Democrats’ hubris impeaching 74-year-old former President Donald Trump for a second time failed today because they, once again, bit off more than they could chew. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) thought she was clever using the 14th Amendment, Section 3 language, prohibiting any citizen engaged in insurrection or rebellions against the United States from holding elective office. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-.N.Y.) said Jan. 13 that convicting Trump of “incitement of insurrection,” the House’s sole impeachment article, would prevent Trump from running for elective office. So, instead of sticking to reasonable ground for impeachment, including, “violating his oath of office,” “dereliction of duty” or “interference in the orderly transfer of power,” Pelosi set the bar for conviction too high for God himself to prove, under the U.S. Constitution, that Trump “incited an insurrection.”
Trump’s 59-year-old defense attorney Bruce Castor said it best in his closing argument that Democrats failed to prove under current Constitutional precedents that Trump met explicit criteria for incitement. Lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) kept changing the goal posts, saying it wasn’t necessary for a non-criminal impeachment proceeding to adhere to Constitutional precedent, like Brandenburg v. Ohio where the Supreme Court ruled June 8, 1969 that certain specific criteria must be met to constitute “incitement.” Castor pointed out that House managers failed to meet any of the three prerequisites needed to compromise a citizen’s First Amendment rights. But had Pelosi and her House managers not used only one article of impeachment, “incitement of insurrection” against Trump, they might have convinced more GOP senators to convict Trump.
House managers did a better job making their case with Republicans this time around that when they charged Trump in his first impeachment trial last years with (1) abuse of power and (2) obstruction of Congress. Only one Republican, 73-year-old Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.) voted Feb. 5, 2005 to impeach Trump on abuse of power. Romney voted today with six other Republican senators, Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to convict Trump. Whether any of the GOP senators really believed House managers met their burden of proof remains unknown. All were convinced by Raskin that impeachment gave Senators more latitude to convict Trump using House definitions of “incitement” and “insurrection,” both not fitting any Constitutional definitions.
Castor in his closing argument reminded Democrats of their hypocrisy, double-standard with it comes to rioting, lawlessness and anarchy around the country. Castor pointed out the months of violence supported by Democrat elected officials, many in the Senate chamber, that the current occupants of the White House 78-year-old President Joe Biden and Vice President Joe Biden, both of whom refused to condemn, actually supported the street violence that went on for six months last summer. Castor pointed out that House managers couldn’t cite one thing Trump said in his Jan. 6 speech or any other time in the last five years that encouraged violence. House managers didn’t like hearing Castor call their impeachment trial a charade, show trial and political theater, all designed to retaliate against the former president. Castor reminded House managers that Democrats sought to impeach Trump for his four years in office.
Raskin thought he had his “smoking gun” with Rep. Jaime Herrera Bueutler (D-Wash.) agreeing to testify that she heard Trump say to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.), “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you were,” suggesting that Trump did nothing after knowing a lawless mob ransacked the Capitol Jan. 6. Democrats insisted Trump could have waved his magic wand to stop the Jan. 6 riot and mob scene. Democrat withdrew their decision to call witnesses, once the rule required 60 votes. But think about the foolish logic. If Trump would have called off the crowed, as Democrats demanded, they would have accused him of orchestrating the Jan. 6 riot. Trump’s lawyers proved the Capitol invasion was planned before Trump Jan. 6 speech, disproving House managers’ case that Trump was guilty of “incitement of insurrection.”
Castor pointed out in his closing argument that the Constitution and rule of law was more important than House Democrats abuse of their Article 1 impeachment authority. Warning about future abuses of the impeachment authority, Castor asked senators to acquit Trump. When you look at the substance of Democrats’ impeachment case, it was indistinguishable from the talking points spewed by partisan Democrats on 24/7 TV and radio talk shows. Trump was guilty of impeachable offenses not because he committed any but because partisan pundits like to make up their own rules, exactly what House managers did. Castor accused lead manager of pushing the “Raskin doctrine,” that anyone can be impeached because House managers say so. House Democrats didn’t like hearing that whether in an impeachment proceeding or any court of the land, the Constitution must be followed.
