They don’t have the option to impeach and then not refer it to the house. The Senate can schedule a trial whenever once the house impeaches Trump. I guess the house could choose to not put on a trial, but that would look, uh, pretty bad. Although I think a trial would go very badly for the Democrats as well.
The way I see it, there are several different issues that can be parsed in different ways. I also think some people will view different elements more seriously (are you all about the crime or the cover up)
The strongest case for the Dems is that the President:
(A) unlawfully and unconstitutionally withheld money that had been properly delegated by Congress
(B) withheld the money for a corrupt purpose (using it as leverage over a foreign government in order to induce that government to investigate a political opponent), and
(C) Covered up A and B by illegally refusing to produce the whistleblower report that contains the alleged misconduct.
If the House D’s really wanted to prosecute this on a quick schedule and without more Presidential obstruction, they could MAYBE get to a vote before the end of the year. In reality, Trump is going to stonewall on turning over the complaint (so D’s will have to go to court to try to get the docs), witnesses will refuse to show (or pull a Lewindowski), and Congress won’t want to give up any of their typical breaks/holidays, so this isn’t happening anytime soon.
Side note: any R politician with two brain cells should realize that turning the hearings into a hit job on Joe Biden is going to freak out centrist dems and make them want to pump the breaks. My prediction is that D’s spend the next few weeks getting stonewalled before finally getting a hearing w/ the acting DNI. At the hearing, D’s score some points, but R’s yell a lot about how the Deep State, Hunter and Joe Biden are the real criminals. Pelosi and other centrist D’s get cold feet and proclaim that continuing to investigate is “putting their thumb on the scale” too close to the Iowa caucus, so they’re just “going to let the American people decide on Trump” in 2020. [End Scene]
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The fuck would be the point of that?
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It denies him the W when the Senate inevitably refuses to convict him.
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lol the Senate would schedule a trial and then the Democrats wouldn’t show up to put on the trial, which would give Trump and the Republicans a massive win and completely humiliate the Democrats.
The main value of impeachment is forcing GOP legislators to either vote against Trump and alienate their base or vote for Trump and lessen their ability to distance themselves from him. (Likewise, the main reason not to impeach is to avoid putting vulnerable Dems in the opposite position, although it’s not as tough for them.) Impeaching Trump without forcing the GOP onto the record is awful.
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The main value is keeping Trump mired in investigations and hearings so Joe can beat him in 2020. Reminding everyone that Republican senators are garbage is secondary.
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Hahaha, Tulsi just qualified for the next debate, which cost me $20 on Predictit, but it’s gonna be amazing watching her defend this bullshit on stage.
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The Iowa caucus is February 3, 18 states hold their primaries until super Tuesday if I counted them correctyl. Like half the democratic senators seems to be running for president. I am pretty sure they will not hide away from this.
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And her defense of “oh noes it will divide the country” is like a parody of a defense
I would like to have a beer with the guy who looks at her and says, “Sure she’s worth a couple hours of my pay, where’s my checkbook?”
And the Dems won 2018 in a landslide.
Riling people up works to the Dems advantage. It’s not Rep voters that are disengaged.
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My post was replying to someone who was saying that the Democrats were thinking of impeaching but not referring the impeachment case to the Senate for trial. I was saying that (aside from that being an extremely dumb idea) I don’t think there is any mechanism to do so. If the Democrats impeach but don’t want to put on a Senate trial, the Republican Senate can schedule a trial anyway. Also, the Democrat senators wouldn’t have anything to do with putting on the trial, the house would pick prosecutors to put on the trial in the Senate. The senators are just jurors.
If the Democrats in the house want to impeach Trump but not actually put on a trial then they should pass a censure resolution (they should not do this, but it would be better than impeaching and not putting on a trial).
https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse/status/1119347084187115521
I doubt we’re going to have a “Supreme Court rules Trump must turn over tapes” moment but fingers crossed.
NOW BREAKING FROM NBC NEWS: NANCY PELOSI WILL ANNOUNCE HER ENDORSEMENT OF AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY TODAY.
Citing two sources close to Pelosi.
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Petition title change
Impeachment Watch: Pelosi, better late than never (or something cleverer)
Pelosi: “Sigh, okay.”
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holy shit, is it finally happening boys?
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This, and I don’t want to underestimate the shift in perception and dynamic for Warren if/when it’s a head-to-head vs Trump.
I believe a lot of the posters here were once poker players, so I don’t have to explain to you how differently onlookers perceive a fight when it’s heads up vs three or more players. Even people who kind of don’t like Warren for whatever reason would jump at the shot to see her dunk on Trump when that’s the biggest dunk now possible. Like, obviously you’ll cheer for Kobe if Lebron is busy getting new hair plugs.
And to add to your point, the nature of a head-to-head fight would increase public awareness of Warren overnight. You can lay your eyes on your favorite when there’s a field, but when it’s just Warren and Trump, people will look into it all on their own.
Captain America thanks you Nancy
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