Day 1 of the impeachment hearings took place today. Much like the hearings in the house intelligence committee, the hearings were split between both parties. There were 4 witnesses, all law scholars. 3 seem to be clear supporters of impeachment; Noah Feldman, Pamela Karlan and Micheal Gerhardt. The fourth law scholar was Jonathan Turley. The support was stark, the three were there for the democrats and the fourth was there for the republicans. So much so, that when it came time to question them, the democrats asked broad questions from three, and pointed questions from the fourth.
When it came time for the republicans to question the 4 scholars, they completely skipped the three, and spent all of their time talking to Turley. I had not looked into the 4 witness and came fresh into the hearing. Each witness spent about 10 minutes introducing themselves in their initial testimony. All three were pretty similar, as they all agreed the President had committed high crimes and misdemeanors based on the investigation carried by the house intelligence committee. Which is the reason I found Turley’s initial testimony odd, when he introduced himself as not a fan of Trump, nor a voter. I thought, odd, why would he say that. His testimony was also the lightest, making jokes and general light of the situation.
Of course, as the hearing proceedings went on, it was clear he was there to help the Trump defenders’ point. And he did a very good job, one must say. His, and Trump’s defenders contentions of this impeachment proceedings have been that it has been carried too quickly. That he’s not been given enough time to comply with the evidence. That the vote to carry out the investigation was not partisan as had been with the previous impeachments. That as a result, it was a clear indication these hearings were partisan and would fail at the senate.
All of these arguments seems reasonable. They seem valid. It is now the job of the opposition to make a stronger point for impeachment. Simply passing the articles, in a partisan manner, will not be enough to remove Trump. While the democrats have countered each point made by Turley, that is not what will be played over and over on conservative radio, podcasts, or Fox News. No, it will be Turley’s statements about lack of evidence and velocity.
