The Trump Defense

Impeachment

Today is the “that day” in history.  The day we will remember in twenty years.  Where were you? What did you think?  What side were you on?  I remember watching Nixon resign.  I remember explaining Clinton’s case in my classroom.  Here we are again.

It’s been weeks.  Weeks of listening to the Intelligence Committee hearings, the Judiciary Committee hearings, and yesterday, the Rules Committee hearings.  Days to see what the President’s defense against the facts might be.  I’ve spent hours of frustration, listening to Jim Jordan’s demonstrably false “Litany of the Four Things” over and over again.  I heard it from Republican Congressman Doug Collins once again in the Rules Committee, spoken with heartfelt repetition, as if saying it over and over and over would somehow make it true.  It’s not.

The President’s Letter

But today, I have the President’s defense, written in hyperbole on White House stationary.  It’s addressed to “the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives,” but it has been delivered to the masses.  Not trying to be “snarky,” but it’s difficult to believe that the President wrote this himself.  He doesn’t seem to be the kind that could concentrate long enough to author six pages of single spaced type.

Nonetheless, we now have his personal defense, and what we can expect him to stand on these terms in the Senate trial for his job.

Trump and the Constitution

It’s starts with Mr. Trump’s interpretation of the US Constitution.  He claims that “bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors” as defined by the Founding Fathers must include legal felonies.  That seems pretty self-serving, as he has made it clear that the President is beyond the legal system.  His lawyers argued in Court that he could literally shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and there would be nothing the law could do.

He claims that the House is in fact invalid, violating their oaths office, and breaking allegiance to the Constitution.  That’s kind of scary:  the next step from there is to ignore their legal actions – a lawlessness that could further divide our government and nation. Oh wait:  he already is doing that, refusing to honor any requests for information or testimony.  But there’s a darker side, foreshadowing future action, that is more concerning.

The Jordan Litany

And then he joins in recitation of the Jordan Litany.  First he claims that his phone conversation with the Ukrainian President was “innocent” (no longer “perfect”).  He stands on the word “us” versus “me”, stating that he spoke for “us” the United States, not “us” the “royal we” of the Trump Presidency.  

He then recites the second stanza of the Jordan Litany:  Zelenskiy says “…I did nothing wrong and there was NO pressure”.  He further outlines that Zelinskiy’s staff and Foreign Minister all claim there was “NO pressure”.  But of course, Ukraine and Zelenskiy are still dependent on US aid, still controlled by the President.  So, like any hostages, the Ukrainians will say whatever they need to say to protect their further financing.

And Trump explains that Sondland said, “…No Quid Pro Quo”.  That the Trump quote came after he was caught with his “hand in the cookie jar” is ignored.  Where was no “no quid quo pro” in the July 25^th phone call as he claims, or the Sondland, Volker and Giuliani meetings in July and August?  It was all “quid pro quo” then:  give us investigations and get your money.

Article II 

The President then abandons the other two stanzas of the Litany:  that the money was delivered and there was no investigation.  He moves onto Article II of impeachment, Obstruction of Congress.  He wraps himself in Presidential prerogative, claiming that he is simply doing what every other President has done by denying Congress any information.  Of course that’s not true:  even Nixon gave Congress information and allowed his staff to testify (though the tapes were pried lose by the Supreme Court).

The Resistance

Then he made his main complaint –Democrats have been trying to impeach hime since he won the election.  This may be the only point he’s got right.  There’s no question, “the Resistance” began before the inauguration, not so much in “impeachment” mode, but in “protection mode” for our democracy.  Mr. Trump, of course, sees “resistance” as anti-democratic.  I bet he didn’t feel that way when the Senate resisted everything that President Obama wanted to do:  ask Merrick Garland.

He then calls the firing of Jim Comey “…one of our country’s best decisions” and attacks Congressmen Talib and Green for looking for reasons to impeach him.  He claims that Democrats were simply looking for a reason, and when the Mueller Investigation (he calls it the “Russia Hoax”) didn’t “get him” then Ukraine was just the next thing.

Again, he’s not wrong.  Those of us who carefully read the Mueller Report know how close Mueller was to charging the Trump Campaign, only prevented by the stonewalling of the President and his men.  And the “obstruction section,” Volume Two, was clearly indictable – if Mueller believed he could indict.

A Victim as President

Then, changing the subject once again, he makes his attack on the messenger, Adam Schiff.  He calls Schiff “…a shameless liar” and a main source of Trump’s troubles.  I can only hope that the Senate calls Schiff as a witness (though he will likely be a Impeachment Manager from the House).  Schiff would nail the facts.

Mr. Trump then goes off on how well he’s done.  How could you remove such a successful President, he demands.  He lists all of his “achievements”, then claims that he is “the victim” of unfair and unwarranted investigation.

He tells Democrats:

“You are the ones interfering in America’s elections.  You are the ones subverting America’s Democracy.  You are the ones Obstructing Justice.  You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our Republic for your own selfish personal, and partisan gain.”

And he whines that the Democrats never apologized for the “Russian Witch Hunt”.  Even today, he stands with the Bill Barr definition of the Mueller Report as vindication.  It wasn’t.

Carter Page

Oh, and the President then jumps to the defense of another victim, poor Carter Page.  The FBI was against him, so the FBI must have been against Mr. Trump as well.  And he claims the House denied him “due process”, as if criminal rights defined in the Constitution apply to the impeachment process.  

The President claims; “…more due process was afforded those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.”  He seems pretty hung up on witches.

Instead, the House did its job, hearing evidence to find cause that Donald John Trump committed impeachable offenses.  The President will get the chance to have his say in the Senate.  We will see if McConnell will allow a fair hearing, or even witness testimony. More likely he will simply create a Republican rubber-stamp.

Mr. Trump ends his defense by stating he is writing “for the purpose of history” in a “permanent and indelible record”.  So his defense will be.  He wants Americans one hundred years from now to look back and understand.  His letter will make sure they get the point.

I suspect it will go down in history, somewhere. Right along side the night that Nixon wandered the White House having long talks with the portraits.  Nixon resigned soon after that, but I expect Trump will have to be dragged out of the White House.