On Wednesday, a couple of dozen GOP members of Congress walked into the SCIF in the House of Representatives to protest the secrecy Adam Schiff has imposed on the process for taking depositions and disrupted it. Panties were soiled and moistened as the bit of theater was portrayed as some sort of offense against national security:

Read

No, Republicans Entering The SCIF To Protest Schiff Did Not Endanger National Security
In A Shocking Turn Of Event Vichy Conservatives Are Outraged By GOP Representatives Invading The Holy Sanctum Of The House SCIF
Heh: House Republicans Who Stormed SCIF Commit The Ultimate Sin By Enjoying Chick-Fil-A During Sit-In
“Journalist” Gets Torched After Demanding Republican SCIF “Invaders” Be Investigated For Foreign Allegiances
GOP Now Holding Sit-In For Impeachment Transparency, Democrats Having A Meltdown

Now Bloomberg, the news outlet most famous for misrepresenting the Facebook messages of a Trump Administration official in an attempt to get him fired, is reporting that the White House knew in advance of the theater on The Hill.

A group of Republicans disrupted a hearing of the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry Wednesday by storming into a secure room at the Capitol in a protest carried out with the blessing of President Donald Trump.

The two dozen or so GOP House members are among some of Trump’s staunchest defenders in Congress, and at least some of them met with the president Tuesday where they outlined a plan to crash the hearing, according to several people familiar with the matter. Trump supported the action, saying he wanted the transcripts of the hearings released because they will exonerate him, the people said.

Why this is considered news is anyone’s guess. The only explanation that I can come up with is that, at some level, the media and Democrats a) don’t believe that Republicans are capable of planning anything and b) they are convinced deep down in what passes for their souls that any action by the GOP is illegitimate and a scandal.

Of course, the White House knew. Of course, Trump knew. Why, in the name of heaven, would House members want to do this and not tell the White House so it could energize its PR apparatus? You’re going to see more of this and you’re going to see more and more White House involvement. The House Democrats have already decided that they will not follow the model used during the Nixon and Clinton impeachment episodes. Fine. They can do that. The House, unambiguously, has the right to create its own rules. If a House majority decided that Nancy Pelosi could “deem” impeachment, they could do that. None of that means that either the President or the House GOP caucus or the Senate GOP caucus has to treat those rules as legitimate.

The best path for President Trump, now that it seems like a decision has been made to impeach without a House vote, is to make the process look ridiculous and clown-like. Thankfully, as Schiff and Nadler are involved, that is not difficult. By making the process a parody, he can delegitimize it in its entirety and make even such weak sisters in the Senate as Romney and Murkowski and Collins queasy about voting to convict.

As Matt Gaetz said, you don’t fight a pack of rabid hyenas using Marquis of Queensbury rules.

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