There’s a neat little trick at the heart of one of the most common criticisms of the House impeachment inquiry. That criticism offers that the push to investigate President Trump’s interactions with Ukraine is tainted by partisanship, a function of hyperactive Democrats seeking to oust a president they hate. …
During Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing focused on impeachment, minority counsel Paul Taylor, questioning constitutional law professor Johnathan Turley, used a more specific version of the this-is-just-partisan-Democrats argument.
“Professor Turley, your testimony, you said that when it comes to impeachment, we don’t need happy ideological warriors; we need circumspect legal analysis,” Taylor said. “But let’s take a quick look at the deeply partisan landscape on which this particularly partisan impeachment is being waged.” He showed a map of 2016 election results. “I mean, the Democratic leaders pushing Trump’s impeachment represent some of the most far-left urban coastal areas of the country,” he continued. …
The problem with Taylor’s chart, though, is that it doesn’t actually show what he’s suggesting. CONT.
Philip Bump, Washington Post