Impeachment divides Dems as Pelosi stands by standards

Mr. Mueller

It was supposed to be the smoking gun, the one that felled the bad guy, and in this case it was Donald Trump, whose American presidency had turned, say his critics, into a circus-like whirlwind of executive orders that stranded travelling immigrants abroad, and sent their visiting relatives back to their home countries, who separated children from their parents, as they sought political asylum, in wirebound cubicles, and whose refusal to criticize white supremacists over the removal of a Confederate era soldier branded him a racist.

The list is extensive, and most of the president’s opponents, and the targets of his late-night tweets, and ire, Democrats, thought the Mueller report was the key to his removal from office; yet the report, by its nature was intended to get the facts, just the facts, as the old 60’s era television detective intoned into mid-century living rooms.

When the report, or to be exact the summary prepared by Attorney General William Barr was tilted in the direction of protecting Trump, and not the American public. While the Democrats are justified, in their cries of nepotism, the drama that lies before them is a many headed hydra that is as complicated as the Gordian knot.

Partisanship aside, the US Constitution gives Congress and the House of Representatives legal oversight on suspicious behavior by Trump and, by turns, his family members in their quest for power, and dominance, as they reshape the government and foreign policy; examples of which are son-in-law Jared Kushner looking to establish a secret back channel with Russia, that even they thought was a trap.

The self exoneration that the president intoned and that was strutted about by White House spokesperson, Sarah Sanders, gave all of the appearances of a banana republic and not the lofty republic planned by John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, and the prolific James Madison.

The drama will now continue, but as the storm clouds gather, it’s apparent, as we noted before, that the Barr summary and the president’s subsequent self-exoneration are designed for his reflection, and all subsequent behaviors and statement radiate from that, including wanting to include a citizenship question on the next census, as a nativist effort to flush out illegal immigrants, the cause celebre of his 2016 campaign effort.

To the frustration of many, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell seems pledged to do the same, come hell, or high water, whichever comes first. Joined with Barr, whos is just the type of “corporate” AG, he wanted, Trump is on a roll, even as he stumbles.

Circling back we need to take a look at the following words from the report: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.”

What we see is a frightened man, whose main goal with the 2016 campaign was less about winning, than enhancing his empire, supporting earlier reports from Steve Bannon, former advisor that he was stunned into uncharacteristic silence when he heard that he had won, as his wife Melania burst into tears.

Later, in what most people have chuckled over was this report from Time Magazine” “According to Mueller, the president was despondent when Attorney General Jeff Sessions informed him that the special counsel had been appointed in 2017.

“This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked,” the President said to Sessions.

“Even in its incomplete form, the Mueller report outlines disturbing evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice and other misconduct,” House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in a statement Thursday. “The Special Counsel made clear that he did not exonerate the President,” he added. “The responsibility now falls to Congress to hold the President accountable for his actions.”

“On Friday morning, Nadler issued a subpoena for the entire report and the “underlying materials.” He wrote in a statement that it is now Congress’ responsibility to determine the extent of the president and his associates’ alleged misconduct, said Time.

The Dems are divided on the issue and there was a Monday conference call from the Speaker of the House, and that summarized, by Nancy Pelosi, who holds the office, that caution was needed to ensure that the facts were obtained and in a deliberate process.

Ms. Pelosi

She did not rule out impeachment, but carefully noted,  according to The New York Times, “We have to save our democracy. This isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about saving our democracy,” Ms. Pelosi told the 172 members who participated in the 87-minute conference call, keeping the possibility of impeachment alive. “If it is what we need to do to honor our responsibility to the Constitution — if that’s the place the facts take us, that’s the place we have to go.”

Perhaps the best summary, we’ve seen is again, from Time, whose editorial opinion noted:

“No one wants to see this sad episode in our country’s history drag on, but the question of whether Americans conspired with the Russian government to influence a presidential election is far too critical to remain unanswered because information was concealed, destroyed or unavailable. There has been much discussion of Mueller providing Congress with a road map for investigation of obstruction of justice. But when it comes to coordination between the campaign and Russia’s government, Mueller seems to be suggesting the same thing: there is further work to be done. The conclusions in his report are prosecutors’ decisions, grounded in the stern requirements of the criminal law and the available evidence. But as Mueller noted, further evidence, whether it comes from investigation on the Hill or in ongoing federal and state criminal cases, could shed new light on our understanding of what took place. Attorney General William Barr may have exonerated the President, but Mueller didn’t.”

The American public may learn more when Mueller appears before the House Intelligence Committee, and his reasoning, but despite the demand for impeachment from Senator, and Democratic candidate, Elizabeth Warren, there is the problem of focusing all legislative energies on Trump and none, on the issues, that the Democrats were elected on, in the mid-term elections: health care, affordable housing and an increase in the minimum wage to ensure the health and well-being of working American families and individuals -- to abandon that mandate would be disastrous.

Plus, as The Hill reported, last month, “Starting impeachment proceedings seems unlikely to end in a Senate conviction given the two-thirds majority needed in a body Republicans control with a 53-47 majority. That makes it a tricky political proposition, especially as Democrats eye a 2020 election they think could end the Trump era and leave Democrats in control of Congress and the White House. That scenario would leave Pelosi with the chance at scoring some sweeping policy achievements on health care and climate change in her last years in Washington.”

Some observers have been fool-hardy enough to state that they don’t care, in their rush to purify the Oval Office, and also neglect the fact that if VIce-President, Mike Pence, who one wag noted was a “real politician” succeeded the presidency things could go far worse, especially for the LGBT community whose day is not done, despite marriage equality.

“I think my community would like to make sure we are legislating on the agenda that brought many freshmen here, and also making sure we get to the bottom of the Mueller report’s findings,” said Representative Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, a moderate freshman whose district had been Republican,” the Times added.

When added to the mix of the investigative efforts of Jerry Nadler and Elijah Cummings, Democratic House Oversight chair, we can add the Southern District New York, and that of the State of New York’s attorney general then there is enough, to be enough as they look at Trump Tower, Trump Trust, Trump Holdings, and the Trump Foundation.

Impeachment without the necessary work, and best practices, could also endanger the political lives of moderate Democrats, at a time, when they are most needed.