First, let's take it easy on the 'impeachment' talk, simply for the fact that we're not there yet. The Southern District of New York put in its filing on Friday that Individual-1 (Donald Trump) directed Michael Cohen, the president's person lawyer to pay women (Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal) hush money so that the information would not get out during the campaign. This is a campaign violation and a crime, which we're all fairly certain happened. However, this is a filing and not a conviction.
To keep the potential impeachment of President Trump from becoming strictly perceived as political, Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be allowed to finish his investigation first. Seemingly, most Democrats are taking this course so that they can set a legislative agenda first. Impeachment is a political act, and political division is inherent in this act. For the Democrats to proceed with the course of action, there will need to be more information, specifically from Robert Mueller's team.
Given this, Jonah Goldberg's point shouldn't be lost for Republicans who are abdicating their moral position to defend the president on legals terms, and that is the president paid off a porn star and a Playboy playmate to cover up affairs. This is the amoral deal that Republicans have made and any claim to high ground declared by conservatives and evangelicals has now been ceded.
These filings, as Senator Angus King (I-ME) explained it is not a criminal prosecution and the evidence has not be fully presented as of yet for impeachment or prosecution, hence his statement that he's more 'conservative' when considering all this. He's still in a 'wait-and-see' mode, which is sensible. With this in mind, it's said that a sitting president can not be indicted. The reasoning here is that if the president is indicted it will take too much time away from his duties as president. This is more of an excuse than a reason because it puts the president above the law and the entire premise of our constitutional society is that no one is above the law, and that includes the president of the United States. If the president is alleged to have committed crimes then the person should be indicted.
Taking Senator King's sensibility into account, conversely Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) made no sense at all. For lack of a better rhetorical framing, Senator Paul always talks the talk, but never does he walk the walk. He says that he does in fact hold the president and the administration to account, yet in the face of alleged campaign finance crimes that in this case may have altered the outcome of the election he said that the person should pay a fine. Really? And how much should that fine be? He also said that there is nothing illegal that he knows of about building a hotel in Moscow, but he only gives you part of the equation. Michael Cohen lying to Congress about the complete dynamic of the business, Mr. Paul excuses. It's also alleged that the Trump Organization promised a $50 million penthouse for Vladimir Putin which is a crime - the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. And to cement this point with regard to Rand Paul's squishiness, he said that he has concerns about the president's nominee, William Barr, for Attorney General but when push comes to shove he'll fall in line.
In finding good somewhere, Mr. Paul does say that right things when it comes to our relations to Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman. The United States needs to extricate itself from the civil war in Yemen forthwith. If only the administration wasn't in the pocket of the Saudi prince, the United States could serve as an honest broker of at the very least a cease fire. Unfortunately, the administration doesn't have the meddle for such diplomacy.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Mueller's team filed a heavily-redacted sentencing recommendation with regard to Michael Flynn, in which no jail time was recommended due to his 'substantial assistance.' This really is the canary in the coalmine in causing alarm for the president. Mr. Trump and his legal team have no idea the totality of information Mr. Flynn provided to the special counsel but it certainly spells significant trouble on the horizon. Manafort is going to jail, as he should having lied throughout his cooperative plea deal. Mr. Cohen didn't fully cooperate with law enforcement, raising the speculation that he didn't want to implicate persons that he is fearful of, namely Russian Mafia figures.
But Micheal Flynn's willful and substantive assistance can only spell political and legal jeopardy for Individual-1.
Panel: Kimberly Atkins, The Boston Herald; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Jonah Goldberg, The National Review; Eddie Glaude Jr., Princeton University
One more thing...
2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates... Ms. Atkins was so right on about Elizabeth Warren in that people are getting tired of her and she is increasingly a polarizing figure. She would not win. Beto as presidential candidate, Peggy Noonan was not convinced he could win either. She's onto something there. He'd be ready as a vice-presidential candidate... maybe. Others? We're still not there yet in terms of in-depth discussion, but these two people were specifically mentioned today.
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