For the third time in American history, a President has been impeached- Andrew Johnson (February 24, 1868), Bill Clinton (December 19, 1998) and Donald Trump (December 18, 2019). Impeachment articles were passed in 1974 in the House Judiciary Committee but Richard Nixon resigned before a final vote was taken. Note that all three impeachments were highly partisan affairs. Nixon’s started off as a partisan investigation too until well into 1974.

But here’s one thing to consider: Out of all the repetitive speeches last night, there were very few on the Republican side defending Trump’s actions in Ukraine.

Plenty of claims that Dems were trying to reverse the 2016 election (were Dems trying to reverse the 1972 election with Watergate too?); that Dems wanted to impeach Trump from the very beginning (some did, yes, but most didn’t; it wasn’t until Ukraine that anywhere near a majority of Dems supported impeachment); or that the impeachment process was a Witch Hunt or even Crucifixion because Republicans couldn’t call all their witnesses in the Intelligence Committee hearings (even though Trump himself refused to provide WH counsel to defend the Administration). So, at the end, the GOP message was scattershot.

I have no idea what the Senate will ultimately do with respect to its trial. But I do know that the basic facts of the case have not been refuted.

Donald Trump extorted the President of Ukraine to announce a bogus “investigation” into the Bidens on CNN as the price for receipt of Congressionally authorized FMF defense aid and a coveted White House visit. The counter-narrative – that Trump didn’t personally order a quid pro quo – implies that Rudy, Sondland, Mulvaney and the rest were all freelancing without any guidance or support from Trump. That is utterly implausible. And yet, the White House continues to refuse to allow Mulvaney or Pompeo or Bolton to testify – and not even claiming “Executive Privilege.” Just straight up “Absolute Immunity”, which no Court has ever acknowledged.

So, yeah, Donald Trump is being impeached for a specific reason. He abused the immense power of the Office of the Presidency. He jeopardized national security by weakening a key ally desperately trying to fend off Russian invaders. And he STILL turns to Rudy Giuliani, who has returned from Europe with “testimony” from a bunch of corrupt ex-officials supported by Kremlin-backed oligarchs like Dmitro Firtash. The crime is ongoing. And for that, the House of Representatives did what the Constitution demands of it. The House impeached President Donald Trump.

UPDATE: At a rally last night in Battle Creek, Michigan, Trump ranted against Rep. Debbie Dingell and suggested that her recently deceased husband was not “looking down” on us but perhaps “looking up” – as in from Hell. Trump’s morally disordered response was too much even for many in the crowd – John Dingell was a widely respected longtime Rep. from Michigan. In response, Debbie wrote this. It’s rather heartbreaking how gratuitously cruel Donald Trump is.

“Mr. President, let’s set politics aside. My husband earned all his accolades after a lifetime of service. I’m preparing for the first holiday season without the man I love. You brought me down in a way you can never imagine and your hurtful words just made my healing much harder.- Rep. Debbie Dingell”