This archive report was first published on 25 October 2019.
Republicans Fight Trump's Impeachment by Attacking the Process ¶
Published on October 25, 2019
Senate Republicans have joined the fray in defending President Trump against Democrats' impeachment inquiry, but their efforts have been focused on attacking the process rather than the substance of the allegations.
On Thursday, Senate Republicans introduced a resolution condemning the House investigation and demanding that Democrats hold a formal vote authorizing the inquiry. The move is seen as an attempt by Republicans to make a show of support for President Trump, even as polls show that a majority of the public now supports the impeachment inquiry.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a fierce defender of the president and a lead sponsor of the Senate resolution, dodged questions on Thursday about the president's dealings with Ukraine. He called the impeachment investigation 'a star-chamber type inquiry' and accused Democrats of pursuing an investigation that is 'out of bounds, is inconsistent with due process as we know it.'
Privately, White House officials concede they are losing the messaging battle with Democrats, whose inquiry has produced a series of devastating revelations about allegations that the president and his allies conducted a campaign to pressure Ukraine for his own political gain.
As the impeachment fight intensifies, White House officials are planning to add communications aides dedicated to impeachment, a move that Jared Kushner, the president's senior adviser and son-in-law, has pushed for. Among those under consideration to help lead the new team is Tony Sayegh, who recently left the Treasury Department where he was the top spokesman.
Stephen K. Bannon, who was pushed out as the White House chief strategist in August 2017, has created an unofficial war room in the basement of his Capitol Hill townhouse to wage over the radio a messaging war on the Democratic impeachment effort.
Mr. Graham said that Mick Mulvaney, Mr. Trump's acting chief of staff, has assured him that the White House is 'working on getting a messaging team together' and said he hoped it would be as effective as the one that Bill Clinton's White House assembled during Mr. Clinton's impeachment in the late 1990s.
