Among the blizzard of bizzare distortions, gross misstatements of fact, and outright lies offered by Republican members of the Judiciary Committee in their effort to defend the pResident’s misconduct, the one where Zelensky says he ‘felt no pressure’ needs some push back. Republicans have repeatedly said that their Democrat colleagues on the Judiciary Committee are calling President Zelensky a liar -if they think he was pressured by Donald John Trump to manufacture dirt on the Bidens.
No — let us be clear about this. Misstatements of fact made under duress are not lies. Coerced misstatements of fact cannot and should not ever be mistaken for lies or truth. This is one of the reasons we shouldn’t torture suspects — because under duress they may say anything either true or false to lift the pressure. Zelensky had no choice but to say what Trump needed him to say. Putin’s army occupies the eastern Ukraine. Trump has already withheld military aid and might then be slow to come to Ukraine’s defense should Putin go on the offensive. Zelensky is not lying when he says he feels no pressure, he is reacting to that very pressure in the only way he can to save his country.
This Republican line of reasoning in defense of the pResident is more than a farce. It’s a deeply ironic farce, because each and every Republican member of congress now feels the same sort of pressure that Zelensky did. If they vote the facts. If they vote their conscience. If they follow the truth and uphold their solemn oaths to protect and defend the constitution, the oath breaker in the oval office is going to make their lives a living hell. Republicans who vote to impeach the president will face the full wrath of his most ardent supporters. They will be vilified on Sinclair Fox and OAN. Trump’s army of flying monkeys will harass and harangue each of them to the end of time, upend their lives forever and of course they will all face a primary challenge before November.
No excuses for anyone who doesn’t do their duty, no matter how difficult and unpleasant it may be. Republicans know that Zelensky wasn’t lying because they too feel intense pressure to support a maniacal and vindictive master. Nothing you say is a lie with a gun to your head.
Their only chance (and ours as well) is for members of congress to do what brave patriotic americans have always done in the face of tyranny, stand up together and resist. Doing what is right is possible if you don’t have to do it all alone.
I hope the Republicans in congress will do the right thing. Not the easy thing. Not the safe thing. Not the politically expedient thing, but the right thing. Bringing truth to power is a mighty task. If they are individually too weak to stand against the blowback that is sure to follow — I hope that they might band together and do so collectively. Should any Republican congressman be both brave and honest enough to vote for impeachment, all Americans should rally to their defense and support. When they do not, we should consider that they act under duress. This is no more an apology or an excuse than it is true to suggest that Zelensky is a liar.
Which is why votes to impeach need to be made by secret ballot — so no one on the jury can be tampered with or punished for their votes, one way or the other.