Impeachment is the top story in the mainstream media, so let’s
take a look at some key commentary about those dramatic headlines.
Andrew McCarthy, writing at The
Hill, declares:
“There is no impeachment inquiry. There are no subpoenas.” He urges
readers to ignore the impeachment hype.
McCarthy explains that Democratic House committee chairmen have
sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
asking him to cooperate with their demands to depose State Department
officials and review various records. But a letter does not have the
legal force of a subpoena (which can be challenged in
court).
Moreover, Democrats are acting unilaterally, without consulting
their Republican colleagues at all. McCarthy
notes:
...Every presidential impeachment inquiry, from Andrew
Johnson through Bill Clinton, has been the
subject of bipartisan consultation and debate. The House has
recognized that its legitimacy, and the legitimacy of its most solemn
actions, must be based on the consideration of the whole body, not the
diktat of a few partisan bosses.
Not this one. This one is a misadventure in exactly the
bare-knuckles partisanship the Framers feared. To be sure, no one has
the power to prevent willful House leadership from misbehaving this
way. But we’re not required to pretend the charade is real.
For more on the terrible precedents being set by Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats, see
William McGurn’s opinion
piece in the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
Given the irregularity of the Democrats’ procedures here, it
is notable that Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
has called for Speaker Pelosi to halt the House’s impeachment inquiry
into President Donald Trump “until transparent and
equitable rules and procedures are established to govern the inquiry,
as is customary,” as National Review reports.
His letter to the Speaker can be seen here.
And finally, New Neo at the Legal
Insurrection blog reminds us that “resistance by whistleblower” was
part of the anti-Trump plan from the start. He quotes a February 2017
article in Vanity Fair that examined the
initial “resistance” plans of entrenched federal civil servants
horrified by the election of Donald
Trump.
One Justice Department employee told the [Washington
Post in January 2017], “You’re
going to see the bureaucrats using time to their advantage,” and added
that “people here will resist and push back against orders they find
unconscionable,” by whistle-blowing, leaking to the press, and lodging
internal complaints. Others are staying in contact with officials
appointed by President Obama to learn more about how they can
undermine Trump’s agenda and attending workshops on how to effectively
engage in civil disobedience, the Post reports.
Jim Geraghty at National Review raises
this question: what important issues are we not talking about,
while we’re all talking about impeachment? He mentions hot spots like
Hong Kong, China, Somalia, and Libya.
