The Patriot Post® · 'Schiff Show' Roundup: Republican Rebuttal
“The Democrats’ impeachment inquiry is not the organic outgrowth of serious misconduct; it is an orchestrated campaign to upend our political system.” That’s the summation of a 123-page report issued by House Republicans Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, and Michael McCaul. “The evidence presented does not prove any of these Democrat allegations, and none of the Democrats’ witnesses testified to having evidence of bribery, extortion, or any high crime or misdemeanor.”
“The Democrats’ impeachment inquiry paints a picture of unelected bureaucrats within the foreign policy and national security apparatus who fundamentally disagreed with President Trump’s style, world view, and decisions,” the report concludes. “Their disagreements with President Trump’s policies and their discomfort with President Trump’s actions set in motion the anonymous, secondhand whistleblower complaint. Democrats seized on the whistleblower complaint to fulfill their years-old obsession with removing President Trump from office.”
That pretty well sums it up. The Republican report is a “prebuttal” of sorts for the report expected later today from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who will attempt to make the case for impeachment as a layup to House Judiciary Committee hearings that begin tomorrow. Schiff says he’s rushing his report because of the dire circumstances: “This is a threat to the integrity of the upcoming election, and we don’t feel it should wait, in particular when we already have overwhelming evidence of the president’s misconduct.”
We pause to note that Schiff’s report waited while Democrats took a week-long Thanksgiving break.
Meanwhile, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler finally released his first list of witnesses. According to The Wall Street Journal, “The Judiciary panel’s impeachment hearing on Wednesday will be its first on the matter, and it will hear from a group of experts on what constitutes an impeachable offense. Four academics are scheduled to testify on the opening day: Noah Feldman of Harvard Law School; Pamela Karlan of Stanford Law School; Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina School of Law; and Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School.”
Finally, in a development that would be no surprise whatsoever, “House Democrats are debating whether to expand articles of impeachment to include charges beyond abuse of power in the Ukraine controversy,” reports The Washington Post. “Members of the House Judiciary Committee and other more liberal-minded lawmakers and congressional aides have been privately discussing the possibility of drafting articles that include obstruction of justice or other ‘high crimes’ they believe are clearly outlined in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report — or allegations that Trump has used his office to benefit his bottom line.”
Translation: Democrats think combining the fizzled impeachment coup 1.0 (Trump/Russia) with its coup 2.0 sequel (Trump/Ukraine) is the combo to defeat Trump. Color us skeptical.