Rushing to judgment on impeachment could hurt Dems
President Donald Trump | AP file photo
Trump argues that his push to have the Ukrainian government investigate the Biden’s was part of his mandate to fight corruption. That might play well with fair-minded voters.
For some Democrats, impeachment has become a rush to judgment. That rush may do them in.
The peril was recently demonstrated by Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate and former California attorney general.
CNN host Anderson Cooper opened Tuesday’s nationally televised Democratic presidential debate by noting that all 12 candidates onstage support the impeachment inquiry against President Donald J. Trump.
For her part, Harris already knows that Trump is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.
“The reality of it is that I don’t really think this impeachment process is going to take very long, because, as a former prosecutor, I know a confession when I see it,” Harris declared.
And Trump “did it in plain sight. He has given us the evidence. And he tried to cover it up, putting it in that special server.”
She was referring to the allegation that White House staff members hid the record of Trump’s July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In Harris’ mind, Trump should already be suited up in orange.
Cooper asked Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts: Why not wait for next November’s election, and let the voters decide?
“Impeachment is the way that we establish that this man will not be permitted to break the law over and over without consequences,” the presidential front-runner replied.
Warren is a former Harvard Law School professor. Harris served as California’s top law enforcement officer.
They know better.
What laws has Trump broken? What court has he been tried in?
An impeachment inquiry is intended to be an investigation of allegations by Congress, which then presents factual evidence to the Senate, which holds a trial and votes on a verdict.
In their rhetoric and actions, too many in the Democratic Party leadership have gleefully skipped the investigation and already deemed Trump guilty.
The Democrats’ rush to impeach their political Enemy No. 1 is a dangerous trend. It could play right into Trump’s only ideology: Trump as victim. For three years, the president has railed against the fake media and those sore-loser, radical-left Democrats.
On impeachment, he argues, he is being persecuted and tried by a kangaroo court.
Given the Democrats’ conduct, voters may come to agree with him.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did her party no favors in late September when she launched an impeachment inquiry centered on Trump’s controversial phone call. At that juncture, there were only news reports and rumors about the contents of the call.
She could have waited another day or two for the White House to release the rough transcript of the call, if only for the sake of appearances.
Democratic House leaders are still early in their inquiry to unearth the facts.
So far, witnesses who claim to have the goods on Trump have testified to a select group of Democrats behind closed doors.
House leaders have not clearly indicated when they will formally release the testimony and conduct public hearings.
They have not yet heard directly from the government whistle blower who claims Trump tried to pressure Ukraine into investigating former Vice-President Joe Biden and his son.
Yet 227 of Democratic U.S. House members currently favor an impeachment inquiry; 8 did not, according to the New York Times.
Trump argues that his push to have the Ukrainian government investigate the Biden’s was part of his mandate to fight corruption, and “clean the swamp.”
That defense might play with fair-minded, reasonable voters, especially those looking for just the facts, ma’am.
If the Democrats don’t play fair, they risk alienating voters who are bone-weary of the uber-partisan political wars. That could come back to haunt them on Election Day.
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