On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy talked to One America News Network’s Neil McCabe about the expected timeline of the impeachment.
During the second hour, McCabe gave his take on the timeline he expected going forward with the articles of impeachment and how the Democrats are doing everything they can to rush the process in fear of losing votes from districts won by Donald Trump in 2016. Leahy and McCabe both agreed that Pelosi was a master of politics and that if a vote was held today, the House would get the entire 216 needed to impeach and move the hearings to the Senate.
Leahy: We are joined now by our very good friend. The One America News Network’s Washington correspondent Neil McCabe. Welcome, Neil and good morning.
McCabe: Hey Mike, good to be with you.
Leahy: So the House Judiciary Committee met yesterday in a bit of a controversial clown show I suppose you would call it. There will be apparently articles of impeachment coming out of the committee shortly?
McCabe: There will be two articles of impeachment announced today. One will be an abuse of power and the second will be obstruction of Congress.
Leahy: Those are the vague charge possibilities aren’t they?
McCabe: I seem to have remembered going through hundreds of hours, just decades worth of hearings and questions and testimony and news reports digging down into the minutia of what you heard. What you overheard. You were near the President. (Leahy laughs)
You were near the ambassador who was on the phone with the president and what were the seven words that you heard him say. And this is what we got? Hey, Mike, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress? I could impeach every president for that.
Leahy: Exactly. Obstruction of Congress? Where’s that in the Constitution? I didn’t see that.
McCabe: Well, listen. (Leahy laughs) Come on friend. Wise up. Wise up.
Leahy: Walk us through the chronology here of what is likely to happen.
McCabe: OK. So, they’ve written the articles of impeachment because they don’t have enough runway to get this plane in the air. And so there was a movement, just to backdate, last week to off-ramp impeachment towards censure. Pelosi put a wooden stake in its heart Wednesday when she said, no, we’re going forward with impeachment.
So they’re burning their boats on the beach. They’re shooting their wounded. They are going to die on that hill. So now they have to come up with articles. So at first, Pelosi says we’re going to have all six committees come up with what they think the impeachment should be because I can’t trust Nadler to handle that because Nadler screwed up everything else so far. (Leahy chuckles)
What happened last night, is that they decided, screw that plan, I’m just going to take two articles and we’re just going to go for it. So the judiciary committee will vote to approve these two articles. It then goes to the rules committee. And then the rules committee will decide how long the debate will be and how the vote will be conducted.
And then it goes to a floor vote. And the anticipation is that the floor vote will be before December 20. But they also want to pass something on drug prices, immigration, maybe move the USMCA. It’s like they can’t say to the American people we’ve controlled the House of Representatives for a year and this is what we got.
Leahy: Yeah. I’ve heard that as well with various dates on it. It seems to be still to me Neil a little bit fluid.
McCabe: Ha! (Leahy laughs) Fluid? That’s generous. Wow. That’s generous.
Leahy: Neil, so what about the 31 Democrats who represent districts that Donald Trump won in 2016? Are they feeling the heat from Nancy Pelosi to vote yes or from their constituents?
McCabe: They are not happy campers. It is raining and there is a hole in their tent. They are not happy at all. Remember, there are four vacancies in the House so simple majority if everyone is present is 216.
Leahy: The magic number.
McCabe: There are 199 House Republicans so if you flip 17 of the 31 House democrats in districts won by President Trump impeachment doesn’t even win.
Leahy: How close are they to flipping those 17?
McCabe: Well, if the vote was held in January, very close. They basically have to move very, very quickly because people are banging on the door. There’s a lot of people who are watching their promising congressional career flash before their eyes. The polls have gone all the wrong way.
Remember, every time these guys have a big vote, Pelosi schedules all these big votes and all the big testimony right before going on recess. They did it with Mueller. They did it with Schiff. They did it with Nadler. And so every time these guys do a big thing, they go home to sort of harvest the goodwill from the voters and they come back like less enthusiastic.
Like the voters are not giving them the goodwill they expected. It’s now starting to irritate people. And of course, Senators are getting irritated and Democratic Senators are being irritated.
Now people are saying that if some of those Senate Democrats, there are five of them now running for President if they don’t show up for the impeachment trial they are subject to arrest. (Leahy bellows) They could find Elizabeth Warren at the airport in Laconia, New Hampshire and they could bring her back in shackles. (Leahy laughs)
Leahy: That would be her trail of tears, wouldn’t it?
McCabe: Wow. Trail of tears.
Leahy: Do you like that one?
McCabe: That’s nice, Michael. Very nice.
Leahy: So this is the reason behind the blitzkrieg of Nancy Pelosi. She wants to push this through as fast as she can so that these battleground district Democrats aren’t going to feel the heat from their constituents and get that vote done. That’s the reason for the speed right?
McCabe: I know somebody on Capitol Hill who’s very familiar with the thinking of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her staff. And they want to get this, they can’t kick this can far enough out. They don’t care if that can goes out the door.
Out the window. Down the hallway. Around the corner. They want that can out of the House. And basically it’s almost like lobbing a grenade. We’re just full of images today. They are going to throw it over the wall and run home for Christmas.
Leahy: See if they get the 216. What would be your guess, this is speculation. We’ve been speculating here asking our listeners.
McCabe: Sure.
Leahy: What would be your guess as to whether the vote is held before Christmas? And what number will they get to? Will they exceed 216 if it’s held before Christmas?
McCabe: If the vote was held today they would get 216. What you would look for is for it to be exactly 216 where Pelosi allows people in tough districts to squeeze out. Now when they open the inquiry she didn’t allow, what Pelosi does is she gets more commitments than she needs and then she releases people who are in tough districts. That’s why she’s so good. That her main method. And she’ll say, I’ll let you go this time but I’m going to need you on something else.
Leahy: She understands power.
McCabe: Ah! She’s brilliant. The Republicans have no idea how to count votes or whatever. That’s another story. She is a master.
Leahy: A master of the dark art of politics right?
McCabe: She’s very good. So what you say with the impeachment inquiry vote is that only two democrats sort of broke out and voted against the impeachment.
Leahy: That was Peterson of Minnesota and Van Drew from New Jersy. Neil McCabe, thanks so much for being with us.
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 am to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Background Photo “Articles of Impeachment Announcement” by CSPAN.Â
