Ethics & Religion
Column #1,868
June 15, 2017
Trump Should Be Impeached
By Mike McManus
Three events this week offer fresh evidence of the crimes of President
Donald Trump, which should lead to his impeachment.
First, The Washington Post reported Thursday that Special Counsel Robert
Mueller is interviewing senior intelligence officials on "whether
President Trump attempted to obstruct justice." This investigation of
"Trump's conduct marks a major turning point in the nearly year-old FBI
investigation, which until recently focused on Russian meddling during
the presidential campaign and on whether there was any coordination
between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin," the Post reported.
The President had been assured by then-FBI Director James Comey on three
occasions beginning in January that he was not personally under
investigation. However, that changed shortly after Comey's firing.
Less than a week after Daniel Coats was confirmed by the Senate as the
Director of National Intelligence, Trump asked Coats and CIA Director
Mike Pompeo to meet with him privately. The President asked whether
"Coats could intervene with Comey to get the bureau to back off its
focus on former national security adviser Michael Flynn," according to
associates of Coats.
Of course, Trump made the same request of Comey, as he testified last
week to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
A couple of days later Trump called Coats and Admiral Mike Rogers, head
of the National Security Agency, asking them to issue public statements
denying the existence of any evidence of coordination between his
campaign and the Russian government.
Both men refused to comply with the President's request.
However, they provide corroborating evidence to Comey's, that the
President tried to stop the FBI's investigation, or to put it legally,
there was an "attempted obstruction of justice."
Trump acknowledged on NBC in an interview with Lester Holt, that he
fired Comey because of "this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a
made-up story."
This is quite similar to Watergate and the move to impeach Nixon. He
tried to use the powers of his office to stymie an FBI investigation.
Nixon was heard on tapes telling his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, to
call in the CIA and tell them "The president believes that...they should
call the FBI in and say that we wish for the country, don't go any
further into this case, period!"
With that proof that Nixon was engaged in the Watergate cover-up, top
Republican congressional leaders told Nixon he would be impeached if he
did not resign. Two days later Nixon resigned.
The Post reported, "Investigating Trump for possible crimes is a
complicated affair, even if convincing evidence of a crime were found.
The Justice Department has long held that it would not be appropriate to
indict a sitting president. Instead, experts say, the onus would be on
Congress to review any findings of criminal misconduct and then decide
whether to initiate impeachment proceedings."
However, Trump's attempts to obstruct justice are only one reason to
impeach him.
There is another quite different reason why Congress should consider
ousting the President. The Attorneys General of Maryland and of
Washington D.C. filed a lawsuit Monday accusing President Trump of
violating anti-corruption laws through his ownership of companies that
have accepted millions of dollars from foreign governments during his
time in office.
The Constitution prohibits a U.S. office holder from accepting "any
present, Emolument...from any King, Prince or foreign State."
The lawsuit charges that the President's interest in a global business
empire "renders him deeply enmeshed with a legion of foreign and
domestic government actors, violates the Constitution and calls into
question the rule of law and the integrity of the country's political
system."
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh charged, "It is unprecedented that
the American people must question day after day whether decisions are
made and actions are taken to benefit the United States or to benefit
Donald Trump. The president's conflicts of interest threaten our
democracy."
Nearly 200 Democratic Members of Congress and the Senate filed a similar
lawsuit Wednesday accusing the President of violating the Constitution
by profiting from business dealings with foreign governments.
The lawsuit charges: "An officeholder, in short, should not be the sole
judge of his own integrity."
Trump's response is that he has turned management of his businesses over
to his sons, and that he would donate any profits to the Treasury. No
such donations have been made.
Impeaching Trump will be difficult with a Republican Congress. However,
Hillary Clinton beat Trump in 23 Republican Congressional Districts.
Democrats only need to pick up 24 seats to gain the majority. If there
were an impeachment initiative, many of those Republican Congressmen
might vote to impeach - and thus secure their seats from Democratic
challengers.
Impeach Donald Trump!
____________________________________
Copyright (c) 2017 Michael J. McManus,
a syndicated columnist and past president of Marriage Savers. For previous
columns go to
www.ethicsandreligion.org. Hit
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