What's It For

Things change by the minute, but there's still a sense that enough Dems just want us to get past this bit of narrow ugliness and move on.

In lieu of justice, what I would like is answers. I would like the full story, a complete and detailed account of everyone’s involvement in everything. The whistleblower’s complaint is in large part an explanation of how dedicated the White House is to avoiding public disclosure of malfeasance. The fact that we are able to read it today is proof that impeachment is not a goal in and of itself, but a tool for ferreting out the truth. It should convince any skeptic that an impeachment inquiry should be wide-ranging and inclusive of all the president’s most serious scandals, from his apparent family history of tax fraud, to his ongoing abuse of office for self-enrichment, to his well-documented attempts at obstruction of justice.

The New York Times counts twelve active congressional investigations into White House misconduct. The speed with which the Ukraine scandal has unfolded, and the administration’s panicked acquiescence to disclosure demands once House Democrats made impeachment semi-official, should be a blueprint for getting to the bottom of all of those things.