President Donald J. Trump earned his impeachment. Evidence that he used his position as president to withhold aid to an ally in a war for its very existence – not to aid this nation but for his personal political gain – is not refuted by witnesses or documents.
His calls for foreign intervention in America’s elections, including by rivals China and Russia, have been open and brazen. The use of his power as president to thwart every constitutionally mandated effort to investigate his actions justify the charge of contempt of Congress.
That Trump would be impeached at some point was inevitable. Upon taking office he promised to be “so presidential you will be bored.” His tenure, marked by thousands of tweets and myriad falsehoods, has been anything but.
Trump never understood the rules and laws of governing nor did he care to, making an abuse of power a near certainty. And so Trump, America’s 45th president, became the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.
So partisan are these times, and so willing are Republicans to put power and party above duty and principle, that Trump was impeached solely by the Democratic majority. That was unfortunate but necessary given the strong likelihood that he and his aides, protected by a servile cabinet, would invite efforts that could compromise the fairness of the next election.
The next step in the process calls for the articles of impeachment, the charges if you will, to be sent to the Senate, which will sit as a jury, one that requires a two-thirds majority to convict and oust a president. The question now is when will or should those articles of impeachment be delivered to the Senate.
It appears that won’t happen until after Congress returns from its holiday recess on
Jan. 7.
The delivery date will be up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats, who are loath to have their case judged by a kangaroo court eager to exonerate the president as quickly as possible without hearing from the first-hand witnesses Trump has refused to allow to appear. Among them are Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, Trump’s Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and John Bolton, a former national security adviser.
The rules for the Senate trial will be set by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has publicly stated that he is determining them in concert with the White House. Democrats rightly take that as a sign that the fix is in.
If ever there is carved a Mount Rushmore of hypocrisy, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell will be at its center. Next to him will be Sen. Lindsey “Tilt-a-Whirl’ Graham of South Carolina.
The Constitution calls for all senators in an impeachment trial to take an “Oath or Affirmation.” That oath will read something akin to “I solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: So help me God.” But McConnell has already announced that “I am not an impartial juror.” Graham was equally blunt: “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.”
Speaker Pelosi is right to delay the handoff of the articles of impeachment until she is convinced the process will be as fair as possible. If that day is weeks or months in coming, so be it.