George Conway: The worst thing about Trump's answer to the impeachment articles
President Trump has filed his answer to the articles of impeachment against him. In legal parlance, an “answer” is a document filed at the beginning of a proceeding, typically a civil case, in which the defending side gives its response to factual allegations and lists the basic grounds for its defense.
Trump’s answer did neither, not in any serious way. His arguments are wrong on the facts and wrong on the law, but that’s not the worst part. At its core, his submission represents an attack on the impeachment process — and on the Constitution itself.
The answer doesn’t bother to present any coherent factual response to the impeachment charges. Instead, it declares that Trump “categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation.” Is Trump denying, say, that he demanded that Ukraine announce it was investigating the Bidens? Or that he ordered documents to be withheld and witnesses not to testify before Congress? The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming.
Beyond that, on the facts, Trump’s answer presents only a few bare conclusions, pointless irrelevances — and outright misstatements. It tells us, once again, that Trump’s July 25, 2019, call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was “perfectly legal” and “completely appropriate.” Trump “raised the important issue of Ukrainian corruption,” the answer asserts. Read the transcript, as the president might say. He did not.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/20/george-conway-oped-trump-impeachment-answer/
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