The second day of the public impeachment hearings happened on Friday and as you can expect, it was much of the same show. The democrats talked positively about the former ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, and questioned her on basic points around Trump’s motives behind her firing. While the republicans focused mainly on whether or not the chairman of the committee, Adam Schiff, would have the whistle-blower testify in public. The rational of the people defending Trump is that without the whistle-blower, we would have never found out about any this (which is odd, since that is the very definition of a whistle-blower) and that as such, we should better understand his/her intentions. The intentions being innuendo for whether or not Trump’s supporters can find ways to smear his/her image. More importantly, if the identity of the whistle-blower is revealed, Trump and his defenders would actually have huge amounts of leverage against him/her because they would insinuate and even threaten with criminal charges against him/her.
Spectators may not fully realize that while the whistle-blower remains officially anonymous, there is an invisible shield of protection against criminal charges. It is very similar to the 4th Amendment’s promise against illegal search and seizure, where unless there is a warrant permitting the search, anything found cannot be used against you. Similarly, even though most of the people in the committee know the identity of the whistle-blower, while he/she remain officially anonymous, it’s as if no warrant can be issued against them.
What amazes me is not the push for the publish testimony of the whistle-blower, as much as their sole strategy being this aforementioned move. In other words, there is very little defense coming even from Trump’s supporters about the inappropriateness of the phone call and the Trump’s administration pressuring of another country to help said administration with a domestic election (remember, the illegality has to do with Trump’s request targeting a US election. This is illegal). His supporters will not broach the subject, or if they do, they’ll dismiss it as commonplace. No, their defense rests mainly on the intentions of the whistle-blower and in finding some type of evidence that will help them to vilify him/her.
Prior to the testimony from the US diplomats last week, most of the rhetoric revolved around the original complaint having been second-hand. After the lengthy testimony by both Ukrainian Ambassadors, Taylor and Yovanovitch, few can question the validity of the whistle-blower complaint as most of the complaint has been corroborated.
Trump on the other hand, is so out of control, that he may have very well signed up for another article of impeachment; witness tampering or intimidation. While Yovanovitch was testifying, he tweeted (I cannot believe this man has denigrated the US to the point that a US President uses twitter for this. This is truly Sad!):
Whether you think that was witness intimidation or not, is not the point. The point is these laws are very broad and the President has given the committee even more fuel.
This leads me to my worse fear. My fear is that Trump, as he’s done throughout his life, is willing to burn it all down on his way out. The way he sees it (or I see it), he’s got nothing to lose. If it all burns, who cares, he was doomed anyway. It’s like a criminal that knows he/she cannot be tried for the same crime again, will be as truthful as they can be, because “why not?”. On the other hand, if in the process of burning it to the ground he’s able to extend his time out of jail, well, that’s also good for him.
I am afraid that while he may benefit from the burning of the establishment, we will suffer in the long-run. We will suffer much more than he ever will.
I can already see the headlines: “Impeached and removed Trump, dies of a heart attack”. With the other headline reading “The US plunges into a depression caused by Trump’s dealings with [Insert country name here]”. And the final headline reading “World War 3 is on the cusp, as aggression from China and Russia intensify against NATO countries”.
