Following up on his previous call for caution in the effort in the United States House of Representatives to impeach President Donald Trump, George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley on Wednesday presented to the House Judiciary Committee oral testimony and an extensive written statement regarding the case as it now stands for impeaching the president. Unlike other witnesses at the hearing, Turley did not give the deed his blessing.
There was quite a backlash against Turley for presenting his contrary opinion at the committee hearing. In a Thursday The Hill editorial, Turley writes:
Before I finished my testimony, my home and office were inundated with threatening messages and demands that I be fired from George Washington University for arguing that, while a case for impeachment can be made, it has not been made on this record.
Further, notes Turley: “Some of the most heated attacks came from Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee.” He proceeds in his editorial to discuss comments from committee member Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) as examples. Turley notes that these and other “attacks” at the hearing were “demonstrably false.” Yet, because Turley was not allowed to respond, the attacks were “then picked up eagerly by others.”
