Blogger Candidate Forum: Questions

Hello Everyone:

It is The Blogger Candidate Forum with today in the Senate Trial of Mr. Donald Trump. Mr. Trump was impeached on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He is currently standing trial in the Senate and if convicted, he would be forced to resign. Realistically, that is not going to happen but you never know. The 2020 Impeachment edition has had so many plot twists that The Candidate Forum does not think even the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, could keep up.

So what has been going on?  Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney created a scandal by drinking chocolate milk from a bottle and Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul threw a tantrum and stormed out of the chamber because the presiding magistrate Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts would not read his question. The question: Who is the whistleblower? Seriously, did the Gentlemen from Kentucky really think that he was going to get answer?

Questions. The senators have questions. The rules for question time are: Each Senator must write his or her question down on a card, hand to a clerk who gives it to Chief Justice Roberts to read aloud. The question is directed to either the House managers or defense lawyers but each side is allowed to respond.  The senators must remain silent during question time. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) allotted 16 hours for it. For the most part the questions have been fairly routine. Today Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Gary Peters (R-MI) asked a good question about the impact impeachment will have on the balance of power between the White House and Congress.  Speculative question that hinges on the outcome. If The Candidate Forum were to hazard a guess it would be: if the president is convicted and removed from office, the conservative base would rally Trump-endorsed candidates and increase the Republican majority. Conversely, it could result in the Senate majority going to the Democrats. If the president is acquitted, then it could strengthen his hand in this year’s election enough to win a second term, possibly with a mandate. However, the question that had the chattering classes talking was a question is It personal political gain if a president, standing for re-election, uses information on a rival provided by a foreign entity.

Allow The Candidate Forum to explain.  Hypothetically speaking, if President X is standing for re-election and asks President Y of a foreign country to investigate President X’s political rival in exchange for an earmark and approved aide package, is it quid pro quo for personal gain. Defense attorney Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowtiz provided a rather expansive answers. Mr. Dershowtiz told the senators that a hypothetical president trying to win re-election was acting in the national interest, therefore President X’s actions were not impeachable.  This brought a very swift and incredulous reaction from the senators and the chattering classes.  Prof. Dershowtiz faced criticism that he was arguing that the president could do whatever he wants because he was acting in the national interest. Honestly, it sounds like the argument the late President Richard Nixon made during the Watergate scandal: even if the president committed a crime it would not be illegal because he is acting in the national interest. Spoiler alert, that argument did not work out too well and President Nixon became the first chief executive to resign.

Professor Dershowtiz tried to back pedal his argument saying that he never implied that the president could do whatever he wanted to do. What he meant to say was a president could not be impeached if his quid pro quo was in the national interest. Since his re-election is in the national interest, the president’s motives was completely acceptable. Really?  Does the esteemed Harvard law professor think that this president was acting in the national interest by trying to strong arm Ukraine into announcing an investigation into Burisma, former VPOTUS Joe Biden and his son Hunter was of national interest?  Around the time of that infamous phone call, VPOTUS Biden was already favored to beat Mr. Trump, in a general election, by double digits.  While Prof. Dershowtiz may like to think that every candidate thinks their re-election campaign is a matter of national interest, Mr. Trump has proven that his interest is only personal.  What comes next?

Tomorrow, the senators will debate calling witnesses and Leader McConnell feels confident that there  are enough votes to block witnesses. There may also be a motion to acquit.  If the senators vote to call witnesses, that will happen next week. Speaking of next week, let the voting begin with the Iowa Caucuses on Monday and the State of the Union on Tuesday. As always The Blogger Candidate will keep you updated.