January 25, 2020

Trump is winning the impeachment battle — but losing the war
President Trump's lawyers begin presenting their case for why he shouldn't be impeached on Saturday. But we already know what they're going to say. During Tuesday's procedural battle over whether or not to hear new witness testimony as part of the trial, Trump's defense team gave us a preview of what their arguments will look like: hyperbolic claims, little regard for the truth, strident attacks, and largely ignoring the legal arguments and evidence presented by the House impeachment managers over the last four days. On one level this strategy makes sense, undoubtedly pleasing the combative president and his base, while also reflecting the knowledge that the Senate is exceedingly unlikely to remove Trump from office. Yet, it carries a risk, threatening to damage perceptions of Trump among the crucial voters who may decide his fate in November.The House impeachment managers, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff, have largely spent the first four days of President Trump's trial laying out substantive arguments, explaining in detail why they believe Trump's conduct warrants removal from office. They've used charts and video clips, even rebutting Trump's purported justification for demanding that Ukraine investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The House managers even dove into substance during battles over amendments to the rules package that will govern the trial. If that fight over amendments was any indication, what we're about to see from Trump's legal team is going to be jarringly different. On Tuesday, their rebuttal to each amendment proposed by Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer dripped with incendiary charges focused largely on the impeachment process, not the substance of the arguments against Trump. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, for example, baselessly asserted, '"A partisan impeachment is like stealing an election."' In so much as they responded to what the House impeachment managers were saying, it wasn't to address or rebut legal contentions, but rather to indignantly upbraid their opposition. On at least three occasions Trump's lawyers outright lied.Most absurdly, Trump attorney Jay Sekulow apparently misheard what House impeachment manager Val Demmings was saying about Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits, and responded by ranting about how it was "a dangerous moment for America when an impeachment of a president of the United States is being rushed through because of lawyer lawsuits."His attorneys' feistiness no doubt pleased the highly pugilistic president who has been lambasting the unfairness of the House's impeachment process for months. On Wednesday, he sent 142 tweets or retweets, the most of any day during his presidency. In one representative tweet Thursday morning, Trump claimed that the Democrats' presentation was, "loaded with lies and misrepresentations."Trump aides have long known they are performing for an audience of one, and that the president grades on how strongly his aides defend him and how it looks on television. It was therefore not particularly surprising that the most newsworthy moment of the trial's first three days came in the wee hours of the morning Wednesday, when Chief Justice John Roberts admonished both sides for their heated language and harshness after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler sparred with Cipollone and Sekulow, with Cipollone branding Nadler's criticism of the Senate for not agreeing to call witnesses a "power trip" and theatrically asserting, "It's a farce … Mr. Nadler, you owe an apology to the president of the United States and his family, you owe an apology to the Senate, but most of all, you owe an apology to the American people." After all, Trump was in Davos, Switzerland, and as The Washington Post's Paul Kane noted, he might well have been up and tuned in.Appealing to an audience of one is a luxury that Trump's attorneys and their House allies have. The odds of 20 Senate Republicans joining with all Democrats to remove Trump from office are virtually nonexistent. That frees Trump's team not to focus on legal niceties or rebutting facts, but on stirring up Trump's base, which has long viewed the president as a victim, unfairly targeted by Democrats and the political establishment since his first days in office. As law professor Orin Kerr observed, keeping Trump's base on board will also help keep senators loyal.But this strategy may prove to be short-sighted. It poses several key risks.In so much as swing voters — in 2020 likely to be centrists or center-right voters who don't particularly approve of Trump, but likely find the Democratic candidate too far left for their liking — are tuned in, this strategy allows the legal case presented by House Democrats to stand un-rebutted. And the charges lodged against Trump are fairly clear and easy to understand, supported by voluminous evidence being methodically laid out by the House managers. Even if such voters aren't watching the trial on a minute-to-minute basis, they may well see clips of one side presenting facts and evidence, while the other rages and blusters. And the evidence gets at their core fear about Trump: that he's unwilling to abide by safety rails that keep presidents from becoming tyrants and that his behavior is inappropriate for the office.Additionally, by not challenging the mountain of evidence against Trump, his lawyers risk hardening the determination of Americans who dislike him to turn out in droves — no matter who Democrats nominate. Trump has tried to meddle in the Democratic primary to sow divisiveness, perhaps understanding that thanks to his consistently low approval ratings, he can't afford such determination and high Democratic turnout.Finally, while most Senate Republicans will side with Trump regardless of the arguments presented, this strategy runs the risk of alienating the handful open to additional witness testimony later in the trial, like Sen. Lamar Alexander. Such testimony could reveal new evidence that damages Trump, while exposing how his administration has fought tooth and nail against it, belying the president's protestations of innocence.While Trump bears little risk in the trial, his re-election still hangs in the balance. He might even be an underdog. And it wouldn't take much to drive enough Americans to conclude that Schiff was right in closing Thursday's proceedings by declaring," And you know you can't trust this president to do what's right for this country. You can trust he will do what's right for Donald Trump," and right again Friday in charging that "If a president can be so easily manipulated to disbelieve his own intelligence agencies, to accept the propaganda of the Kremlin, that is a threat to our national security." They might well then decide that these realities threaten the country's well being and necessitate a change.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Andrew Yang to return to debate stage in New Hampshire The Grammys are America's worst awards show Coronavirus 'has become rampant,' but shows no signs of mutating into deadlier form
Related Stories
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Ruby Franke’s Husband REVEALS Alleged Rules He Had to Follow at Home | E! News
March 28, 2024
_mU-3lE2QwI
#KenanThompson speaks out following the #QuietonSet documentary. (🎥: Tamron Hall Show) #shorts
March 28, 2024
8AGP-Gfw_Ek
King Charles Shares "Great Sadness" at Missing Royal Appearance | E! News
March 28, 2024
lyizFqf1kQY
Martha Reeves Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 27, 2024
QzyezumEPtQ
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
Montell Jordan Dishes On Young MC Wedding, 'This Is How Date Night' Plans | TMZ
March 28, 2024
G3SMExj-qio
Davina Potratz Says TV Not Helping 'Selling Sunset' Relationship Woes | TMZ
March 28, 2024
D4piy4GNm4k
Logan Paul Rips Graham Bensinger Over Documentary, You Promised Apple TV+ | TMZ Live
March 28, 2024
NiSDpZhZklQ
Prince William pinned royal medal to Spice Girl Mel B’s boobs #shorts
March 28, 2024
O1cQ0UW9pco
Jennifer Garner shares ‘hard’ part of raising her and Ben Affleck’s kids
March 28, 2024
3Q7mZaVUdgc
50 Cent's ex Daphne Joy named as an alleged sex worker in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs lawsuit #shorts
March 28, 2024
yhLFI8DG9rM
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
PSG W - Hacken W
28
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Barcelona W - SK Brann W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Chelsea W - Ajax W
27
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Lyon W - SL Benfica W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.