Impeachment Inquiry Into Donald Trump Doesn’t Exist, Is A ‘Political Soap Opera,’ Says Andrew C. McCarthy

Following Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he pressured the Ukrainian leader to investigate Trump’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into the president. In the wake of the scandal, Trump openly called for both Ukraine and China to investigate Biden, which drew criticism from many and appeared to confirm that he is looking for foreign help to influence the 2020 elections.

Despite the proceedings, attorney and columnist Andrew C. McCarthy believes that in reality, there is no impeachment inquiry and no subpoenas, per The Hill.

“What is portrayed as an ‘impeachment inquiry’ is actually just a made-for-cable-TV political soap opera,” he wrote in his op-ed. “The House of Representatives is not conducting a formal impeachment inquiry. To the contrary, congressional Democrats are conducting the 2020 political campaign.”

According to McCarthy, the House has not yet voted to authorize an impeachment inquiry. Instead, he claims the “partisan theatrics” of the last week and a half serve only to raise the profile of the same “inquiry” that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler previously concocted without a committee vote. He also claims that there are currently no subpoenas linked to the inquiry.

McCarthy believes that congressional Democrats are hoping that the public doesn’t notice there is no official impeachment inquiry in progress.

“They are using the guise of frenetic activity by several standing committees — Intelligence, Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, Oversight and Reform, Financial Services, and Ways and Means — whose normal oversight functions are being gussied up to look like serious impeachment business.”

The 60-year-old National Review columnist claims that Democrats are crafting an impeachment show to avoid having to defend it in court. He suggests that if Democrats believed they had a case, they wouldn’t be in a rush to move forward and would instead want everyone to give the case a careful examination.

“But they don’t have a case, so instead they’re giving us a show,” he said.

In the wake of the purported inquiry, Trump’s dealings have again come under scrutiny. According to a whistleblower from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a political appointee working in the U.S. Department of Treasury interfered with annual audits of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The complaint was allegedly dismissed by the Trump administration because they believed the claims held no weight and were based on conversations with government officials, echoing the defense of the whistleblower that sounded the alarm on Trump’s call with Zelensky.

The focus on Trump in the wake of the Ukraine scandal has led to him shifting focus onto Biden’s purported corruption, as well as attacking the mental state of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.