The Impeachment Dam Breaks
FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | September 26, 2019
“It is the gross abuse of office by Trump and the threat to our national security in the Ukraine affair that moved support for impeachment proceedings to a House majority and that should be addressed first, separately and promptly. “
A majority of House Members are now on record in favor of an impeachment inquiry for President Trump.
Three main developments broke the dam this week on impeachment.
First, it became known that a whistleblower had filed a complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community alleging that President Trump attempted to involve a foreign country in the 2020 presidential election to help his reelection.
Second, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided that Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Trump presidential opponent for 2020, was a “betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.”
Trump’s effort, furthermore, occurred at the same time he was arbitrarily withholding military assistance essential to Ukraine for their defense against Russian incursions.
Third, seven freshman Democrats with military, defense and intelligence backgrounds who had not previously supported an impeachment inquiry published an op-ed stating that if the facts of the Ukraine case are correct then this would be an impeachable offense.
The facts of the matter to date also have implicated Attorney General William Barr, who serves as the President’s political operative – some would say his consigliere – and Rudy Giuliani, who has acted as the President’s personal attorney in his dealings with Ukraine.
The House Intelligence Committee is holding hearings and the information developed will go to the House Judiciary Committee, which has the jurisdiction to develop Articles of Impeachment.
Speaker Pelosi reportedly wants the impeachment process to go forward first and separately on the Ukraine affair and have the other issues involving various Trump abuses continue to be developed by the appropriate House committees.
Democracy 21 strongly agrees with this approach.
It is the gross abuse of office by Trump and the threat to our national security in the Ukraine affair that moved support for impeachment proceedings to a House majority and that should be addressed first, separately and promptly.
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Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections. See previous Notes from Fred here.
