Pirate's Cove

The document itself is pretty darned pathetic, and worth the read for some laughs

Adam Schiff’s Report Cites No ‘Bribery’ or ‘High Crimes’; Only Tweets

The House Intelligence Committee report released by chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Tuesday cites no constitutionally permissible grounds for impeachment against President Donald Trump — other than tweets.

Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution provides that impeachment shall be for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Notably, the Framers of the Constitution ruled out “maladministration” as a reason.

In Schiff’s 300-page report, Democrats failed to cite any specific grounds for impeaching the president.

Notably, though Schiff and others attempted to argue that the president had possibly committed “bribery” by allegedly asking the president of Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for U.S. aid, there is no discussion of bribery whatsoever in the report — other than references to Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s claims that Biden might be guilty of bribery because his son was on the payroll of Ukrainian gas giant Burisma.

The only references to any “crimes” allegedly committed by the president is a discussion of “witness intimidation.”

Schiff and his Democrat majority attempt to argue that President Trump committed that crime by tweeting criticism of several witnesses against him, including calling them “Never Trumpers” and drawing attention to their testimony.

The word “bribery” appears just 4 times, and never as an accusation. “Quid pro quo” appears 52 times, and mostly as witness’s words, as stated by people who mostly never heard the call.

Shiffs report never explicitly accuses Trump of “abuse of power.” But even that is not impeachable — firstly because Republicans have argued that Trump was not seeking a political favor from Ukraine, but exercising a constitutional duty to fight corruption and election interference; and secondly because it is not an impeachable offense.

As Sunstein wrote: “Almost every American president has, on more than one occasion, passed the bounds of his power, in the sense that his administration has done something that it is not lawfully entitled to do.”

Seriously, this is what we get in the document

• The President Forced Out the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (something which every president can do at any time. Obama sure did it)
• The President Put Giuliani and the Three Amigos in Charge of Ukraine Issues (well, that seems like a mature thing, right? The 3 Amigos?)
• The President Froze Military Assistance to Ukraine (Obama froze most aid to Ukraine during his entire administration)
• The President Asked the Ukrainian President to Interfere in the 2020 U.S. Election by Investigating the Bidens and 2016 Election Interference (so, wait, investigating the 2016 election interference, which really made no difference, is now bad? Or is it just because Trump was looking for evidence that Dems did not want found?)
• The President’s Categorical Refusal to Comply (Our Constitution makes clear that people do not have to be willing participants in witch-hunts against them, that they have certain Rights)
• The President’s Refusal to Produce Any and All Subpoenaed Documents and The President’s Refusal to Allow Top Aides to Testify (under this standard, Obama should have been impeached multiple times)

The whole document is cute, with lots of pithy quotes and stuff, but, rather weak on actual evidence of anything beyond Politics As Usual. And, if he wants to try this whole “using office for personal political interests above those of the nation,” expect Team Trump to trot out evidence of Schiff making money off of his own office. Like most elected politicians.