For all the cries about it being political persecution, I haven’t seen anyone prove any of the evidence being used against him is false.
The whole reason “persecution” is the main talking point is exactly because there is no legitimate defense. There’s not even an illegitimate defense that they can float to the base, so the only thing left is “witch hunt”.
I’m not going to comment on the “should they have” question, but I think this is effective as yet another piece of evidence that the Democrats are not just “persecuting” the opposition party. If sham trials are acceptable and possible, why not use them as much as possible?