Letters to the Editor: What will Trump’s GOP defenders say when more wrongdoing is uncovered?

To the editor: Columnist Doyle McManus believes the Republican-led Senate will continue to bury any legislative assault on President Trump. However, I believe there is a higher value in impeachment.

Further offenses by the president are likely to surface in the 11 months before the election. Senators who vote to acquit Trump will be required to explain their votes in the face of, potentially, emoluments clause violations, tax-evasion scams and more.

With Trump’s track record of violating legal norms, but with the attorney general and the Senate as his protectors, we can expect that the next 11 months will be a nonstop repetition of the obvious theme that Trump is a scofflaw.

I agree with McManus that Trump will almost certainly not be removed from office by impeachment, but I also believe that his supporters will pay a heavy price in the next election. The endgame of impeachment is not to undo Trump with a snap of the fingers, but to regain Democratic control of the White House, the House and the Senate when the people tire of Republican cover-ups.

Bill Gervasi, Ladera Ranch

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To the editor: I have a question for the people clamoring for the testimony of the president’s men, namely former national security advisor John Bolton and White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney: What makes you think they’re going to tell the truth?

Think back on Atty. Gen. William Barr’s reputation as a straight shooter five short years ago. What happened with that? Think about how many times you’ve said, “Nothing surprises me anymore; maybe he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue.”

I can see it now: The Senate trial is a big reality show climax, and the president is vindicated. They’re probably working on their stories right now.

How’s that for a good conspiracy theory?

Charles Goldwasser, West Hollywood

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To the editor: The evidence of Trump’s willful wrongdoing and the damage he has done domestically and internationally is staggering, yet there are those who would make impeachment a partisan issue.

This president has compromised national security and refuted the authority of Congress, neither of which was done because he is a Republican, but because he truly believes he is above the law.

If he is allowed to continue this way, we will be electing kings in the future, and the senators who help him now will be irrelevant.

Lynda Unterthiner, Santa Barbara