In the aftermath of the riot on the Capitol building, Republicans and Democrats alike were aghast at the rhetoric of Donald Trump. That rhetoric, whether directly or indirectly, took a frothing crowd all the way to where Congress was certifying the results of the election. And they broke in.
In the hours and even day or so that followed, Democrats had bipartisan support for doing something. Nancy Pelosi, if she had any good instincts left, would have had impeachment articles sent over to the Senate immediately. It would have forced Republicans to either side with Democrats or admit that their outrage over the riot was fake. But that didn’t happen. Any chance at bipartisan support in the Senate, where the trial will take place, disappeared.
The window to come closest to convicting Trump and barring him from office has now officially closed, and based on the rules and agreements established between Republicans and Democrats, it’s clear the Democrats know it. At this point, it’s simply a show rather than a principled stand.
If you haven’t subscribed to Erick Erickson’s newsletter, you should. He makes an excellent point in this morning’s column.
A year ago, when Mitch McConnell advanced the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump, then President of the United States, Senator Chuck Schumer declared it was not a real impeachment trial because no witnesses would be called. It would be a farce.
By Senator Schumer’s own standards, the impeachment trial he will now oversee as Majority Leader of the Senate is a farce. There will be no witnesses. “So far, neither Senator McConnell, nor any Republican Senator, has articulated a single good reason why the trial shouldn’t have these witnesses or these documents,” Schumer said then.
The Democrats not fighting for witnesses (they have power now, so they could absolutely have forced it) makes it clear the Democrats under Schumer are 1) aware they won’t get a conviction and 2) don’t care. They want to be done with this and move on to the next thing. This impeachment trial is taking up valuable time, time the Democrats need to start pushing through their agenda now that they have both chambers of Congress and the White House again.
Schumer and McConnell both want it to disappear, but the Senate can’t just ignore it. So, they’ll just rush it through and try to move on.
All impeachment is political, not judicial. This is just a very openly political one.