After holding onto two articles of impeachment since Dec. 13, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) succumbed to mounting pressure in her own party to end her boycott of a Senate impeachment trial. House Democrats approved two impeachment articles, one for abuse of power and the other for obstructing Congress, something Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called “slapdash” and “shoddy.” McConnell wouldn’t budge on Pelosi’s demands to set the parameters for the upcoming impeachment trial, demanding to call new witnesses and to see new documents. But McConnell reminded the 80-year-old House Speaker that she’s in no position to blackmail the Senate into making concessions to rehabilitate her anemic case against 73-year-old President Donald Trump. Pelosi knows she faces certain defeat in the Senate, knowing she doesn’t have the votes to remove Trump from office.
Pelosi’s impeachment case against Trump boils down to evidence whether or not Trump engaged in a quid pro quo with 40-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, seeking information primarily on 50-year-old Hunter Biden, son of 77-year-old Democrat presidential candidate former Joe Biden (D-Del.), in exchange for $391 million in Congressionally-approved military aid. While Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) think Trump committed high-crimes-and-misdemeanors, Republicans think Trump was within his rights under Article 2 to ask the Ukrainian president for information. Recent “bombshell” New York Times reports suggest Trump officials knew the president was withholding funds, but not, as Pelosi and House Democrats allege, to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. Trump made clear to all he wanted information about Hunter Biden.
If you read most press reports, Trump only had interest in sabotaging the campaign of Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden, when, in fact, Trump was more interested in knowing how Hunter earned millions from serving on the board of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings. Joe, at the time, was presiding over Vice President for former President Barack Obama’s anti-corruption task force in Ukraine. House Democrats, led by Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.), insist Trump was interfering in the 2020 presidential election in dredging up dirt of Joe Biden. But if you look at evidence, it’s clear Trump wanted to know more about Hunter, who made off like a bandit collecting $150,000 a month from Burisma Holdings. Pelosi realized her impeachment case against Trump was deeply flawed.
Because Hunter Biden is not running for elective office, Democrats have an uphill battle claiming Trump interfered with the 2020 election. So, when it comes down to it, Republicans don’t accept Democrats’ impeachment case against Trump, regardless of all the evidence about Trump withholding Ukraine’s military aid. Republicans have said Trump was concerned about Ukrainian corruption, as he is with other states receiving U.S. foreign or military aid, naturally delaying the payment until proper vetting takes place. So, even with all the documents and testimony about the delay, there’s still no case against Trump for Republicans. Pelosi continues to swipe at Senate Republicans saying their blind loyalty to Trump prevents them from exercising their Constitutional duty as impartial jurors. Pelosi doesn’t admit that Democrats impeachment case against Trump was built on extreme prejudice, not facts.
After holding her impeachment articles for three weeks, Pelosi now concedes she’ll send them to McConnell next week. “I have asked Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate . . “ Pelosi wrote to House colleagues. “I am very proud of the courage and patriotism exhibited by our House Democratic Caucus we supported to defend the Constitution,” Pelosi said, implying that Republicans violated their oaths-of-office. Pelosi has no problems lecturing Senate Republicans but takes no responsibility for holding a “kangaroo court” to fashion her impeachment case against Trump. Only Senate Republicans, not House Democrats, are biased when it comes to Trump’s impeachment. Forget about the one-sided House case against Trump accepting no cross-examination or exculpatory evidence.
Pelosi and House Democrats face their comeuppance in the Senate where Republicans will make mincemeat out of the House impeachment case. “The longer it goes on, the less urgent it becomes,” Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) to Politico. “So, if it’s serious and urgent, send them [impeachment articles] over. If it isn’t, don’t send it over,” Feinstein told Pelosi. Pelosi’s delay tactics stemmed from advise given by liberal Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe who urged Pelosi to withhold the articles until she got guarantees about the trial from McConnell. Tribe’s advise backfired, with members of Pelosi’s own caucus demanding that she send the articles to the Senate. “Speaker Pelosi threw the United States Congress into unnecessary chaos with this pointless delay,” said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), whose first presidential voting is only weeks away.
