Will Trump Testify? Probably Not

Last week at the start of the impeachment of President Trump, Democrats and Republicans questioned former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch about her role as it related to the infamous call made by President Donald Trump. Yovanovitch, a career diplomat of 33 years had served under 5 different presidents from both parties. She had an impressive career as a diplomat, receiving numerous awards for her service to her country. She was not known to have been “a troublemaker” during her career, just quietly doing her job. The only problem was that Yovanovitch did her job too well. When President Trump told Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden over so called corruption charges, no one was supposed to know. The president told Zelensky to make a public declaration, after which Ukraine would get the military aid that already had been approved by Congress. In legal circles, that is call a quid pro quo, because the president set up conditions knowing that Ukraine needed the military aid, meaning they will get the aid ONLY after they did what the president wanted. To make matters even worse for himself, President Trump tweeted in real time very despairingly remarks about Yovanovitch, questioning her competence as a diplomat. Some have said that is a form of witness intimidation which is a crime, and could be added as an impeachable charge against the president. President Trump says that he wants to “get to the truth”, he is still calling the investigation a “hoax” and a witch hunt. He will not allow anyone who “can clear up” any confusion as to what exactly was said during the perfect phone call. But he won’t. The president says that he has nothing to hide, but he continues to block key administration officials like Mick Mulvaney from testifying even though they have been issued valid subpoenas to appear before Congress. Many in the legal profession say that by blocking potential witnesses from testifying in order to get to the truth, the president is obstructing justice. Some in Congress have said that if President Trump wants to give his side of the story, all he has to do is testify before Congress. President Trump has said that “he might” do that, but we have heard this song before. The only person stopping President Trump from testifying, is Donald Trump. The president is trying to run out the clock, but he still has over a year left in his term. Congress can ask for an expedited hearing on time sensitive matters as getting witnesses to testify, or as is currently at the Supreme Court, access to Trump’s financial records.

Democrats are not going to decrease the pressure on the Trump administration, because only Nancy Pelosi, can say when Democrats have enough evidence for an iron clad case that will lead to an impeachment trial in the Senate. And that is what has Senate Republicans up in arms, doing everything that they can to deflect the mounting evidence against the president. Lest we forget, there are those possible obstruction charges in the Mueller report. This is the Republicans’ worst nightmare, Democrats in power. They are complaining all over Fox News, but even some of their news anchors(Chris Wallace), are saying that the president will have to face the music. President Trump may/may not testify, but one thing that we can be sure of, those closest to him are working on contingency plans for him to “exit gracefully” if the situation comes to that. No matter how things end, it is the Constitution that matters, as one is for it or against it. That is the law of the land. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.