Blogger Candidate Forum: The Defense

Hello Everyone:

The Blogger Candidate Forum is here with a Saturday Senate trial edition. Today Mr. Donald Trump’s defense team opened their presentation in a short mercifully abbreviated session. Their one job, create enough reasonable doubt to get their client acquitted of high crimes and misdemeanors.  The featured member of the team was the Ghost of Impeachment Past (dramatic pause) Kenneth Star. Some of you may remember him from President Bill Clinton’s impeachment. What did the defense team open with?  Shall we find out?

White House council Pat Cipollone had today’s viral moment.  He told assembled senators that the House managers want them to overturn the will of the people. Mr. Cipollone repeated accusations of partisan witch hunt, hoax, and cherry picking the facts. The one thing Mr. Cipollone said, that The Candidate Forum agrees with is, the House managers do have the burden of proof. Whether or not they met it is really up to the senators. The defense argued that their were no eye witnesses to the infamous July 25, 2019 phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), told the press following the two hour session that the defense arguments actually bolstered the demand for witnesses. The president’s lawyers continue their presentations on Monday and Tuesday.

Never one to miss an opportunity to tweet, the President was quite chatty today, tweeting his usual churlish comments. Let us take a moment to remember an important point. Throughout the House of Representatives impeachment hearings,  the president complained about not receiving his due process rights. Even when he was invited to send counsel, he refused. Further, what the president failed to fully comprehend was the fact that the House impeachment hearings is similar to a grand jury hearing: the point is to determine whether there is enough evidence to return an indictment and move forward to trial.

The majority Republican seemed relieved to finally hear from the president’s lawyers. One senator told reporters that he believed that the defense team totally undermined the prosecution while another repeated the cherry picking the facts accusation.  Pat Cipollone belittled, suggesting that the framers of The Constitution had something else in mind when they formulated the impeachment and removal process. He argued that really what the whole matter came down to is an effort to cancel the election over a phone call to the Ukrainian president. He even argued that it was part of his job to protect presidential prerogatives by refusing to allow aides to testify. He actually said with a straight face. Deputy White House counsel Michael Purpura added that Mr. Trump did not explicitly link already earmarked and approved military aide to investigations into VPOTUS Biden and his son Hunter,  adding that President Zelensky publicity said he did not feel pressured by Mr. Trump. Mr. Purpura went on to dismiss the House’s case as hearsay, playing video clips of European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland saying that he assumed there was no quid pro quo before going after lead House manager Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA).

At a news conference, following today’s session both Representatives Schiff and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) offered a sharp point-by-point rebuttal to the defense arguments. Another troubling related news item has been circulating the digital universe. Indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas apparently released a recording that features Mr. Trump demanding the immediate removal of then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. The recording was secretly made at a dinner during which the president insisted that Ambassador Yovanovitch be taken out https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/lev-parnas-recording-trump-is-heard-saying-take-her-out-about-ukrainian-ambassador-marie-yovanovitch-2020-01-25/.  What is troubling is, if true, then it would suggest that, the president was fully aware of and signed off on Rudy Giuliani’s shadow foreign diplomacy activities. Of course without witnesses testifying in the senate trial, there is no way for anyone to discern what took place.

Alright, here is what is next. The Senate trial picks up Monday with two marathon sessions. After that, the senators will have an opportunity to ask questions, debate calling witnesses and possibly an acquittal motion. Meanwhile, the president is on schedule to deliver the State of the Union and the Iowa Caucuses are the day after that. Yes, everything all at once and The Candidate Forum will be here.