Speaker of the House, Nancy
Pelosi, was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert a few nights ago. I was greatly impressed with her ability to
summarize what Democrats in Congress are attempting to do about the formalizing
of the impeachment inquiry.
What was most impressive was
her ability to turn attention to the Constitution, and the Republic it
initiated, as the focus of why an impeachment procedure is a solemn
responsibility, not only of the House of Representatives and ultimately of the
Senate, but of the citizenry as well. Adhering
to the Constitution, maintaining the checks and balances built into the
Constitution, and guarding against negative effects of foreign interference
with our ideals, values and institutions were clearly spoken of as our heritage
and our obligation to maintain unbroken.
All of that was the focus of what was about to happen; not some
political action as revenge for loss of an election but upholding the
accountability of another branch of government by means of one of the unique
checks and balances built into our Constitution.
With several nods to the
political and comedic effect Stephen Colbert achieves with his presentations, Speaker Pelosi made quite clear that the Congress
was operating on a different level, and that politicizing or satirizing the
impeachment procedure (or the Defendant) was not on their radar. The House would be focused on how the
President has violated his oath of office and abused his powers, and that was
why the House took future procedures seriously enough to put them up for a vote
in a Resolution of the House.
It makes sense to me that Speaker Pelosi should make this type of presentation a regular exercise
on her schedule
so that the public can be continually informed and instructed about the
impeachment inquiry and its progress. In
order to gain the involvement and support of a majority of the voting public,
Democrats generally need to put forth this kind of educational effort on a more
regular basis, utilizing the media in this creative way. It needs to be part of their PLAN of helping
the People understand the complicated process of impeachment. Moreover, keeping the focus of such
informational presentations on the Constitution and the importance of the
primacy of Law and of the constitutional mechanism of checks and balances is of
inestimable value. It would hopefully
serve a valuable purpose by undoing an atmosphere of attack on our Republic and
its democratic values. Keep the focus
where it belongs – on the Constitution – not on the narcissistic Donald Trump.
The Resolution passed by the
House on a partisan-divide vote is probably in itself a reasonable and prudent
action. It certainly provides everyone
with a Plan for moving forward with the public part of this inquiry
process. The Resolution makes it plain that
the Republicans will have their say and involvement in the process. It also establishes that the White House will
have a part through its Counsel’s Office, and does allow for due process rights
being protected, and gives the chair of the Judiciary Committee authority to conduct proceedings and to “allow for the
participation of the President and his Counsel.” That wording makes this a rather generous
document and sets precedents that may benefit other presidents as well as
this one.
Unfortunately, it may also
have unintended consequences that could weaken the sole obligation and duty of
the House for conducting impeachment proceedings and presentation of final
impeachment charges. By inviting the
White House and the sitting President to take part, the fox has been given access
to the hen house and could create all manner of chaos and destruction in that
location.
As I recall, it is not
customary for the Defense to attend Grand Jury hearings, or to take part in its
proceedings. The Grand Jury is the bailiwick
of the Prosecution, who are the ones presenting their case in order to gain
indictments from that Grand Jury against the accused, and to move to a trial
based on those charges. It is a similar
process with impeachment: The Defense comes in, not in the inquiry stage (which
is like the Grand Jury function) but before the Senate acting as the jury of
peers with the Chief Justice of SCOTUS presiding.
In my opinion, a president should have no part in the
process devoted to the authoring of the impeachment charges. That is solely the responsibility of the
House and should remain as such.
I therefore suggest that the Procedure
Resolution contains a provision that is not provided for in the Constitution, and that may well undermine the conditions set by Amendments V and VI regarding indictment by Grand Jury and trial by jury. Therefore, it is my recommendation that this
precedent-setting flaw of allowing the president or his Counsel to be an active part of
the grand-jury-like impeachment procedure be entirely reconsidered and
abolished forthwith.
We do not need to weaken the
constitutional check on presidential misuse of powers by inviting the Executive
branch and its Executive to have opportunity to scuttle, sabotage or delay this sole obligation
laid upon the House of Representatives!
