Heather Cox Richardson - January 16, 2020 - Letters From An American

[applegrove]

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

"SNIP.....

Today, the Senate received the articles of impeachment from the House and began the Senate trial of the president. Chief Justice John Roberts swore in the Senators as jurors.

While the trial was going on, Trump first tweeted, in all caps: I JUST GOT IMPEACHED FOR MAKING A PERFECT PHONE CALL!” then announced a trade deal, and used the time in front of cameras to try to grab headlines away from what had just gotten underway nearby. He called out attendee after attendee, and when he got to a lawyer, he said “I could use some good lawyers, right? Ah, to hell with it. I just have to suffer through it the way I have all my life.”

Trump insists he has no idea who Parnas is, a claim belied by the many, many photos of the two of them together in settings that are clearly not usual meet and greets.

Republican supporters of Trump are trying to pretend that the Parnas information doesn’t matter. Indeed, Susan Collins (R-ME) faulted the House for not uncovering the information during the impeachment hearings, but as conservative commentator Jennifer Rubin pointed out in the Washington Post, the Department of Justice has had those documents since October and has sat on them. It was only earlier this month that a district judge permitted Parnas to share them with the House. So it’s a little unclear exactly what the House should’ve done differently. In any case, it seems a complete no-brainer now to call Parnas as a witness. Nonetheless, Republicans Senators are trying to argue that they have no duty to do anything but hear what the House produced.

.....SNIP"