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On Sunday, Trump once again took to Twitter to attack his opponents (his tweet also contained a typo which is sadly unsurprising). This time, he directly addressed Jennifer Williams, who is one of the people testifying in the impeachment process. Williams is a State Department employee and the top Russia advisor for Pence. She was present during Trump's call to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25th, read the transcript of Trump's April call with Zelensky, and listened to the second call between Pence and Zelensky. Trump's tweet came after Williams' closed door testimony, and he urged her to "read BOTH transcripts of the presidential calls" before calling her a "Never Trumper." Pence's office did not defend Williams from Trump's tweet.
In her private testimony, Williams stated that Trump asking for specific investigations into the Bidens struck her as "unusual and inappropriate" and "shed some light on other possible motivations" for the pause on sending military aid to Ukraine. Williams' testimony definitely implied a quid pro quo, further solidifying the already clear evidence of foul play by Trump. She also mentioned that it was Trump who kept Pence from attending Zelensky's inauguration a few month prior which took away a high-profile statement of US support for the Ukraine government. In today's public testimony, she stood by these claims and also defended herself from Trump's attack, asserting that she is not a "Never Trumper" and that Trump has no evidence behind that accusation.
It is not shocking that Trump has again turned towards aggressive Twitter comments as a response to the impeachment testimonies, but it definitely never gets less frustrating knowing that the President can get away with such a lack of professionalism and immaturity. I am glad that Williams has not let Trump's tweet or any other threat stop her from testifying. I'm sure that she has been pressured by her own party to not speak out against Trump and "give Democrats a win" so I'm happy that she is remaining resilient and seeking out justice. With all the evidence pointing pretty obviously to an abuse of power by Trump, I hope that these testimonies are nails in the coffin and give any needed final pushes to impeachment.
1. How important do you think Williams' testimony is?
2. How much do you think she might be jeopardizing or gaining from this?
3. Do you think Republicans are willingly to impeach Trump if he is found guilty of foul play, or will they stick with their party through it all?
4 comments:
I think her testimony is important because a lot of the claims of those defending the President involve the idea that a lot of the evidence against him comes from second or third hand accounts. Williams, on the other hand, has first hand knowledge of the Ukraine situation and this adds a lot to her reliability. Additionally, she is in the same party as the President and most quid pro quo deniers. I think her testimony is, thus, extremely significant because she is prioritizing the health of the American democracy over the position of her party. A neutral official testifying, like many before Williams, is one thing, but going against the position of one's own party really actively exhibits that something is deeply wrong here. And this is why Trump was so quick to try and discredit her as a Never Trumper. That being said, even given the reliability and importance of the Williams testimony, I do not think most Trump supporters will have a change of heart because of it. Factors, like angry Trump tweets and Fox News, make a sudden change in position against the President significantly difficult. Arguments that transform from no quid pro quo, to well this quid pro quo isn't an impeachable offense, to you can't trust anyone anyway, manage to keep up the President's support regardless of the illegitimacy of this argument against the inquiry and hearings.
I agree with Benji that Williams' first hand account of Trump's call with Zielinski is extremely beneficial towards the impeachment proceedings, for she offers a different perspective than others who have testified. I think that Williams is quite courageous to go against the wishes of her party, for she is putting the safety of american democracy over party loyalty. However, I believe this move will most likely affect her future political career in the Republican party. Unfortunately, party leaders such as Mitch McConnell have disregarded the value of government over party because of the political advantages to do so. For this reason I believe the majority of Republicans will not impeach Trump even with obvious evidence, for they fear the political repercussions of getting re-elected from their constituents who are Trump loyalists.
I think William's testimony might adversely affect her future in the GOP, which has shown repeatedly that they value party over country. Related to that, I believe the majority of republicans will refuse to impeach Trump because, in a way, their mind is already made up. Their supporting of the president ensures their positions and the party's power remain stable, so they're unwilling to fairly entertain any evidence the president did wrong, even if it is undeniable.
I think it is nice to see that even though it was against her party, Williams was still willing to testify to do what was right. It's good that she hasn't let Trump's criticism stop her from testifying. That makes this testimony important because we can see that William's isn't motivated only by party loyalty. I do think this will have a negative impact on her future career with her party. However, she could also possibly gain some support (likely from democrats) for her honesty. Even though Williams was willing to go against her party, I don't think that most Republicans would, making her sort of an exception.
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