Pardon Me – Another Damn Impeachment Show Connecticut Public

We had trouble mustering enthusiasm to wrap up our final episode of this second season of Pardon Me. Last week's roller coaster of a trial culminated in 43 senators choosing to acquit on a weak and deceptive defense -- despite a factual and painstaking accounting of how bad the breach was, how bad it might have been, and how Donald Trump incited it.

We talk to a former CIA analyst about how bad it could have been and a TV critic on the power of the visual. We also bring you factoids with Chion Wolf and Colin's closing essay.

GUESTS:


James Poniewozik - Chief television critic for The New York Times and the author of Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America
David Priess - A former intelligence officer at the CIA; his most recent book is How To Get Rid of a President: History's Guide to Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives
Chion Wolf - The host of Audacious with Chion Wolf on Connecticut Public Radio

Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

Pardon Me is a production of The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio.
Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump's legal team delivered their defense of the former president Friday. They followed a tightly argued and visceral presentation delivered by House managers that, some say, has made it easy for Republican senators to convict Trump. They likely won't.

We wondered if our show, recorded in part on Thursday, would omit important events that occurred thereafter. Given that many Republican senators have already decided to acquit, why would the defense feel the need to address the 144 constitutional lawyers who debunked their First Amendment argument, the 150 constitutional lawyers who say the impeachment of Trump is constitutional, or the people of this country?

We knew the ending before it even began.

GUESTS:


Dahlia Lithwick - Writes about the courts and the law for Slate and hosts the podcast Amicus
Sascha Paruk - Lead oddsmaker and editor at Sports Betting Dime
Robyn Walsh - Assistant professor of the New Testament and early Christianity at the University of Miami and the author of The Origins of Early Christian Literature: Contextualizing the New Testament within Greco-Roman Literary Culture
Chion Wolf - The host of Audacious with Chion Wolf on Connecticut Public Radio
Bill Yousman - Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University

Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

Pardon Me is a production of The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio.
Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We took a chance that House Democrats were going to send the Article of Impeachment to the Senate this week. We were wrong. Instead, the House will transmit its Article of Impeachment charging former President Trump with "incitement of insurrection" to the Senate on Monday.

Why should the House wait any longer when more than a dozen Republican senators are trying to dismiss the impeachment trial before it begins, based on the disputed claim that it's unconstitutional to try an ex-president. And House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is already walking back his prior claim that Trump incited the riot at the Capitol.

We talk about proving "incitement" and the fashion legacy of Trump. We also bring you factoids with Chion Wolf and our first second-season AccuFrankie dispatch from reporter Frankie Graziano.

GUESTS:


Vanessa Friedman - Fashion director for The New York Times
Frankie Graziano - A reporter for Connecticut Public Radio
Catherine J. Ross - Professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and the author of a forthcoming book, Presidential Lies, The First Amendment, and Democracy
Chion Wolf - The host of Audacious with Chion Wolf on Connecticut Public Radio

Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

Pardon Me is a production of The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio.
Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Previously on Pardon Me (Another Damn Impeachment Show?): House Democrats voted to impeach President Trump on two Articles of Impeachment: "abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress." He was later acquitted promptly after Senate Republicans voted against calling witnesses or admitting new evidence.

Now (less than 48 weeks later), on Season Two of Pardon Me: House Democrats, along with 10 Republicans, voted to impeach President Trump Wednesday on one Article of Impeachment: "incitement of insurrection." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., promptly responded that there'll be no trial while he's Senate leader.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

This hour, we talk about the constitutional gray zone of impeaching a president no longer in office, co-opting historically significant language, and a musical response to this political moment. And, we bring back Factoids with Chion Wolf.

GUESTS:


Joanne Freeman - The Class of 1954 Professor of History & American Studies at Yale University and the co-host of the American History podcast Backstory; her most recent book is The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War
Michael Gerhardt - The Burton Craige University Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill and the author of seven books; his most recent is Lincoln's Mentors: The Education of a Leader
Jill Sobule - An award-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist; her most recent album is Nostalgia Kills
Chion Wolf - The host of Audacious with Chion Wolf on Connecticut Public Radio

Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

Pardon Me is a production of The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio.
Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Four Department of Justice prosecutors working on the case of Roger Stone, a close friend of President Trump, withdrew from legal proceedings Tuesday after Attorney General William Barr overruled their sentencing recommendations. The president had complained about the long sentence.

Barr denied that President Trump asked him to intervene and claimed he wouldn't be "bullied or influenced by anybody." He said Thursday that the president should stop tweeting about DOJ criminal cases. The president took to Twitter Friday to say he has the "legal right." Shortly therafter, the DOJ dropped their probe into former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Before you think this is more than theater, keep in mind that Barr also set up a process to vet information that Rudy Giuliani is gathering in Ukraine. And he tasked prosecutors to review the case of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

This is the last episode of Pardon Me. We think it's fitting to end the series on endings: the end of functioning institutions, the end of trust in government, the end of fact-based reality, the end of freedom for the press -- the end of democracy, itself.

We remain hopeful.

GUESTS:


Frankie Graziano - A reporter at Connecticut Public Radio
David Plotz - CEO of Atlas Obscura, co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest
Jay Rosen - A media critic and a professor of journalism at NYU
Philip Rucker - White House Bureau Chief at The Washington Post, co-author of A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America
Chion Wolf - A producer, photographer, and announcer at Connecticut Public Radio

Thanks to Catie Talarski and Tim Rasmussen.

Pardon Me is a production of The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio.
Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Note: This episode contains strong language.

The Senate acquitted President Trump on both articles of the impeachment. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was the only Republican who voted to convict the president on one charge, for "egregious" behavior he believed rose to the level of a "high crime and misdemeanor."

President Trump responded with anger. He fumed at his perceived enemies at Thursday's National Prayer Breakfast. They include members of Congress, people on his staff, FBI agents, and even the state of New York. Senate Republicans hoping for a more subdued Trump were wrong. Others knew better. One remains hopeful.

This week, Colin speaks with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and professor Ryan Goodman about how the fallout from the Senate acquittal of the president could affect the future of the election and the country.

Plus: another edition of Factoids with Chion Wolf and impressions from a Connecticut man who attended the House impeachment hearings and the Senate impeachment trial.

GUESTS:


Ryan Goodman - Founding co-editor-in-chief of Just Security, professor of law at NYU School of Law, and professor of politics and sociology at NYU
Kyle Knickerbocker - A merchant mariner from Essex, Conn., who went to see the impeachment hearings and trial in person a whole bunch of times
Chris Murphy - Democratic U.S. Senator from Connecticut
Chion Wolf - A producer, photographer, and announcer at Connecticut Public Radio

Thanks to Eugene Amatruda.

Email us your questions at pardonme@ctpublic.org.

Pardon Me is a production of The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio.
Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.