Conservative Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor who writes regularly for the National Review, has opposed impeaching Donald Trump ever since he took office. But the recent bombshell surrounding former National Security Adviser John Bolton has appeared to change his mind about impeachment.
In his latest column, McCarthy admits that the new revelations from Bolton mean that the president’s entire defense strategy against impeachment has now been effectively “blown up.”
McCarthy first notes that the Trump impeachment team has been dishonest throughout the impeachment trial by claiming there was never a quid-pro-quo agreement related to military aid to Ukraine, while also trying to make the case that the president “did nothing wrong.”
“You always want the foundation of your defense to be something that is true, that you are sure you can prove, and that will not change,” McCarthy writes. “Instead, the president and his team decided to make a stand on ground that could not be defended, on facts that were unfolding and bound to change. Last night, that ground predictably shifted.”
He then runs through how “foolhardy” it was for Trump to claim there was never any pressure campaign against Ukraine when so much testimonial and documentary evidence contradicts that claim.
“They decided to contest the underlying facts, where the president’s case is weakest,” he concludes. “They decided to fight on quid pro quo… so now they will have to deal with John Bolton’s account and the rising demands that he be called as a witness.”
You can read the entire column HERE.
