House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) indicated that the case to impeach President Donald Trump is already strong enough to the point where additional hearings may not be necessary on Sunday.
“Are there going to be any more hearings, any more witnesses, or are you done?” asked CNN’s “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper.
“We don’t foreclose the possibility of more depositions, more hearings,” Schiff replied. “We are in the process of getting more documents all the time. So that investigative work is going to go on.”
But impeachment investigators aren’t going to let Trump and other administration officials hold up the process with their refusal to testify, the Democratic lawmaker added.
“We’re not willing to go down that road,” he continued. “And what’s more, the evidence is already overwhelming.”
Last week saw the conclusion of all the public testimonies of witnesses who have cooperated with the investigation. The hearings, particularly that of Ambassador Gordon Sondland, confirmed there was a quid pro quo between Trump and Ukraine when Trump withheld nearly $400 million in military aid while asking the Ukrainian president to announce an investigation into Joe Biden.
“It’s really not contested what the President did,” Schiff said.
Watch Schiff below:
Schiff doesn't rule out holding more impeachment hearings but says the evidence is "already overwhelming." pic.twitter.com/S9Gb1qvfu7
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) November 24, 2019
Schiff is absolutely right, if this was a case based on evidence the case would already be closed. It’s apolitical case though, and we haven’t had an event that crossed through all media and made an impact…though, to be fair, I’m not sure that’s possible anymore. There were plenty of things that should have, but the right wing hate machine is good enough to ignore everything and spin it into a win for Trump, despite the truth laid out for all to see.
We’ll see if they get anyone else to testify voluntarily, or if the McGahn case forces the hand on subpoenas to get someone like Mulvaney under oath. I’m not sure anything is going to get the Senate to eject Trump though, no matter what Republicans are going to stick together, despite all evidence…hopefully that boomerangs on them in 2020.
Schiff can do more.
Schiff should subpoena every Trump regime thug. Then vote them in contempt when they ignore the subpoenas. Then publicly go to the US attorney’s office in DC and request they all be hauled to jail.
When the US attorney for DC refuses to do her job, Schiff can direct the Capitol Police to arrest and imprison them in DC jail.
Is this a stunt? Sure. But it would publicly show the Trump regime is lawless. The last thing Schiff should do is quickly hand the matter to Moscow Mitch, who will turn it into a mendacious circus.
While the evidence is overwhelming, there is no one smoking gun like a Nixon tape-recording yet. That might not ever turn up, but it seems rash to proceed to impeachment now without waiting a bit for some more evidence to come out. Dems have done a very good job making it impossible for witnesses to testify contrary to people like Fiona Hill and Yovanovitch without risking a perjury charge. They need to wait a bit, and it would be good to get McGahn’s testimony, which could open another front–Mueller-era obstruction of justice. The best argument against executive privilege there is that it’s already waived, because Trump let McGahn talk freely with Mueller’s team.
“hearings may not be necessary on Sunday”.
That is OK. That leaves out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for hearings with one extra day off for you guys for good behavior.
Overwhelming? No, it’s not. The ship hasn’t sunk and the rats don’t need to flee.