Democrats aimed a fresh dagger at the inner circle of President Trump by subpoenaing documents from his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as the President struggled to parry an aggressive impeachment gambit on a day of rapid developments.
The President seems to be reeling, waiting for the next blow to fall, defended only by his increasingly unhinged tirades, his tweets quoting supporters on cable news and confrontational and conspiracy-laden appearances by aides on TV.
The President’s unaccustomed struggle to control the narrative and to get his opponents to respond to his moves bodes ill for any hopes he has of avoiding a full House impeachment vote.
There is no sign of the organized, disciplined political and legal strategy that, for instance, helped Bill Clinton emerge from his impeachment trial as a viable President.
For days now, Trump has been unable to slow the momentum of Democrats as they investigate whether he abused his power by trying to pressure Ukraine to dig for dirt on potential 2020 foe Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
CNN reported Monday that Trump loyalists had warned him that he would almost certainly be impeached and that some doubted whether he really understood the magnitude of his plight.
Digging himself in deeper, Trump warned Monday he was trying to find out the name of the official who blew the whistle on his call and dealings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump’s comment could be a potential violation of laws meant to protect truth-tellers and could play into any eventual charges by Democrats that he is seeking to obstruct their investigation.
The whistleblower’s lawyers have already raised concern for their client’s safety, as Democrats try to persuade the unnamed official to tell the story that sparked their complaint on Capitol Hill.
In tweets and remarks that seemed increasingly panic-stricken, Trump fulminated at Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence chairman who has been made the initial face of the impeachment inquiry by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
He seized on a supporter’s comment on Fox News that he feared a “Civil-War like” fracture in the country and called for Schiff to be investigated for treason. He also took aim at his accuser.
“The whistleblower reported a totally different statement,” Trump said at the White House. “I made a call. The call was perfect. When the whistleblower reported it, he made it sound terrible.”