Ross: Who will really be on trial for Senate impeachment?
Dec 18, 2019, 5:47 AM | Updated: Dec 25, 2019, 9:41 pm
One Tuesday, before the Rules Committee Democratic, Rep. Jaime Raskin set out the reasons for bringing impeachment to the full House. And being a Constitutional scholar, he went to the source.
“Section 4 of Article 2 is all about impeachment. In order to make sure a president doesn’t become a king,” Raskin said. “Think about this: Why do we have the power to impeach the president but he doesn’t have the power to impeach us?”
When he said that, I realized that is exactly what’s happening.
The Senate trial will turn the impeachment of the president into an impeachment of Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats. It’s all there in the president’s six-page letter, where he accuses them of declaring “open war on American democracy.”
On the charge of abuse of power, he says it’s a perfect fit for Joe Biden, who repeatedly brags about how he pressured Ukraine as vice president.
On the charge that he has obstructed the impeachment process, he’ll essentially argue it’s like spanking a kid simply for not wanting to be spanked.
His defenders will point to the series of frivolous votes in the House to impeach him for offenses, like calling a member of Congress “wacky.”
When it all goes to trial, the final verdict will not be about Trump but about impeachment itself. And it will come not from the Senate but from the ballots of duly-registered American voters. Provided we can keep Russia out of the database.
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