The public at large believes Trump illegally pressured Ukraine, but the majority does not yet want to throw him out of office. USA today published a great homage to Sherlock Holmes courtesy of an independent senator from Maine. <\/p>\n
Ukraine scandal: I know why Trump top dogs \u2014 Mulvaney, Pompeo, Perry & Bolton \u2014 won’t bark<\/strong> One of Sherlock Holmes\u2019 most famous cases was solved when a normally noisy dog was silent the night of the crime, leading the famous detective to the deduction that it must have been an inside job \u2014 the dog knew the intruder.<\/p>\n Those not barking today are the numerous Trump administration officials who are strangely silent when a few short statements (under oath) could go a long way toward exonerating the president from the charge of using the powers of his office for personal gain.<\/p>\n Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, former national security adviser John Bolton and probably at least a dozen White House and National Security Council staffers \u2014 all could clear up, one way or another, the essential question of whether the president was interested in corruption generally in Ukraine last summer, or whether the withholding of military aid and the dangling of a White House meeting was motivated by his personal and political interest in publicized investigations of the 2016 election and the activities of one of his principal rivals. And this would be direct evidence, which no one can call hearsay.<\/p>\n \nBecause it would be so easy for these people to clear the president, it\u2019s hard to escape the conclusion that their silence is less about vague assertions of executive privilege (which isn\u2019t available to cover-up wrongdoing, in any case) and more about not wanting to testify under oath as to what actually happened.<\/p>\n Trump innocence proclaimed<\/p>\n The president continuously proclaims his innocence (the call with the president of Ukraine was \u201cperfect\u201d, the impeachment proceedings are a \u201choax,\u201d a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d and a relitigation of the 2016 election), which is his right. What is not his right is the active obstruction of the fact-finding process by blocking the testimony of useful witnesses as well as directly (and through his surrogates) attempting to intimidate those who have come forward. <\/p>\n I know of no legal proceeding in any forum where the alleged wrongdoer controls the availability of material witnesses. In most situations, in fact, the very attempt to do so is a crime in itself. If the president is innocent, he should want \u2014 no, he should demand \u2014 that the above mentioned officials appear in a public forum, under oath and subject to examination, to set the matter straight, as soon as possible.<\/p>\n More on Trump: What swimming in my underwear taught me getting away with it<\/p>\n Donald Trump can use his ‘superpower’ to defeat Democrats and their false narratives<\/p>\n Indeed, Donald Trump’s White House blocks witnesses from coming forward even as he publicly tweets that he’d like them to testify. He can and should rescind his administration’s orders today.<\/p>\n Let Ukraine facts out<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely that the full story of this episode will eventually come out (Bolton is reportedly already working on a book, for example). If I were one of the president\u2019s advocates, I would rather have all the facts now rather than have to explain my vote in light of \u201cnew\u201d but currently available evidence.<\/p>\n It is not too late for these witnesses to come forward; the process is still ongoing. As a potential juror, my ultimate judgement will be based on the facts as presented, but also, at least in part, upon whether we have this important testimony \u2014 and if we don\u2019t, whether it was withheld from us deliberately.<\/p>\n As we learned from Holmes, silence can sometimes be the most powerful evidence of all. Elementary.<\/p>\n Sen. Angus King, an independent senator from Maine, serves on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Armed Services Committee. Follow him on Twitter @SenAngusKing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nby Angus King Opinion contributor
\nPublished 11:51 AM EST Dec 2, 2019<\/p>\n