Finally, in my humble
opinion, it is a mistake to proceed based on
one charge only against this man.
He has managed to escape hundreds of court cases before assuming the presidency (and a
plethora of charges and accusations against him), and here is his chance to do
it once again.
Trump has already told us
(and the Congress) exactly what he plans to do, and I for one believe he has
enough support from a solid base in both the public sphere and in the Senate,
not only to escape conviction, but to turn this one charge on its head so that
he does not appear to be guilty of any wrong-doing. It is his stock-in-trade, his raison d’etre,
his modus operandi, and could turn out to be his coup de grace.
We all know he’s going to avoid
a guilty verdict by the Senate anyway, but what he always seeks is not just a
victory, but vindication. The
single charge will provide him that opportunity. I don’t care how tight a case
is presented, or how it is shown that there was a plan all along to extract
dirt on Joe Biden by withholding appropriated money and weapons for Ukraine,
Trump (a la Roy Cohn) will find a way to destroy this one charge in the minds
of the public.
In an Oct. 8th
letter to Nancy Pelosi and the chairs of three Committees deeply involved in
the “inquiry”, one of the WH Counsels on Trump’s behalf, laid out the very
claims and lies that will be used as propaganda to undermine this one
charge. These “talking points” about process may in the end serve to diminish
support for this one impeachable offense. They are essentially already being used by
Trump and his puppets in the Senate. Here they are as listed in that WH letter
(with my under-linings pointing up some of the key words that you will hear
emphasized from now on):
1)
“Your ‘Inquiry’
is constitutionally invalid and violates basic due process
rights and the Separation of Powers;
You have designed and implemented your
inquiry in a manner that violates fundamental fairness.”
2)
“The invalid
‘impeachment inquiry’ plainly seeks to reverse the election of 2016 and
to influence the election of 2020.”
“You seek to deprive the American
people of the President they have freely chosen” and to “transform
impeachment from an extraordinary remedy that should rarely be contemplated
into a political weapon to be deployed for political gain.”
3)
“there is no
legitimate basis for your ‘impeachment inquiry’; instead, the Committee
actions raise serious questions.”
"Perhaps the best evidence that there was
no wrongdoing on the call (to President Zelensky) is the fact that, after the
actual record of the call was released, Chairman Schiff chose to concoct
a false version of the call and to read his made-up transcript to the
American people at a public hearing…which powerfully confirms that there is no
issue with the actual call.”
4)
For the foregoing
reasons, the President cannot allow your constitutionally illegitimate
proceedings to distract him and those in the Executive Branch from
their work on behalf of the American people.”
We hope that, in light of the many
deficiencies we have identified in your proceedings, you will abandon the
current invalid efforts to pursue an impeachment inquiry and join the
President in focusing on the many important goals that matter to the
American people.”
What I propose is that several
charges of impeachment be brought indicating the pattern of criminality that
this man has wrought. Show the depth of
his depravity, and
the gravity of his lawlessness.
Help the public understand that
this is someone who poses a threat to our national security and to our very
uniqueness as a representative democracy.
He has committed high crimes and misdemeanors of all sorts and they
should not be minimized. Together they
paint the picture of a criminal mind and a despotic character who is intent on
destroying democratic values in order to promote the unlimited authority of a
rogue president. Here is just a sample of what might be included (grateful to
other sources for some of these elements, including soapboxie.com, Washington
Post, NBC News).
1)
Violations
of the Emoluments Clause
· made millions of dollars by using his golf resort in
Florida as a Southern White House
· profited when he urged Vice President Pence to stay at
his resort in Ireland (which was far from where Pence was meeting the Irish
Prime Minister)
· indeed, it appears that units of our own armed
forces were convinced to bivouac at a Trump property as well
· Trump and his family are making millions of dollars
when foreign officials stay at Trump hotels and
· when foreign governments approve Trump projects or
grant trademarks for Trump products.
2)
Conflicts
of interest
· Unlike every other president before him, Donald Trump
refused to divest from his business interests when he became president. As a
result, Trump knows exactly how his actions as president have a direct impact
on his personal wealth and his financial investments.
