Although the votes haven’t been taken yet, it’s nearly certain witnesses will be blocked and Trump will not be removed from office. No surprise.

David Lauter of the Los Angeles Times writes that impeachment could cost Trump dearly.

Johnson’s acquittal in May 1868 turned quickly to ashes: He ended his tenure less than 11 months later, reviled and rejected by much of the country. Clinton had a happier, but still mixed, fate: He remained personally popular, but the ethical cloud that remained over him after the Feb. 12, 1999, acquittal vote helped cause the defeat of Vice President Al Gore, who lost one of the closest presidential elections in history less than two years later.

And although he resigned before he was impeached, the stigma attached to Richard Nixon also. He is remembered mostly for being a crook.

Although polls are close on whether Trump should be removed from office, a substantial majority of voters think the Senate should have called witnesses. A Quinnipiac poll from this week:

On week two of the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, registered voters say 75 – 20 percent that witnesses should be allowed to testify in the impeachment trial, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN- uh-pea-ack) University national poll released today. Support for witness testimony includes 49 percent of Republicans, 95 percent of Democrats, and 75 percent of independents.

The 75 percent of independents is encouraging.

Many are calling for the Dems to keep investigating and calling for Trump to be held to account. See:

Josh Marshall, Bring Down the Hammer

Paul Waldman, What Democrats must do when impeachment is over

Martin Longman, If Trump is Acquitted, the House Democrats Should Press Ahead

And, I believe the congressional Democrats will press ahead. Even today there have been more damning revelations. A new leak from Bolton’s book says that Trump’s defense lawyer Pat Cipollone was present in the Oval Office when Trump pressed Bolton to apply pressure on Ukranians to extract damaging information on Democrats. He was part of the scheme, in other words.

And who knows what fresh hells await us? If Trump follows his pattern, he’ll do something even worse next week.