This book is superb if like me you’re scrambling to better understand the history and precedents of impeachment. 7ish hours in audio form. Deep dive into the POTUSes who’ve faced inquiry plus constitutional roots.
Four things struck me from it...
Four things struck me from it...
One - partisan impeachments fail. Nixon’s only gathered pace when Republicans flipped. Clinton team worked hard to portray push as political (even forcing votes to reveal party divide). It was successful. Trump team is basically using the Clinton playbook.
Two - Senate trial if it gets to that is unpredictable. Rules largely written at the start rather than divined by Constitution. Whether there are witnesses, whether POTUS appears, who speaks and how all up for grabs. Uncertainty abounds.
Three - public opinion can move quickly. Proportion of Americans backing Nixon’s removal jumped from 1/3 to almost 1/2 in a month. Then stayed above 50% till he went a few months later. Early signs not good for Trump here, given swing away from him over Ukraine.
Four - getting the 67 senators needed to remove a president really is a very high bar. Not a single Democrat voted to convict Clinton on the two articles of impeachment he faced. 20 GOP senators need to flip on Trump. There’s a reason no president has ever been removed by Senate.
