Chris Matthews has been afflicted by a bad case of political blood lust. Appearing on today's Morning Joe, Matthews twice exulted, "they've got him!" Meaning, of course, that the Democrats have what they need to impeach President Trump.
Matthews urged his fellow Democrats to join in his rush to judgment: "no more hearings, no more subpoenas, no more contempt citations, no more process." Instead, he counseled the Dems to vote articles of impeachment this fall.
According to Matthews, Trump was withholding needed military funds from Ukraine subject to the Ukrainians investigating Hunter Biden's dealings. That, insisted Matthews, constituted an impeachable "high crime." Except that Trump's conversation with President Zelensky took place on July 25th, and the funds were released on September 11th. There's no indication that, in the interim, the Ukrainians undertook an investigation of Hunter Biden. How can there be a quid pro quo if there was no quo?
If the Democrats take Matthews' advice and adopt articles of impeachment this fall based on the Trump/Zelensky phone call, this NewsBusters' two cents say it will be a big political blunder that will cost Dems dearly at the polls. The only real political victim would likely be Joe Biden. Democrats aren't going to want Joe/Hunter's Ukraine dealings hung around their neck as they go after Trump on the same subject.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
9/26/19
8:34 am EDT
CHRIS MATTHEWS: It's a moment. It's a moment. And the Democrats, if they've got brains, and they need political savvy, will grab this moment. No more hearings, no more subpoenas, no more contempt citations, no more process. They’ve got him. And they got him because imagine this: it's a high crime. It's not something in the statutes. Imagine if in the summer of 1940 Churchill, facing the Nazis all alone, says I need some destroyers, Mr. President, and the president says instead of, you’ll get 'em, said, I have something I want from you though. Can you get me some dirt on Wilkie? It is unimaginable. Unimaginable in American history, a president would misuse a national security position which he held. Uniquely, only he could get them the weapons. Only he could get them the Javelin missiles to stop the Russian tanks. Only he! And he said, you’ll get 'em if I get my dirt on my opponent.
It's unimaginable. This is a high crime. And if the Democrats want to diddle this away, and my question, this is it. When do you think they're going to have articles of impeachment on the House floor? 2019, 2020, or never? The best bet is 2019; they’ll vote this fall. If they diddle this away until next year they’re not going to vote. They will lose it because it's like the O.J. trial. You get the focus on who killed the woman, who killed the other guy, who did it. A year later the focus is all over the place. They don’t need more hearings. They don’t need more evidence. They got him.
