A while back I commented that Pelosi might hold the articles of impeachment for months, grinding it like a cigarette into the skins of the Republican Senators, but she announced this weekend that she plans to send the articles to the Senate this week:
… Pelosi moved to end the three-week standoff, signaling in a letter to colleagues on Friday that she would transmit the articles to the Senate this week, even without any clarity from McConnell on how the trial would be conducted. [WaPo]
Assuming this takes place – and that’s a boulder-like assumption – why did she choose this week for the transmittal? Let’s review the rough timeline of events:
- Presidents Trump and Zelensky have a phone call on July 25 of 2019 in which, allegedly, Zelensky was pressured, mob-style, to announce that he was opening an investigation into a natural gas producer named Burisma and Democratic nominee hopeful Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, who sat on the board of Burisma for a time. Unsaid, but obvious to any prosecutor who has investigated Mob dealings, was the assurance that if Zelensky did this, then military aid designated to help them fight a Russian invasion would be released. Furthermore, no investigation was necessary – just the announcement. The military aid was later released without the announcement, allegedly at the frenzied insistence of several White House officials. The actual transcript of the call was never released, only a call summary.
- Speaker Pelosi initiates an impeachment inquiry, triggered by the information provided by an unnamed whistleblower, an investigation into the facts, if you will, into the matter on September 24. During this inquiry Republicans engaged in stunts and rhetoric unsuited to the United States Congress.
- Skipping minor events exposing Republican hypocrisy, in my view, on December 13, 2019, two articles of impeachment were passed by the House on a near party line vote. Speaker Pelosi delays sending the articles to the Senate for trial.
- Since then, Senator McConnell has stated on numerous occasions his intention to find Trump innocent.
- Former National Security Advisor Bolton has said that, if subpoenaed, he would testify at a Senate trial. One can only assume Bolton, along with being an unreformed hawk, is also a drama queen: he ignored a subpoena to testify during the impeachment inquiry, an act of malfeasance worthy of punishment.
- On January 3rd, President Trump promulgated the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. an action taken, in my view, to seize the narrative from Speaker Pelosi. This has led to tragedy, in the downing of Ukrainian Airlines flight 752 by an Iranian missile fired in error, and in blowback for an Administration unable to muster evidence to support its contention that some sort of attack was imminent and could only be foiled by this assassination.
- This weekend, Speaker Pelosi announces she’ll send the articles to the Senate.
So is this just Speaker Pelosi making a random decision? It seems unlikely, given her history of strategic & tactical thinking. Rather, it could be one of two things:
- She’s given Senator McConnell lots and lots of rope, and as he abrogates his responsibilities as a Senator in this matter, his opponent in his re-election run will use that rope to – metaphorically – hang him. While Kentuckians may run conservative, for those that comes with a sense of honor that many will find incompatible with McConnell’s actions. Additionally, Senators Hawley (R-MO) and Graham (R-SC) have foolishly suggested that if the articles are not delivered, they’ll “change the rules” so the impeachment is automatically dismissed. While Hawley is newly elected, Graham faces a re-election run, and his opponent is reportedly running neck and neck with him – but it’s early in this race.
- By making the announcement, she gets a grip on the narrative. By emphasizing McConnell’s dishonorable statements and actions, once again she is dictating the actions. And she still could decide to withhold the articles until McConnell agrees to run what she views as a fair trial.
The next week should be interesting.
