Impeachment #3

The likely events of the next few weeks are now relatively clear. The House Intelligence Committee will write its report; the House Judiciary Committee will draw up articles of impeachment, the House will vote along party lines to impeach, the Senate will take them up and then acquit Trump, again on party line vote. 

Nothing is going to change that; Meuller's report didn't; the House Intelligence Committee hearings didn't; and nor will any new evidence that shores up a direct line of accountability from the attempt to blackmail a foreign leader to the current occupant of the Oval Office. 

Holding things of value to another country hostage may not be unusual; but doing so not in the national interest but in pursuit of personal gain is. Of course Trump's ego is so bloated that he could argue that his reelection is vital to the national interest; we've not heard that one so far but it may yet come.

As vile an individual as Trump is (his lying, cheating, lack of work ethic, celebration of his own ignorance, narcissism, his never seeing fault in himself but always in others, his lack of loyalty, his demeaning of those he dislikes), and the damage he is doing to America's standing in the world, to the rule of law, and to trust in venerable institutions on which we relied for a well ordered society, the question can legitimately be asked "does his breach of the norms of presidential etiquette and behavior warrant impeachment"?

Reluctantly, I have to say that it's not clear to me that it does.

However, were there to be a solid case for obstruction of justice, something that seems plausible given his instructions to his staff to defy congressional subpoenas and his refusal to comply with legitimate Congressional requests for information, then yes, a case for his removal from office becomes firmer.

As Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her recent judgement "Stated simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings". The balance of power between the three co-equal branches of government is in danger of being upset by an overly combative and obstreperous self-aggrandizing chief executive.

Such a precedent cannot be allowed to be established without a challenge from Congress. The executive branch cannot be granted blanket immunity from Congressional oversight. That is not what the founders wanted, and is decidedly not good for the country.  A Congressional motion of censure would be symbolic but ineffective.  Impeachment and removal from office therefore does seem the most appropriate remedy.