Thread by @Teri_Kanefield

(Thread) What @Liz_Cheney’s tweet tells us about the upcoming Judiciary Committee hearing:

(1) Today’s radicalized GOP, which includes those who thought Nixon should have kept fighting, will keep fighting this time.

(2) The GOP will continue openly using fascist tactics.

@Liz_Cheney 1/ While leaving open the possibility of interviewing more witnesses, Schiff says the Intel committee will “soon” give a report on its findings to the Judiciary Committee, the committee that is responsible for drafting articles of impeachment.
cnbc.com/2019/11/29/tru…

@Liz_Cheney 2/ The judicial committee’s first public hearing, entitled “Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment,” is scheduled for Wed, 10 am, and will feature legal scholars discussing impeachment.
judiciary.house.gov/legislation/he…

Trump and his lawyers have been invited.

@Liz_Cheney 3/ Here’s Nadler’s letter to Trump: cnn.com/2019/11/26/pol…

He has until 6:00 pm tomorrow to decide if he wants to attend.

Here is what they will discuss⤵️

The obvious purpose is to educate Americans about what the impeachment clause means.

@Liz_Cheney 4/ This is not a fact-gathering hearing.

@Liz_Cheney is trying to confuse and obfuscate—which is how the GOP is reacting now that they have no real defense.

(I’ll be surprised if Trump accepts. He can attack the inquiry as illegitimate more easily if he isn’t there.)

@Liz_Cheney 5/ Q: What do you do when you know the scholars will explain that what Trump is accused of is impeachable?

A: Attack scholarship as a "liberal" pursuit.

According to Yale prof. @jasonintrator, author of How Fascism Works, one of the pillars of fascism is anti-intellectualism.

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator 6/ Fascism is opposed to intellectuals because universities (like courts) are places in pursuit of truth.

Fascist ideology, in contrast, traffics in myth.
insidehighered.com/news/2018/08/1…

In this interview, Stanley notes that there is also a history in America of anti-intellectualism.

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator 7/ That’s because fascism (which features a hierarchal society) has deep roots in America.

Paxton argued that the world's first fascist group wasn't the Italians under Mussolini; the first fascist organization was the Ku Klux Klan, complete with a uniform and demonized enemy.

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator 8/ This photo was taken in New Jersey in 1937.

So it isn't hard for Cheney to tap into fascist anti-intellectional strain in the United States.

We can predict what the constitutional scholars on Wednesday will conclude.

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator 9/ Bonus: the books I’m about to discuss will help prepare you for the Constitutional Law portion of the Twitter Bar exam.

The best overview I've found is ⤵️. Sunstein, a constitutional scholar, has written a very accessible account.

The book contains lots of unnecessary. . .

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator 10/ . . chit-chat, so skip the preface, Chapter 1, and most of Chapter 2.

Start on page 25 with "unitary executive" and read through chapter 9.

If you want an excellent and also readable historical account of the past three impeachments, see ⤵️

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator 11/ The legal analysis is a bit thin (no surprise) but the history and journalistic writing is fabulous.

I vividly remember the Clinton impeachment and senate trial, and still Iearned much about the backstage debates and strategies.

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator 12/ For people with rigid ideas [If the Democrats do x, y will definitely happen] this book will expand your thinking and show you that in a process as fluid (and fraught with dangers) as this one, nobody can predict the outcome.

All we can make are educated guesses.

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator 13/ In April, I wrote a few threads about⤵️ They're on my blog filed under "impeachment" (or search for "Matz)

I am currently reading Frank Bowman's book, "High Crimes and Misdemeanors," which contains much historical and in-depth legal analysis.

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator 14/ I'll write an Over the Cliff Notes for Bowman's book when I finish (before the hearing Wed)

As I’ve been reading, I’ve been writing the Articles of Impeachment in my head. (me = 🤓)

It might be fun for me to draft my own to see how they match up with the real ones :)

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator Lori, it looks to me like there were two separate letters with separate invitations, and two separate deadlines.

https://twitter.com/loridwade/status/1200835189674594306

The first letter, dated Nov. 26 with a Dec. 1 deadline invites Trump and lawyers to participate in Wed's hearing . . .

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator That letter is here: cnn.com/2019/11/26/pol…

The second letter, dated Nov. 29, invites Trump to participate in the upcoming proceedings. This one has a deadline of December 6.

In this second letter, Nadler mentions the separate investigation the Judiciary Committee. . .

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator . . . has been conducting concerning acts of obstruction of justice as detailed in the Mueller report.

Here is the second letter: judiciary.house.gov/sites/democrat…

It's very confusing.

If I have this wrong, I trust Twitter to tell me 😉

@Liz_Cheney @jasonintrator My threads are also blog posts. You can see this one here: terikanefield-blog.com/what-to-expect…