transcript we don t even have the full transcript but just what the president himself has released is so damning. and this president and his allies throw up chaff and distraction. and witness yesterday all the stuff happening at the hearing. there s only one thing you have to look at. it s the transcript, and it s a core impeachable offense. and neal, it s rhythmically strange for people who grew up on the architecture of the watergate investigation as the classic washington investigation or on all tv drama throughout history. the smoking gun is never revealed in the first act. this is one of those cases where we got the smoking gun very early in the investigation at a point where someone in the white house apparently convinced the president that putting out this transcript could actually help him. exactly.
until that favor is done for the president so that he can get dirt on his political rival. and, you know, the essence of impeachment has always been as was said by a congressman in 2008 when a president puts his personal interests above those of the american people, and that congressman was mike pence then sitting in congress now the vice president. that sa always been the standar. this july 25th phone call transcript we don t even have the full transcript but just what the president himself has released is so damning. and this president and his allies throw up chaff and distraction. and witness yesterday all the stuff happening at the hearing. there s only one thing you have to look at. it s the transcript, and it s a core impeachable offense. and neal, it s rhythmically strange for people who grew up on the architecture of the watergate investigation as the classic washington investigation
let s get perspective from neal katyal and just out with a book impeach, the case against donald trump. the republican s prebuttal report said there is no evidence of extortion or high crime or misdemeanor. your book says the opposite this is simple straightforward case of a core impeachable offense. exactly. so, anderson, i wrote the book as a simple guide for americans to understand what is going on. and it begins we asking the question why is impeachment in the constitution and a lot of our founders like eldridge gary said it shouldn t be in there at all because we have reelection campaigns and that should be enough to check a president and others like madison and hamilton said what if you have a president who is beholden to a foreign power or if you have a president that tries to interfere with the reelection. that is the instance of of our
she called it poppycock. chairman adam schiff weighing in calleding the gop effort intended for an audience of one. republicans for their part writing, and i quote, the democrats impeachment inquiry is not the organic outgrowth of serious misconduct. it is an orchestrated campaign to upend our political system. the democrats are trying to impeach a duly elected president based on the accusations and assumptions of unelected bureaucrats who disagreed with president trump s policy initiatives and processes. let s get some perspective now from neal katyal, who served as acting solicitor general during the obama administration. he s just out with the book impeach, the case against donald trump. the republicans prebuttal report says there s no evidence of bribery, extortion, or any high crime or misdemeanor. your book says the opposite, that this is a straightforward case of a core impeachable offense. exactly. so, anderson, you know, i wrote
the point is that it wasn t just soliciting foreign help, it was leveraging the powers that go with the office to intervene in our policy whether it s with tariffs and trade with china or helping the little ukrainian defense against the powerful russian bear. that is that matter of taking the power of the presidency and using it for selfish purchases that is the core impeachable offense. and that could be a central article of impeachment, not an article that gets lost in technical detail. and we have vaufrp wale all the evidence we need to start writing that article, and i look forward to helping to write it. have you been contacted? well, i don t talk about my direct contacts, but i ve had friends and former students who are on the hill, and advise them