Dominating Democrats’ impeachment trial opening statements, 58-year-old House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) regurgitated his own talking points on why 73-year-old President Donald Trump should be tossed out of office. Schiff lectured Senators about the evil president who endangered U.S. national security, insisting it’s their solemn duty to convict Trump of high-crimes-and-misdemeanors. Republicans have two more eight-hour days to go before they can stop listening to Schiff who droned on for hours trying to make his case. While some Democrats found Schiff’s lecture convincing, it’s clear that he’s galvanized Republicans more than ever to acquit the president. Instead of listening to Schiff, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) headed out of Dodge for a whirlwind European tour, taking her to Poland’s Nazi concentration camps.
Pelosi left her fellow Democrats to fend for themselves, letting Schiff and House Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.) prosecute their “open-and-shut case “ Showing she’s tone-deaf to Schiff’s impact on the U.S. Senate, Pelosi put Schiff in charge of selling House Democrats’ impeachment case. Pelosi never realized that Schiff’s the worst kind of salesman, able to give the details but unable to do anything other than preach to the choir. If Pelosi let other House managers present the case, she would have had a better chance of scoring points. As it is now, GOP senators are ready to run out of the Senate chamber screaming, listening to Schiff spew the same talking points heard in 12 weeks of impeachment hearings. Schiff has no clue that he’s lost his audience, both in the Senate and over the airwaves, with most viewers switching channels, unable to listen to his overly intense presentation.
Keeping Senators glued to their seats for 12 hours yesterday and another eight hours today, Schiff showed he’s oblivious to his own impact. “As an encouraging voice told me, keep it up but don’t keep it up too long. So we will do our best not to keep it up too long,” Schiff told the Senate while ignoring his own advice. Schiff’s been under withering attack by Trump and his GOP backers for fabricating the impeachment case against Trump. Watching other Democrat and GOP senators lapse into exhaustion, Schiff showed no signs of letting up, prattling on, as if proving that his impeachment case were not falling on deaf ears. But the more Schiff talked, the more his Senate colleagues overdosed on his redundancy, telling Senators that President Trump cheated trying to gain an unfair advantage in the 2020 election. It was Schiff who told the press April 13, he had evidence of Trump’s Russian collusion.
Schiff isn’t trusted in GOP circles largely because he’s played fast-and-lose trying to railroad the impeachment process. Called “Shifty Schiff” by Trump, he denied meeting with the so-called “whistleblower” before he released his complaint Sept. 25, 2019 then did a back-flip Oct. 2, 2019, admitting his office did have contact before releasing the complaint. Schiff’s not trusted by Republicans, knowing he’s a partisan hack out to get the president at any cost. Schiff told senators today that if they don’t vote to convict the president they’d be complicit in a cover-up, because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused Schiff’s demands for more witnesses and documents. Schiff had an ironclad case before the impeachment trial began, now insisting he needs more witnesses and documents to prove his case. Schiff’s so exhausted Democrat and GOP senators, he’s lost his audience.
Watching Democrat and GOP senators nod off, Schiff should have switched gears to pace his presentation more carefully. Instead, he plowed ahead, alienating Democrats and Republicans alike. “They’re already repeating the same points,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.), attesting to the torturous boredom. “The longer they talk at this point, the weaker the case is getting.” Democrats would have been far better letting someone other than Schiff present their case. He’s far too emotionally invested to sell the Democrats impeachment case. As Cruz said, he’s already repeating himself, as if saying it more will win over fence-sitting Republicans. Schiff’s incessant presentation has turned off Democrats and Republicans alike, something not realized by Pelosi, who decided to hightail it out of town. Sparing herself the indignity of listening to her Party’s case, Pelosi’s European trip speaks volumes.
Two more days of Schiff practically guarantees that even fence-sitting GOP Senators like Susan Collins (R-Maine.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Lamar Alenander (R-Tenn.) will be driven to end the trial quickly. When the GOP gets its turn starting Saturday, Jan. 25, it’s doubtful that they’ll use all three days or 24-hours of opening statements. More Schiff tomorrow and Friday should seal the deal for Trump, turning off more Republicans, even those who expressed an open mind. Schiff can argue till he’s blue-in-the-face that Trump should be tossed out of office for his July 25, 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky. When emeritus Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz and former Clinton Independent Counsel Ken Starr get their turn Saturday, Schiff’s compelling case against Trump will look like it violated the U.S. Constitution, not worthy of impeachment.
