In less than 72 hours, Congressional Democrats requested the hearing of witnesses in the second impeachment trial against Donald Trump, then agreed not to interview witnesses and close the trial on Saturday, and announced a new investigation with witness interviewing on Monday. What exactly are they trying to achieve?
The journal is Alex Leary Reports on the current position that further investigation is required:
House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi said Monday Congress would set up an independent 9/11-style commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol and “the disturbance of the peaceful power transmission.” She also called for new means to protect lawmakers and secure the Capitol. Ms. Pelosi had previously commissioned retired Lieutenant General Russel Honoré to carry out a review of the security infrastructure, the inter-agent processes and the command and control. In a letter to members of the House of Representatives on Monday, she said, “From his findings and the impeachment process, it is clear that we need to know the truth about how this happened.”
Finding out the truth is certainly a laudable goal, even if Saturday’s action in the Senate raises the question of whether the search for the truth is really a priority. Burgess Everett, Heather Caygle and Marianne Levine reported in Politico about what happened after the senators agreed to call witnesses:
During the Senate hiatus following Saturday’s witness vote, Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) Came into the manager’s room outside the Senate twice, according to multiple Democratic sources. Coons urged the House Democrats to give in, saying their search for witnesses would cost them Republican votes to condemn them, and maybe even some Democrats. “The jury is ready to vote,” Coons told managers, according to a senior House Democrat advisor. “People want to come home for Valentine’s Day.”
Neither snow nor rain nor heat or darkness of the night could prevent the legislature from its solemn duty to impeach. But observing a minor unofficial holiday seems to have done the trick.
Whether to believe in a senatorial duty to honor the sanctity of Valentine’s Day, James Downie of the Washington Post quarreled on Sunday that it is a little early for Congress to ask for a break. “Less than a full month after Joe Biden’s presidency, Congress is already on a one-week break,” noted Downie.
