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Impeachment and Iran

MIT political scientist Adam Berinsky on whether bombing Iran will boost Trump’s favorability.

This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would finally send impeachment articles to the Senate. Why now? What is the Senate trial shaping up to look like? And how will things change if former National Security Advisor John Bolton testifies before the Senate? Andrew Prokop has the answers on this week’s Impeachment, Explained.

Then, the most popular question I’ve gotten over the past week is: Did Trump bomb Iran to distract from impeachment? This reflects a broader view that presidents routinely start foreign conflicts to distract from domestic political troubles. Is that true? And if it is true, does it work? MIT political scientist Adam Berinsky, author of In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to Iraq, joins me with the facts.

And, at the end, a few thoughts on what the Senate Republicans’ resistance to hearing from witnesses reveals about the impossible problem this impeachment process has posed.

You can subscribe to Impeachment, Explained on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get podcasts.

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