The White House doubles down on its dumbest impeachment defense

[Zorro]

Last edited Mon Jan 20, 2020, 09:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Watching the White House put together its defense of President Trump in the impeachment trial that begins this week, one has to ask: Are they even trying?

After the Democratic House managers released a 111-page indictment providing copious detail on the events that led to impeachment, the nature of Trump’s misconduct and the constitutional basis for his removal, Trump’s attorneys responded with a six-page document that would have been shocking were it not just the kind of thing we’ve come to expect from this White House.

Indeed, it reads as though it was written by a ninth-grader who saw an episode of “Law & Order” and learned just enough legal terms to throw them around incorrectly. It makes no attempt to contest the facts, instead just asserting over and over that the president is innocent and the entire impeachment is illegitimate, calling it “unlawful” and “constitutionally invalid,” with no apparent understanding of what those terms mean. The articles of impeachment, Trump’s lawyers say, “fail to allege any crime or violation of law whatsoever, let alone ‘high Crimes and Misdemeanors,’ as required by the Constitution.” They then repeat this argument multiple times throughout a screed seemingly pitched to the Fox News hosts who will spend the coming days repeating its absurd claims.

The trouble, as any historian or constitutional scholar will tell you, is that just as there are crimes the president could commit that would not be impeachable (say, shoplifting a candy bar), there has never been any requirement that impeachment can only be used for violations of criminal law. Not only were the Framers deeply concerned about the potential of the president abusing his office, at the time the Constitution was written, there was no such thing as a federal criminal code.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/20/white-house-doubles-down-its-dumbest-impeachment-defense/

[Skittles]

1. yes, they ARE trying

they are trying to convince MAGAts that their dear leader is being railroaded - anyone with critical thinking skills can see the orange fascist fuck is guilty as hell

[Zorro]

2. They are offering up a shit sandwich

and demanding Senate Republicans eat it and declare it’s the most delicious thing they’ve ever tasted.

[Stuckinthebush]

3. This

They don't care about the majority of the voting public. They are playing to the base and FOX news watchers. All they care about is a TV-based defense. The FOX hosts won't dispute it nor will the FOX legal "experts". The maga base will then scream and gnash their teeth in fervent support of Trump. This will allow Trump to demand more loyalty from the ever-useless GOP politicians. Then, come November, they may get just enough maga support again in the swing states to push the EC to Trump. More likely, a combination of anti-voter efforts, Russian disinformation, and FOX news echo effect will push the EC to Trump.

If Trump indeed does lose the EC he will scream about voter fraud and refuse to leave. The GOP will support him and we will be in a new constitutional crisis that will lead to an executive order by Trump making him leader for life.

Clearly, I'm pessimistic. But this is the trajectory we are on. I really see no stopping a corrupt president with a corrupt AG and a corrupt senate.

[lagomorph777]

4. Double Dumb

Double Plus Dumb.