Dems are fishing
for something else
to hurl at Trump
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would be "glad" for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keep sitting on the articles of impeachment, but that he believes she won't continue the waiting game after Jan. 6, when congressional business resumes.
McConnell told Fox News the Senate cannot act on the articles until the House officially delivers them, adding that "I don't think" the Senate is constitutionally able to proceed without further House action.
Yet it was disclosed today that House Democrats, in their push to break traditional presidential executive privilege, are considering holding more impeachment hearings and adding one or more articles to the two that have already been voted. The House is tussling with President Trump over his order preventing former White House counsel Don McGahn from talking about the advice he gave to Trump and other confidential matters.
Politico reports that House judiciary panel lawyers disclosed today that the House is open to the prospect of impeaching Trump a second time.
House Counsel Douglas Letter said in a filing in federal court that a second impeachment could be necessary if the House uncovers new evidence that Trump attempted to obstruct investigations of his conduct. Letter made the argument as part of an inquiry by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals into whether Democrats still need testimony from McGahn after the votes last week to charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
As Fox analyst Brit Hume observed, the gambit of Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to pressure McConnell to accept Democrat witness demands shows that the Democrats realize they have a weak case.
A potential problem with McConnell's decision is that the Democrats will, in the waiting period, pile on new articles as they keep hunting for something they can use to hurt Trump severely.
Alan Dershowitz, the noted retired Harvard law professor, argues that Pelosi has no standing in any decision of the Senate to hold a trial. He said that, if she continues to drag her feet, the Senate could begin the trial anyway as soon as Congress returns from the holiday break.
Dershowitz also said the articles do not meet constitutional criteria. The articles, which allege "abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress," are based, in the "abuse" charge, on hearsay evidence, much of it contradictory, and, in the "obstruction" charge, on Democrats being rankled that Trump, like many presidents before him, invoked executive privilege, which stems from the doctrine of separation of powers, in order to bar testimony of advisers. Democrats voted to approve that charge even though their case was still pending in court.
Dershowitz said he is not a supporter of Trump and had voted for Hillary Clinton, but that as a civil libertarian he has been consistently chary of impeachment as a means of settling political scores, including in the cases of President Richard Nixon and President Bill Clinton. Dershowitz says that, while favoring Nixon's impeachment, he stood up for Nixon's legal rights.
Trump jibed that Democrats had found no crime and had hit him with "impeachment lite."
Where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is liberty. --2 Cor 3:17
McConnell told Fox News the Senate cannot act on the articles until the House officially delivers them, adding that "I don't think" the Senate is constitutionally able to proceed without further House action.
Yet it was disclosed today that House Democrats, in their push to break traditional presidential executive privilege, are considering holding more impeachment hearings and adding one or more articles to the two that have already been voted. The House is tussling with President Trump over his order preventing former White House counsel Don McGahn from talking about the advice he gave to Trump and other confidential matters.
Politico reports that House judiciary panel lawyers disclosed today that the House is open to the prospect of impeaching Trump a second time.
House Counsel Douglas Letter said in a filing in federal court that a second impeachment could be necessary if the House uncovers new evidence that Trump attempted to obstruct investigations of his conduct. Letter made the argument as part of an inquiry by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals into whether Democrats still need testimony from McGahn after the votes last week to charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
As Fox analyst Brit Hume observed, the gambit of Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to pressure McConnell to accept Democrat witness demands shows that the Democrats realize they have a weak case.
A potential problem with McConnell's decision is that the Democrats will, in the waiting period, pile on new articles as they keep hunting for something they can use to hurt Trump severely.
Alan Dershowitz, the noted retired Harvard law professor, argues that Pelosi has no standing in any decision of the Senate to hold a trial. He said that, if she continues to drag her feet, the Senate could begin the trial anyway as soon as Congress returns from the holiday break.
Dershowitz also said the articles do not meet constitutional criteria. The articles, which allege "abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress," are based, in the "abuse" charge, on hearsay evidence, much of it contradictory, and, in the "obstruction" charge, on Democrats being rankled that Trump, like many presidents before him, invoked executive privilege, which stems from the doctrine of separation of powers, in order to bar testimony of advisers. Democrats voted to approve that charge even though their case was still pending in court.
Dershowitz said he is not a supporter of Trump and had voted for Hillary Clinton, but that as a civil libertarian he has been consistently chary of impeachment as a means of settling political scores, including in the cases of President Richard Nixon and President Bill Clinton. Dershowitz says that, while favoring Nixon's impeachment, he stood up for Nixon's legal rights.
Trump jibed that Democrats had found no crime and had hit him with "impeachment lite."
Where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is liberty. --2 Cor 3:17
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