I’m quoting Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on today’s Meet the Press (1 December 2019), discussing impeachment with Chuck Todd. She went on to say:
There are people who don’t even want to watch the President on TV any more. They have to turn the volume down on their TV. And, it is also an economic check.
Technically, I don’t turn the volume down. I push the advance button and skip over what he says. But, YMMV.
Todd later challenged her about divisions in the Democratic Party:
It seems as if right now everyone is focused on everybody’s flaws. All the reasons why none of you can unite the Democratic Party. …Is this damaging long-term?
Klobuchar:
We will come together. …Our party’s going to have a debate about issues. I don’t want to be the President for half of America, but for all of America. …I’m the one who will unite this party.
I think this is a good answer to this criticism. Yes, we are having an open discussion of the issues, but after the primaries we will unite and defeat the Republicans.
I don’t agree with Klobuchar on her stand on many of the issues. I think she’s too Republican in her policies. She refuses to back real reform to healthcare, despite a system that is radically unfair and economically unsustainable. But she’s right to strongly back impeachment of Donald Trump, and she’s right to back the Democratic process, which will produce a strong candidate. We should support her in that.
On the other hand, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), put on a very weak showing. He said:
I think both Russia and Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election.
He still doesn’t get it. The Russian government interfered in our 2016 elections. The Ukrainian government did not. There is evidence that some members of that government had a preference for Hillary Clinton and stated it. I have seen no evidence at all that anyone with any degree of power in Ukraine tried to alter our elections or tamper with voting in the U.S.
Kennedy claimed that a court in December 2018 ruled that Ukrainian officials interfered in the 2016 election. What he appears to refer to is a ruling by a court in Kiev that the release of documents showing payments by a Ukrainian party to Paul Manafort amounted to election interference. This does not appear to be an official act of the Ukrainian government, but rather someone leaking documents from a pre-trial investigation.
So, Kennedy is still conflating Russian interference, on behalf of Donald Trump, which was a government-sponsored effort, with Ukrainian preference for Clinton. There is really no comparison between the two.
At least Todd called Kennedy on this:
Do you think there’s a difference in a country criticizing a presidential candidate, who essentially endorsed another country’s invasion and annexation of a part of their country, as equivalent to what Russia did with the DNC?
Kennedy avoids this question. Instead, he asked why it would be harmful to let the President introduce evidence. Todd responds:
He has been provided every opportunity to provide exculpatory evidence.
Kennedy denies this:
Rounds one and two by Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Schiff are as rigged as a carnival ring toss. And we both know that. [We know that?] If I were a prosecutor, and I were prosecuting you for a felony, and I went to a federal judge, and I said, ‘Judge, we both know Chuck’s guilty. So, let me call witnesses, give me an order that he can’t call any witnesses, he can’t cross-examine my witnesses, he can’t offer any rebuttal evidence, his lawyer can’t even be there.’ You know what that federal judge would do? He’d put me in handcuffs, or he’d put me in a straight jacket.
It’s hard to overstate the profound ignorance in this statement. Members of Congress should be familiar with the Constitution, and given the ongoing impeachment process they ought to be current on provisions in the Constitution for impeachment.
We aren’t to the trial portion of impeachment, yet, the part where the guilty (erm, accused) gets to put on a defense. And yet, even in the indictment phase, the Democrats have accommodated the, let’s say “accused”, to the extent of holding public hearings (not something you’d see in a grand jury hearing, but appropriate for representatives of the people), where they have allowed representatives of the defendant to cross-examine witnesses. They’ve allowed Trump to call witnesses (as long as they are witnesses to actual facts pertaining to impeachment). They have even invited legal representation for Trump to be present at the Judiciary Hearings.
To his credit, Todd does interject, “You’re going to get a trial.” Which, in its own way, is the most effective take down of Kennedy’s histrionics.
Note: Quotes in this article are my transcriptions from the program. Readers are encouraged to watch these segments to get the full context.
Also, note: I still intend to release reference articles of impeachment later today. Watch for them to be released later. A summary appears in Preparation of Articles of Impeachment (from Friday), and more information about them appears in Articles of Impeachment—Theory of the Case (from yesterday). Please add comments on those diaries to get your opinion heard.