WASHINGTON—Not long after Congressman Adam Schiff had wrapped up the prosecution’s case, and pretty much wrapped the administration* in heavy chains and barbed wire, Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, stepped up to a bank of microphones in the basement of the Capitol to announce that he was not afraid of the president*. Oh, no. Not him. Not Senator James Lankford.

One of the most remarkable moments of the night was when Adam Schiff said that Republicans were told that their head would be on a pike by the president if they vote against him. That is completely, totally false. All of us were shaking our heads saying, “Where in the world did that story come from?”

[Ed. Note: it came from a CBS reporter on Thursday night, and Schiff did refer to it at the end of his presentation, and there was a collective gasp from the Republican side of the chamber. The scramble for the fainting couches looked more like the Royale Rumble. More on this in a moment.]

Adam Schiff just kept saying it, over and over again, as if it were true, It’s kind of the story of the whole three days of this invented story, weaving through bits of facts, but all this fiction weaved in it, and then to be able to cap it off by saying, “...and all these Republicans live in fear of the president that their heads will be on pikes.” Not true. None of us have been told that by the president. No truth to that at all.”

Lankford was very displeased—and yet the simple fact is that he and the rest of the caucus are terrified of crossing the president*. Tom Williams Getty Images

Lankford was speaking just as a general outbreak of fauxtrage was rising over Schiff’s alleged act of impolitesse. Senator Lisa Murkowski explained that Schiff had “lost her” by quoting the CBS report, and Susan Collins was Susan Collinsing.

"Not only have I never heard the ‘head on the pike’ line," Collins said in a statement, "but also I know of no Republican senator who has been threatened in any way by anyone in the administration.”

Remarkably, but unsurprisingly, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia lent support to the mannequin chorus. From Politico:

"I don't know why he would do that. That could have been left out, that's for sure," said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who wants witnesses and could in theory be swayed to acquit the president. Manchin said Schiff was "very articulate" and "very compelling" but Manchin acknowledged the misstep: "A lot of my colleagues, it was upsetting to them.”

Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, followed Lankford to the microphones on Friday night, and he was having none of it.

There’s a fear that Republicans have. They know that if they vote against him, this president might come into their states and campaign against them, will call them names. There’s a palpable fear in them that you see too often in this body. I go back to the Iraq War. When I voted against it 20 years ago, there was a fear created in this town. Fear does business here. I think you’re seeing that with Senate Republicans. They’re afraid to do the right thing.

The fact that when Adam Schiff said that thing about the spike, the head on the spike, that was the only time I heard a loud, audible reaction from the Republican side in the entire four days, and methinks you protesteth too much. We know the president attacks people who work for him. We know he attacks politicians and others by name. And we know that there is fear of him throughout the Republican caucus.

In any event, considering that Saturday began the defense case, which was guaranteed to be full of invective and falsehoods, I do hope the poor dears manage to come through with their mellows unharshed. Fear is doing very good business in Washington these days.

Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io