She Needs to Know the Parameters

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has chosen to withhold her caucus' Articles of Impeachment, as some of you may have heard, until whenever.  I've suggested elsewhere that by doing so, she's exonerating Trump by confessing that her caucus has no case to present for trial.

However, Pelosi has provided a rationalization rationale:

The next thing for us will be when we see the process that is set forth in the Senate. Then, we’ll know the number of monitors that we may have to go forward.

Of course, she doesn't need that for this. She can appoint the entire Republican caucus as monitors: our Constitution doesn't specify the number, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, I suspect, doesn't care.

Eric Hines
on

5 comments:

  1. douglas10:23 PM

    Heh- it gets even more interesting- Professor who testified *for the Dems* says if they don't transmit, it's not really impeachment.

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  2. Grim10:42 PM

    I read McConnell call for the unanimous 1999 rules. It’s hard to think what would be fairer than “same as last time, when we all agreed.”

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  3. Texan9911:35 PM

    Kevin McCarthy already is talking about expungement. I'd have said that was nuts until Pelosi announced she was going to put the articles of impeachment in her desk drawer and lock it. What was that about the urgent existential threat to the Republic? Seems to me the Senate can set a deadline, then dismiss the articles, sort of the congressional equivalent of the right to a speedy trial.

    In trying to extort the Senate into altering its rules for a trial, a function granted solely to the Senate by the express terms of the Constitution, isn't Pelosi guilty of obstruction of Congress?

    As "Dilbert" cartoonist Scott Adams said, Pelosi's sitting on the articles means they're halfway to where they belong.

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  4. Thos.1:27 AM

    If I were McConnel, I would hold the trial anyway. (I'd schedule the first hearings for the morning after Christmas Day.)

    If Pelosi objects because she hasn't formally sent the articles to the Senate, I would invite her to take the matter to Court.

    You can't wrap yourself in the Constitution on Wednesday to vote for impeachment, but then ignore the Constitution on Thursday because you won't have any control over the process now that your own Constitutionally-defined role as ended.

    Let her try to explain in a court of law how impeaching, but not allowing anyone to act on the impeachment, is not facially unreasonable behavior.

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  5. E Hines5:26 PM

    (I'd schedule the first hearings for the morning after Christmas Day.)

    Boxing Day. Seems appropriate.

    Eric Hines

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