Democrats need to go big or go home on impeachment

[Poiuyt]

If House Democrats are going to undertake the impeachment process, they must do so with full resolve. To go about it the same way the special counsel's office quietly conducted most of its work behind the scenes would be a huge mistake.

Televised hearings would allow the public to see key members of the administration answer tough questions about their actions, as well as those of the President. Committee members could help connect any dots between key issues such as Trump's relationship to foreign governments like Russia or Saudi Arabia, the Trump Organization's financial interests, and any evidence of obstruction of justice during the Mueller probe.

The entire point of an impeachment inquiry is for the House to investigate what the President has or has not done with his power. Even if the Senate does not vote to impeach Trump, the House could lay out a case, so voters have a clearer sense of the choices before them in 2020. A vote on articles of impeachment would force House and Senate Republicans to go on the record and show whether they are willing to tolerate the President's behavior.

snip--

The investigations, which were centralized within single committees and televised, were the top priority for Democrats. Legislators didn't wait to act until they had a "smoking gun" in hand. They used the process to find out what those smoking guns were. The famous White House recordings were discovered during the 1973 televised hearings, and transcripts later revealed President Nixon's instructions to stop the investigation.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/07/opinions/democrats-impeachment-zelizer/index.html

[BigmanPigman]

1. Hear hear!