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The Impeachment of Donald Trump

Americans know Trump's impeachment story, but Jeffrey Toobin tells it really well, and he adds details that I had missed, details I'll now always remember:

*During the silly attempt to disrupt impeachment proceedings, Republicans bought many pizzas. The pizza-for-politicians came from an artisanal pizzeria; the pizza for reporters, a "gift," came from Domino's. Reporters mostly avoided the pizza, so it congealed in its box. (This chapter is called "Two Kinds of Pizza," perhaps a reference to the novel "Two Kinds of Truth.")

*Nancy Pelosi works longer days than any colleague's days, and that's not even factoring in the hair appointment that precedes literally every single day that she is on the job. Manafort once purchased a $15,000 "ostrich coat." Trump's long red tie is weirdly long for the specific goal of paunch-concealment. When Alan Dershowitz popped up recently, he was taking a break from life in a retirement home. After embarrassing himself, he returned to the home. The Democrats had trumpets and fanfare involving special "impeachment pens," but the Republicans made a point of using normal pens. No Republican signed a name in multiple inks; one Republican signature, one kind of ink.

*The Ukraine business can seem a bit abstract, so Toobin provides a helpful anecdote. Sometimes, an aggressor country will fire a kind of rocket at you. There is a device that will alert you to the presence of the rocket, around 30 seconds before impact. Then you can throw yourself out of your home or your quarters, for safety. This keeps you alive. Ukrainians needed this device to protect themselves from Russians. This was one of the things at stake when Trump withheld funding, having asked for "an announcement about a Biden investigation" (NOT an investigation, but "an announcement about an investigation").

Lesser writers wouldn't acknowledge that seemingly tiny details--hair, pens, coats--always, always matter. We all make choices about our hair. It is never uninteresting to read a hair tidbit. And so Toobin makes you feel you are in the world of Anthony Trollope, even as you are reading about e-mail deletion.

Most Toobin books leave you feeling impotent and furious, and this one isn't an exception. But what a story. You can always put down a book -- but Toobin's book is actually difficult to ignore. Once you've started.
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