October 03, 2019

Do You Want to Preen on Camera, Democrats, or Do You Want to Take Down Trump?
Saul Loeb/GettyDemocrats, lawyer up before you question again. You don’t think Trump’s going to let lackeys like Devin Nunes or Rudy Giuliani defend him before Congress, do you? To compete, Democratic committee chairs will have to bring in killer lawyers and give up much of what they treasure: time on TV, showing off for the folks at home, making use of a moldering law degree.It’s a sacrifice that must be made to hold Trump accountable. It looks like the evidence is in hand to prove Trump tried to interfere with the 2020 election by convincing the Ukrainian president to find dirt on his main rival in exchange for the president releasing military aid. But not so fast. Trump lies better than Democrats tell the truth, as do his defenders. Because of his evil superpowers, he’s shot many people on Fifth Avenue and gotten away with it. It’s going to take a phalanx of skilled lawyers to counteract that. And the harsh truth House members have to face is that almost any prosecutor in the country will be better at building a case for impeachment than any of them. That last point hurts, since putting practicing lawyers center stage would sideline members who’ve been working towards this day for a long time. But if Democrats didn’t see the need before Trump’s performance on Wednesday, they must now. He commanded the stage with a narrative, furious, loud and repetitive. He lied at the speed of light about his beautiful encounter with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, reminiscent of his self-congratulation for his lovely summit with the North Korean dictator who’s setting off missiles to thank him for the privilege. Trump doesn’t bother mounting a defense of the indefensible. He’s all offense. Everyone is after the stable genius and always has been. The whistleblower, whose account has been corroborated, is “vicious.” Ukraine is so corrupt it shouldn’t get already appropriated funds until it proves it’s not corrupt by investigating Joe Biden. He angrily refused to answer the question--what exactly did you want Zelensky to do--other than to call Biden a “stone, cold crook” for supposedly helping his son, without a flicker of irony.  Trump scolded the reporter who asked, as if he were 6 years old, and wouldn’t answer any question that didn’t further his contention that he was being impeached “over a fraud committed by other people.”  Among other people, it just happens, is House Intel chair Adam Schiff, a foil for the president in his campaign to blame others. He claims Schiff completely fabricated the content of his “congratulatory” call with Zelensky. Schiff didn’t, but he did foolishly channel his inner Corleone to read a mobbish summary of Trump’s call, too cute by half. It gave the president remaining defenders something to harp on for days, with Trump himself talking darkly about “treason”.That should be seen as a warning of what’s to come, and the wisdom of leaving the proceedings to grown-up finders of fact who can ignore the emotion and meaningless rantings and get to proving the actionable offenses. The best thing that could happen is that the hearings are so tediously legal, only C-Span covers them. It’s the only way to try Trump, says Elizabeth Holtzmann, who served on the Watergate committee, which had more lawyers, at 42, than members, at 37.  “Not to denigrate Schiff, but to have other than skilled courtroom veterans guiding the proceedings,” says Holtzman, is to “send a dermatologist to perform brain surgery.” To that end, Democrats on her House Judiciary Committee  retained the best lawyer they could find even though that meant hiring a Republican, John Doar, who’d brought the federal case against the killers of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, as chief counsel. Republicans had Al Jenner of a huge Chicago law firm, who wasn’t particularly partisan. Over in the Senate, Republican counsel Fred Thompson and Democrats Sam Dash did much of the painstaking questioning along with scripting questions for senators so that the train kept moving forward. Dash bit by bit wheedled the bombshell out of Alexander Butterfield that Nixon had installed a recording device in the Oval Office. Thompson was the simple country lawyer at the side of statesman Howard Baker, who would ultimately turn against Nixon. Thompson was so good at his job that he went on to a TV career as a lawyer playing a lawyer and was elected to the Senate himself. The press conference added one item to Nancy Pelosi’s to-do list. Now that Trump’s revealed that it’s Rep. Adam Schiff he wants to make the face of impeachment, she needs to put a new face on impeachment and quickly appoint a spokesperson--impersonal, low-keyed, with no history, no animus. That would be no slight to Schiff, but a deprivation to Trump who can live without a friend but not without an enemy. And for the few months the inquiry lasts, she should discourage free-range TV appearances the way the White House metes out guests for the Sunday talk shows. Getting out the word on what happened during the day is too important to leave it to whomever a booker happens to call. It’s not that Schiff is unserious, but like a toddler eating too much cake at a birthday party, he and his members got overstimulated by what Trump served up in the course of a few days: a guilty plea on live TV! The voluntary release of the call is what Watergate prosecutors had to go to the Supreme Court to get! One Cabinet secretary—Mike Pompeo—caught lying about not being in on the call!  