I wanted to expand upon a comment I made on this diary wherein I lamented what I see taking shape in the media and from the GOP as far as Trump’s defense, and encourage all of us to not fall into the trap of the Republican framing.
Yesterday on NPR, Mary Louise Kelly was interviewing Republican Senator Bill Cassidy. From the transcript:
KELLY: ...A central question throughout this proceeding is this one: Is it acceptable to ask a foreign government to investigate your domestic political rival?
CASSIDY: Well, again, that's obviously what they've focused on. And I guess the ancillary question, or the related question, is - is that a high crime and misdemeanor if you do?
Do you see what’s missing here? What’s missing is any mention of the withholding of Congressionally apportioned and legally binding monetary aid in the millions of dollars to Ukraine. For months. IN ORDER TO MAKE UKRAINE DO WHAT TRUMP WANTED. If you’ve been paying attention, like me, to MSM coverage of this scandal you may have noticed this trend is not limited to NPR. On CNN, even on MSNBC, commentators/pundits and even anchors have begun to continually focus on only this part of the scandal. This allows the GOP, as Cassidy does above, to focus solely on this part of the scandal and ask if it, alone, is a “high crime or misdemeanor.” As much as I hate to admit it, if this ask was made without the withholding of aid, it probably is NOT a high crime.
However, add in the withholding of aid and you have extortion. Bribery. A “shakedown.” This is the scandal. This is actually the crux of the argument for impeachment. MSM likes to focus on the horse-race. Some of them are bad actors and are actually trying to muddy the waters for the GOP. Others of them can’t see past their blinders (a horse-race metaphor). So it is up to US to hold them to the fire. Do not let anyone talk about this scandal without the extortion part of it. That’s the crime. Bribery. That’s the impeachment. That’s the part specifically mentioned in the constitution as an impeachable offense.
Section 4
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
And that’s the part that Republicans are unable to defend. Mary Louise Kelly does eventually get around to asking Cassidy about that part, late in the interview, right at the end. And Cassidy’s response to that? Let’s see him sputter:
KELLY: One last thing to put to you, if I may, in the moments we have left - would it rise, in your view, to the category of high crimes and misdemeanors if it were proven that 400 million - nearly $400 million in security aid had been withheld for the purpose of advancing a personal political agenda?
CASSIDY: So you're asking me a theoretical. And the answer...
KELLY: I'm asking - if that were proven, would that be an impeachable offense as you see it?
CASSIDY: Yeah. But you're asking me as a juror - if this set of circumstances were given, absent of any context or anything else. And I'm frankly not going to answer that. I will have a chance to answer that, if that is the hypothetical that - that then becomes reality, when I become a juror.
I’ve seen other pundits / commentators never get to this question… but THIS is the part we need to focus on. It is indefensible. Even for Republican Senators. Don’t let anyone frame this as just asking a foreign country to investigate a political rival. That is playing on GOP turf. It’s the same playbook as Mueller — Trump all the time saying no “collusion,” when “conspiracy” was the crime. Don’t let the GOP, MSM, newspapers or congresscritters downgrade this scandal in any way. Make phone calls. Write letters/emails. Call out this bad framing wherever you see it, and make sure your Democratic Representative does the same.