OPINION // EDITORIALS
Time to begin proceedings into impeachment of Trump [Editorial]
For months, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has resisted growing calls from more liberal members of the U.S. House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
A savvy political leader, she knows that a failed impeachment process could leave Trump stronger among voters who see the president as wrongly accused and deem the exercise a waste of time. Impeachment will consume Congress’ attention and dash Democrats’ hopes of passing meaningful legislation that demonstrates they’re qualified to lead this great nation.
But former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony convinced us that the time for prioritizing partisan strategy has passed. For the good of the nation, Pelosi must begin impeachment proceedings in the House.
We come to this conclusion reluctantly. While we believe for myriad reasons that Trump poses a danger to our country and to the free nations that look to America for global leadership, we had hoped that it would be the American voters who held him accountable in the 2020 election.
But these are extraordinary circumstances. America cannot wait until next year to uncover the full truth of Trump’s conduct, to determine whether he committed high crimes and misdemeanors, and if so, what consequences he should face.
Mueller dropped no bombshells in his testimony Wednesday, but hearing him describe the damning facts in his 450-page report gave the words new magnitude. It was a game-changer for any American who expects our president to act with integrity, concern for national security and respect for rule of law.
Among the findings:
Trump ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to push Mueller out of his role investigating Russia’s hack of the 2016 presidential election. When McGahn refused, Trump told him to issue a false statement denying that Trump had ever ordered Mueller’s removal.
Trump dispatched a former campaign aide to tell his appointee, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to order Mueller to stop the probe into the 2016 election or risk being fired.
Trump refused repeated requests over more than a year to be interviewed by Mueller and his team, despite being told it was vital to the investigation.
Mueller insisted Wednesday that there is evidence supporting a view that Trump broke the law. He insisted he never exonerated the president, as Trump has claimed. In reality, at least 10 incidents Mueller detailed support a strong case for obstruction of justice.
He said he stopped short of concluding whether Trump is guilty of obstruction because Department of Justice policy bars bringing indictments of a sitting president. Indeed, more than 1,000 former federal prosecutors who served under Democrats and Republicans have signed a letter arguing that Trump would face “multiple felony charges” for obstruction if he weren’t president and subject to the DOJ policy.
But Mueller has made clear that another entity has the power to take the evidence and judge the president’s conduct. That entity is Congress.
Impeachment isn’t as simple as Trump’s ouster. It is a long, deliberative process that can lead to sanction, and, yes, even removal.
So where does that leave America? Looking to Congress for an act of leadership, for a process that makes clear no president is above the law. And indeed, no president is under the law. Just because Trump has trained us to lower our expectations of him doesn’t mean he is beneath accountability.
Pelosi said after Mueller’s testimony that the House will continue its pursuit of the truth through standing committees, and said she’s postponing a decision on impeachment until the House can gather its “strongest possible hand.”
She has run out of time for such incrementalism, and so has America. Mueller has laid out heaps of evidence of wrongdoing, and it’s now time for the House to begin the arduous task of assembling that information and deciding what consequences Trump must face.
“It’s not about not liking the president,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland. “It’s about loving democracy. It about loving our country.”
In some ways, impeachment has already begun.
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