· He profited from the tax cuts he enacted and likely
made several million dollars. This could explain why he is the first president
in over 50 years to refuse to release his tax returns. He has even gone to
court to prevent the release of his tax returns.
· the director of the US Office of Government Ethics
tried to get Trump to divest from his business interests to avoid such
conflicts, but Trump refused. Director Walter Shaub, Jr. saw so many ethics violations
and conflicts of interest that he ultimately resigned in protest.
3)
Obstruction
of Justice
· trying to fire the people who are investigating him,
· discouraging witnesses from cooperating with the
investigation,
· falsifying information about the Trump Tower meeting,
· asking people to lie and dangling pardons for people
who refused to cooperate with the investigation
· see Mueller Report for more
· cover-up of Ukrainian quid-pro-quo
4)
Abuse of
Power
· abuse of children (a felony)
o
at the southern
border (including violation of the Peres Agreement)
o
by draconian cuts
in federal programs
o
attempt to defund
the ACA without adequate replacement for children on parent’s insurance
· abuse of immigrants
o
discrimination
against a religious group
o
delay and denial
of amnesty (a universal agreed-upon human right)
o
attempt to deport
those here for special medical treatment thus threatening their lives
o
separation of
families by deportation
· abuse of women, union workers, LBGTQ community, and
anyone who criticizes or opposes him, including the media
5)
Violations
of Campaign Finance Laws
· During the 2016 campaign, Trump had his lawyer make
illegal hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up their
sexual relationship, then Trump and his lawyer lied about it. This is a blatant
violation of campaign finance laws.
6)
Financial
Activities that may Include
laundering, bribery, non-payment of taxes, acting as an agent for other
governments, and on and on. We do not
have a lot of detail about this aspect, but we do know that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York continues to investigate Trump's financial dealings. Let us hope
that the House and the NY District can mesh their findings in order to include
charges of financial chicanery.
7)
And all this
does not even address a myriad of
concerns that could result in charges, such as:
· acts taken to minimize Russian aggression and Russian
interference in our elections
· betrayal of the Kurds
· over-riding of the professional decision to deny national security clearance for Jared Kushner
· abuse and re-assignment to lesser positions of career civil servants in
federal departments
· undermining or elimination of consumer protection
boards and committees
Building a case for
impeachment on just one charge is too easily minimized, and far too easily
dismissed. His supporters will say:
“Hell, it’s just one slip-up and look at all he’s done for us!”
“It doesn’t rise to the level
of an impeachable offense!” or they
might say:
“It’s all a hoax; made-up by the fake news people.” It’s always possible for them to say:
“Are
you kidding me? This kind of
‘horse-trading’ goes on every day in business, in politics, in daily life and
with other nations – he’s just trying to make a deal with the Ukraine! There’s no way he should be impeached for
that – damn Sore Losers -- those Democrats!”
And, mark my words, those
same ‘opinions’ will be voiced by Trump’s loyal base and by some Independents
who might have gone along with impeachment if they thought this president was
nothing but a crook, a shyster, a serial breaker of the Law. One hurried charge will not play the right
tune for them either.
So, once again, while Speaker
Pelosi made a great presentation on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the Plan
passed by the House is flawed enough to make me wonder if Democrats will miss
this opportunity to show the nation who this fake president really is. Or, will
they simply, once again, fritter away an opportunity that begs for attention,
just like the election of 2016?
We cannot afford, as a Party
or a nation, to give away the sole responsibility for impeachment in the House. We cannot afford to allow the Executive Branch to shape any of the impeachment inquiry process. Until trial in the Senate, impeachment is solely the business of the House. Let it be.
Likewiswe, we cannot afford to go easy on Donald
Trump. We cannot afford another missed
opportunity to protect our nation and our Constitution. We cannot afford to act as though this is
business as usual. One charge of high crime or misdeneanor is not enough because it does not address the gravity of his depravity!
Where are the new voices in
the House? Where is the rejuvenated
Progressive Caucus? Where is the
boldness of a House Democratic majority? Am I
missing something?
