Word Games

This essay is about the nuts and bolts of a Trump Impeachment. But before we dive into the details, take a moment: we lived through history yesterday. It’s an important turning point, however it all turns out. To quote Robert Kennedy: “there’s an old Chinese curse: may he live in interesting times. Like it or not, we live in interesting times.”

Yesterday, Tuesday, September 24^th, 2019 is a new important day in history.  On that day the majority party in the House of Representatives made it clear that they are investigating the President of the United States, for the purpose of considering whether to remove him from office.  

The Process Begins

The headline in the Washington Post was “House opens Impeachment Inquiry:” carefully chosen words.  The President was not impeached.  The House didn’t pass a resolution of impeachment, it didn’t even vote on a resolution to investigate.  But despite all of the “word games,” history was made yesterday.  For only the fourth time in the United States, a President faces the possibility of impeachment.  Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, all were here; now Donald Trump faces that possibility.

What the Transcript Shows

The President is playing “word games” as well.  After originally denying it, he now acknowledges that he asked the President of Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, several times, in a phone conversation.  But, the President says, he did not hold almost half a billion dollars of US aid money back to coerce Ukraine into doing it.

In fact, Mr. Trump will soon release the transcript of the conversation.  It will surely show that there was no “quid pro quo,” no offer of “…a deal he couldn’t refuse.”  The “mantra” of “transcript” was echoed by many of Mr. Trump’s supporters.  “We will see the transcript, and then we’ll know,” drawled Louisiana Senator John Kennedy on MSNBC, highlighting it as the pivotal piece of evidence.

The “word game” here:  draw a big circle around the transcript.  Make the entirety of the evidence inside of that circle, the transcript, and everything outside of the circle NOT important.  That seems far too simple, we know that the President could have communicated the money part of the deal in multiple different ways.  For example, Mr. Giuliani, acting as the President’s lawyer and de facto representative, was communicating with Ukraine.  So was the Secretary of State, Mr. Pompeo.  

The Actual Report  

The “whistleblower” report is not available.  Neither is the “whistleblower.”  While we know that the phone conversation may have been the “final straw” for the “whistleblower,” we also know that the report details a pattern of disturbing Presidential behavior.  The House of Representatives will look at the entirety of the evidence, not just the pieces within the President’s circle.

But the talking point for the President’s supporters:  the transcript “proves” something.  And, don’t forget, Joe Biden.  He needs to be investigated. He might have been corrupt.  We’ve got to know, and we’ve got to say it over and over and over. 

The White House is sure to “adapt” the transcript, and perhaps the “whistleblower report” to meet their political needs.  We know what Attorney General Barr’s summary of the Mueller Report did, months before the actual report showed it to be misleading and, in some cases, an outright lie.  A “summary” of the “whistleblower” report may be the same.  

And, for historical purposes, the transcript may be redacted as well.  Perhaps there will be an eighteen-minute gap accidentally inserted, just for old times sake.

Winning the Moment

The Trump “game” is to hold onto the Republicans, particularly in the Senate.  Right now most Republican Senators are playing “possum,” saying little other than they are waiting to see the documents.  They are scared:  the President really has gone too far this time, and if the evidence shows it, Senators will be faced with accepting a criminal, or standing against Trump.

The “word games” are to win the moment, much as the Barr summary did.  The narrative right now is that the President withheld funds from Ukraine to get them to investigate Biden.  If the Trump team can shape the information they release to regain the story, refocusing it on Biden and Ukrainian corruption rather than their own, then they can hold their supporters.

Empaneling the Grand Jury

But the Democrats are playing a “word game” too.  Speaker Pelosi says we are moving on impeachment, but the reality is that the actions of the House of Representatives today aren’t very different than they were yesterday. 

 Much as I hate to admit it, Republican Congressman Doug Collins of Georgia, the ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, had it right.  Democrats don’t seem to know what they’re doing: impeachment, investigation, or just re-hashing old arguments.  The Democrats are going to have to show a more focused process to win the “word game,” and more importantly, the confidence of the American people.

The Speaker says Democrats are now opening an impeachment inquiry.  The judicial analogy: a Grand Jury has been empaneled.  Now the facts will be presented to that Grand Jury, and ultimately, they will either bring charges, or return a “no bill.”

And then we’ll know if the words are a game, or for real.  

Postscript – the summary of the transcript was just released. In it, the President brings up the term “Crowd Strike.” That term is a code word for an alt-right theme that the Mueller Report is wrong, and that the Russians didn’t hack the DNC emails. The theory states that someone in Ukraine did it and the “Crowdstrike” computer security company working for the DNC made the whole Russia hacking up to cover their errors.