It's a political one. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be conducted with fairness, where both sides get an equal chance to state their case, call witnesses, and cross-examine the other side's witnesses. Which is part of what due process means. That doesn't mean the Dems or Repubs have to be impartial, that ain't going to happen in political processes. But at least both sides should get their say.
But, if one side refuses to participate how can they then whine about lack of fairness and due process?
The Republicans didn't refuse to participate. In the hearings, Schiff would not allow them to ask tough questions or to call witnesses.
But...the Republican had their witnesses.
It didn't go well for them as I recall.
They didn't get the witnesses they wanted and weren't allowed to ask the questions they wanted to. This was a Democratic political stunt, not a serious impeachment. From the beginning it was clear the President would not be convicted by the Senate. It was just another platform from which the Democrats could scream at the President.
Consider the bizarre "charges". Asking another country to cooperate with an investigation was called an abuse of power, but countries frequently do that, and citing executive privilege to deny Congress what they asked for was called obstruction of Congress; if that is an impeachable offense, every president could be impeached. Clearly, there are only two kinds of Democrats in Congress,the scammers and those they scammed.
Denying another country aid that has been approved by Congress to persuade them to investigate a political rival is not frequently done...can you cite another example?
Where does the Constitution give the President Executive Privilege to impede an investigation into him?
The whole idea of impeachment is as a final curb on the President should he go rogue.
How can that be effective if the person for which the impeachment clause was intended can set the rules?
Denying another country aid that has been approved by Congress to persuade them to investigate a political rival is not frequently done...can you cite another example?
A State Department witness who testified before California Rep. Adam Schiff’s impeachment inquiry last week confirmed that the U.S. delayed aid to multiple foreign countries during the past year for a variety of reasons.
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The Washington Times reported that Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale testified that delaying aid to other countries besides Ukraine happened multiple times in 2019.
Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas asked Hale, “Is it fair to say that in the Trump administration U.S. aid is withheld from foreign countries for a number of factors?”
He answered in the affirmative.
“And you’ve testified in your prior testimony that it is normal to have delays on aid?” Ratcliffe said, to which Hale confirmed, “It does occur.”
Hale also verified that Ukraine was not the only country to have aid withheld, testifying that others included Pakistan, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Lebanon.
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In summary, Ratcliffe asked, “So it’s fair to say that aid has been withheld from several countries across the globe for various reasons, and, in some cases, for reasons that are still unknown just in the past year?”
“Correct, sir,” Hale replied.
Impeachment Witness Testifies Delaying Foreign Aid Is Common Tactic
How can that be effective if the person for which the impeachment clause was intended can set the rules?
Trump doesn't set the rules, and you know that. And BTW, Trump didn't go rogue. He didn't get his requested investigations intot he Bidens and Ukraine did get their foreign aid.