Keller @ Large: Will Trump Survive Ukraine Call, Whistleblower Complaint?
BOSTON (CBS) - On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ordered President Richard Nixon to turn over tapes of 64 White House conversations, some of which incriminated him in the cover-up of the Watergate burglary.
Two weeks later, Nixon was gone.
Is the discovery of President Trump's ham-handed efforts to enlist the Ukrainian government in a dirt-digging expedition on Joe Biden and Thursday's release of a whistleblower complaint that alleges cover-up activities leading us toward comparable events?
We can already see that the contours of the Trump/Ukraine fiasco – an easily-understandable breach of public trust in which the president places his personal political agenda over the national interest – are disturbing to the public. Despite clear public distaste for the concept of removal of an elected president, a new YouGov poll shows 55% strongly or somewhat support impeachment if it is determined that the president suspended military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure the Ukrainians to probe Biden.
(Keep in mind, impeachment does not equal removal – that final step would require a two-thirds vote in the GOP-dominated Senate, which for now seems highly unlikely.)
Related: Impeachment Process: Here's How It Works
House leadership has reportedly decided to focus its impeachment hearings on the Ukraine affair, and based on the whistleblower's charges, that seems to be fertile ground. What is in the actual transcript of the now-notorious July phone call, not just the edited summary with its suspicious ellipses? What other documents were moved into a highly-classified server along with that transcript?
These are the questions you'll be hearing about over the coming hours, days, and months. Perhaps the answers will be benign enough to deflate the political danger.
But Nixon also seemed to be surviving Watergate – until the tapes dropped. And almost overnight, his steadfast political support in Congress evaporated.
Better buckle your seatbelt.
