![]() Date: 2024-08-16 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00017844 | |||||||||
The Trump Presidency | |||||||||
Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | |||||||||
In a clear sign of desperation, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) launched one of the most ridiculous attacks Wednesday afternoon on the expert legal witnesses testifying before the House Judiciary Committee as part of impeachment proceedings. And rather than being embarrassed by his absurd line of argument, the White House’s and President Donald Trump’s Twitter accounts shared a video of the argument.
Gaetz showed either a complete misunderstanding of the proceedings or a complete contempt for the intelligence of his audience by asking the expert witnesses: “If you have personal knowledge of a single material fact in the Schiff report, please raise your hand.” They didn’t, of course. But they weren’t meant to. The House Intelligence Committee investigated the facts of the case and produced the report on the Ukraine scandal, overseen by Chair Adam Schiff. Now the Judiciary Committee is assessing whether the facts merit impeachment, which is why it’s relevant to consult legal experts. It would, in fact, be inappropriate to consult fact witnesses about legal conclusions in a case. And at the same time, further demonstrating either ignorance or bad faith, Gaetz said that the expert witnesses having no factual knowledge of the “Schiff report” would continue “on the tradition we saw from Adam Schiff.” But the witnesses Schiff brought forward did have factual knowledge contained in the report — that’s what the report was based on. But Gaetz went on to complain that the witnesses in the Intelligence Committee proceedings didn’t identify impeachable offenses or legal violations in their testimony. Again, this wasn’t their role: they were simply supposed to provide their accounts of what happened. Had they opined on whether Trump’s conduct was impeachable, they would have been skewered as partisan actors by the likes of Gaetz. So his complaint boiled down to the idea that the legal experts didn’t present the facts, and that the fact witnesses didn’t present legal analysis. It turns the point of the proceedings on its head. It would be like objecting in a criminal trial that the judge or the prosecutor didn’t even see the crime take place. But Gaetz was unashamed to make such embarrassing arguments, and the White House didn’t hesitate to amplify them. Perhaps this is the best they think they’ve got. Watch the clip below: The White House ✔ @WhiteHouse Anyone with personal knowledge of a single material fact in the Schiff report? Embedded video 33.6K 4:28 PM - Dec 4, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 14K people are talking about this Happy Holidays from all of us! ---------------------------------------- BRAND NEW STORIES ‘A president the world is laughing at’: Biden releases new ad attacking Trump — and it’s getting widely praised Trump has been an ongoing nightmare for ‘outmatched and outgunned and outmaneuvered’ US diplomats: ‘It’s a hollowing out of the foreign service’ George Zimmerman sues Trayvon Martin’s family, attorney, publisher and others for $100 million Trump soundly mocked for demanding speedy resolution to impeachment: ‘You don’t get to dictate terms’ DOJ inspector general asked for facts behind conspiracy theory pushed by Trump. He got back nothing Rep. Steve Watkins involved in voter fraud scheme — unless he lives at a UPS Store MOST POPULAR 1 CIA psychologist on Trump’s ‘damaged personality’: The president ‘may not even recognize the legitimacy of the election’ 2 ‘Let’s be serious’: Macron rips Trump on live TV after president threatens to send ISIS fighters to France 3 ‘Child’ Trump ripped to shreds for storming out of NATO summit after video shows world leaders mocking him 4 Lev Parnas gave House Intelligence recordings of Trump and Giuliani: report 5 New evidence of Trump’s financial crimes emerge during an otherwise quiet holiday weekend 6 Trump’s Supreme Court nominees lambasted him behind his back — and Kavanaugh thought he was ‘a buffoon’: report 7 ‘He doesn’t have a lot of friends’: Presidential historian explains why latest impeachment poll shows ‘fake president’ Trump is in ‘deep trouble’ 8 Inside the GOP cult: How House Republicans spied on, smeared and ambushed a dissenter within their ranks 9 Why even the GOP’s expert witness undermines Trump’s defenses 10 Trump slammed after disastrous presser with Macron: ‘What an embarrassment’ |