The Impeachment Process Began On March 4

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FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | AUGUST 14, 2019freadshot

“Once the full case against Trump has been developed and placed before Congress and the country, House Democrats can then decide how to hold Trump accountable and whether to move from the current impeachment inquiry to articles of impeachment.”

The impeachment process has been underway in the House since March 4, 2019 and has reached a pivotal stage with the filing of two lawsuits on July 26 and August 7 by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY).

These lawsuits seek to obtain the full, unredacted Mueller report and related grand jury information, and to compel former White House counsel Don McGahn to comply with a Committee subpoena to testify.

President Trump has been stonewalling the Committee’s investigation.

If successful, the lawsuits would allow the Committee to enforce subpoenas issued to McGahn and other key witnesses, obtain important documents, and build a complete public record of Trump’s wrongdoing for the American people.

According to the Associated Press, as of August 10, 119 out of 235 House Democrats – more than half of the caucus – have called for an impeachment inquiry.

The key number here, however, is not 119.  It is 217 – the number of Democrats, plus Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI), that is needed to ensure articles of impeachment are adopted by the House.

Democrats are a long way from 217 and that is what makes winning the lawsuits and building a full public record to inform the American people so important.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll in July found that 59 percent of Americans opposed an impeachment proceeding against Trump versus 37 percent who supported it. Moving public opinion is important if House Democrats want to impeach Trump.

Speaker Pelosi’s careful step-by-step approach and Chairman Nadler’s efforts to place the full record before the American people have proven to be the correct way to proceed.

As I noted in my op-ed in Just Security:

Once the full case against Trump has been developed and placed before Congress and the country, House Democrats can then decide how to hold Trump accountable and whether to move from the current impeachment inquiry to articles of impeachment.

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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.