Page 2 - AT

A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 13 november 2019

Continued from Front the public hearings largely Trump on the campaign
"During Watergate, many alone — by his own design. trail next year, the presi-
people feared that if a He has killed the White dent has reacted angrily
president collapsed, Amer- House daily press briefing, to the probe. He defends
ica is broken. likes to make announce- his summer phone call with
But the lesson of Nixon is ments himself on Twitter Ukraine's leader, which is at
that the Constitution is du- and prefers to get his mes- the heart of the inquiry, as
rable and the country can sage out during chaotic "perfect" while deriding the
handle it." jousting sessions with re- impeachment effort as a
The Democrats will try to porters in the Oval Office conspiracy among Demo-
make the case that the or as he comes and goes crats and the "deep state."
president tried to extort a to his presidential helicop- Some help is on the way.
foreign nation, Ukraine, to ter. He has railed against The White House bolstered
investigate a political ri- the lack of support from his its communications team
val, former Vice President own staff and Republicans by hiring former Florida At-
Joe Biden. But even if the on Capitol Hill, insisting that torney General Pam Bondi
House ultimately votes to they stop limiting their com- and former Treasury spokes- The U.S. Capitol is seen as the sun sets, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019,
make Trump only the third plaints to the impeach- man Tony Sayegh. But Bon- in Washington.
American president to be ment process and start di and Sayegh may not be Associated Press
impeached, few expect defending his actions, a in place before Wednes-
the Republican-controlled request that has unsettled day's hearings, owing to inquiry has moved well be- ahead of the 2020 elec-
Senate to eventually re- some Republicans trying to paperwork associated with yond the phone calls into tion," said Jason Miller, se-
move Trump from office. get a handle on ever-shift- entering White House em- broader attempts by the nior adviser to Trump's 2016
"Even if reelected, it's a ing explanations coming ployment, according to a president and his allies to campaign. "If Republicans
dark mark," Brinkley said. from the White House. White House official who prod Ukraine to investigate stick together, Trump will
"He does not get off scot- Although a number of the spoke on the condition of Democrats by using U.S. not just survive this, he will
free. There is a penalty you president's advisers believe anonymity to discuss per- military aid as leverage. defeat the impeachment
pay." that impeachment could sonnel matters. Trump has his own version hoax and be re-elected. It's
Trump enters the crucible of be a political winner for The Republican National of counterprogramming merely the latest episode
Committee will be lining up ready to go up against the in a pattern of Democrats
supporters to publicly de- hearings. He is scheduled and unelected bureau-
fend the president, includ- to hold a noon meeting crats trying to undermine
ing a Thursday conference Wednesday with Turkey's the presidency."
call for regional reporters Recep Tayyip Erdogan The timetable for the im-
with presidential son Eric and hold a joint afternoon peachment proceedings
Trump that is aimed at put- news conference with the is not firm. But a trial in the
ting pressure on vulnerable Turkish leader. Their meet- Senate, were it to occur,
House Democrats. Many of ing comes just weeks af- could stretch until the first
them represent districts that ter Trump's decision to pull presidential votes are cast
the president won in 2016. most U.S. forces out of Syria in February's Iowa caucus.
Although Trump teased led to a violent Turkish inva- The final stakes could rest
Tuesday that he will soon sion. with the voters next year.
release the transcript of his In the morning, Trump is "Trump is now up against
April phone call with Ukrai- expected to watch the im- the Constitution, but he's
nian President Volodymyr peachment proceedings not the only thing on trial:
Zelenskiy, White House of- from the White House resi- So are we the people, as
ficials are not confirming dence and on a TV just off the preamble described us
that any such release is the Oval Office. so long ago," said presiden-
forthcoming. That first call The president's supporters, tial historian Jon Meacham
to Zelenskiy is widely known meanwhile, have been of Vanderbilt University. "Im-
to have been largely a working to discredit the peachment is a political,
congratulatory conversa- proceedings by finding not a legal, process, and
tion after Zelenskiy's elec- fault with the way the pro- those with a political stake
tion. It was the rough tran- cess has played out and in this presidency — which
script of Trump's second the cast of witnesses who is to say, his supporters at
call with Zelenskiy, in July, have come forward to tes- large and in the House and
that prompted a whistle- tify. the Senate — need to de-
blower's complaint. "At its core, this is an im- cide which is more impor-
Releasing a transcript of peachment push by career tant: the efficacy of checks
the first call could be an bureaucrats to undermine and balances or the con-
attempt by the White President Trump's 'America tinued reign of a presi-
House to distract from the First' foreign policy and po- dent who seems to take
congressional hearings, litically minded Democrats pleasure in flouting those
though the impeachment who want to kneecap him checks and balances."q