By Jack F.
As the impeachment inquiry moves into its public phase, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had choice words for describing the President’s actions. Specifically, she has gone so far as to call his actions “bribery.” As insignificant as a word may seem, it is the most specific crime for which someone can be impeached. Things like “high Crimes or Misdemeanors” have a less clear meaning as they are specific to the impeachment clause of the constitution. It is a clear sign that Democrats are getting ready to take this fight to the next level.
The current round of congressional testimony has added a lot of context to the phone call made by President Trump to Ukrainian President Zelensky. However, senior White House officials, who were present at the time of the call, have refused to testify. Earlier this week, four White House officials ignored Congressional subpoenas, underscoring the White House’s legal defense, pretend nothing is wrong.
That seems to be a recurring theme for this administration. When the story first broke that President Trump had leveraged military aid to have a political opponent investigated to a foreign government, his response was to solicit more help from China on national television. It almost seems like Trump thinks confessing to a crime makes it ok. At the very least, this administration is consistent. In a press conference, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney was asked if the President had participated in any type of “quid pro quo.”
“We do that all the time with foreign policy,” he said.
He later walked that comment back, stating there was no wrongdoing. It always seems to be a similar story. The President does something bad. He lies about it to cover it up. He says there was nothing wrong, and then, he does it again.
Earlier today, former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testified in front of the House Intelligence Committee. While testifying that she felt “intimidated” by the President’s comments that she was “going to go through some things,” the President tweeted a number of attacks against her. Despite the ominous threats and obvious witness tampering, the top US diplomat concluded her testimony and was applauded during the conclusion of the hearing.
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