“‘How can we possibly vote to remove the president without all the evidence we’re voting not to see?’ is a hell of an argument,” Princeton professor of history Kevin Kruse tweeted Tuesday evening after over seven hours of Senate debate on impeachment rules.
Not that evidence matters to lawyers defending Donald J. Trump. Much of the first day of his Senate impeachment trial they spent lying, disinforming, and propagandizing for the single C-SPAN camera Senate Republicans allowed in the chamber. Moving opinion among Senate members was not their goal. They were playing to an audience of Trump, the reality show star performing daily as President of the United States.
Many among the Republicans’ falsehoods exist largely as Trumpworld zombie lies. Republicans weren’t allowed to attend depositions of impeachment witnesses. GOP members of the three relevant committees were there posing questions. (As Trump says, read the transcript.) The president had no opportunity to make any defense in the House. In fact, White House counsel Pat Cipollone refused an invitation to participate; Trump’s top lieutenants refused to testify. There were plenty of others.
Nevertheless, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and personal Trump attorney Jay Sekulow know Trump wants to hear them sing a medley of his Greatest Hits. At the end of one speech, an almost embarrassed Sekulow asked, “Where is that whistleblower?” before quickly turning from the podium and walking off.
Team Trump offered more criticism of Democrats than defense of their client. Abuse of power is not an impeachable offense, they argued repeatedly. The New York Times reminds readers that while still in private practice, William Barr argued in a 19-page memo that obstruction of justice laws do not apply to presidents. Even to ones who misuse their power to impede investigations into themselves. Now attorney general, Barr wrote, “The fact that President is answerable for any abuses of discretion and is ultimately subject to the judgment of Congress through the impeachment process means that the President is not the judge in his own cause.” Yet on Tuesday, Trump’s attorneys argued he could ignore subpoenas from a House impeachment inquiry he deemed illegitimate.
For their part, Democrats presented a more coherent case. They used debates over amendments to impeachment rules to showcase damning facts already in evidence. They cited sworn testimony from witnesses already on record to argue for subpoenaing administration officials with direct knowledge of the president’s actions. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow noted the differences in preparation were evident by comparing the tabletops of the House impeachment managers (left above) and the White House team (right above).
Comparing the two teams, prominent Trump critic George Conway tweeted, “It’s like the New York Yankees versus the Bad News Bears.”
As if to make Conway’s case for him, Jay Sekulow launched into a tirade worthy of Roseanne Roseannadanna after a presentation by Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) got Sekulow’s dander up, the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake writes:
“And by the way — lawyer lawsuits?” Sekulow began. “Lawyer lawsuits? We’re talking about the impeachment of a president of the United States, duly elected, and the members — the managers are complaining about lawyer lawsuits? The Constitution allows lawyer lawsuits. It’s disrespecting the Constitution of the United States to even say that in this chamber — lawyer lawsuits.”
Sekulow apparently misheard Demings’s reference to “FOIA lawsuits.” Naturally, the White House refused to issue a “Never mind.” Aaron Blake continues:
What’s even more remarkable about the flap is that the White House actually stood by Sekulow’s allegation. Asked about the remark by reporters later in the night, White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland reportedly walked away, only to return a while later — apparently after checking? — and suggest that Sekulow had not erred.
“When you read the transcript, it says ‘lawyer lawsuit,’ ” he said
Which transcript that is the White House didn’t say, Blake adds, because “the Federal Document Clearing House transcript includes no references to ‘lawyer lawsuits’ besides Sekulow’s.”
In the end, the Republicans held firm and refused to consider hearing witnesses until after both sides have presented their cases. House manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) insisted, “A vote to delay is a vote to deny…When they say ‘when,’ they mean never.”
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