Letter to the Editor / AMERICA DESERVES A FULL AND FAIR SENATE TRIAL

By Roger C. Kostmayer

A full and fair Senate impeachment trial requires hearing from important fact witnesses and reviewing relevant documents.  Failure to do so makes it impossible for Senators, and the nation, to act as impartial jurors – which each Senator must swear to do.

But what if Senate Leader McConnell and other Republican Senators defy their oath and the Constitution in order to protect their dangerously flawed Republican president?  Only roughly equal leverage can produce a bipartisan negotiated compromise, and the Democrats have only one lever.

At this moment, the House has passed impeachment charges against the President, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, BUT it has not been, and need not be, delivered to the Senate for a trial to convict.  If the House refuses to transmit the charges to the Senate, unless or until there are good faith negotiations about a fair trial, this roadblock would prevent the Senate from absolving Trump from any wrong doing, and prevent President Trump from claiming all his treasonous and unconstitutional acts were “perfect” and he and all future presidents are above the law.

Unless Senate Leader McConnell reached a bipartisan agreement, the House would be free to continue impeachment investigations, produce more condemning evidence, testimony and charges – all while the President tries to campaign for reelection.

The price our democracy would pay if the Democrats ignored their duty and simply submitted to a phony unconstitutional Senate trial, is too high not to resist by all legal means.

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