Trump tactics strengthen Dems’ impeachment case
Pelosi shows no signs of changing her strategy as polls back holding an inquiry
The combative White House letter vowing to defy the “illegitimate” impeachment inquiry has actually put President Donald Trump on a more certain path to charges. His refusal to honour subpoenas or allow testimony would likely play into a formal accusation against him.
The letter sent to House leaders by White House Counsel Pat Cipollone on Wednesday declared the President would not co-operate with the investigation — a clear reason, Democrats say, to write an article of impeachment charging him with obstruction.
The White House insists that a formal House vote is necessary just to start the impeachment process.
But Democrats are moving ahead without one, confident for now that they are backed by the Constitution and Trump’s own acknowledg ments of trying to persuade a foreign government to investigate a political foe.
“The White House should be warned that continued efforts to hide the truth of the President’s abuse of power from the American people will be regarded as further evidence of obstruction,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in response to the letter.
Trump again defended his decision not to co-operate, calling a whistleblower’s complaint about his call with Ukraine’s leader “a fraud being perpetrated on the American public” and saying Republicans are being treated unfairly. He repeated he was being vilified for “a perfect phone call”.
But the President also undercut his no-co-operation argument yesterday by putting conditions on his willingness, saying he would cooperate only if the House held a vote and Democrats would “give us our rights”.
Bolstered by polls showing increased public support for impeachment, Pelosi has shown no signs of shifting her strategy. Democrats plan to continue investigating while focusing on the President’s own acknowledgments that he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate his country’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election and also political rival Joe Biden and his family.
“The evidence provided by the President and his people has already been overwhelming,” even without additional witness testimony, said Connecticut Representative Jim Himes, a Democratic member of the House intelligence committee, which is leading the Ukraine investigation.
The intelligence panel, along with the Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Government Reform panels, subpoenaed Gordon Sondland, the US European Union ambassador, on Wednesday after Trump’s State Department barred him from showing up at a scheduled deposition. Texts provided by another diplomat last week showed Sondland and others navigating Trump’s demands for investigations as they spoke to Ukrainian Government officials about a possible visit to Washington.
Trump’s stonewalling of impeachment comes as polls find that Americans are more likely to approve than disapprove of the inquiry, even as they divide on whether Trump should be removed from office. A new Washington Post-Schar School poll finds 58 per cent supportive of the decision by Congress to launch an impeachment inquiry that could lead to Trump being removed from office. About half of all Americans also think Congress should remove Trump from office.
Still, the White House signalled it would not give an inch. Trump has taken to Twitter frequently to bash the probe, charging that the inquiry is not about anything more than partisan politics.
“The Do Nothing Democrats are Con Artists, only looking to hurt the Republican Party and President,” Trump wrote. “Their total focus is 2020, nothing more, and nothing less.”