Cover and Cover Up

The goal of Republicans in the impeachment trial of Trump is to cover up his commission of high crimes and misdemeanors, which more than justify his conviction and removal from office. For that reason they support Trump’s blocking access to key witnesses and his refusal to turn over relevant documents. Because Republicans control the senate, they have the power to cover up evidence, make a sham of the trial, and acquit Trump.

A further problem for them remains. They have to reckon with the court of public opinion. Otherwise, it will be all too obvious that the senators voting for acquittal, rather than adhering to the oath each took to administer impartial justice, chose to participate in the cover-up of Trump’s wrongdoing. These benighted politicians need Trump’s legal team to provide the semblance of cover for them. 

Trump’s lawyers don’t have the barest traces of a professionally respectable legal argument or supporting facts, so they have fallen back on the only recourse available. which is to employ bombast and affected outrage, hoping to achieve with heat what they lack in light. That’s the Republican strategy: Cover-up and Provide Cover.