Trump Begs For Due Process, Gets It, Rejects It Immediately

We here at Paste are old enough to remember these tweets:

Why is such a focus put on 2nd and 3rd hand witnesses, many of whom are Never Trumpers, or whose lawyers are Never Trumpers, when all you have to do is read the phone call (transcript) with the Ukrainian President and see first hand? He and others also stated that there was…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019

…..”no pressure” put on him to investigate Sleepy Joe Biden even though, as President, I have an “obligation” to look into corruption, and Biden’s actions, on tape, about firing the prosecutor, and his son’s taking millions of dollars, with no knowledge or talent, from a…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019

….Ukrainian energy company, and more millions taken from China, and now reports of other companies and countries also giving him big money, are certainly looking very corrupt (to put it mildly!) to me. Both Bidens should be forced to testify in this No Due Process Scam!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019

Due process is basically a synonym for “fair treatment” in a legal sense, and part of that is allowing an accused party to defend him or herself in front of his or her accusers. Which, just weeks after these tweets, is exactly the opportunity Democrats gave Trump when they invited him to testify before the impeachment hearings. Sunday night, we learned this was a no-go:

Lawyers for President Trump said on Sunday that they would not participate in the House Judiciary Committee’s first public impeachment hearing on Wednesday, airing a long list of complaints that they said prevented “any semblance of a fair process.”

In a five-page letter written to Rep. Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chair of the Judiciary Committee, Trump lawyer Pat Cipollone rejected the notion of Trump appearing on Wednesday, calling the inquiry, “baseless and highly partisan,” and claiming it “violates all past historical precedent, basic due process rights, and fundamental fairness.”

Cipollone used the excuse that Trump will be in London at a NATO summit, and theoretically left open the possibility of future involvement, but it’s unlikely that the inquiry Trump has called a “witch hunt” will suddenly look like a good opportunity to clear his name. Sniping from the sidelines has always worked better.

For their part, Democrats are trying to draw attention to his refusal:

We’re bending over backward to be fair. The onus is on President Trump to, for once, behave & engage with Congress. If he has a defense, we on @HouseJudiciary — along with the American people — are eager to hear it.https://t.co/Tt5dHX54bm

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 1, 2019

More invitations will be forthcoming, no doubt, along with more rejections. It’s fun to clamor for “due process,” but less fun to actually participate in it.