Former Gov’t Official Makes Trump Proclamation After Unhinged Letter

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This Tuesday, with one day to go until the full House is expected to approve articles of impeachment against a sitting president for only the third time in U.S. history, Donald Trump freaked out with a six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). That rambling letter, among many other things, included the assertions that the impeachment proceedings are some kind of assault on American democracy and that Trump has been treated worse than the targets of the Salem Witch Trials — who, just to be clear, were hung. In response, former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal commented that the letter could actually be used as leverage to get Trump to testify.

Following the impeachment vote this week, a trial in the Senate will soon unfold, and Republicans led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) have already been harping against Democratic aims for witness testimony. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) indicated in response that Democrats would force floor votes on witness testimony.

Katyal commented:

‘Trump letter boomerangs, actually explains why he must testify in Senate. He says 1) House is unfair+ 2) he did nothing wrong. 1) explains why he couldnt be called in House, only Senate 2) opens the door and makes his exec privilege claims wholly untenable. #SayTheLetterUnderOath’

In other words, his rant against the House process sets himself up a stake in the Senate trial that could in theory be used to compel him to participate. His public rants about the case against him also indicate his readiness to engage with the facts of the situation — he can’t just keep hiding behind his already wide-ranging claims of executive privilege.

The witness testimony that Schumer has said he’s after includes appearances by current White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, and others. These individuals were subpoenaed by the House, but Trump demanded non-compliance, and now Republicans are complaining about the demands that these witnesses appear although it’s the president and his allies who have muddled the process by dragging this out. Details of the Senate trial have yet to be agreed upon.

Check out Twitter’s response…

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