House Republicans are losing their only opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way to President Trump’s Senate defense against articles of impeachment. While Democrats spent two weeks busily gathering evidence behind closed doors, with two more weeks of depositions already on the schedule, Republicans complained about the process — and complained and complained and complained.
Now some Republicans are saying that the complaints must have worked since the Democrats have announced that later this week they will formalize the rules for public hearings to be instituted in the coming month. House Republicans have fundamentally misunderstood this moment and neglected their role in helping prepare the president’s defense.
It started with the whistleblower. Because they could not deny the whistleblower’s general claim, thanks to Trump’s decision to release the memorandum of his call with the Ukrainian president, House Republicans complained instead about the process: It’s unfair that the president can’t confront his accuser and, anyway, the whistleblower did not have first-hand information. But that process objection only had force until the Democrats subpoenaed contemporaneous evidence (text messages and other documents) that corroborated the whistleblower’s claims.
The House Republican response? More complaints about process. The subpoenas weren’t valid, they argued, even as witnesses began to voluntarily comply, turning over reams of evidence. The Democrat’s information-gathering then continued in the form of depositions of people who could also corroborate the whistleblower’s claims and bring some concerning claims of their own. The Republican response? Game-playing about exposing the whistleblower and asking a witness about an unfounded conspiracy theory (spread in part by the president, naturally) that Ukraine faked the Steele Dossier.
The most forceful process complaint that Republicans have managed to muster: The depositions are being held in secret. Setting aside the fact that depositions are always held close so as to prevent one witness from contaminating the testimony of other potential witnesses, this complaint has now also run its course. As noted above, the Democrats are going to start public hearings within a matter of weeks — after they complete their fact-finding depositions.
The Democrats are engaged in a specific, obvious mission with two goals in mind:
- Impeach the president in the House.
- Convince 20 Republican senators to join them in removing him from office.
Despite this patently obvious mission, House Republicans have dismissed impeachment proceedings as partisan and unfair and, therefore, unworthy of being treated seriously. As a result, they have neglected their only role to play in uncovering evidence to foil the second Democratic goal, the trial in the Senate.
The House Republican strategy thus far is tantamount to declaring “he’s innocent, therefore, he doesn’t need to put on a defense.” This is a bad plan. Ultimately, the Democrats are going to draw up articles of impeachment, and Trump will have to put on a defense in the Senate. If House Republicans want to be of any use in fact-finding for that defense, now is the only time they have to participate.
It’s time for them to stop playing games and treat impeachment as an actual serious threat.
Gabriel Malor (@GabrielMalor) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an attorney and writer in D.C.
