The executive summary of President Trump's defense memo is worth a read (if you can't get through all 171 pages of the full memo). whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl…
"The Articles of Impeachment now before the Senate are an affront to the Constitution and to our democratic institutions," it begins.
Says "abuse of power" theory supplants Constitutional standard of needing an actual crime. (The prior impeachments at least had an allegation of an actual crime, though we should probably note that the law Johnson was accused of breaking was itself constitutionally shaky.)
Says Democrats' view that Trump should have been beholden to bureaucracy is Constitutionally indefensible, since the Constitution explicitly and clearly says, "executive Power shall be vested in a President."
As for "obstruction of Congress" charge, says POTUS followed lengthy precedent on executive privilege and that House rules barring agency counsel from appearing with witnesses sealed the deal. Then quotes a bunch of Democrats agreeing with this.
E.g. Resistance hero Laurence Tribe used to say it was "frivolous" and "dangerous" to go after people for using the judicial system to protect their privileges. Nadler once also said POTUS could not be impeached for asserting a legal privilege.
Quotes Turley saying House's "obstruction theory" is itself an abuse of power by Congress. Also says entire House inquiry was improperly launched, rendering its work unauthorized, invalid. Notes Nadler previously asserted impeachments must have a "rigorous level of due process."
Specifically, before this impeachment that was run otherwise, Nadler had said due process meant the right to confront accusers. Notes Schiff first lied about and then delayed admission his staff had coordinated with whistleblower.
Notes public record that Democrats' impeachment push began at inauguration, that this push led to the false and dangerous Russia collusion hoax that severely damaged the administration of government and led to civil rights abuses of Trump affiliates.
Says impeachment isn't just about overturning results of 2016 election but also an attempt to meddle in 2020 election. Notes bipartisan opposition. Quotes what impeachment leaders used to say about need for support for impeachment to be bipartisan.
Says no evidence in support of Democrats' central claim that Trump conditioned assistance on public announcement of an investigation. Quotes all the Ukrainian and US leaders saying otherwise. Notes that Trump admin has increased support of Ukraine over prior admin.
Quotes Turley saying this impeachment "stands out among modern impeachments as the shortest proceeding, with the thinnest evidentiary record, and the narrowest grounds ever used to impeach a president." Says it's a constitutional travesty.
Says Democrats rest on false premise that there could not conceivably be a legitimate reason to investigate the Biden-Burisma situation (Joe Biden was President Obama's highly involved point man in Ukraine while son Hunter was involved in a major energy concern there)
Says even House Dems acknowledge that they must establish that the only reason for raising Ukraine's notorious corruption issues would be for personal political benefit, a rather difficult bar. Further says uncovering potential foreign interference is always a legit goal.
Says, "House Democrats' assertion that asking historical questions about the last election somehow equates to securing 'improper interference' in the next election is nonsensical."
Notes that Joe Biden had serious conflict of interest issues given his son's lucrative financial deals in Ukraine. Notes that many people had concerns about the conflict of interest posed by Hunter Biden's work for the corrupt Ukrainian company.
"former Vice President Biden did not immunize his past conduct (or his son's) from all scrutiny simply by declaring his candidacy for the presidency."
Says articles are framed with a kitchen sink approach that doesn't give -- as required -- a specific basis for conviction, says structural deficiency can only be rectified by rejecting the articles as framed.
exec summary ends: "Enough of Nation's time & resources have been wasted on House Democrats' partisan obsessions. The Senate should bring a decisive end to these excesses so that Congress can get back to its real job: working together w/ POTUS to improve lives of all Americans.
