Is this America? Trump impeachment raises existential questions

The world does not know if American democracy is going to be 'OK', said the house managers as they reached the crescendo of their case on the second impeachment of former president Donald Trump, this time charged with a months-long series of untrue statements, pushing the idea that he had won the election and that American “patriots” needed to fight to “stop the steal”.

At the core of America’s credentials as a beacon for democracy was that it could show the world that free and fair elections and a peaceful transfer of power were possible. Trump upended all of that by making unsubstantiated claims about the fairness of the election and inciting people to insurrection. The “Big Lie”, the managers called it repeatedly, pointing out that over 60 court cases dismissed such claims for lack of evidence. “Any evidence,” they repeated.

By all accounts, the case presented against Trump was thorough, overwhelming and persuasive, meeting the standards of a criminal trial, though not required in an impeachment environment. The Republican senators needed to convict, however, appear unmoved and acquittal is all but certain, according to those keeping track for the major American networks.

The compelling case to convict Trump was made through countless social media posts, tweets and hours of videotape that showed then vice-president Mike Pence on the run, the police in distress, the mobs looking to kill Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, leading prosecutors to ask, “Is this America?”

House managers showed several video clips that the mob felt they were invited by Trump and that they knew what he wanted from them. In a video, a man perplexed at not being let in by police yells clearly, “We were invited!…We were invited by the president of the United States!”

Trump was directly responsible for the deadly Capitol insurrection and rioters took their marching orders from Trump, explained the prosecutors to the jury of 100 US senators. These senators have sworn an oath to do impartial justice: “I solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God.”

Democrats are complaining, however, that Republicans are not following their oath, openly violating it, in fact. As managers were closing their case on Thursday, senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham were reportedly meeting with the Trump defence team to strategise their next steps.

Graham went a step further on Fox News and blamed Nancy Pelosi for “what she might have known,” excusing Trump, the one man on the planet who had access to the best information available on any matter, especially one taking place around him, and who was shown in the trial to have the ability to call off his supporters. Evidence showed that when he finally did, they obeyed.

In their closing arguments, the prosecutors reiterated their point that the mob did not storm Congress of its own accord, and that it was Trump who set them up with a lie he made up and perpetuated to anger them into action. They said his supporters understood very well what Trump wanted them to do. Their aim was to prevent the presidential election from being certified that day in Congress, which Trump lost in November, as certified by all 50 state legislatures. That is why he set the date for January 6, they said — To steal the election while claiming it was being stolen from him.

On day two of their presentation, the prosecutors unveiled previously unseen video recordings showing how close the mob got to prominent members of Congress: Then minority leader Chuck Schumer and Mitt Romney can be seen running for their safety. Pence, too, can be seen being whisked away as the mob nearby shouted “Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!” They had set up a gallows in front of the Capitol.

Trump’s defence team was embarrassingly unprepared and underwhelming on its first day, presenting an aimless meander into all types of tropes and cliches that managed to wrap into a two-tiered defence: The process is illegal and unconstitutional because Trump is out of office, and that in his January 6 speech telling his followers to go to the Capitol and “fight like Hell,” he was just exercising his First Amendment right to free speech.

Their first point may allow Republicans to avoid taking the responsibility of passing judgment on Trump by merely saying they cannot vote on an unconstitutional move by Democrats.

Law in America, however, is created by precedent as well as by legislature. Precedents on impeachments have established multiple times that a government official need not be in office to be impeached. Notwithstanding, Republicans continue to cite their perceived unconstitutionality as their reason not to pursue a conviction.

On the matter of free speech and Trump’s January 6 speech, prosecutors went to lengths to show that Trump had been working his violent fans towards a day just like January 6 for months, noting that as far back as May last year, he had already created a similar situation in Michigan by tweeting “Liberate Michigan”. His armed supporters then stormed the state capitol and had intentions of murdering the state’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer. It was a trial run, prosecutors said.

