Breitbart: White House lawyer Patrick Philbin calmly demolished House Democrats’ second article of impeachment during President Donald Trump’s trial in the Senate on Monday — using Democrats’ own past arguments.
Philbin began by explaining the reasons that the White House had resisted congressional subpoenas — not because of a “blanket” refusal, but for three separate reasons. One was that the House had not yet voted to authorize an impeachment inquiry. Another was that the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel told the president to reject subpoenas for senior aides under Supreme Court precedent protecting the deliberations of presidential advisers. And a third was that the House took the unusual step of barring agency counsel from attending depositions, so that the executive branch could protect its privileges when they arose.
Philbin then explained that leading Democrats, and their advisers, had all argued that the president could not be impeached simply for asserting impeached for asserting constitutional and legal privileges and rights.
House Democrats’ obstruction theory is wrong, first and foremost, because in a government of laws, asserting privileges and rights to resist compulsion is not obstruction. It’s a fundamental right. In Bordenkircher v. Hayes, the Supreme Court explained, “To punish a person because he has done the law plainly allows him to do is a due process violation of the most basic sort, and for an agent of the state to pursue a course of action whose objective is to penalize a person’s reliance on his legal rights, is patently unconstitutional. read more
Great demolition, but the Dem’s zombie impeachment will not die because of such a minor setback as having its foundation destroyed.
Arguments, valid as they may be, do not make any difference to the Democrats and Republican leftists.
This is strictly an anti Trump political move to use the power of government as a weapon against their political opponents.
O say opponents in the plural because it really isn’t about Trump alone, it is against YOU. They absolutely do NOT want you to have any political representation in government and will do anything and everything they can to prevent it.
Anything and everything with no limits, law, or morality involved, think about what this means when the impeachment fails to remove Trump from office.
And be prepared for it as well.
@Anonymous, 100 thumbs up. Want to hear/see the severe Mental Illness growing on the Left? Turn on C-span’s Washington Journal live-call-in hour (if you can take it; a couple weeks should do it). It’s funny, but it’s not. These people may be in your families, in your neighborhoods. Stay safe.
Au contraire mes amis.
Be of good cheer regarding these things. The Left, nay, the entire world, has been brought back up to speed on the facts of our Founding this week — and it’s only Monday.
In addition to The Lawyer Patrick Philbin’s defense, Alan Dershowitz gave a SCOTUS-worthy presentation of every Constitutional reason why ALL future impeachment efforts against POTUS Trump will be DOA. He cancelled Maxine Waters’ ambitious plans, in fact using her picture and quote as the prime example of why the Framers worded the impeachment language the way they did! He smashed the Democrat’s fevered impeachment dreams into a million itty bitty pieces.
Sadly, if this was about truth, justice, and the American Way all these arguments would and SHOULD prevail…but the decepticoms are using this as a campaign tactic only – which means lies, untruths, and rhetoric are more important than any fact, evidence, or logical reasoning.
The Biden and Pelosi families want more money from Ukraine.
P.S. Did anybody know there were 2 Lt. Col. Vindmans out there?
ORANGE MAN won election…must stop ORANGE MAN winning again…. it is bad for swamp and swamp creatures.
A commenter at CTH wrote that he would be tempted to identify as a woman so that he could sleep with The Lawyer Patrick Philbin. LOL! I know how he feels.
But poor Philbin, he’s been slightly edged out by Professor Dershowitz in my cruel, fickle heart. Dershowitz’s amazing defense will go down as an historic moment in Senate speeches of all stripes:
https://www.independentsentinel.com/alan-dershowitz-brilliant-defense-of-the-constitution/
Be sure to read the comments, as well.
@meyou,
You can thank Move On and other leftist groups for the calls on C-Span. Before I was found out by Move On, they sent me e-mails with their calls for action, that was always one of them to call into C-Span.
“using Democrats’ own past arguments”
the democrats all plead the fifth