lawfare | But how the impeachment inquiry itself was conducted had an effect as
well. Undoubtedly, the process suffered in part from the inherently
political nature of the House. As political scientists are wont to
emphasize, Congress is a they, not an it.
Democratic leaders were cross-pressured by factions within their
coalition who were eager to rush ahead with an impeachment and by those
who were uncertain and reluctant about the political desirability of an
impeachment. The House stumbled through a messy process in part because
the majority was uncertain where it was going.
The House also seemed to struggle to contain the egos and ambitions
of its own members. When the Ukraine story broke and it became obvious
that an impeachment inquiry was on the horizon, Democrats proved unable to make the choices necessary
to put the best case forward. Rather than entrusting the inquiry to a
single permanent committee or appointing a select committee for this
particular task, the Democrats allowed the inquiry to be divided across
multiple committees with no clear leadership. Rather than keeping the
focus on the administration’s misconduct, the House catered to the
political needs of individual members looking to get their own share of
the national spotlight. Rather than systematically exposing the
available facts and constructing a coherent narrative of events, the
House generated a confusion of soundbites and political posturing.
Having begun the investigation without any clear plan for proceeding,
the impeachment inquiry lacked both transparency and organization and
generated needless procedural puzzles and oppositional talking points.
The president’s defense team has made a great deal out of the House
conducting depositions in a “basement bunker” closed to the public. Yet
not only is there nothing wrong with a congressional process for
investigating diplomatic conduct that includes a phase in executive
session behind closed doors, but it is the only sensible approach.
However, the Republicans were given more of a talking point by the
Democrats’ inability to outline a comprehensive plan for how the
investigation would proceed. Members of the Democratic leadership themselves struggled to get on the same page
on whether and when an impeachment inquiry had been launched, and even
when Pelosi was willing to declare that a formal impeachment inquiry had
begun, she was unwilling to provide a blueprint for how such an inquiry
would proceed.
