GOP impeachment strategy

During his opening remarks at the Senate removal trial of Donald Trump, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone lied. Repeatedly.

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We, as a country, are used to President Trump lying almost every time he opens his mouth. We are used to his state-sponsored media sycophants going on television and lying for the president every night. We are used to Republicans lying to stay in lockstep with Trump.

But we haven’t seen the Trump people lie so brazenly in court, or something that appears to be court. We haven’t seen them lie after oaths have been taken. A lot of people thought that a trial presided over by the chief justice of the United States would be the moment where the lying stopped.

  The Nation

So a lot of people are naive?

If you read the rules for this trial, as transmitted by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, you’ll note that there’s no penalty for “lying.” There is not even a procedure to determine if somebody has lied.

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Mitch McConnnell’s rules do not allow Roberts to hold anybody in “contempt.” Frankly, even if they did, from a constitutional perspective, McConnell could call a Senate vote to overrule a Roberts attempt to hold Republican lawyers accountable to the truth. Roberts can’t do anything other than what Mitch McConnell allows him to do.

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The only rules that matter are the ones that get a 51-vote majority in the United States Senate.

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Unfortunately, the Constitution, in its flawed wisdom, also decided to give congresspeople the discretion to lie as much as they want while they are conducting the people’s business.

You’ll find the license to lie in Article 1, Section 6 of the US Constitution. We just usually refer to this license by its proper name: The Speech and Debate Clause.

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What that means is that no representative or senator shall be hauled into court (or any other “place”) to answer for anything they say—absent treason or some other felonies—while performing their official duties. You can’t sue a senator for defamation for something they say on the floor of the Senate.

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Near the end of last night’s marathon session, John Roberts finally spoke. He admonished “both sides, in equal terms” for failing to address the Senate with the proper respect. It’s a microcosm of how both-sideism plays to the Republican advantage. If he was going to bother to speak, Roberts could, as Representative Jamie Raskin suggested, have admonished Pat Cipollone for bald lying. Nobody would have had to listen to him, but he could have used his moral authority to set the the record straight.

But no, all we got from Roberts was “both sides” and vague hand-waving about decorum.

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The hero of the first day of the impeachment trial has been Representative Adam Schiff. He has risen to the occasion, literally reserving part of the House impeachment managers’ time to rebut the lies and misinformation spewed by Republican lawyers every time they take the podium.

I don't disagree with any of this. But I think it's important to note that the outcome is foregone, and Trump's lawyers know that. What they are doing is not necessarily simply lying. What they are doing is creating news clips for Fox News to air for its viewers. This is their opportunity to help Trump solidify his base. Therefore, it doesn't even matter if Adam Schiff gets up after each liar and sets the record straight. Those aren't clips that will be aired on Fox.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.