I agree completely and I have been posting since the beginning of this affair that it was foolish to base the defense on absence of quid pro quo because the Democrats whole exercise was to find collateral evidence of a quid pro quo. It matters not whether the evidence was by hearsay, the whole point of the exercise is to damage the president not to actually remove him from office which was always understood by the Democrats not to be a realistic goal.
Even conservative observers on Fox have concluded that there was in fact a quid pro quo but simply observe that it is not important enough to impeach, using the oft repeated line, "does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense."
Not only does it fail to rise to that level but it is not an offense at all. The president is fully authorized by his constitutional role as chief executive, as chief law enforcement officer of the nation, under statute governing distribution of funds to foreign powers and under a statute governing distribution of funds to Ukraine to investigate corruption. His article to constitutional power cannot be diminished by statute and certainly not by Congress simply saying that it is-which is what they have done in this article of impeachment.
Joe Biden's own words as well as the dubious position of his son together with evidence unearthed by Rudy Giuliani, are all plausible reasons to investigate. If a president undertakes to investigate a potential political foe, he does not commit an impeachable offense simply because it might advance his political prospects. This remains true even if the president in so doing entertained a desire to advance his own election prospects. To do so would be to handcuff every president and shield corruption everywhere.
As long as the president has a plausible collateral reason to investigate his political enemies or rivals, he has committed no crime, no action against the national interest, no impeachable offense even if he is also motivated to advance his election.
The Senate should immediately move to dismiss the articles of impeachment because they failed to state a constitutionally identifiable offense justifying removal from office. To leave the matter hanging is to leave a pistol pointed at the temple of Donald Trump held in the hand of Nancy Pelosi who will no doubt pull the trigger at the most opportunistic occasion.
