Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has made sensational statements into a signature style over the last couple years. However, this week Swalwell appears to be contesting the touchstone of due process: the presumption of innocence. On Tuesday, Swalwell declared that, President Donald Trump refuses to give Congress the documents and witnesses that it has demanded, he is clearly guilty of all charged offenses. Swalwell declared “We can only conclude that you’re guilty.” Trump has gone to the courts to challenge the demands under presidential immunities and privileges.

I was pleased to see that the Judiciary Committee dropped previous claims of bribery, extortion, campaign finance and obstruction of justice as the basis for impeachment. I testified that the repeated assurances on these allegations from members, legal analysts, and my fellow witnesses were well outside the definitions for these crimes. The Committee ultimately went forward with the only two articles that I viewed as legitimate while rejecting my arguments to wait to build a sufficient record for submission to the Senate. I have received considerable criticism for my long opposition to the bribery theory as unsustainable as an impeachable offense. Thus, I was interested in hearing from the two members who were most adamant in their past declarations that bribery was established: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff. Speaker Pelosi has now responded and her answer is far from satisfying. Frankly, calling the evidence of bribery “devastating” is a lot like calling the Ukrainian call “perfect.” It can be dismissed as hyperbolic but Pelosi was declaring the expected basis for the impeachment of an American president.