Impeachment Fail

For John, BLUF:  I have seen accolades thrown at the House (Democratic Party) Impeachment Managers, but the fact is, they failed at their task.  And nothing says a unified nation like them all being Democrats.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Did The Democrats “Tank” The Second Trump Trial?

From Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks, by Professor Jonathan Turley, 12 February 2021.

Here is the lede:

Below is my column in USA Today on the lack of a strategy by the House to secure conviction in the trial of former President Donald Trump.  As I have previously noted, the House managers did an excellent job in their presentations and many of the videotapes rekindled the anger that most of us felt over the riot.  They also reinforced the view of many (including myself) that former president Donald Trump bears responsibility in the tragedy that unfolded due to his reckless rhetoric.  Yet, there was a glaring omission in the substance of the House arguments.  The managers did not lay out what the standard should be in convicting a former president for incitement of an insurrection and only briefly touched on proving any “state of mind” needed for such a conviction.  That is why I have referred to their case as more emotive than probative.  It lacked direct evidence to support the claim that Trump wanted to incite an actual insurrection or rebellion against the United States, as alleged in the article of impeachment.  I do not believe that an acquittal was inevitable in this case, but it was all but assured by critical decisions made by the House in this impeachment.  The unforced errors discussed below raise the question of whether the Democrats “tanked” the trial.

The rest of the Blog Post is Professor Turley's USA Today Column.

I don't think they deliberately tanked the trial, but I do agree they were driven by their emotions.

More important, this trial failure means that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will need to hang around the US House of Representatives until into 2025, so she can be ready for one more impeachment, in the event Citizen Donald J Trump gets reelected as President.  No retirement for Speaker Pelosi.  The danger of President Trump is too great.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff