‘A stain on his record.’ Responding to Andy Barr’s arguments against impeachment.
Representative Andy Barr is a smart man. He knows, just as we all do, that the military aid for Ukraine that President Trump withheld had been approved through the usual channels after certification that Ukraine had made sufficient progress in combatting corruption. Representative Barr knows that no justification for the highly unusual act of summarily withholding that aid has been advanced, either by President Trump or by any of his defenders.
He knows that the aid was released only after it was known that a whistleblower suit had been filed and deemed credible. He knows that whether this administration has provided more military assistance to Ukraine than past administrations is irrelevant. He knows that the language of impeachment in our Constitutions does not require evidence of an actual crime, because the authors recognized that our Constitution could be undermined without a conventional crime being committed. And he knows that even if his claim that the Democrats are motivated solely by political partisanship is true, that is irrelevant. A thief who got caught dead to rights who pleaded that he should be judged innocent because the police were out to get him would be laughed out of court.
Representative Barr knows all this, yet he writes an op-ed that pretends he does not, and he uses that pretense to mislead his constituents. As one of his constituents, I am offended.
If Representative Barr were to argue that the President’s actions in question do not rise to the level of impeachment I would disagree with him, given the threat to our democracy that I believe the President’s actions represent. That is a judgment call, and as much as I disagree with it I would not claim that his position is indefensible. But knowing what he knows, to argue, as he has, that the President has done nothing wrong, is irresponsible, a grave disservice to his constituents, and a stain on his record.
Steve Kay is Lexington Vice Mayor.
