Trump’s Calling Impeachment Transcripts Fake—Before They Are Public—Shows Just How Bad They Are For Him

President Donald Trump appears to have launched a new defensive strategy amid the politically damaging and ongoing impeachment inquiry which suggests just how bad things are currently going for him. And that strategy seems to be sowing doubt in the veracity of actual evidence that could be used against him.

The President of the United States promoting a conspiracy theory? There was a time when that would have been a laughable concept. But such tactics are not only the new normal in the Trump Administration, but also shockingly effective in maintaining support amongst his blindly loyal base of supporters.

Amidst what seemed a frenzied series of defensive tweets Sunday evening, President Trump curiously claimed that Rep. Adam Schiff “will change the words” of deposition transcripts to “suit the Dems purposes.”

In other words, if transcripts released from depositions conducted by the House Intel Committee as part of the impeachment inquiry look bad for Trump? Well, then they must be fake.

Trump tweeted:

If Shifty Adam Schiff, who is a corrupt politician who fraudulently made up what I said on the “call,” is allowed to release transcripts of the Never Trumpers & others that are & were interviewed, he will change the words that were said to suit the Dems purposes. Republicans…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2019

….should give their own transcripts of the interviews to contrast with Schiff’s manipulated propaganda. House Republicans must have nothing to do with Shifty’s rendition of those interviews. He is a proven liar, leaker & freak who is really the one who should be impeached!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2019

In some respects, Schiff can blame himself for opening up this line of attack. During his opening statement in a Senate Intel hearing on Sept. 26, Schiff used hyperbole and shorthand designed to simplify and reframe details from the transcript of the phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinsky, that lays at the heart of the whistleblower complaint that launched this investigation.

Schiff drew sharp criticism, from Trump and his allies and even to a degree from outside that camp, over his taking of literary liberties in that “paraphrase”-style opening statement, which of course ignores the fact that Trump himself leads the entire league in exaggeration, misdirection, and outright falsehoods.

Nevertheless, Schiff’s hyperbole does leave the opening to claim a fast-and-loose grip on factual detail, and that allows at least a plausible, if not reasonable, basis saying there’s a question about the future accuracy of deposition transcripts. Trump’s proposed remedy for this hypothesized ailment is that Republican members of the House release their own transcripts of the questioning.

That’s interesting on two counts. First, because so much for the myth of secret proceedings, right? Republicans have been so adamant about this all being done in secret behind their backs they’ve called them “Soviet-style” proceedings. But now Trump gives away the game, arguing that these excluded Republicans somehow have their very own transcripts to share. Neat trick.

Second, how are Republicans any more trustworthy in releasing verified and factual information? In service of this administration, hasn’t the GOP been far more willing to fudge facts than Adam Schiff’s snark-o-logue? To pull a random example of this out of thin air: Remember the time they said the proceedings were secret Soviet-style subterfuge, but then Trump tweeted that they have their own transcripts? Oh right!

Finally, the question of Democratic vs. Republican released transcripts can easily be resolved by releasing the recordings of the actual depositions, the existence of which will certainly keep the “fake” transcripts that Trump warns about from ever happening.

The question at hand, of course, is WHY the Commander in Chief would suggest, prior to release, that the documents would fake? Well, it is his usual game plan to undermine anything that could potentially hurt him, up to and including smearing decorated veterans. So it could just be rote.

Or it could be specific, this time. If the depositions were in any way an exoneration of Trump on the alleged quid pro quo then Trump would certainly not be laying a foundation that they were fake. He might try to seed a question about them being incomplete…but fake?

According to Occam’s Razor that the simplest solution is most likely the right one, there is a decent chance that the depositions are so damning to Trump that his only recourse is to undermine their veracity. It is, ironically, a real example of “fake news” or propaganda designed to benefit the ruling power.

It is NOT hyperbole to call this strategy and example fascism, as this tactic was invented by OG fascist, Benito Mussolini. Is Trump a fascist? No, but this tactic is straight from that playbook. And if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck…

Attacking the ephemeral nature of meaning is nothing new with President Trump. It’s become something of a time-honored tactic, in fact. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham recently explained why there was no “war room” in battling looming impeachment proceedings but noting that “Trump is the War Room.”

This is almost certainly such an example.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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