The Democratic House managers have concluded their opening arguments in support of removing Donald Trump from the presidency. The House managers have proven themselves as fierce and noble defenders of the constitution. They’ve spent hours upon hours providing senators with the evidence they gathered from the House impeachment inquiry. However, they’re trying to hold truth to power without access to the whole truth.
For anyone who has their finger on the political pulse of Washington, it’s probably inevitable that the trial will end in an acquittal. Many Republican senators have already indicated their position on impeachment: they don’t think Trump’s actions warrant removal from office. It’s been precarious as it is for Democrats to find just four Republican senators willing to vote in favor of witnesses and documents. In order for Trump to be removed from office, there would have to be at least twenty Republican senators willing to convict. The majority of Republican senators don’t even want to have a fair trial. In fact, one could easily make the argument that it’s a trial in name only.
There have been numerous senators who’ve expressed their prejudice before the trial even began –not even giving the pretense of impartiality. The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, himself expressed partiality on Fox News before the articles of impeachment were even transmitted to the Senate. McConnell admitted he was coordinating with the White House. If senators act as jurors, then McConnell is essentially the jury foreman. McConnell expressing partiality and admitting coordination with the White House is a betrayal of his oath of office and an affront to the People.
While McConnell has already tilted the scales of justice in Trump’s favor, he’s also intent on excluding witnesses and relevant documents. These are witnesses and documents that Trump has expressly forbidden, which is the first time in American history that a president has completely refused to cooperate with an impeachment proceeding. Moreover, this could also be the first time in American history that no witnesses were called to testify during an impeachment trial.
Trump’s refusal to cooperate with the House was countered by a second article of impeachment: obstruction of Congress. This, in and of itself, is a violation of the constitution. Congress is a co-equal branch of government. By refusing to cooperate with Congress, Trump has defied the checks and balances every American child learns about in school. If he refuses to comply with our duly-elected representatives, how could his power possibly be checked and balanced? How could he be held to account for anything?
As for the intention of excluding witnesses and documents from the trial, it’s not Trump who’s accountable –it’s the Republican senators who will need to account for this trespass against the constitution and the People. The Republican senators swore an oath to the constitution and an oath of impartiality for the impeachment trial. If they vote against the inclusion of witnesses and documents, make no doubt about it: they’re voting to cover up Trump’s crimes.
Republican senators have claimed there isn’t enough evidence to convict Trump, yet they aren’t willing to vote in favor of witnesses and documents (i.e. evidence). This alone should inform every American that they’re acting with impartial intent. If they were faithfully seeking the truth, they’d welcome witnesses and documents. Their legacies can’t handle the truth, which is the crux of matter.
Despite the withholding of witnesses and evidence, the House managers have compiled and presented a trove of evidence against Trump. And that’s the problem for Republican senators: there’s too much evidence to convict Trump as it is. Therefore, voting in favor of witnesses and documents would only make them look even worse for ultimately voting to acquit Trump. Again, their legacies can’t handle the truth.
In the grand scheme of things, this trial isn’t just about Donald Trump. It’s about the senators sitting as jurors. The integrity of the Senate itself is on trial. The irony is the Republican senators are obstructing their own institution by refusing to vote for witnesses and documents. Therefore, they’re refusing to include pertinent evidence in arguably the most important trial in American history.
Despite being forced to fight in a fixed match with one arm tied behind their backs, the House managers have proven themselves to be worthy of the historic task in front of them. With the state of the union being so shameful and bleak, the House managers have become a beacon of light for a country engulfed in darkness. They are the rightful defenders of the constitution.
During his opening arguments, lead impeachment manager, Representative Adam Schiff couldn’t have set the stage for removal any better. His command of the evidence and his ability to dispense that evidence in a compelling and impassioned narrative is truly extraordinary. And by laying out their case so methodically, Republican senators can never say they were ignorant of the facts. As House manager, Representative Hakeem Jeffries, said during the trial, “If you don’t know, now you know.”
The Republicans senators know, even the most dedicated Trump sycophants in the Senate, like Senator Lindsey Graham, knows. If they truly believed Trump was being falsely accused, they’d want witnesses and documents in order to vindicate him, but of course they don’t want any more evidence because it’s more evidence of their unwillingness to hold a corrupt president to account. It’s more evidence that they put their own self-interest above the well being of the country. And it’s more evidence that they are the senators who are willing to let the republic fall as a dictator rises in its place.
When John F. Kennedy was in the Senate, he wrote Profiles in Courage, a book about American senators who displayed extraordinary courage in the face of political pressure. In the book he writes, “A man does what he must — in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures — and that is the basis of all human morality.”
We’ll soon find out which senators will forever have their legacies cast as a profile in cowardice.
Last Stand for Truth 