CNN Panel Erupts at Paul Begala’s Stunning Prediction: ‘This Is Not the Last Impeachment We Will Cover of Donald J. Trump’

CNN political commentator Paul Begala ignited chaos on a CNN panel when he boldly predicted, tapping his finger on the desk for emphasis, that: “This is not the last impeachment we will cover for [President] Donald J. Trump.”

Begala’s stunning claim, which came during a special, one-hour Monday-night impeachment special, were made amidst a discussion of the two articles of impeachment that House Democrats are reportedly planning to unveil on Tuesday morning. Begala noted that the impeachment process is not a “single-shot weapon” and that the ongoing court fight around compelling the testimony of a former Trump White House counsel could create another Constitutional crisis for the president. A federal court ruled in late November that said counsel, Don McGahn, could not ignore a Congressional subpoena, but the Trump Justice Department has appealed that decision.

“Going forward, if and when, the courts do say that say Don McGahn had to testify. If the White House, the President — opposes a Supreme Court order to comply, that could change it dramatically,” Begala said. “This impeachment maybe done by then. But you know what, impeachment is not a single shot weapon. The Constitution does not say it’s a one-and-done deal. This is not the last impeachment we’ll cover of Trump.” And as Begala finished making those comments, he repeatedly stabbed the desk to reinforce his prediction.

The CNN panel immediately reacted in shock at his claim, interrupting each other to respond.

“What?! What?!” a stunned Gloria Borger replied, tilting her head in confusion, as others nervously laughed at the prospect of another impeachment.

“You would, Scott, your reaction…” a clearly perplexed Anderson Cooper said, to Republican adviser and CNN contributor Scott Jennings.

“Impeachment today! Impeachment tomorrow! Impeachment forever!” Jennings exclaimed, mocking Begala with a paraphrase of Dixiecrat George Wallace’s infamously intransigent 1963 defense of racial segregation.

Begala, however, did not back down. “Because it’s criminality!” he yelled out, matching Jennings in volume. “Criminality today! Criminality tomorrow! Criminality forever! The guy’s a one-man crime wave!”

“At a certain point, I mean, doesn’t it…defeat the purpose? It has a losing value?” Cooper haltingly asked about the prospect of multiple impeachments.

“If he defies the Supreme Court, it changes everything,” Begala claimed. “I don’t think 43 [percent] stick with him, maybe 33 [percent].”

“Maybe the Supreme Court will rule for him,” Begala said. But if the Supreme Court says [Trump’s] aides have to testify about this criminal matter, and then he says ‘No!’ Didn’t [President Andrew] Jackson refuse the Supreme Court order and nobody has since?”

“Andrew Jackson did,” CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin confirmed. “He said: ‘[Chief Justice John] Marshall has made his ruling, let him enforce it.’ In other words, he had no power to enforce it. But [Presdient] Richard Nixon in 1974 was told to turn over the tapes by the Supreme Court and did. And was in that was the coup de grace, the end of impeachment. But let’s slow our roll a bit about [Trump] losing. There’s not a case even before the Supreme Court, much less a defiance of a losing case. I think the overwhelming odds, given the speed we’re going, is we have the witnesses we’ll have and these are the facts we’ll have. And we’ll see what the result is.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.