Soon Republicans will be in control of Trump impeachment hearings: Analyst

Soon the Republicans will be in control of the impeachment hearings against US President Donald Trump, says Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist. 

Hoenig, a former Green Party candidate for Congress, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Saturday after a US congressional panel informed Trump that he has one week to decide whether his legal counsel will participate in upcoming impeachment proceedings that could lead to formal charges of misconduct within a few weeks.

The Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee sent a two-page letter to Trump on Friday setting a deadline of 5 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) on Dec. 6 for the president's counsel to specify intended actions under the committee's impeachment procedures, Reuters reported.

"I am writing to determine if your counsel will... participate in the upcoming impeachment proceedings. In particular, please provide the Committee notice of whether your counsel intends to participate, specifying which of the privileges your counsel seeks to exercise, no later than 5:00 p.m. on December 6, 2019," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) wrote to Trump in the letter.

US House panel sets deadline for Trump to decide participation in impeachment hearings

A US congressional panel has informed Trump that he has one week to decide whether his legal counsel will participate in upcoming impeachment proceedings.

Hoenig said, “Trump might feel he’s on safe ground if he testifies, or allows his team to either testify or observe, while the impeachment trial goes on in the Senate. The Republicans control it and are loathe to allow the Democrats to score any political points. But being such an adversarial venue might not necessarily be to his benefit. The questioning could become ruthless in its directness, with or without any Democratic grandstanding. Also the rules of the trial need to be ironed out first.”

“In all likelihood Trump will survive the impeachment trial and it might do very little harm to his standings in the polls, but more and more people are opposed to his re-election and this is not likely to help. As always, what wins an election for the 2 Wall Street selected candidates will be the GOTV (Get Out the Vote) effort and who the Democrats pick as their candidate. A trial for his removal might not move the needle any, but will certainly show how vulnerable he is to open criticism and much will be exposed that they would rather not be known, or they’ll deny, deny, deny and deflect, as they have been doing for 3 years, and what all presidents do when they’re up for serious criticism,” he stated.

“The Republicans will set the rules, but unlike the House impeachment investigation, it’s more likely to be more fair to both sides. [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell himself is up for re-election and the Chief Justice has a reputation and legacy to create and cement. Big questions are whether Trump and his side would be allowed to call Hunter Biden, even though he’s been a target which will have brought the articles of impeachment, not the target of the impeachment itself. As all Democratic aligned media points out, there is no proof of Hunter Biden doing anything illegal,” he noted.

“However, corruption is not always illegal and buying a job for one’s son or daughter is highly unethical, and bipartisan. We just have to think of the Reagan kids, McCain’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton and all others who have profited off of their parents’ ‘good name’. Talent, experience and knowledge are not prerequisites for economic advancement and this could be brought out in the trial, a side benefit, or side show, for the Trump team. How it plays with the jurors, the Senators, remains to be seen,” he pointed out.

“We’re moving into an historic period in American history. Although this has happened twice already, this time the nation wonders if the targeted president will only accept its outcome if he is acquitted. Having a megalomaniac in the well of the Senate is never a good sign of Constitutional stability,” he concluded.

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