Apropos the debate whether to include Mueller-related obstruction charges in Articles of Impeachment, and pleas not to send a Bill of Impeachment to the Senate, in order to keep investigating, some thoughts.
The decision to run impeachment hearings confined to 'Ukrainegate' was, as noted above, reasonable. The offenses were sufficiently flagrant that impeachment waverers (including the Speaker) found them impossible to let pass.
It was also the best chance of gaining bipartisan support for impeachment, universally desired. The 'Ukrainegate' hearings, however, haven't made a dent in GOP lockstep support for Trump. Nor do they seem to have materially increased public support for impeachment + removal.
That being the case, and absent some new explosive revelation, a Bill of Impeachment voted on the basis of what HJC is now considering, stands no chance of winning Senate conviction. Trump will survive a Senate trial, and move on to campaign in 2020.
This forces Dems, and all resisters, to consider a fateful question: how can the impeachment process be used, with all the evidence amassed, to most seriously damage Trump's electoral prospects ?
For me, the answer is clear: no Bill of Impeachment should be voted by the House, and no Senate trial precipitated, while important lines of investigation remain open. Articles can and should be voted out by HJC, with the expectation of more to come.
Trump's constitutional crimes extend well beyond 'Ukrainegate,' and beyond Mueller's instances of obstruction. The fullest possible record of those crimes must be presented ahead of 2020.
With Senate conviction unlikely on the current record, we have nothing to lose, and much to gain, by playing for time in order for financial records and other matters to surface. HJC seems intent on a rapid vote on Articles, but the House should not hurry to vote a Bill. End.
