NEW YORK ¨C Even though public hearings on the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump have just begun, the subject has already become encrusted with legends and myths on all sides. In a polarized country, each side has its own talking points ¡ª and isn¡¯t paying enough attention to the other side to know when those points are based on errors. So far, three stand out.
Take White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney¡¯s famous remark that Trump¡¯s critics should ¡°get over it.¡± This was widely taken to be a brazen statement that it was fine for Trump to use foreign policy to seek to harm his political opponents. But that¡¯s not what Mulvaney was saying. Nor was CNN accurate in reporting, ¡°Mulvaney confirmed the existence of a quid pro quo and offered this retort: ¡®Get over it.¡¯¡±
Mulvaney¡¯s press conference was on Oct. 17. He mentioned news accounts about the previous day¡¯s testimony from a former State Department adviser, Michael McKinley. Those reports said that McKinley had quit because he was, as the Associated Press put it, ¡°disturbed by the politicization of foreign policy.¡±
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