Ukraine. Quid pro quo. Military aid. Biden investigation.
These are the things supposedly at the heart of the Trump impeachment effort. They’re not. The truth is that Democrat hatred for the President, and an almost religious refusal to accept Hillary Clinton’s career implosion, are the only guiding principles in this charade.
The Ukraine accusation is simply the latest in a now long line of attacks that have fizzled and sputtered when subjected to public scrutiny. The hearings were a failure, the Democrats know that, but they still can’t let go of their rage. So, it’s back to the drawing board.
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In a tacit admission that Ukraine isn’t going to be enough to justify their witch hunt, they’re going back to the Mueller report to find other supposedly “impeachable offenses.” Yes, that’s the same Mueller report which blew up their last set of baseless accusations. You remember. The report that lead to Robert Mueller’s embarrassing testimony, and the uneasy feeling that he had little to do with his own findings.
As the WaPo reports:
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Members of the House Judiciary Committee and other more liberal-minded lawmakers and congressional aides have been privately discussing the possibility of drafting articles that include obstruction of justice or other “high crimes” they believe are clearly outlined in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report — or allegations that Trump has used his office to benefit his bottom line.
The idea, however, is running into resistance from some moderate Democrats wary of impeachment blowback in their GOP-leaning districts, as well as Democratic leaders who sought to keep impeachment narrowly focused on allegations that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk freely.
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The debate is expected to play out in leadership and caucus meetings this week, as the House Intelligence Committee prepares to hand the impeachment inquiry to the House Judiciary Committee. The Intelligence Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday night on its final report on Ukraine, allowing Judiciary to then work on writing articles of impeachment based on that document.
But the Judiciary Committee also has asked other investigative panels to send any findings of Trump-related misdeeds that they believe are impeachable.
In other words, they haven’t got the goods, so they’re going to throw everything at the wall to see if anything sticks. It hasn’t so far, but what the heck? Why not let Schiff and Co. fling a little more manure?
I suppose the reasoning goes something like this: The impeachment effort, in conjunction with their complete inability to find a potentially successful 2020 presidential candidate, has already hurt them so badly that they may as well go whole hog. The next election is, probably, already lost. Going back to the Mueller report will be a political eye-roller, but the damage is already done, so how much worse can it get?
They’re obviously hoping that they can line up a mountain of unproven accusations and hollow talking points, the media will lap them up and regurgitate them, and maybe they can save a little face.
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It won’t work. As I’ve written before, people were far more open to this entire fiasco before the hearings began. Once it became clear that the Ukraine “scandal” was a nothingburger, the Dems lost their mojo. Schiff’s preening, Pelosi’s detached-from-reality thousand-mile stare, and Nadler’s carping have done nothing to move the needle in their favor – in fact, they’ve driven people away.
An attempt to re-litigate the Mueller report will only backfire – again.
