A cherished old friend of mine complained that the current House impeachment inquiry is relying too much upon innuendo and hearsay but no firsthand knowledge. As I told my friend, let me put on my lawyer hat (I am a licensed attorney in New York State) on for a few moments to clear up some misconceptions.
First, let’s look at the definition of a hearsay statement. It is an out of court statement offered to prove the matter asserted. The key phrase is “an out of court statement.” There is a misconception that hearsay testimony, no matter the forum, is always disallowed. That is simply not true.
Congressional testimony is not court testimony. There are different rules of evidence. Beyond that, the Hearsay Rule only applies in specific court trials. Hearsay is often allowed in administrative hearings. Beyond that, even in trials where the Hearsay Rule applies, there are exceptions such as a statement that describes or explains an event or condition and was made during the event or immediately after it; excited utterances (of which a number of Trump’s statements clearly were – the loud phone call the EU Ambassador Sondland took from him in the Kiev restaurant) Hearsay is also allowed to establish frame of mind; or, as is also the case here, if the declarant of the statement refuses to testify – again, this would apply to Trump and many of his subordinates.
Secondly, even many of hearsay statements being offered are being corroborated by witnesses of great integrity. These State Department types take their duty very seriously. They are highly honorable patriotic Americans. This is fast approaching first-hand knowledge. I suspect that such knowledge will be had any day now.
Finally, as I told my old friend, this impeachment process not about left or right but of two other issues: the rule of law and patriotism. If conservatives of another day were serving today in Congress, men of integrity like Barry Goldwater or Jack Kemp, they too would be supporting Trump’s removal from office. As a liberal, I told him friend and my other conservative friends, if you are a conservative that is fine. But you should always be loyal to your philosophy, not to an individual – especially to one who violates many of conservatism’s constitutional core principles.
Trump is constantly subverting norms and the Constitution. He consistently displays great ignorance of its meaning and probably doesn’t even care about what is says. He recently said “impeachment should not be allowed.” What does he mean by this? Does he mean the constitution is wrong? That is my take. And if I am correct, that is quite scary. Another example is his belief that he has unlimited powers under Article II. Well, that is just off the wall and has no legal basis of support.
The President is doing a lot of damage to us in the long run. Russia is a dangerous adversary that needs to be contained. It needed to be contained when it was Communist and it needs to be contained today especially now that it is now being led by an ultra-nationalist fascist in Putin. They are looking to control a chunk of Eastern Europe – just ask the Estonians or the Georgians – and, better yet, the Ukrainians. If we allow that to happen, it will harm us as an economic power. More importantly, it will endanger democratic movements throughout the world – and democracy here at home. That is why this impeachment is so important, because Donald Trump is endangering American liberty and security.