Harvard Law Prof. Laurence Tribe claimed today that if Republicans don’t allow more witnesses at 73-year-old President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, the nation would plunge into “dictatorship.” Tribe’s hysteria mirrors Democrats talking points he helped to write that without more witnesses the impeachment trial would be a sham. But when Democrats got their turn Jan. 22 to present opening arguments they presented numerous witnesses testifying against the president. What Tribe is talking about now is allowing former National Security Adviser John Bolton to promote his new book, “The Room Where It Happened,” in the U.S. Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted he would not allow Democrats to use the Senate for a do-over because their impeachment case was so “slapdash.” McConnell’s views prevailed until the New York Times leaked Bolton’s book.
Despite Bolton’s book slated for release in March, the galley proofs have already circulated in the liberal press, stating that Trump engaged in a quid pro quo July 25, 2019 in his call with 40-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, asking him to investigate 77-year-old former Vice President Joe Biden and his 50, year-old son, Hunter. Tribe appealed to 69-year-old Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who’s been pressing for more witnesses and documents. With Bolton’s book hyped in the press, Tribe and Schumer appealed to Republicans to allow for more witnesses and evidence. Tribe and Schumer know that there’s nothing in Bolton’s memoir that hasn’t already been said by a bevy of witnesses already presented in the impeachment trial by Democrat House managers. If you listen to Tribe and Schumer, you’d think Bolton’s book is essential impeachment evidence.
Bolton’s book is no more evidence of anything than any other tell-all book, where the press already has the contents well-before publication. Despite despising Bolton while he served as NSA, Democrats and the press have a new star, much the same way they used Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti before they were indicted and jailed. Suddenly Bolton’s the new “game changer” when Democrats know he has nothing new to report. When you consider his animus against Trump for firing him Sept. 10, 2019, Bolton’s a highly impeachable witness, whose story corroborates Democrats case against Trump. Only Republicans don’t buy that Trump’s July 25, 2019 call was Zelensky was impeachable. Schumer and Tribe want more witnesses not because it will change the outcomel but because they can stretch the trial into the 2020 primaries.
Keeping the trial going looks like the best political way to harm Trump’s chance of reelection. Democrats like to discredit Trump’s views as “conspiracy theories.” That’s the same approach taken by Joe Biden who’s been saying the impeachment trial is about Trump not he or his son, Hunter. Yet Democrats raised the Joe and Hunter Biden question in their 24-hours of opening arguments. Democrats charge Trump with interfering in the 2020 election because he wanted dirt on Joe and Hunter Biden. Yet it’s reasonable to ask what was Hunter Biden doing getting paid $83,000 a month on Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holding’s board? Democrat can talk about election interference but what’s more election interference than holding an impeachment trial? Demoorats charge Trump with election interference but how can the public hold the Bidens’ accountable?
Democrats trust Bolton’s testimony even though Trump’s stated for the record Bolton’s motives. “I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens,” Trump tweeted. “In fact, he never complained about this at the time of very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was to only sell a book,” something flat-out rejected by Democrats. Democrats can’t imagine that Bolton has an ax to grind, despite knowing he looked to retaliate against Trump since getting his walking papers May 10, 2019. Since when do tell-all books become evidence of anything? Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.) insists he needs to hear from Bolton but he already knows what Bolton’s going to say. Romney, who’s among Trump biggest GOP critics, wants to stick it to Trump anyway he can, knowing Trump will be acquitted anyway.
Demanding that Bolton testify, Democrat and some anti-Trump Republicans want to hurt Trump’s chances of reelection. White House attorneys pointed to the undeniable fact that Trump’s impeachment is driven by politics, not the Constitution. Nothing in Democrats’ two impeachment articles are Constitutional, knowing that abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are not impeachable offenses. Yet Romney joins Democrats in demanding to hear Bolton. Knowing that Bolton held high-level government clearance, it’s inconceivable that he can violate the President’s executive privilege. Set up by Democrats and his own animosity toward Trump, Bolton personifies what’s wrong with Washington’s tabloid-leaking culture. Weaponizing impeachment, Democrats have said that they have the right to impeach Trump for anything they want, whether it’s Constitutional or not.
