Faced with the facts stacked against them, President Donald Trump’s defense team has resorted to arguing in his Senate impeachment trial that his scheme to bribe Ukraine into investigating his opponents actually wasn’t so bad. Controversial lawyer Alan Dershowitz, whose past clients include O.J. Simpson and Jeffrey Epstein, has led the charge of arguing that even assuming that all the facts of House Democrats’ allegations of Trump’s abuse of power are true, it’s improper to impeach him over that. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) herself spoke out to point out the absurdity of that argument, which basically consists of a green light for Trump to do whatever he wants.
She tweeted:
‘Trump’s lawyers argued he has a right to abuse his power as much as he wants, and Congress can do nothing about it. Sounds familiar: Trump: “I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” Congress can do something: hold a fair trial.’
Trump’s lawyers argued he has a right to abuse his power as much as he wants, and Congress can do nothing about it.
Sounds familiar:
Trump: “I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”
Congress can do something: hold a fair trial.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 28, 2020
Indeed — as she mentions, Trump has repeatedly claimed that Article 2 of the Constitution, which lays out the responsibilities of the presidency, gives him the right to do whatever he wants. It does not — but Trump has acted like it does anyway, firing whoever he wants for whatever cause he wants, flatly refusing to comply with any and all Congressional subpoenas for evidence relating to his behavior, and more.
The moment of truth for the fair trial that Pelosi mentions will come soon. Democrats have been advocating for witness testimony, and they’ve had their case bolstered by the revelation this week that Trump’s own former national security adviser John Bolton knows that Trump directly tied aid for Ukraine to whether or not they investigated his opponents, which constitutes the bribery scandal at the core of Democrats’ case. A vote on witnesses will follow the conclusion of opening arguments and initial questions from Senators.
Check out Twitter’s response to Pelosi below…
