More On The Impeachment Strategy
Yesterday in The Ukraine Hoax Looks Like Russia Hoax Redux I wrote briefly on the obvious strategy for impeachment. Nancy Pelosi gave that game away when she told the assembled media hoaxers : "All roads lead to Putin with this president." So:
Nancy Pelosi's statement yesterday regarding the ongoing Impeachment Theater made it pretty clear that the endgame is to try to tie Trump's consideration of withholding military aid to Ukraine to renewed allegations that Trump is doing Putin's bidding. That reflects the claim that Glenn Simpson (following others) will make in his book, which we reviewed in What Did Obama Know--And When?
"After four years on his trail, the authors' inescapable conclusion is that Trump is an asset of the Russian government, whether he knows it or not."
I don't think there's any other way to interpret Pelosi's remarks:
Once you understand this, then the parade of seemingly nonsensical charges and witnesses begins to make sense. A bit like a Rohrschach test. Of course there was no quid pro quo in the phone call, not in a formal sense. Of course Trump, like any president, would ordinarily be entitled to fire any ambassador, etc. But just like the Weissmann obstruction theory, in which the President's claimed intentions become obstructive even when his actions are lawful, so too the claim will be made that even Trump's lawful acts are impeachable because--whether he knows it or not!--he's acting as Putin's agent, doing Putin's bidding.
Thus, when the WSJ reports today:
Michael McKinley, who resigned from State Department last week, faces questions from House committees
A former senior adviser to Mike Pompeo told lawmakers that he left his post over frustration with the secretary of state regarding the treatment of the ousted U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, according to people familiar with the testimony.
...
Mr. McKinley said that in the past month he asked Mr. Pompeo repeatedly to show support for the former Ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch.
we understand that the charge will soon surface--as, indeed, Pelosi has strongly indicated--that Trump fired Yovanovitch (whether he knew it or not) to do Putin's bidding . Yovanovitch was a supporter of Ukraine against Russia. Trump fired her to please his handler, Putin. Just as Andy McCabe said--Trump is an agent of a foreign power whether he knows it or not and so must be impeached. Being an agent of a foreign power in this sense is the "high crime or misdemeanor," the "political crime" that supposedly harms the body politic. It's The Russia Hoax Redux. There's no evidence, but that's not the point. There's never evidence in a hoax.
Imagine the depth of corruption--financial, policy, and political--a thorough inquiry into Ukraine would reveal! Imagine the lengths to which the Deep State will go to conceal everything that's going on. Ukraine is the tip of an iceberg and the American public must not see what's below the waterline.
I continue to believe this morally bankrupt strategy will backfire. Even after the mass GOP betrayal of Trump in the Syria vote yesterday.