How will the Senate handle the impeachment trial?
Rumor has it that there are enough Republicans in the Senate who are willing to vote to allow witnesses in the Senate trial of Trump that there won’t be a simple dismissal, and the fear is that the Democrats will turn it into a parade of last-minute smear jobs and grandstanding.
Well, perhaps. But didn’t a lot of people on the right originally want a trial, to get an opportunity for Republicans to call their own witnesses as well as to publicly cross-examine the Democrats’ more sketchy witnesses? Or something of that sort?
I’m not at all sure the Senate will actually call witnesses, but if they do I don’t see why it wouldn’t backfire on the Democrats. That would certainly be my hope.
One interesting piece of news is that Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr (now, there’s a duo!) will be part of the Trump defense team. I’ve written many times about Dershowitz’s position on the impeachment. I have great respect for what he’s said, which makes extreme sense to me. Now he seems to be burning whatever final bridges might have remained to any lingering social life he might have had among his erstwhile friends of the liberal persuasion, who will take this move by him as an act of unforgivable treason. There are precious few profiles in courage these days, but in my book Dershowitz had been one.
If we remember back to when the Ukrainegate/Whistlegate story first broke, one of the most puzzling things about it was how it had the potential to hurt Joe Biden even more than Donald Trump. That prospect has somewhat receded over time, in no small part because the MSM has assiduously pooh-poohed it. But any trial in the Senate threatens to highlight this aspect of the matter once again. And, since the Democrats seem to be engaged at the moment in what has traditionally been the GOP’s favorite sport, the circular firing squad (Warren vs. Sanders, for example), I would think that Democrats would want to preserve Biden’s reputation as much as possible. A trial of Trump has always seemed a funny way to go about doing that. If Biden is further tarnished, who “electable” is left with a chance of challenging Trump?
I imagine their hope is that the trial will hurt Trump more than it would hurt Biden, of course. Seems pretty risky to me; so far, it hasn’t worked out that way.
Ken Starr? Ken STARR???! Oh a blast from the past indeed. Selecting high puff pop corn right now.
Personally, I’m OK with Dems calling new witnesses as long as PDJT gets to do the same.
Surely, though, the HoR should have crafted their evidence prior to sending it to the Senate.
I wasn’t planning on really keeping abreast of the Senate trial. Now that Starr, and especially Dershowitz, are involved in the defense, this is going to be interesting.
And in this corner, heavyweight tag team champions Dershowitz and Starr. And in the other corner welterweight wannabees Nadler and Schiff.
DING!!!!!
Doesn’t every police procedural drama series in the history of TV show the judge having a fit when some last-minute evidence or witness suddenly pops up after a trial is under way? That’s as much as I know about legal procedure; who among the regulars here can explain what the rules, standards and expectations are in this regard?
There’s no doubt that if they could, the Democrats would hand over their flimsy nothingness to start, and then spend six months trotting out the latest “But wait! Huge bombshell!! Joe Schmo, who knew someone who dated the girlfriend of Trump’s former gardener’s son has come forward as a witness that he heard someone say that …” garbage.
I fail to see why any extra testimony, not in the House record, should be called for. The House record contains NO ONE with any first-hand evidence to prove that Trump did what he’s accused of on the first count, and does contain one witness who said that when he spoke to Trump about it, Trump said he wanted NOTHING in exchange for the aid.
But if Democrats, aided by Republican fools, demand more testimony, then testimony showing that the administration was right to be concerned about corruption among the previous administration’s members and supporters and their families in Ukraine will be appropriate. If Biden is going to be their nominee they are idiots to request that his son’s behavior be exposed in public hearings like this.
It should be amusing to see Schiff, Nadler, et al., be demolished by the President’s defense team.
“Doesn’t every police procedural drama series in the history of TV show the judge having a fit when some last-minute evidence or witness suddenly pops up after a trial is under way? That’s as much as I know about legal procedure; who among the regulars here can explain what the rules, standards and expectations are in this regard?”
The Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) are the rules for admissibility of evidence in federal courts. Most states have adopted some version of these FRE rules. Courts typically don’t admit last minute evidence unless it is extremely probative to the issue at trial because of the prejudicial effect this evidence will have on the jury. That’s why, even in some gruesome murder cases, the judge won’t allow some pictures to be shown to the jury because of the extreme effect it would have on the minds of the jurors. We want our jurors, after all, to render unpassioned and unbiased judgment, and a surprise piece of evidence offered late in trial or after the deadline has passed for submission of evidence has a strong tendency to warp or alter the jury’s assessment of the facts.
A lot depends on the judge though. The judge has discretion to allow things. He or she has to be careful though. If the judge allows something that has a strong prejudicial effect on the jury, that could be the basis for a well-reasoned and well-argued appeal.
