Russia.
Assume for a second that Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is speaker of the House and that she’s agreed to go forward with the Democrats who want to immediately begin the impeachment process for President Trump. What is the specific crime or action they would cite to justify the proceeding?
Has anyone heard the exact crime or action that Trump engaged in that would justify impeachment? Democrats talk generally about “obstruction of justice,” or Trump’s “conduct,” but the specifics are curiously light, considering the gravity of what they propose.
Republicans complained about former President Bill Clinton’s “conduct” in office, but they at least had some specific charge — Clinton’s under-oath lie to a grand jury about his sexual affair with a White House intern and his efforts to conceal evidence from investigators.
Sometimes, Democrats talk about the “10 instances” or "10 episodes" in the special counsel report related to obstruction, but which one is an impeachable offense? Most often cited is Trump’s June 2017 phone call to his lawyer, Don McGahn, wherein, according to the report, Trump “directed him to call the Acting Attorney General and say that the Special Counsel had conflicts of interest and must be removed.” But McGahn refused the request, and Mueller wasn't removed. The special counsel remained in place for another two years and completed his investigation. He found no conspiracy between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia.
That has been the final result ever since the special counsel report was released in April. Yes, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey (which the report says was within his authority as president); he asked former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reassert some control over the special counsel (that didn’t happen); and he publicly criticized associates once they were in legal jeopardy and might offer damaging information to prosecutors as part of a plea deal. (Importantly, this is not a crime.)
Impeaching Trump for any one of these, or all of them, would have been like impeaching Clinton for even just thinking about having an affair or for asking his lawyer whether he should lie to the grand jury.
I know that House Democrats are angry and don’t like Trump, but there’s a reason that the standard for impeachment is “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” and not just “I really, really hate the orange man!” The process isn’t supposed to be a political plaything.
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