Not only does Donald Trump believe he hasn’t been impeached — he also thinks he can be unpeached

Throughout the House impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, Republicans worked hard not just to derail both the initial inquiry and the later votes, but also to attack the process at every turn. Democratic representatives rightly pointed out that Republicans were unwilling to defend Donald Trump on the evidence—and no, ungrounded talking points are not a defense—because the evidence universally demonstrated the case against Trump. Now, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi withholds the articles of impeachment from the Senate while awaiting some glimpse of what Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has planned for the Senate trial, Republicans are pretending that it’s Pelosi who is fixated on process. But that’s not it at all. Pelosi wants only to see that there is a process.

Before the House interviewed a single witness or sought its first document, it passed House Resolution 660 laying out all the rules under which its inquiry would take place. On the Senate side, McConnell has done nothing. There are no rules, no promises, no hint of what would happen should Pelosi turn over the articles—other than McConnell’s promise that he’s working closely with the White House to turn the whole thing to Trump’s advantage.

Meanwhile, Trump is maintaining what may be the most delusional position of the entire impeachment by claiming that he has not really been impeached at all. As CNN reports, Trump is leaning into a comforting “technical argument” that insists he’s not really impeached until McConnell says he’s impeached. Which McConnell isn’t going to do. The White House is actually considering a lawsuit in an attempt to force Pelosi’s hand, allowing the process to be ended on the terms that Trump likes best. Continue reading