Sondland has got himself in a real pickle. He’s been caught lying already to the committee and now it looks like he’s been lying, through omission, to the committee again. What to do?
First, I still can’t figure out why he agreed to testify in the first place? He could have done what all the rest of Trump’s mobster cronies have done and simply said F-you to the committee. Instead, he shows up and commits perjury in front of the committee? How does this make any sense?
Well he’s deep in it now. He’s scheduled for public testimony on the 20th. Seems like he’s got 3 options.
1) Don’t show up. I think this is the most likely option. The statute of limitations for perjury is 5 years, and by not showing he might get some additional charges (obstruction?) tacked on for a Democratic AG in 2021. Whether he serves time in prison would be entirely up to who wins next years election.
2) Show up and plead the 5th.
3) Show up and tell the whole truth. This seems unlikely since he still might face a perjury charge in 2021 and he would have the wrath of Trump on his back.
These impeachment hearings aren’t about overcoming some legal threshold that defines a crime or the constitutional definition of High crimes and misdemeanors. We all know, or should know, that there is very little chance the GOP fascist cult members in the Senate are going to remove Trump.
So why are we doing it? To me the main reason, I’ve been arguing for 10 months, is to start real hearings as soon as possible so we can inflict the MAXIMUM political damage on the entire GOP cult! I have never understood the argument that the greatest reality show ever that exposed the corruption of the entire GOP was somehow going to harm Democrats. Since Democrats finally shifted into high gear about the impeachment inquiry, Trump has been slowly slipping in the polls.
So how do Democrats take advantage of Sondland’s dilemma in order to inflict maximum political damage on the GOP? One of the best podcasts out there, IMHO, is Pod Save America by some ex Obama people. Well they did a poll recently where they found out that people may not understand Trump’s crimes, but they were keenly aware of a cover-up.
If Sondland doesn’t show up for next week’s hearings, that is going to look like he’s hiding a lot and will do some, maybe not a lot, of damage to Republicans because it will look like a cover-up. I would hope the Dems would immediately run to court to try to get the most media attention and keep the story going.
If Sondland shows up and simply tells the truth, the truth itself will always be damaging to Trump and everyone that tries to defend him. I’m sure he’s hiding a lot more than the one restaurant call.
But the maximum political damage may be done by option 2 where he shows up and pleads the 5th. Despite the constitutional protection against self-incrimination, Americans will immediately link a claim of the 5th as something to hide, and in this case, a cover-up. This will be really damaging to Trump.
If he pleads the 5th, should the Dems just close up shop and let him walk out? Why not offer him immunity from prosecution, which takes away his right to plead the 5th? After all, he’s just a dumb millionaire who is nothing but a small fish among the swamp creatures, but he knows a lot.
Here’s the catch. It takes 2/3 of the committee to vote to offer him immunity. There are 23 members of the committee, so it would take 16 votes to offer the immunity. There are 13 Dems and 10 Repubs, so 3 R’s would have to join the D’s and we know that isn’t going to happen.
So picture the scenario and the political impact among the public. Sondland walks in and immediately starts taking the 5th, the public knows he’s hiding something and we’ve already got the video clip that makes all the evening news. Now the Democrats offer him immunity from prosecution so he can be perfectly truthful and the Republicans vote against letting him tell the truth! Not only does this blockbuster event dominate the news cycle for several days, but Democratic PACs and the DCCC have the video of Republicans voting against telling the truth to run all over the nation in next years election.
If Sondland shows up, it’s going to be the biggest news maker and get the biggest audience of any testimony in the entire inquiry. I hope the Democrats will play it for maximum political damage to the ENTIRE GOP.