"Danger, Will Robinson!" Jay Sekulow and the Lost in Space Defense in the Senate Impeachment Trial

United States Senate Chamber

“Danger, danger!” said The Robot in the Irwin Allen television series, Lost in Space. In Season Three, The Robot uttered the immortal words, “Danger, Will Robinson!” These were my generation’s catchphrases, even more popular than “Beam me up.” President Donald Trump’s lawyers in the impeachment trial seemed to have spent much time rehashing the conspiracy theories that circulate on conservative media. They only occasionally said anything that resembles legal argument. So, to no one’s surprise, but much to my bemusement, Jay Sekulow, one of President Donald Trump’s attorneys, ended his rambling Senate trial speech a couple days ago by warning that impeachment was dangerous:

“Danger, danger, danger!”  Sekulow concluded.

What was dangerous? Here is what he said just before:

“… if partisan impeachment based on policy disagreements, which is what this is, and personal presumptions or newspaper reports and allegations in an unsourced—maybe this is in some-body’s book who is no longer at the White House—if that becomes the new norm, future Presidents, Democrats and Republicans, will be paralyzed the moment they are elected, before they can even take the oath of office.”

This makes sense only if one thinks that the extensive wrongdoing – which President Trump and his supporters repeatedly denied before the truth became inescapable – is a mere “policy disagreement.”

Sekulow continued:

“Majority Leader MCCONNELL, Democratic Leader SCHUMER, House managers, Members of the Senate – danger, danger, danger. These articles must be rejected. The Constitution requires it. Justice demands it.”

So, did the President’s attorney refer to Lost in Space on purpose? Or was his mind just thinking about fictional dangers? Or what?  Had he had already sunk so far into fear and fantasy that he no longer knew the difference between science fiction and real life? All the same, Sekulow’s science fiction-ish conclusion suited the overall tenor of the Republican defense. The House managers’ statement of facts, supported by documents, quotations, and sworn testimony, made it impossible to dispute what President Trump did or why he did it. Instead, his defenders rely on fear and conspiracy theories. I think the characters in Lost in Space uttered the word “danger“ in just about every episode. It makes sense that the president's attorneys would do the same.

Yes, people who defend President Trump’s innocence are living in a fantasy world. We all know they will never admit it out loud, but they suspect that their defense is fiction. It is much-publicized that the President’s attorneys have up given any attempt to dispute even one of the facts that the House impeachment managers laid out in their presentations. But, as part of his fearmongering, Trump's lawyer took his defense into the realm of science fiction. Should we be surprised?

As a great fan of science fiction and fantasy literature, I nevertheless know the difference between fiction and real life. Sadly, I’m not sure that President Trump’s attorneys still do. Anyone of Sekulow’s generation knows about Lost in Space and Will Robinson.  But with fearmongering, not logic or law, driving his argument, delving into science fiction made perfect sense. I suppose.

That is because, from one viewpoint, President Trump’s attorney was talking about what conservatives seem to care about the most this year: fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of things that are different, the fear that everyone is out to get them. In my next post, I’ll illustrate the fear-mongering conspiracy theories that Sekulow used to support his “danger, danger, danger!” absurdity. Stay tuned!

For people who still value facts and reason, I quote The Robot again to characterize the President's defense: “it does not compute.”

Scroll to page S626 at this link to read Mr. Sekulow’s conclusion in the Congressional Record.  

Official U.S. Senate Photo, Image via Wikimedia Commons