The fix appears to be in with the House's so-called impeachment inquiry. Hashtags are no longer as powerful as they once were, but President Donald Trump might want to try out #KangarooCourtImpeachment, because the House "inquiry" is just that: a kangaroo court.
White House Counsel Pat Cipollone laid out the argument for concluding as much on Tuesday. Cipollone's entire letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the relevant Democratic committee chairs in the House should be read in its entirety, but three key passages stand out:
First, Cipollone argues that "precedent for the rights to cross-examine witnesses, call witnesses, and present evidence dates back nearly 150 years. Yet the Committees have decided to deny the President these elementary rights and protections that form the basis of the American justice system and are protected by the Constitution."
Next: "In addition, the House has not provided the Committees' Ranking Members with the authority to issue subpoenas. The right of the minority to issue subpoenas subject to the same rules as the majority--has been the standard, bipartisan practice in all recent resolutions authorizing presidential impeachment inquiries."
Finally, the White House counsel adds: "It is transparent that you have resorted to such unprecedented and unconstitutional procedures because you know that a fair process would expose the lack of any basis for your inquiry."
These are arguments that Democrats and their media supporters will dispute, but they are anchored in the recent past and the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon. That Democrats are abandoning these precedents--and the deeply embedded ideals of due process for the accused--is a terrible strategic mistake by Pelosi and her party.
Cipollone's arguments are powerful because they are indisputably true. Repetition will drive these stakes deep into the American consciousness. And after the failed attempt to "get Trump" via the Mueller inquiry (and a laugh at people who don't believe the special counsel's probe is understood that way), fair-minded Americans will indeed note and refuse to forget that Democrats cheated when they could not persuade.
Secret hearings, witness tampering, refusal of basic and long-standing rights such as the minority party's right to summon witnesses, add up to a rush job, a con job and a collapse of the Democrats' faith in their own assertions. U.S. Attorney John Durham and Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's investigations into the origins of the Russia probe may further deepen suspicion of the Democrats' pretend impeachment. Trump could hardly ask for more incompetent opponents than Pelosi, Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Jerrold Nadler. They have time to correct their ill-conceived rush to judgment, but not much.
Editorial on 10/11/2019