"Please. Don't. Hurt. Me."

Democrats in Congress caved today in the face of Republican objections to calling impeachment witnesses. Here's why I think caving was a bad idea.

Democrats in Congress caved today in the face of Republican objections to calling impeachment witnesses.

The Democrats wanted only one witness, GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler. Congresswoman Beutler says that Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy told her that he spoke with Donald Trump during the middle of the Insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6. McCarthy asked Trump to “publicly and forcefully call off the riot.” Trump refused, siding with the rioters.

It’s incredibly damning evidence, from a sitting Republican member of Congress, no less. Republicans objected to having Beutler testify. And Democrats caved, agreeing to a “compromise” whereby Beutler’s earlier statements to the press would be submitted for the record, rather than her actual testimony recorded via Zoom.

Democrats can be realists to a fault. There is no way that Trump is going to be convicted by the Senate. So Democrats figure — surely with the prodding of President Biden — that there’s no point in drawing out the proceedings any longer, so why not just forget about witnesses all together and get the final vote done today?

Why not, indeed. Because facts matter. The truth matters. The memory of three dead police officers matters. Creating an accurate historical record for posterity matters.

And something as crass as marketing matters too.

If Democrats are going to pursue impeaching Trump a second time, knowing full well that Trump would likely be acquitted by the ever-obsequious Republicans, then you might as well present the best case you can — at the very least, to protect the future electoral chances of those who vote your way on conviction. And having actual in-your-face testimony from a sitting Republican member of Congress will go a longer way towards swaying the public that this tribunal was necessary than her written quotes from a few news articles.

(Also, Democrats shouldn’t have stopped with Beutler. Subpoena Kevin McCarthy as well, and let him lie under oath about his conversation with Trump. We’d then have two sitting members of Congress contradicting each other, under threat of perjury. One would clearly be lying. That’s a crime. Then let the Justice Department sort it out, in an investigation that would surely not help Trump’s case, or McCarthy’s. It’s what the Republicans would do in our place.)

Why I do think Biden had a role in this? Because I worked in the US Senate, and have worked in Washington for three decades, and there is no way that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn’t been in constant touch with the Democratic White House throughout this entire impeachment proceeding. It’s just the way it’s done. And Biden made clear early on that he didn’t want to dwell on Trump’s crimes, lest it take attention away from the important work of the nation, tackling Covid and the economy.

And Biden isn’t entirely wrong. The incoming President has to focus like a laser beam on the epidemic and the economy, lest the voters believe the GOP lies that Democrats are obsessed with punishing poor-old-innocent-Trump, at the expense of all else. But if Republicans try to obstruct Biden’s agenda, and nominations, in retaliation for calling witnesses, then hang it around the GOP’s collective neck. (Also, Donald Trump gave up on the Senate nominating process four years ago, by appointing acting-Secretaries. Biden could too, in a pinch.) But perhaps more importantly, Donald Trump led a violent Insurrection that attempted to get the Vice President and members of Congress assassinated, and that led to the deaths of three police officers. If you can’t sell the American people on why that matters, then we have no business governing at all.

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Let me close with a brilliant scene from the TV show “The West Wing,” from nearly 20 years ago. Sadly relevant today: