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(CNN) - On the eve of his political trial by the House, President Donald Trump sent a devastating letter to the president of the House, Nancy Pelosi, expressing his claims with her and with the Democratic Party in general, while insisting on that the actions taken on Wednesday would condemn her to the garbage of history.
I reviewed the letter - which, from its first words, shows that it has the rhetorical traces of the president everywhere - and highlighted some of the most important lines, which I put below:
Letter sent by President Donald Trump to the president of the House, Nancy Pelosi, sent on December 17, 2019. (AP Photo / Jon Elswick)
1. "This accusation represents an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power by democratic legislators, unmatched in almost two and a half centuries of American legislative history."
So, two things. One, the political trial is incorporated in the Constitution and two previous presidents have been accused by the House. Two, they are "Democratic legislators," not "democratic legislators." So is.
2. “It has lowered the importance of a very ugly word: destitution!”
As I said: you can clearly see Trump's participation in the letter.
3. "By proceeding with his invalid dismissal, he is violating his oaths of office, breaking his loyalty to the Constitution and declaring an open war against American democracy."
Wow A lot to examine here. Whether Trump likes it or not, the House has the task of conducting a political trial if most members believe it is justified. Therefore, political judgment is not "invalid." As for "declaring a war open to American democracy," well, Trump never intended to be subtle.
4. “How dare you invoke the Founding Fathers in the search for this scheme of annulment of elections?”
It is almost never a good time for the phrase "how dare you?"
5. "Even worse than offending the Founding Fathers, it is offending Americans who have faith by continually saying that they pray for the president when he knows that this statement is not true, unless it is in a negative sense."
Oh my God!. So, does Trump know that Pelosi doesn't really pray for him? As? Did anyone hear your prayers? Also, what is the “negative sense” of the sentence? I spent more time than I would like to admit thinking about this and decided that Trump suggests that if Pelosi prays for him, it is for him to disappear, I think.
6. “What you are doing is something terrible, but you will have to live with that, not me!”
Nothing is Trump's fault. As usual.
7. "Fortunately, there was a transcript of the conversation, and you know from the transcript (which was immediately available) that the paragraph in question was perfect."
What would a perfect paragraph be like? Do we even know? Anyway, here are four facts of that July 25 phone call between Trump and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky: a) Trump told Zelensky that the United States does a lot for Ukraine b) Trump reminds Zelensky that Ukraine not applicable c) Trump asks Zelensky for a favor: to analyze a discredited conspiracy theory that the pirated server of the National Democratic Commission is in Ukraine and d) Trump asks Zelensky to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. In my opinion, the transcript of the call in the White House is read more as evidence against it than as an exemption.
- A serious day in US history: Trump faces a political trial
8. “I told President Zelensky: I would like him to do us a favor, because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I told him to do us a favor, not me and our country, not a campaign. ”
Trump did not start making this "I" argument against "us" until the last few weeks. But even leaving that aside, the two things he asks Zelensky (the whereabouts of the DNC server and the Biden investigation) were not mentioned at all in Trump's notes for the call, which were supposed to focus, in general , in the country's corruption problems.
9. "It is turning a political disagreement between two branches of government into a prosecutable offense."
The problem is not the separation of powers or even a disagreement. The question is whether a president can ask a foreign country to investigate one of his potential political rivals. And, even if you can do it, should I?
10. "You know very well that Vice President Biden used his position and $ 1 billion of US aid to force Ukraine to fire the prosecutor who was investigating the company that was paying his son millions of dollars."
Reminder: Biden requested the dismissal of the chief prosecutor of Ukraine as part of an international coalition designed to address corruption in the country. There is no evidence of irregularities in Ukraine by Joe or his son Hunter Biden.
11. "Now he is trying to falsely accuse me of doing what Joe Biden has admitted he really did."
Apples and oranges here. Once again, Biden requested the dismissal of the prosecutor as part of a coordinated and transparent strategy to address corruption in Ukraine. Trump spoke by phone with the president of Ukraine and, unlike the notes prepared for him before the meeting, worked independently to ask him to investigate one of his main rivals for the Republican nomination.
12. "President Zelensky has repeatedly stated that I did nothing wrong, and that there was no pressure."
Zelensky is not dumb! He knows he needs future help from the United States to fight the Russians at its borders. Given that, why would he piss Trump off saying he felt pressure? Also, not for nothing: why did he write in capital letters that there was no "pressure"?
