Here’s a quick reminder that the media really does love publicity stunts, as long as Republicans aren’t doing them:
I have no doubt this is exactly how the media would react if the roles were reversed and Republicans were trying to secretly impeach Obama, and Democrats had done the same publicity stunt. No doubt.
As I was writing this, Trump just tweeted a big thank you to Republicans for their ‘sit in’:
Thank you to House Republicans for being tough, smart, and understanding in detail the greatest Witch Hunt in American History. It has been going on since long before I even got Elected (the Insurance Policy!). A total Scam!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2019
And while we’re on the subject of the secret hearings, here’s Ed Morrisey from Hot Air giving his own take on them this morning after Judge Napolitano compared the secret hearings to a grand jury hearing:
Judge Napolitano notes that this is similar to a grand-jury process where testimony will later get tested in court. Only in form is that statement true. In practice, grand juries take secret testimony all the time, but they are also forbidden by law to comment publicly on it. Schiff’s panel is trying the case in public without the president or his legal team able to access the witnesses or testimony, which seems less like a grand jury and more like a kangaroo court … or a star chamber.
The result of this is a process devoid of credibility, through the fault of Schiff and his House Democratic team. Furthermore, it’s entirely unclear that this will ever move to a fair process before the House votes on articles of impeachment. Napolitano is correct that staff attorneys took secret testimony in the previous two impeachment inquiries, but they then held public hearings for the cross-examinations that he describes, allowing the American public to see in real time what was being said and how reliable it was. Schiff’s use of the rules is aimed to avoid that step and go directly to impeachment, forcing the Senate to do the job the full House should have done in the first place.
Just because the rules allow it doesn’t make it good. Or right, either.
I’ve seen some in our own comments argue the legitimacy of these hearings with the same grand jury comparison, so I thought this would be good food for thought.