INDIANAPOLIS — Things have escalated between Republicans and Democrats in Washington after the first of more impeachment hearings took place in the U.S. House.
Lawmakers, including Indiana’s Democrat Rep. Andre Carson, questioned acting National Intelligence Director Joseph Maguire for over four hours Thursday.
With so many accusations flying around on both sides of the impeachment inquiry, University of Indianapolis political science professor Laura Wilson said the truth for voters may seem far off but it’s really not. It’s all in the documents, she said.
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“The American public can look at them and make a judgment for themselves,” Wilson told WISH-TV. “They don’t have to listen to what politicians say to have a sense of what’s going on.”
It’s easy to read the complied transcript of President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky as well as the whistleblower’s report. If you are a staunch member of either political party, Wilson advises you look at it from the other side.
“What if it was a different person? If you’re a Democrat, what if it was a Democrat president or vice versa,” she asked. “What if it was Republican leadership looking into this? And so, trying to take a different perspective there, trying to take that partisanship out of it in terms of interpreting what’s going on.”
Either way, Wilson said the 20 pages worth of documents raise more questions than answers on whether or not what President Trump said in the phone call was wrong.
“The ultimate question is: Is this an impeachable offense?”
Perception of the whole process is key, according to Wilson. Especially for undecided voters.
“That perception is going to be really important, how they see the process being handled,” she said. “Does it look like it’s a witch hunt or does it look like it’s very valid, fair and, in fact, that this is the right thing to do?”
In the year 2000, although Republican George W. Bush won the presidency over Democrat Al Gore, Republicans lost seats in the House after impeaching Democrat Bill Clinton unsuccessfully.
She predicts that even if the House votes to impeach, it will be difficult for the Senate to convict. Considering each Senator tows the party line on the matter, Democrats would need 22 Republicans to break ranks, which she said is highly unlikely.
(PHOTO: WISH-TV)