In making their case, the prosecutors went further back, tracing moments when, as president, Trump glorified and seemed to support the actions of his White supremacist supporters, minimising the impact of their violence. Exhibits included a video of Trump saying there were “fine people on both sides,” after the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia, which resulted in the violent death of a demonstrator in 2017, and Trump’s support of those who harassed a Joe Biden bus in an interstate highway late last year. “He knew the potential for violence and cheered them on.”

Trump once famously said that he could shoot someone on New York’s busy Fifth Avenue and not lose any support. Whether for fear of getting on Trump’s bad side or for political expediency in order to keep their jobs, Republicans are edging ever closer to proving him right. Trump aimed his load at the Capitol, lit a match and sent it off “like a loaded cannon,” decry Democrats, and he may get away with it.

The big question for America, then becomes: If a conviction in impeachment is virtually impossible because of political lines, how do you hold a president accountable? And how do you preserve democracy in the face of someone like Trump, who is willing to bend all rules, disregard all norms and cast aside centuries of values and cherished traditions?

The prosecutors seem undaunted by the difficult odds. They have pleaded with Republican senators to follow their oath and decide the case on its merits rather than on procedural grounds.

But they have also taken the long view of the process: As much about changing Republican minds as it was about convincing the American people and about creating a record for history.

Their case was boiled down to three main points:

One: Trump lied about election results, creating an ever-growing lie that went from “Frankly, we did win” to “we won by a landslide,” to “the election is being stolen,” with added taunts that Biden and the Democrats “are taking you voice away”. The Big Lie.

Two: Trump incited the crowd using the Big Lie to set up various demonstrations and the January 6 Save America Rally, timed to coincide with the final certification of the November election results. “It will be wild,” tweets led to a Trump speech in front of the White House in which he told his supporters to “fight like Hell,” and “march down to the Capitol — and I will be there with you.” Trump went into the White House instead and watched the storming of the Capitol, reportedly, thrilled about the events.

Three: As the storming of the Capitol happened, Trump was continuing to delay the process through phone calls to senators and indifferent to requests to stop it, as was his responsibility and oath. Trump ignored such requests for hours, while people were maimed and killed in the Capitol.

Some Republicans, including now Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, seem deeply disturbed by what took place. There are no indications, however, that there will be the required 17 Republican votes to impeach Trump.

Conviction is necessary because the country needs a deterrent for Donald Trump, pleaded the prosecutors in closing their case, pointing out that Trump is said to be showing no remorse.

As Trump’s defence team readies to make their presentation in their 16 hours allotted, they are said to be considering a short, minimalist defence focusing on the constitutionality of the proceedings, reiterating the free speech argument, and a video show of what-aboutism, comparing the assault on the Capitol with Black Lives Matter and Antifa demonstrations that turned violent after the George Floyd killing last year.

Truth is, despite the moving and thorough case against Trump, despite the overwhelming evidence shown by the prosecutors, despite the dismal defence presented by the over-matched Trump lawyers, they do not have to do much. They might as well wipe the gun and let Trump shoot someone else on Fifth Avenue. They are all but assured a win because the Republican party is not willing to openly oppose Trump. Oath, country, doing the right thing, are no match for Trump.

Shots in Fifth Avenue, deaths in the Capitol. American democracy within seconds of going down in the tragic lynching of its leaders, as shown on tape. Republican response: Meh!

A failure to convict would mean that the US will have accepted riots, terror, attacks and even murder are part of an election, said the prosecutors in an impassioned plea to take the impeachment seriously.

“To convict Donald Trump would mean that America stands by the rule of law, no matter who violates it,” said house manager Joaquin Castro, a Congressman representing San Antonio, Texas. “Let us show the world that January 6th was not America,” he said, his voice cracking.

What happens over the course of the next days of this impeachment will certainly determine what is America. Are its institutions strong enough to withstand the onslaught of a relentless violator or norms with disdain for its rules? Will America hold the leader of the attack and insurrection accountable? Or will it settle for jailing his minor followers and shrug Trump until he comes back with more?

Milan Sime Martinic is a writer, researcher, and analyst with scientific, economics, and political background. He is the author of the upcoming book on the COVID-19 crisis, ‘PANDEMIC — And The Music Stopped’. He can be reached on Twitter @MilanSimeMrtnc.