RUSH: Okay. Marco in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Great to have you, sir. Hello.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush. I’d like to offer, for your always astute consideration, that the Democrats true motive here is to derail President Trump’s ability to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. What they need is one witness that he invokes executive privilege on; they insist the Supreme Court make a ruling on it, which wouldn’t come ’til June. They suspend it. “There’s no way that the president can deal with a Supreme Court vacancy when he’s under the possibility of conviction after impeachment,” and, of course, that also opens up five months for new evidence to arise.

RUSH: No question. There’s no question that’s part of the mix of what many of the objectives here are.

CALLER: You know, Jerry Nadler… Senator Cruz came out and said yesterday that Nadler made a tactical error on Hunter Biden, and now Hunter Biden needs to testify. We know Hunter Biden would just invoke the Fifth Amendment. We’d really get nothing from Hunter Biden. They need this executive privilege fight as a battle.

RUSH: The Democrats, you mean.

CALLER: The Democrats, yes.

RUSH: The Democrats want the executive privilege battle because that extends everything. That turns it over to the courts — and while anything’s in the hands of the courts, a judicial nominee cannot be taken action on. Action can’t be taken on one while this is happening. That’s your theory.

CALLER: Well, I think so, and then of course when they resume and at the end of the June, you get into all of the summer delays. You get closer to the election. “We can’t fill it now. It’s too close to the election.” They would do everything to obstruct it. I do think that makes sense as to why they’re acting (crosstalk).

RUSH: Well, it’s one of the many reasons. There’s no doubt that it’s a factor, but it goes beyond just this. I think in the long range, if they could take back the Senate in the 2020 election while losing to Trump — but if they could get the Senate to go along with keeping the House — then that’s the end of Trump’s judicial nominees. They’re over. That’s one objective here. Your theory is that they really want the executive privilege battle, because that obviously goes to the courts.

The courts have to adjudicate that; then that puts a month-long delay. Courts take that long to review and then there’s the appeal after the review — and you’re right. (sigh) Now, the Hunter Biden thing, I’m gonna have a tough time expressing this because I’ve not tried to express it publicly before. I keep seeing that the Republicans now have the advantage to calling Joe Biden and Hunter Biden because Schiff has screwed up by misrepresenting what Trump said on the phone call — and he did.

He lied through his teeth about that phone call.

This, in a standard court of law, is the equivalent of the prosecution opening the door, whereas before they couldn’t go get Biden because Biden’s not in the article of impeachment. Biden’s not in the case; Republicans can’t go do it because he’s not. But they’ve now opened the door. They’ve made it a part of the case because Schiff lied about the phone call, and the Republicans — i.e., the defense — now have the option, and any judge would say they’ve got the option to defend themselves against the defamation that Schiff engaged in.

And that would then allow them to call Joe and Hunter Biden. Now, I know that there is a lot of energy on the part of many on our side to call Biden, and to call Hunter and to get ’em up there and have this explained and have it exposed. But, folks, there’s an instinct. Something tells me: Just get this over with as soon as possible — and forget witnesses, forget the Bidens! Handle that in the presidential campaign.

It’s just a total waste of time, and it’s extending this, which in my mind is an already illegitimate process because everything that’s come before this is illegitimate, the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, the phone call with Ukraine, none of this is legitimate. They’ve had to make up the so-called facts in the articles of impeachment. There’s not even an impeachable offense. There’s not a crime that has been found, mentioned, elucidated. This whole thing is a sham.

The House, the Democrats have succeeded in taking over the Senate and basically converting it into the Democrat National Committee. For this week, last week, and however many weeks this goes. And by that I mean this is nothing more than an anti-Trump TV commercial with no end. And the Republican response is gonna be tomorrow on Saturday when nobody’s gonna be watching. I mean, the numbers are dwindling each and every day. And anything that prolongs this, in my humble estimation, is a mistake.

Now, I know that there are other points of view, other opinions, “No, Rush, get the Bidens in there and get this nuked once and for all. Have it shown to the American people how corrupt Biden is, how his family has profited gazillions after gazillions every year Joe Biden’s been in government.” Fine. I don’t think that’s gonna happen in this trial. Biden is a former senator. There is a collegial, fraternal existence. These guys go out of the way to protect each other.

I think the presidential campaign is — if you want to go after the Bidens either whether or not he gets the nomination, the Democrat side is the place to do it. Anything that extends this, to me, is a tactical and strategic mistake. And there’s one other thing along those same lines. Is anybody concerned about the effect all this is having on Trump? I know you all think he’s superhuman. And I know you all think he’s invincible.

But I don’t think any of us have the slightest idea what it’s been like for three years every damn day to be lied about, slandered, libeled, family attacked, very existence attacked, the entire government of the United States trying to ruin you each and every day while you are doing everything you think you can to improve this country and life for as many of your countrymen, as many Americans as you can.

I don’t know if this is having any kind of deleterious impact on Trump or his health, but I will damn well guarantee that they’re trying for that. I know damn well without knowing it per se, I know one of the things they’re hoping is that Trump caves. I know they’re hoping that he will eventually crack under the never-ending pressure of this. And they don’t know how he’s gonna crack, whether he’ll beg for peace, stop it, “Okay. I promise I won’t run” or admit to something or whatever, trying to stop it.

But it’s never going to stop, is the point. And my problem with the media, even our media, our media’s getting off covering this, “Oh, this is so much fun to cover.” I can’t tell you the number of people that have said, “Rush, you gotta be loving this.” I said, “Why?” “Oh, look at the material you’ve got to work with!” Screw that! The impact of this on the country is something that’s huge. It’s not worth it just to have material every day. For crying out loud, folks.

But I do think even some of our media, “Oh, my God. We’re gonna have an impeachment — oh, wow — and we’re gonna have a trial — oh, wow. We’re gonna have coverage 24/7. We’re gonna be on the broadcast networks. Oh, wow.” Instead of actually analyzing what this is, the damage that it potentially could cause when it’s illegitimate, when the whole thing is a gigantic fraud, and yet to cover it as though it’s some sort of real thing.

Giving it a dose of respectability that Adam Schiff doesn’t deserve, that Nadler doesn’t deserve, that Pelosi doesn’t deserve. They don’t deserve respectability for what they’ve done here. “But, Rush, it’s only the fourth time it’s happened in America history.” I don’t care. It is bogus. And, just for the record, I don’t need crap like this to have material for a good show every day.

I’m not somebody that can divorce myself from this and act like this has no impact on my life or the rest of our lives or the future of the country because it does. This deserves to be squashed, and the people bringing this need to be humiliated and embarrassed, from Pelosi and Schiff on down. Instead of being granted all kinds of respect, a bunch of lying skunks.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Okay, folks, I have to get out of here for the weekend. Be back here on Monday. I just want to remind you: Jonathan Turley has said that this impeachment that the Democrats are running, this whole thing is gonna go down as one of the greatest historic blunders in American political history. The House is completely unmoored by history and by the law. Time will tell. I hope that judgment is accurate and that it happens soon.