I’m hoping that Roberts won’t play Judge Ito and will actually bring the hammer down on any shenanigans. If witnesses are allowed, though, who wouldn’t want Hunter Biden or Adam Schiff under oath?
There is no appeal from a Senate impeachment trial, no matter what the judge does.
Well, Dershowitz will never be invited to another party by his former liberal friends. He will be persona non grata with democrats.
When Burisma hired Cofer Black did they buy Mitten’s vote?
Alan Dershowitz’s great sin, entirely responsible for his POV is that he’s never accepted Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States”.
Dershowitz actually believes that America and its Constitution have great value.
That fundamentally opposes George Soros’ view that, “The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States”
‘Evidence’ sufficient to convict President Trump is entirely lacking. Congressional Democrats know this, thus the goal of an impeachment trial in the Senate is not to convict Trump but to convict the Republican Senate.
The MSM will incessantly portray an impeachment trial of Trump as proof of the GOP’s corruption and obstruction of justice.
Regaining control of the Senate and hamstringing Trump in his second term is the goal.
The latest from Dershowitz:
That’s nice Ann. Why not read Jonathan Turley on the abuse he’s taken (from faculty members among others) for a similarly detached presentation?
The House managers should not be allowed to call new witnesses. They can trot out the clowns who testified during the impeachment charades.
Some at CTH fear, that Mitch’s talk about votes on each witness, means that he will rig things, so that Dems get all their star witnesses, and DJT gets few or none.
“How will the Senate handle the impeachment trial?”
Badly
On the introduction of new evidence during the trial, not covered in the articles of impeachment, McCarthy tells it like it is, and he is not a happy camper:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/trump-impeachment-postpone-senate-trial-until-house-finishes-investigation/
Conrad Black doesn’t say anything new, but I like the way he says it.
https://amgreatness.com/2020/01/16/this-tawdry-impeachment-spectacle-must-run-its-course/
How will the MSM handle the impeachment trial?
Badly.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jan/16/another-dud-in-the-string-of-bombshells/
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/01/15/impeachment_and_the_fight_over_the_deep_state_142152.html
The real question is: how many Senate Republicans are still beholden to the traditional Republican constituencies and familiar Republican think tanks (aka high-toned lobbyists) who have interests threatened by his administration?
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/01/10/shadowy-liberal-group-began-investigating-trump-ukraine-months-before-the-whistleblower-complaint/
The current impeachment farce must be seen as (just) another gambit in the war that has been waged since before the 2016 elections by the Democratic Party (and its supporters and apologists) against the president of the US and in fact, the US itself.
(In fact, this war can be referred to as “the war to fundamentally transform the USA”.)
As such, the current impeachment stage (i.e., the current incarnation of the war against Donald Trump and the USA) must be viewed as an attempt to throw as much mud against POTUS as will stick, and to take as much time—and confound as much of the population as possible.
Once this attack fails (and the mud no longer sticks) another tack will be taken. Another angle or direction of attack will be put in operation.
Count on it.
Here’s another aspect of the Democratic putsch that in this case is being fought “undercover”:, i.e., within the vast, “underground” framework of government institutions, far away from the eyes of the public:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/01/17/a_tale_of_two_whistleblowers_one_protected_one_not_142183.html
(H/T: Powerline blog)
Neo: If Biden is further tarnished, who “electable” is left with a chance of challenging Trump?
Napoleon Bonaparte: Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Nonetheless, since the current (i.e., on going, i.e., permanent) impeachment “process” is a huge, and some hope never-ending distraction—to hide all kinds of Democratic Party (and other) malfeasance since 2009—it would behoove the Senate to try to end this monstrous perversion as quickly as possible.
To be sure, the hydra-headed “process” will rear its ugly heads again and again, but such attempts will have to be dealt with as they occur.
In the meantime, the forces of good will have to fight hard and long to fend off these distractions so as to correct the grotesque injustices planned, perpetrated and covered up by the previous—rogue—administration’s highly-placed provocateurs:
https://twitter.com/JohnWHuber/status/1218295137534607360
Here is an interesting take on why the Democrats are pressing an Impeachment that most think is likely to fail; it’s the tryout of tactics/the template for future impeachments of the conservative judges that Trump has placed in office.
See https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/01/the_secret_sauce_of_the_democrats_impeachment_strategy.html
Snow on Pine:
It’s also because they think it will hurt GOP senators in purplish states (Susan Collins, for example) and lead to the Democratic takeover of the Senate in 2020.
These dems always forget that like Obama, Trump has charisma. He also has a segment that hates him as did Obama
2016 just gave us the the polar opposite of the ecstasy they experienced. Pelosi, Schumer, Waters. Nadler are they all so doddering ?
Must confess never saw an episode of *your fired* but have read that folks said it was a good show.
As far as this staining GOP I think it will go over to punishing DEMs