The Case for Impeachment
The impeachment case against Trump is very clear. He should be impeached for using American military aid as a bargaining chip to get a foreign government to go after his rival. It is using the power of the presidency for personal gain. It is inviting a foreign government to interfere in our election. This behavior has forced Congress to begin an impeach inquiry. To quote a title from a Slate Magazine article “No Consequences have Consequences” (Slate).
Although the case against Trump is actually much larger than pressuring of Ukrainians to investigate Biden’s son, I think focusing on this egregious act is the way to proceed. The American people will understand this abuse. However, if Congress adds other abuses such as the use of the office for his business interests, overstepping his powers in redirecting funding Congress appropriated to his pet projects, trying to strong arm the Justice Department to end the Mueller investigation, and, most recently, the possibility that he engaged in a cover up of the call with the Ukrainian president, the issues get clouded. This would give Trump more maneuvering ground.
The Evidence: He Put it in Writing
What makes focusing on the Ukrainian call likely to prevail, is the evidence is in the White House memo. I do not know what possessed the White House to put out a memo on Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president that was so explicit in terms of the quid pro quo Trump was trying to extract, As it is a summary and NOT a transcript, you’d think they could have doctored it better. One would have expected something closer to the Barr memo on the Mueller Report that falsely states the conclusions to the report to favor Trump. Perhaps many people have seen the full transcript of the call, making it more likely a major lie would be eventually uncovered.
Trump will Fight until the Bitter End
We are just at the starting line for the Trump defense and I expect it, at a minimum, will be extreme and angry. From the beginning of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has used 3 communications strategies to respond to criticism These strategies are deflection, disinformation, and what I have labeled the “they are out to get me defense.” These approaches have served him well in business and have been effective during his presidency. These strategies will be how he will approach impeachment.
DEFLECTION
He is going to try to go after the Democrats on any issue he can find. Whether the Democrats engaged in problematic activities is irrelevant to the issue of whether Trump has abused the office of the Presidency for personal political gain. He has already said Biden and his son need to be investigated, although that was already done. He also as ordered that staff be interviewed regarding the Clinton email server (CNN). These are retaliatory actions aimed at deflecting the public’s focus and intimidating those who go against him. By keeping grounds for impeachment focused, it somewhat limits his ability to deflect.
DISINFORMATION
Donald Trump is the king of disinformation. He repeatedly uses unfounded statements and figures to make claims of success and characterize problems far worse than they are. Although he has used disinformation as a strategy to build himself up for years, it eerily follows the Russian approach to disrupting our elections (https://politicaleye.org/2018/09/03/why-lying-works/).
They are out to get me
Trump began his mantra of “they are out to get me” early in his campaign as it casts him as an a Washington outsider and is an effective retort to almost any accusation. No matter how overwhelming the evidence of wrong doing is, Trump can claim it is just a witch hunt. In concert with the extreme idea that there is a “deep state” conspiracy in play, Trump denies wrong doing in cases where the evidence is overwhelming such as paying off Stormy Daniels or obstructing justice in the Russian election investigation.
We have no Good Choices
Unlike in the case of Richard Nixon, I do not think Trump will resign to save the nation the anguish of an impeachment. Even if the Republican Party finally abandons supporting him, I believe he will continue to fight and force a final vote. If he is not impeached, we allow the abuses of power to continue and undermine our Democracy. Therefore, I believe the Democrats took the right action but there will be consequences to this action as well.