GOP strategist Rick Wilson argued on Tuesday that President Donald Trump is “one step closer to being f*cked” because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) slow impeachment strategy is working.
Pelosi has made it clear that House Democrats are going to roll out a sure-fire case for impeachment instead of just pulling the trigger in an effort to get increasing support from the American people because moving too fast might look politically motivated.
That’s why House committees are using every legal option short of impeachment to exercise Congress’ oversight authority to investigate Trump.
So far, the House has issued several subpoenas seeking everything from witness testimony, the full Mueller report, Trump’s financial records and his tax returns.
The administration, of course, is ignoring the subpoenas and filing lawsuits to block them, which is frustrating many Democrats into making their calls for impeachment even louder. But Wilson asked Democrats to remain patient and trust Pelosi in a new column for The Daily Beast.
“Democrats who want impeachment yesterday aren’t paying attention,” he argued. “Between McGahn, the ruling on taxes, and Cohen, the Resistance has had a banner week.”
“I’ve argued time and again that the smart play is IIABN: Impeachment in All but Name, but the great beast of Washington shambles ever forward, its ponderous, inexorable tread leading it toward the inevitable impeachment proceedings against Donald John Trump, 45th president of the United States,” he continued. “Can you make an impeachment case for obstruction based purely on the released information in the Mueller Report? Absolutely.”
But Trump’s effort to spin the Mueller report and cover it up has sort of poisoned the well, forcing Democrats to make a strong case beyond it, which they are doing step by step.
For instance, earlier this week, one of those lawsuits suffered a major setback when a federal judge ruled against Trump in favor of House Democrats, who can also level fines against Trump officials until they comply with subpoenas or even have them arrested and jailed.
Wilson focused particularly on Trump’s financial records and taxes.
“This is a matter of black-letter law, with almost no serious legal scholars making even the most superficial defense of the current contempt with which Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the Treasury Department are behaving,” Wilson wrote. “Judge Amit Mehta made it quite clear in his 14-page ruling that the rights of Congress to conduct oversight are not founded by the moods and whims of the man-child engaged in stompy-foot time in the Oval Office or in the novel legal theories of his legal team.”
“That smell?” Wilson asked. “It’s Trump’s panicked flopsweat. Trump’s taxes are his kryptonite, and you can expect him to fight harder on this point than any other.”
Indeed, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen told Congress during his testimony that Trump’s taxes include evidence of crimes, and could even shine a light on Trump’s various connections with Russians.
Mueller apparently did not look at Trump’s taxes during his investigation, so it’s possible House Democrats will find out exactly what Trump is so desperate to keep hidden.
It all adds up to a brilliant strategy that will draw more calls for impeachment as more evidence is uncovered, and Pelosi just accused Trump of being engaged in a cover-up, which further ups the ante.
Even Republicans in Congress are going to be forced to support impeachment hearings at some point as Democrats build the solid case the GOP refused to do when they controlled Congress during Trump’s first two years. Once Trump has lost enough of them, he’s toast.
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