It's Draft Time: Impeachment Edition

[Dill]

(05-11-2017, 11:39 PM)hollodero Wrote: I want to add a question, since it's the impeachment thread: Can this actually bring him down? Directly connecting firing Comey to made up Russia/Trump story and/or asking the FBI director for information about an ongoing investigation against his team. That looks very wrong to me.

Section 4 Article 2 in the Constitution of the US says the president and vice president can be removed for "high crimes and misdemeanors."  "High crimes" here means violations of the trust and responsibility uniquely placed upon representatives of the people in high office.  There is little specific defintion of high crimes for a US president. It is an office, above all others, whose holders have (with the exception of Jackson) been uniquely careful of appearances and deferential to tradition. They have largely policed themselves very well.

Boorish Trump has not cared a fig for any of that; he has not read about it, does not understand it, no interest in learning--hence his constant violation of precedent and protocol, accidental as often as deliberate.

So what constitutes a "high crime" here depends upon how one interprets Trump's actions. My legal political opinion: If it turns out that his people colluded with Russia to affect the election in return for favors afterword, and he knew about that, then yes. Impeachment. He colluded with a foreign power to violate national security. Even with a Republican Congress and Senate.

If his people colluded and he didn't know about it, but used his presidential power to obstruct justice, then I and many Democrats would want impeachment, but I doubt a Republican Congress would do that (given the hyper-partisan Republicans we have now). There are many ways to fudge "obstruction" here, since firing people like Comey and Yates was his right. You have seen how people in this forum can throw up smoke and equivocation around Trump's blunders. Imagine what the professionals can do.

Just for asking Comey about the investigation--I don't think that rises to "high crime" in the case of someone who still doesn't know how government works. And if the investigation dies now, he has certainly gotten away with his bad behavior.

But the story is not over yet. The investigation continues. Trump, flaking under pressure (you saw him during the debates), will likely make more errors, or create stupid distractions--hit North Korea with missiles, tear up the Iran deal. He will fire Priebus or Bannon and lose swaths of support. Mc Masters will maybe resign. More missteps will follow; he will try to intimidate some "independent" office, and one, or a combination, will get us to impeachment or resignation or removal for health reasons. It won't go four years.