The recent revelation by Buzzfeed that Donald Trump personally instructed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Trump tower building in Moscow is the latest nail in Trump’s political coffin. Apparently Buzzfeed has information from two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the matter that Cohen’s statements are backed up by texts, emails, etc. along with testimony from several other witnesses.  Requesting or directing another person to lie to a congressional committee under oath is called subornation of perjury and is a federal crime and “of course” is an impeachable offense.

Yesterday, during the confirmation hearings of William Barr, Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, Senator Lindsey Graham asked Barr the following question, “So, if there is reason to believe that the President tried to coach someone to not testify or testify falsely, that could be be obstruction of Justice?”  Barr’s answer, “Yes, under . . . under obstruction (garbled), yes.”  Graham, “So if there is evidence that the President tried to conceal evidence, that would obstruction of justice potentially?” Barr, “Yes.” In reply to a question by Senator Amy Klobuchar, Barr said, “Any person who persuades another to commit perjury has obstructed justice.”

(Last minute note:  I just read that Mueller’s organization issued a statement saying that Buzzfeed’s reporting is in error, but no one is sure exactly what part of Buzzfeed’s account they are disputing. Buzzfeed has issued a counter statement saying they are standing by their reporting and asked the office of the Special Council to clarify exactly what part of their reporting is thought to be in error. Regardless, this was almost certainly not the last bombshell insight into Trump’s unethical and unlawful behavior still to come to light.)

Whether the Buzzfeed story sticks or the next time it is revealed that Trump has committed yet another impeachable offense, expect Democratic leaders in Congress to resist the loud cries from their base to begin impeachment hearings immediately.  Congressional Democrats must first do their due diligence by conducting their own investigations and will want to wait for Mueller to issue his final report before proceeding with impeachment.

Why? The most important reason is that before beginning impeachment proceedings against Trump, Democratic leaders must insure that Trump’s offenses are so unacceptable and the evidence against him so air tight that his conviction in the Senate is preordained.  The bar for conviction in the Senate is set high.  To convict a sitting president of “high crimes and misdemeanors” the votes of a super majority, or two thirds of the Senators (67) are required.  Currently, there are 52 Republican Senators.  So in order to convict Trump, 19 Republican Senators must come to the conclusion that they have no choice but to vote to remove Trump from office.  That is a very high bar indeed.

While the current revelations indicate that Paul Manafort colluded with the Russians while he was Trump’s campaign chairman by providing them with Republican polling data which aided them them in directing their disinformation campaign against Hillary Clinton, it is very possible that Mueller has evidence that Trump and members of his immediate family also broke the law on numerous other occasions in their efforts to get him elected.  We need the entire weight of the associated evidence weighing down on Republican Senators before impeaching Trump and putting him on trial in the Senate. At a minimum that means that we need to allow Mueller the time to complete his investigation.

Additionally, reporting by the media has to date produced a steady drip, drip, drip of information which has been very damning of the pretender in the White House.  While there is no evidence that his base is suddenly eroding, the rest of the nation’s voting population is growing ever more distrustful of the Trump administration and more disgusted with Trump’s erratic behavior.

Since there is no reason to believe that the steady drip of information will be shut off any time soon, every day that goes by before Trump is brought to trial increases the eventual public pressure on Senate Republicans vote to convict when the time comes. Every day until Trump is driven out of Washington he is likely to grow weaker and more disliked by the majority of Americans who are not stupid enough to be taken in by his lies.

And remember, if and when Trump is evicted from the White House, Mike Pence will become President of the United States. (I think that Pence has intentionally kept a safe distance from Trump’s illegal shenanigans and Trump has not included him among his close confidants because he simply doesn’t trust him.)  Also keep in mind that Pence, the fanatical religious zealot and a far right conservative, is also not someone we want in the White House for a second term.  However, once Trump is gone, it be normal for many Americans to want to cut Pence some slack and give him time to get his act together, if for no other reason than for the good of the country.

If Trump is impeached and convicted in the Senate, the Republican party will be wounded for some time to come, especially in the 2020 presidential and congressional elections.  I see no reason to allow Pence enough time to perhaps prove that he can eventually become an effective president.  (Remember anyone taking over Trump would look good by comparison.)  The less time that the Republicans have to recover from the Trump’s impeachment, the more turmoil there will be in Republican Party come election time and the better the chances that Democrats will have of taking complete and utter control of both Houses of Congress and the White House.

So let’s not try to push our elected representatives in Congress to towards initiating a quick impeachment. Nancy Pelosi and other senior Democratic Congressmen understand that impeaching Trump when there is little chance for his conviction in the Senate will only arouse his base. Let them take their time and do it right.

Cajun       1/18/2019