Alternative View

For John, BLUF:  This is like the Dreyfus Affair.  Is Reporter Battenfeld the Emile Zola of this affair?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump is hijacking the impeachment hearings

From The Boston Herald! by Reporter Joe Battenfeld, 18 November 2019.

Here is the lede plus six:

President Trump is calling Nancy Pelosi’s bluff, dramatically raising the stakes of the impeachment hearings with a threat to offer testimony to House investigators.

And the ploy could work.

Trump is hijacking the hearings for a second straight week, overshadowing the Democrats’ carefully choreographed plans to methodically call witnesses to show Trump tried to bribe Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

The House speaker initially launched this latest twist, in an interview suggesting Trump should testify himself or in writing. It was said more in a condescending tone than a serious offer, and even the CBS interviewer scoffed at it.

But it was the perfect opening for Trump, who tweeted on Monday that he liked the idea and would “strongly” consider it.

As a legal strategy, Trump’s idea to give written testimony is fraught with peril. No defense attorney would ever suggest that a defendant should testify before an already-rigged jury convinced of his guilt.

But the impeachment hearings aren’t a legal proceeding — they’re a political spectacle. And Trump knows it.

In 2016 more than half of the Americans who took the time to vote voted against the Democratic Party Candidate, Ms Hillary Clinton.  Yet they can't let it go.  To the detriment of our nation.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff