The White House is about to experience the perils of trial by congressional committee. Although the Russia collusion probe has failed to yield any evidence of criminal wrong-doing, that fact is not going to stop members from grand standing to insinuate obstruction of justice and collusion. The Democratic leadership of today is virtually indistinguishable from the Republicans of yesteryear who worked in tandem with Senator Joseph McCarthy to destroy the reputations of innocent people through character assassination broadcast from each day’s Army McCarthy hearings.
For those of us who have represented clients before Congressional committees, the fact of character assassination is all too real. Members whose own shady history is rich presume to sit in judgment of those called to testify. While purporting to investigate facts germane to one probe or another, all too often they ignore relevant facts that do not fit their narrative and use long winded oratory to substitute for either evidence against their position or no evidence at all. It is indeed a witch hunt.
In this instance, however, those called for the shellacking have the political clout and resources to fire back, and they should. Members who presume to condemn the witnesses and grand stand for media advantage should themselves be thoroughly vetted such that their own sordid histories come to light. It is a sad reality today that most members of Congress are carpet baggers of sorts. Lacking principle but filled with hedonism and a desire to profit off of public office, many members depend on contributions not tracked by the Federal Election laws to finance everything from employment of their children to junkets around the world. Peter Schweizer copiously details the corruption in his book Extortion.
In short, the integrity essential to justice is absent in the typical congressional committee hearing. In this case, Democrats aiming to bring down the Trump presidency by every means possible have no hesitation to do so based on a patently false narrative, that somehow President Trump is a patsy for the Russians or is otherwise complicit in Russian attempts to influence the outcome of the elections. Despite four congressional investigations and Justice Department and FBI probes into the matter for months there is nothing of any consequence that has come to light.
Wasting tax dollars, as the Democratic leaders are want to do across the board, they now aim to maintain a steady drum beat of false accusations in an effort to block consideration of the President’s domestic agenda and confound his political future. As with most of these attempts, this one too is likely to redound to their detriment. While only a minority is likely to find the charges worth exploring despite the absence of evidence, most understand that this is itself obstructionism, designed to render government dysfunctional. While political folly to spend almost every hour of every day banging the drum of false conspiracy and offering no true alternative to the President’s agenda, the Democratic efforts are yielding fruit in the form of dysfunctional government. They are obstructing the President’s ability to pursue his legislative agenda in Congress.
Were Republicans to marshal support for the President and attack those bringing the false charges, there would be less obstructionism. The reality is, however, that many Republicans, including those in leadership positions, dislike the President and therefore ignore or even condone the witch hunt. In the end, those Republicans disserve not only the President who leads their party but also the electorate that expected them to work cohesively with the President to implement his agenda.
© 2017 Jonathan Emord – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Jonathan Emord: jemord@emord.com