13. “Ambassador Sondland testified that I said: 'No quid pro quo. I want nothing. I want nothing. I want President Zelensky to do the right thing, to do what he did. ”
Yes, Trump did tell the US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, that. After the White House learned that Congress was investigating the retention of military aid. So …
14. "Your elected candidate lost the election in 2016, in a crushing defeat of the Electoral College (306-227), and you and your party have never recovered from this defeat."
The 2016 elections ended 1,134 days ago.
15. "He has developed a complete case of what many in the media call Trump's syndrome and, unfortunately, he will never get over it!"
Is it an incurable case of posttraumatic stress disorder? Call the CDC.
16. "You see democracy as your enemy!"
Just a reminder here: this is the president of the United States, in an official role of the White House, telling the president of the House of Representatives that she believes that democracy is the "enemy." So normal! Nothing to see here!
17. "As you know very well, this political trial campaign has nothing to do with Ukraine, nor with the totally appropriate conversation I had with its new president."
Just a moment. Is this the "perfect" conversation? Or are we referring to another “totally appropriate” conversation here? Either way, Trump did nothing wrong! As usual!
18. "Congressman Adam Schiff cheated and lied to this day, even fraudulently inventing, out of nowhere, my conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine and read this fantasy language to Congress as if it were said by me" .
This statement, which Trump constantly repeats, drives me crazy. Because it is simply wrong. This is what Schiff said before paraphrasing what was in the July 25 telephone call: "Simply put, this is the essence of what the president communicates." He literally makes it clear that he is paraphrasing Trump, not quoting him directly. Why is this an issue to highlight?
19. "You conducted a false investigation into the democratically elected president of the United States, and you are doing it again."
To be clear: Pelosi had nothing to do with the special prosecutor's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. That was the Department of Justice, run by Trump. In addition, that investigation was not "false": it led to a series of arrests and prison sentences, not to mention documenting the deep and broad efforts of the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 elections to help Trump and harm Hillary Clinton.
20. "And, by the way, when I speak with foreign countries, there are many people, with permission, listening to the call on both sides of the conversation."
Again, Trump loses the point here. The problem is not that other people were listening. The problem is what he told Zelensky, even when people listen! If he speaks like this when he knows that there are people on the line, how will he speak outside the summits and similar things when there is much less staff near him?
21. “You are the ones who interfere in the elections of the United States. You are the ones subverting the democracy of the United States. ”
I'm stick, I'm stick, I have fish ears.
22. “If you really cared about the freedom of our nation, then you would be devoting your vast research resources to exposing the whole truth about the horrible abuses of power before, during and after the 2016 elections, including the use of spies against my campaign. "
There has never been a hint of evidence that spies were used against Trump's campaign. In fact, in the report published by the inspector general of the Department of Justice Michael Horowitz earlier this month, it is quite clear that there is no evidence of spies in the Trump campaign.
23. "Any member of Congress who votes in favor of the accusation against every piece of truth, fact, evidence and legal principle, is demonstrating how deeply they insult voters and how truly they detest the constitutional order of the United States."
"Hate the constitutional order of the United States"? For real?
24. "In other words, once the phone call was made public, his entire plot exploded, but that did not stop him from continuing."
As I wrote at the time, the transcript of the July 25 telephone call is very close to being a test against Trump.
25. "The defendants were given more due process in the Salem witch trials."
Uh, calling John Proctor ...
26. "This is nothing more than an attempt at an illegal and partisan coup that, according to the recent sentiment, will seriously fail in the voting booth."
It is definitely not illegal! Nor is it a coup!
27. "His legacy will be to convert the House of Representatives of a venerated legislative body into a Star Chamber of partisan persecution."
Not to contradict here, but I am quite sure that whatever happens with the dismissal, Pelosi's legacy will be that of being the first woman president of the Chamber.
28. “Apparently you respect the American people so little that you expect them to believe that you are making this accusation grim, reserved and reluctantly. No intelligent person believes what he is saying. ”
For real? And how did Trump learn to discover people's "real" motives? Is that some kind of device you can buy on Amazon? If so, send me a link!
29. "I am writing this letter with the purpose of keeping it in history and putting my thoughts on a permanent and indelible record."
“This will remain in your permanent record”: The Violent Femmes
30. "Within a hundred years, when people look back on this issue, I want them to understand and learn from it, so that it never happens to another president."
Yes, this feels like a good phrase to end.
Political judgment