Another, Attorney General William Barr, discovered twisting the arms of our allies to help prove that our CIA and FBI—Barr’s FBI—went rogue to falsely blame Russia for meddling in the 2016 election! Giuliani waving his phone on TV saying it held files which would show that every crazy thing he did was at the request of Trump’s State Department!  It’s an embarrassment of riches but how Congress uses all this is crucial. Treat one person with a conscience who speaks up fairly and to important effect and it begets others with a conscience and who knows if finally the dam won’t break. If instead Democrats lick their chops, show joy, freelance with five-minute sermons in the form of a question (Trump’s awful, isn’t he?), they should be impeached for squandering valuable time. Still, there’s no equivalence between what Schiff did and what Trump has. No one in public life has ever behaved so badly and gotten away with it. It’s as if politics is now conducted by NFL rules where grabbing a face mask can be cancelled out by the other side going offside. For two years, Trump’s tantrums have been so childish, he should be tried as a juvenile. Look at what else the House is up against. On Tuesday, Pompeo tweeted about not tolerating the “tactics” of a committee which had sent him a polite letter: “I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate, bully, & treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State.” That vitriol came in response to a simple appeal for five employees to come to the Hill for depositions which Pompeo rejected. Imagine how ugly he’ll be when subpoenaed to raise his right hand and swear to tell the whole truth about his boss. However open-and-shut the case looks, it isn’t. Even a bank thief caught with a bag of marked bills has to be tried. Evidence doesn’t magically make its way onto the record, not all witnesses willingly spill their guts, and due process must be accorded. Trump has an endless supply of aides who will lie. Some have gone to prison for him—including Paul Manafort, whose lawyer, we learned Wednesday evening, Rudy Giuliani has been talking with in his bid to dirty up the president’s enemies by any means necessary. It’s an enduring mystery the hold Trump has on people who led admirable lives until they got mixed up with him. Former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster was a sterling military man. John Kelly a decorated Marine general. Pompeo once abided by a Code of Honor as a West Point cadet. Now he can’t handle the truth.  It’s going to take a village, of lawyers, to hold Trump to account. Don’t kill them, as Shakespeare counseled. Hire as many as you can. 
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
Millie Bobby Brown & Jake Bongiovi Celebrate “Three Years of Bliss” Ahead of Wedding
March 24, 2024
C4Ehegcq1-A
Kate Middleton & Prince William "Enormously Touched" by Public Support
March 24, 2024
s8fig-RCjFc
Gisele Bündchen Denies Cheating on Ex-Husband Tom Brady
March 23, 2024
_SpRMagA8BM
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
'Everybody Was S----ing Their Pants': Nick Thune Jokes About Being Born in the '70s and Fatherhood
March 16, 2024
mm7Baf6o2d8
Gunna Says Tour Will Up Creativity in Rap, Endorses Flo Milli | TMZ
March 22, 2024
QfMU24fw-Qo
Reporter Taylor Lorenz Says Palace Botched Kate Cancer News Rollout | TMZ Live
March 22, 2024
o43ZucdiyEo
Riley Strain's Body Found After Going Missing in Nashville 2 Weeks Ago | TMZ NOW
March 22, 2024
1m1zM-4_Cs8
Kyle Richards hasn’t spoken to co-star Dorit Kemsley, denies sending her a ‘manipulative’ text
March 24, 2024
LqLZzDP1hm4
Jordan Emanuel on her connection to 'RHOSLC' star Meredith Marks, advice from Amanda Batula
March 24, 2024
5NPAwlOov1Y
Kate Middleton’s uncle Gary apologizes after slamming ‘fickle’ Meghan Markle in scathing interview
March 24, 2024
JWG9kitALZk
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
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SK Brann W - Barcelona W
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Hacken W - PSG W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SL Benfica W - Lyon W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Ajax W - Chelsea 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
ENGLAND: Premier League
Brighton - Manchester City
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
11
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Chelsea - Newcastle United
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Liverpool - Manchester City
10
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Real Madrid - Celta Vigo
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Atalanta
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Fiorentina - Roma
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
AC Milan - Empoli
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.