Do the Right Thing

By Hank Silverberg

There is right, there is wrong, and then there is politics.

It is becoming clearer that President Trump’s actions over the last two years are more than just a series of bad policy, poor implementation or just plain incompetence.

The decision this past week by the Democratic leadership in the House to begin a series of hearings on possible articles of impeachment is no longer based on party politics or 3 a.m. presidential tweets. Though Congress is not forming a special committee to specifically investigate the President’s actions, there could still be articles of impeachment to vote on.

The number of congressmen supporting such a decision grows daily, but a key component is missing---a Republican--ANY republican-- who is willing to do the right thing.   

In 1973 when Watergate exploded, one of Richard Nixon’s closest political allies, Republican Senator James Baker of Tennessee, was among the first to support an impeachment inquiry. He said at the time:

“I'll dig for the facts, and I'll follow wherever they lead."

As the hearings progressed and the evidence mounted, it was Baker who later asked the infamous question on the Watergate break-in and cover up:

“What did the President know and when did he know it?”

It was the answer to that question which uncovered what turned out to be the large conspiracy and cover-up that eventually led to Nixon’s resignation. It was clear this past week that there are no Republicans like James Baker left in Washington. 

Any reasonable person who has read the redacted memo (see full text below) of the phone call between Mr. Trump and the Ukrainian President will question Trump’s request of President Zelensky to "do me a favor” as he talked about the already debunked questions on Joe Biden’s son and his employment with a Ukrainian energy company.

  

Read the full phone call description here:  https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Unclassified09.2019.pdf

No. There is no “quid pro quo” in the redacted transcript. We don’t see Trump threatening Zelensky with holding up U.S. aid unless the Ukrainian government investigates Biden. But even mentioning Biden in that phone call brings up the suspicion that the U.S. President is asking a foreign government, which depends heavily on U.S. aid and support, to investigate his political rival. A James Baker type Republican might then ask this question:

“What did the President actually say and did he actually connect foreign aid to such a request?" 

We have not yet heard from the whistle-blower who brought all this into the light and what else he or she may have heard to go along with that phone call. But members of the House Judiciary Committee are concerned enough to ask for details and invite the whistle-blower to testify, most likely behind closed doors.  

It would be best for the country, in the tradition of  Senator Baker, if Republicans were also asking these questions with an open mind. Instead, we heard Lindsey Graham (R, SC) call it "hearsay" while appearing on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday, before the whistle-blower's detailed concerns are even  made public. 

And here’s another angle that is just being highlighted in the timeline. That infamous July 25^th phone call between Trump and Zelensky detailed above came just days before former Senator Dan Coats, then Director of National Intelligence, resigned. The whistle-blower complaint went up the ladder the day after he actually left the job. That increases speculation that he was actually fired by the President after the White House got wind of the impending whistle-blower complaint.   

All these revelations are getting the attention of the voters. 
  A new CBS poll out this week indicates 55% of the American public now approve of the impeachment probe, with 45% against it. It breaks down mostly along party lines, but 49% of the all-important Independent voters, the group who turn elections, also approve of the impeachment inquiry.

  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-impeachment-inquiry-poll-cbs-news-poll-finds-majority-of-americans-and-democrats-approve/

A separate poll conducted by ABC found 66% of Americans see Donald Trump's move to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival as a serious problem. But only 17 % said they were surprised it happened.  

 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-29/only-17-surprised-by-trump-s-ukraine-actions-abc-news-poll


I suggest those numbers favoring impeachment will go up substantially as the President's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani continues to talk on Television about his roll in all this. Every time he talks he reveals something new and suspicious. 

Of course, impeachment proceedings can end different ways. 

Richard Nixon, with the Watergate scandal growing every day, won 49 states and was easily re-elected in 1972 to his second term. Less than two years later, with articles of impeachment approved in the House, but not yet sent to the Senate, he chose to resign.    

Bill Clinton beat impeachment and a trial in the Senate after he lied to Congress about his relationship with Monica Lewinski. He finished his second term with high approval ratings around 60%.  

As all this gets more detailed and complicated, the American people will be looking for something simple to focus their brains on as the 2020 election draws closer. Let’s hope that happens.  

Still to come, the long term impact down the line on the entire process on both our domestic politics and foreign policy.  

      (Your comments and suggestions are welcome)


            
(Copies of my book "The Campaign", fiction that could have been ripped from the headlines, can by purchased at a reduced bargain rate by emailing me for details at hanksilverberg@gmail.com or you can buy one retail at BN.com or Amazon.com)