WAPO OP ED: The impeachment evidence will catch up to Republicans and Trump -- whether they ignore

it or not

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-impeachment-evidence-will-catch-up-to-republicans-and-trump--whether-they-ignore-it-or-not/2020/01/24/c06e9246-3ec3-11ea-8872-5df698785a4e_story.html

By Editorial Board Jan. 24, 2020 at 4:36 p.m. EST
DONALD TRUMP’S presidency has been, among other things, a war against truth. So it’s fitting that in making the case for his removal from office this week, House impeachment managers showered the Senate with facts. Over and over again, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and his co-managers laid out the hard evidence that Mr. Trump used presidential powers to pressure Ukraine into announcing investigations that would aid his reelection campaign, and that he engaged in unprecedented obstruction of Congress’s subsequent investigation.

Videos of testimony and damning statements by Mr. Trump, as well as images of revealing text messages among administration officials, were exhibited repeatedly on the Senate floor, prompting some Republicans to complain that they were being forced to rehear the same pieces of evidence. So be it: GOP senators intent on exonerating the president without bothering to fairly consider the case against him should at least be forced to face the reality of his abuses. Meanwhile, busy Americans who took the time to tune in to the proceedings for even an hour or two between Wednesday and Friday likely heard a substantial version of the case.

Mr. Schiff made clear the extent to which those gaps exist because of Mr. Trump’s stonewalling, and reminded senators that they have the power to remedy them. Wouldn’t they like to read a memo the acting ambassador in Ukraine sent to the secretary of state about the suspended military aid?, he asked. Wouldn’t it be useful to hear former national security adviser John Bolton explain what he meant when he said Mr. Mulvaney and a U.S. ambassador were “cooking up” a “drug deal” with the Ukrainians?

Mr. Schiff pointed out that, whether or not GOP senators demand relevant testimony and documents during the trial, more facts will eventually come out. Those who choose now to disregard the evidence against Mr. Trump and abet his obstruction will be reduced to watching in the months and years to come as the case against him — and against their abdication of constitutional duty — grows steadily stronger.