Democrats and Their Kangaroo Court

            Democrat hysteria hit a new high today in their attempt to impeach President Donald Trump. The street fighter in Trump comes out more and more as the charade proceeds. Today he blocked the testimony of a key witness. He tried to play nice with the Democrats, but they insist on playing dirty. The Trump administration will no longer provide witnesses and documents to help them in their kangaroo court proceedings.


            The State Department said today that the Gordon Sondland, a U.S. ambassador with knowledge of how Trump deals with Ukraine, will not be testifying before Congress. He is not the only one. Rudy Giuliani, the personal attorney for Trump, said that he would not cooperate with House investigators. 


            Pat A. Cipollone, Counsel to thePresident, sent an eight-page letter addressed to Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Eliot Engel, and Elijah Cummings – the Speaker of the House and the chairmen of three committees conducting the impeachment inquiry of the President. He indicates that he is writing on behalf of the President and responding to the Democrat’s “numerous, legally unsupported demands.” He calls them out for their inquiry that “violates fundamental fairness and constitutionally mandated due process.” Then he gives some examples of bad behavior.

For example, you have denied the President the right to cross-examine witnesses, to call witnesses, to receive transcripts of testimony, to have access to evidence, to have counsel present, and many other basic rights guaranteed to all Americans. You have conducted your proceedings in secret. You have violated civil liberties and the separation of powers by threatening Executive Branch officials, claiming that you will seek to punish those who exercise fundamental constitutional rights and prerogatives. All of this violates the Constitution, the rule of law, and every past precedent. Never before in our history has the House of Representatives – under the control of either political party – taken the American people down the dangerous path you seem determined to pursue.

Put simply, you seek to overturn the results of the 2016 election and deprive the American people of the President they have freely chosen. Many Democrats now apparently view impeachment not only as a means to undo the democratic results of the last election, but as a strategy to influence the next election…. As one member of Congress explained, he is “concerned that if we don’t impeach the President, he will get reelected.” Your highly partisan and unconstitutional effort threatens grave and lasting damage to our democratic institutions, to our system of free elections, and to the American people.

Cipollone reminded the Democrat leaders that Trump provided “transparency by declassifying and releasing the record of his call with President Zelensky of Ukraine. The record clearly established that the call was completely appropriate and that there is no basis for your inquiry.” He pointed out that Schiff’s so-called parody of the letter proves that “there was nothing wrong with the call.”

Cipollone continues by saying that the Democrats have left Trump and his Administration no choice but to “reject your baseless unconstitutional efforts to overturn the democratic process. In order to fulfill his duties to the American people, the Constitution, the Executive Branch, and all future occupants of the Office of the Presidency, President Trump and his Administration cannot participate in your partisan and unconstitutional inquiry under these circumstances.” He then discusses at length the three reasons why Trump and his Administration reached this decision.

·         Your “inquiry” is constitutionally invalid and violates basic due process rights and the separation of powers.

·         The invalid “Impeachment Inquiry” plainly seeks to reverse the election of 2016 and to influence the election of 2020.

·         There is no legitimate basis for your “Impeachment Inquiry”; instead, the Committees’ actions raise serious questions.

Cipollone closes his letter by reminding the Democrat leaders that the President and the members of the Executive Branch were elected by the American people to do a job, and they “cannot allow your constitutionally illegitimate proceedings to distract [them]….” He ends with the hope that the Democrats will come to their senses and end their kangaroo court proceedings.

            Another indication today that President Trump is willing to get down in the mud and brawl with the Democrats is the fact that he hired Trey Gowdy, former congressman, to aid his legal team as an outside counsel concerning the impeachment inquiry. Gowdy is a former prosecutor who understands how the law works and who is familiar with how things in Washington work. He seems to be a man of integrity who is not afraid of saying or doing what needs to be said or done. I appreciate the fact that he is working with the President.


            On a different front, a Republican congressman has introduced a resolution that calls for the expulsion of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) from the House of Representatives. The resolution introduced by Rep. Ralph Abraham (R. Louisiana) reads: “Resolved, That pursuant to Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, Representative Nancy Pelosi, be, and she hereby is, expelled from the House of Representatives and the Office of the Speaker is declared to be vacant.”


            The expulsion of Pelosi from the House is about as likely as the impeachment of Trump, so I am not getting too excited about it. However, I am relieved to hear that Republicans understand the Democrat rules and are willing to use them. Trump’s actions show that he is not going down without a fight and is willing to take as many of the opposition party as possible down with him. If the Democrats want to play dirty, he is willing to brawl in the mud with them. If they want to act civilly and work with him, he will treat them with respect.