Trump Was Impeached, Will He Ever Be Convicted?

It is 2020, and thus much is happening all of the time.


To catch you up:


On July 25, 2019, President Donald Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate 2016 election interference based on a conspiracy theory, and to dig up dirt on his potential political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. This led to a whistleblower complaint about the call; private and public hearings from each person from Ambassador Bill Taylor, the best diplomat in Ukraine, to Fiona Hill, Trump’s top Russia advisor. We saw dogs; drag queens attended; Kim Kardashian and A$AP Rocky’s names were dropped; there were some very weird turkey pardons; we had deadline promises that weren’t kept; a House Judiciary Committee vote took place; and, oh yeah, Trump was officially impeached by the Home of Representatives.


What You Missed Over Our Break


We last caught up on December 20, as soon as we were waiting for Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi to name the impeachment managers who will make her case in the Senate, and send the articles of impeachment over to the Senate — yet she isn’t doing either of these up until she learns about about how the upper chamber will conduct a potential trial, per Vox. She says she’s worried Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won’t hold a fair trial, particularly immediately after McConnell mentioned everything he is doing throughout the impeachment trial he is in coordination with the White Home. “There will be no difference between the President’s position and our position as to how to nickname this,” McConnell mentioned on December 12, according to the Day-to-day Beast.


Both sides are seemingly at an impasse. Over these past two weeks, nevertheless, we noticed out a lot of new intelligence associated with that frozen Ukrainian military aid, predominantly thanks to reporting out of the New York Times.


The Times announced on December 29 that top Cabinet officials attempted to convince Trump to release the aid throughout a meeting in August, although he did not oblige. The Times also got their hands on a set of emails, through the a Freedom of Data Act request, that showed that the U.S. Suspended Ukraine aid just 90 minutes soon after Trump’s July phone call with Zelensky.


We also learned that Joe Biden might have to testify before Congress, per the Washington Post. That all depends on if he’s subpoenaed, and at the moment we don’t know much about this trial.


So what happened this week?


Monday, January 6


John Bolton, the former national security advisor whom Trump fired in September 2019,  released a statement saying that “if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am ready to testify.” This is a big change needless to say from his previous symptoms that he would not testify if subpoenaed by the Residence of Representatives.


*Pan to the entirety of the Residence staring directly into the camera.*


Republican senators don't appear pumped to subpoena Bolton, according to Axios, although a ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that a majority of Residents of the
U.S. Want all of Trump’s top aides to testify. And this move is bigger than just one additional person testifying: it may force McConnell to hold a full trial group in attempt to speak to Bolton, who might have more knowledge about Ukraine dealings than several other witnesses that the Residence has heard from.


Bolton’s lawyer mentioned in November that he had data about “many relevant meetings and conversations that have not however been talked in the testimonies thus far,” per the New York Times. Additionally, Tim Morrison, one of the White House's top Russia experts, testified that Bolton had a meeting with Trump that was specifically about Ukraine, according to the Times. Ultimately, we don’t know if he’ll be subpoenaed. And if he is, who is aware what he’d even just be saying — maybe he’ll just talk about his forthcoming book.


Tuesday, January 7


In a closed-door meeting, Pelosi reinforced to Democrats that she'll not be sending the impeachment articles to the Senate up until she’s confident that the upper chamber will conduct a fair trial, according to the Washington Post. However Senate Republican leaders also mentioned on Tuesday that they finally have enough votes to set the impeachment trial rules — totally on their own terms — without reaching a deal with Pelosi, who wants them to call more witnesses and introduce more evidence that was originally stonewalled by the president, Politico reported. The new plan would let the Home to prepare a starting statement alongside the president before senators ask both sides questions.


“All we are doing here's saying we plan to get a head start in exactly the same way 100 senators agreed to 20 years ago,” McConnell told reporters, according to NPR. “What was good enough for President Clinton is beneficial enough for President Trump.”


It’s true that this plan is similar to the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999, however, as the New York Times points out, every major witness had already testified and all key documentary evidence had been revealed by the time Clinton’s impeachment trial reached the Senate.


Wednesday, January 8


In case it hasn’t been clear enough, McConnell reiterated that he'll not be negotiating with Pelosi on any terms of the Senate impeachment trial, the New York Times reported. At the same time, folks are getting tired of the holdup — including some Democrats.


“The rules are going to be what they are,” Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) mentioned. “She should know that right now, so let’s just go ahead and visualize what we’ve got.”


Sen. Angus King (I-ME) mentioned “it's probably time” to begin the trial, adding that “Mitch McConnell made clear what he's moving forward in terms of rules,” according to CNN’s Senior Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju.


Raju also announced that Chris Murphy (D-CT) said: “My hope is that we'll have the ability to get the trial began next week … I think if we're attempting to make leverage on the Republicans, that leverage really exists as soon as we put them on the record on motions to call witnesses.”


Murphy’s Connecticut counterpart, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, told Raju he’s “ready to start the trial tomorrow. As a former prosecutor, I'm willing to go to court.”


Thursday, January 9


The standoff between Pelosi and McConnell continues, nevertheless that could end any day. “I’m not holding them indefinitely. I’ll send them as soon as I’m ready, and that probably will be soon,” Pelosi mentioned, according to NBC News. She also mentioned they don’t “have to agree to the rules” or maybe “like the rules.” As a substitute, she insisted, according to WAMU: “We just aspire to know what they are.”


McConnell is having none of it, telling reporters at the Capitol, according to the New York Times, “No, we’re not going to do that.”


McConnell also signed onto a resolution by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that would dismiss any articles of impeachment if they aren’t delivered within 25 days of their Residence approval — in this case, Sunday (Jan. 12). McConnell joined 12 other all-Republican cosponsors in signing the resolution; among them are Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Rand Paul (R-KY). Axios reported that the constitutionality of the move isn’t clear, this move could force Pelosi’s hand to turn over articles inside the next 100 hours. Although, it would also need a supermajority of senators to be enforced — which would require help from the Democrats.