Laurence Tribe: GOP Is Afraid Of The Truth Or They'd Allow Witnesses
“Kafka couldn't have written a better script,” for the impeachment trial Donald Trump and his Republican toadies are pushing.
On MSNBC today, Laurence Tribe discussed the “surreal” aspects of the Trump impeachment trial. “Every day new stuff comes out. It all confirms what we pretty much know,” he said, meaning we know that Trump “shook down Ukraine” and was “trying to cheat in the election.” The only real mystery is what happens as a result.
The other surreal aspect is that Trump is trying to block witnesses from testifying by threatening to claim executive privilege. “He's saying, you know, your second article of impeachment claims that I am obstructing Congress. Well, I dare you to try to get witnesses because I am going to obstruct Congress,” Tribe said.
Tribe predicted that Trump’s lawyers will “deny, distract, delude, dissemble” in their trial presentations, rather than “putting on a real case.”
There’s only one reason for avoiding a “real case," i.e. one with documents and witnesses, and that’s fear of the facts.
Because if there’s anything there that might exonerate him, and it’s hard to imagine, then of course the president would want it to come out. Jay Sekulow would want it to come out. Pat Cipollone would want it to come out. The only way to explain the fact that they are trying to hide it, despite the presence of the chief justice behind them, is that they hope they can get away with continuing the cover-up. And that's what, as I said, makes this so surreal. Kafka couldn't have written a better script. Lewis Carroll couldn’t have written a better script. And it would be amusing if it weren't so dead serious.
Even worse, the cover up puts everyone at risk. “We are all potential victims of someone who thinks he is above the law,” Tribe pointed out.
Even if you have already done so, make sure to call your senators today and tell them that a trial without witnesses is un-American. Their phone numbers are here.