get ready for a contentious trial despite Mitch McConnell's best efforts.
Trial lawyers have an adage: If the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If the law is on your side, pound the law.In the impeachment trial of President Trump, the House Democrats — the prosecution — are mostly pounding the facts. The heart of theiris a well-told narrative of Trump’s efforts to muscle Ukraine into investigating Democratic rival Joe Biden, and then to cover up the details once the scheme was discovered.
Asking Ukraine to investigate Biden? Not impeachable. Blocking $391 million in military aid to Ukraine despite a law requiring that the aid be released? Not impeachable. Ordering everyone in his administration to refuse to cooperate with congressional investigations? Not impeachable.Why? Because, the president’s lawyers argue, none of those acts are clear violations of criminal law.
“As I read President Trump’s theory, if he promised to pardon anybody who murdered Joe Biden, that would not itself be an impeachable offense,” Rosenzweig said. “The theory would mean that the president could choose to never appoint any Roman Catholics, and be free from fear of removal from office.” It’s no mystery why the president’s lawyers are putting so much weight on the legal argument over what constitutes an impeachable offense. The facts don’t look good.
“If we accept any version of this,” Rosenzweig said, “we will go a very long way toward undermining the system of checks and balances in a way that is almost irreparable.”
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