In mid-December, I argued here that, as a matter of *fact* and *law*, the Ukraine scandal is a *bribery* case. I said that the articles of impeachment should say exactly that or Republicans would take the [dishonest] out of saying this scandal involves no crime.
And here we are.
And here we are.
1/ Yesterday Schiff gave the best answer he could on bribery, saying, as I argued a week ago, Abuse of Power is an umbrella "constitutional crime" (synonymous for these purposes with "common law crime") under which one can (and the House did) lay the elements of a bribery charge.
2/ The analysis here was correct in December and correct a week ago. And now my advice to @RepAdamSchiff is to be clearer today (his last chance to be so) than he's ever been: *this is a bribery case*. Lay out the terms of the bribe, and the law on "thing of value," and be clear.
3/ America knows what bribery is. That fact, and the nature of the elements of bribery, would've let you avoid two phrases that mean little to most Americans, which the GOP can therefore pervert: quid pro quo and Abuse of Power. Simplify the case: official act for value. Bribery.
4/ MAKE THE SENATE ACQUIT TRUMP OF BRIBERY. Don't let them be amateur legal scholars hiding behind disingenuous, arcane arguments about "maladministration" or "misconduct in office." Today is the last day to clear the cobwebs off the tomb and tell America what we're dealing with.
5/ Bribery is *in the Constitution*. So the reason CNN is today saying not calling this "bribery" (as some urged the House to do in December) may have been a mistake is because basically *every* defense Trump is offering *hinges* on the fact that the House *didn't* use that word.
6/ Yesterday, @RepAdamSchiff, Rep. Jeffries said what Trump did was "akin" to bribery; you later corrected that to saying it "is" bribery, but did so in the context of defending the Abuse of Power article as it is now.
I beg you to today make the argument clean: THIS IS BRIBERY.
I beg you to today make the argument clean: THIS IS BRIBERY.
7/ Everything now is on a 6-hour news cycle. If the House today says.THIS IS A BRIBERY CASE, that's what America will be talking about by dinner, well before tomorrow afternoon's vote on witnesses. While the GOP may complain of a change in tack, the groundwork *was* already laid.
8/ As I argued in December, the Abuse of Power article used *all* the elements of a Bribery article, which I assume was done *precisely* to give House managers the position they can take today. There's nothing to lose now; cable news says the votes aren't there for witnesses yet.
9/ Calling it Bribery *doesn't* damage Ukraine, as of course the subsection of the bribery statute the articles refer to is the one on Trump *soliciting* a bribe (which many don't realize is also the crime of bribery). Ukraine is blameless in all this, and that can be made clear.
10/ Today is the day to bring out every line of argument. Every one. For tomorrow Congress may effectively declare Trump a king, ruling he can cheat in elections and, as Dershowitz said, cross any line to ensure he keeps his hold on power. The time to declare BRIBERY is NOW. /end
