The GOP Senate is facing its moment of reckoning
We have seen a summary of the conversation that took place in July between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky. As far as anyone has seen, there is only the asking of a favor, Zelensky blowing smoke up Trump’s ass, and smearing Biden. Yet in recent days, Trump has insisted Energy Secretary Rick Perry pushed him to make the call. Trump has stated that he did not want to make the call but Perry pushed it. Ukraine and energy can be and often are discussed together, as Rachel Maddow discusses in her new book, “Blowout.” However, as we lawyers refer to the apparent strategy of Trump and his team, it appears to be a “throw (shit or spaghetti) at the wall” and see what sticks theory being demonstrated.
The goal of the shit throwing is to see if the defense can create reasonable doubt for the jury. Here, the first jury Trump faces will be the Senate. Senator Chris Murphy stated on Meet the Press the reality of this potential jury and where we are headed. While Perry does not appear to be the reason for the Ukraine quid pro quo call, the Republicans are demonstrating to the hilt the Cult 45 mentality.
Murphy stated: “As you see more Republicans go into the bunker like that, and the president go deeper into trying to get more countries to interfere in our elections, I think public opinions will change … I think there are a lot of regular citizens out there who are going to demand Republicans make a decision based on the facts, not based on loyalty to the cult of Donald Trump.”
For us, the real jury needs to be the American populace, who must be educated and reminded that the Senate, should they blindly adhere to politics, must be replaced as well as the President.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.