OPINION:
On December 18, 2019, Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States, was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. The impeachment was literally based on a third-hand conversation between an intelligence officer working in the White House as an Obama holdover and two men who, shortly after telling their story to the intel officer, took jobs with Adam Schiff, one of the Democrats’ chief prosecutors in the impeachment hearings.
The story they shared with the would-be whistleblower was their interpretation of a telephone conversation between President Trump and the President of Ukraine. The whistleblower himself was not on the phone call.
Sound convoluted? It was utterly ridiculous.
The suggestion was that in the conversation between the two heads of state, Mr. Trump had tried to intimidate President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. The President didn’t agree with their interpretation of his intent. President Zelenskyy didn’t agree with their suggestion. In fact, no one else on the phone call indicated they believed anything close to the allegations made by the whistleblower, who, again, wasn’t actually on the call.
Congress went ahead and impeached Mr. Trump anyway. After two years of the Mueller investigation had found Hillary Clinton planted allegations of a Trump-Russia connection to be patently false, Democrats didn’t skip a beat in their efforts to demonize and ultimately remove the duly elected Commander in Chief.
The absurd Ukraine allegations led to the first fully partisan impeachment where a U.S. president was impeached without support for the impeachment from the President’s own party.
This past week, I received a copy of a letter from a highly respected conservative organization in Washington entitled, “Conservatives Call on House Republicans to Open an Impeachment Inquiry Against President Biden Immediately Upon Return from August Recess”
The letter points to what the group says are recent revelations from the House Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Ways and Means, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government establishing without question that Joe Biden has been engaged in criminal misconduct for decades. It further states that Joe Biden is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. Period. End of discussion.
I should mention here that while there have indeed been revelations that have raised eyebrows, stating they are “without question” may be a surprise to Democrats. The Biden Family certainly appears to have been engaged in some shady dealings, but nothing involving President Biden has been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt yet. Calling for impeachment hearings may be a clever political maneuver, but is premature at best.
Meanwhile, a Georgia state senator urged Republican Gov. Brian Kemp this past week to call a special legislative session to investigate Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who indicted former President Donald Trump earlier this week. “We must strip all funding and, if appropriate, impeach Fani Willis. I’m calling on patriots across America to join me in this fight,” state Senator Colton Moore posted on social media.
Most Americans believe the charges piling up against Mr. Trump are politically motivated. In Georgia, the Racketeering charges, usually used to go after mafia organized crime types, seem like a stretch, but is the appropriate response to immediately call for the impeachment of the District Attorney?
There have been threats by current Republican Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to impeach various members of Biden’s cabinet, most notably Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Some Democrats have floated the idea of impeaching Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and possibly other Justices, though their authority to do so is not so clear.
For clarification, the Constitution of the United States gives Congress the authority to remove the President of the United States from office. The House holds hearings and can vote by simple majority to impeach a President. Impeachment is similar to being indicted in a court of law. The Senate then holds a trial. In order to convict the President and remove him from office, two-thirds of the Senate must vote in favor of conviction.
The same process applies to Cabinet members.
It is intended as a mechanism to be utilized when a President has clearly gone astray of the law, and no other options exist. Sadly, what it has become in the 21st Century is a political tool meant to bash, marginalize and damage the office holder. The truth plays little role. What should be the most solemn and serious of political procedures has turned into the most partisan and most damaging.
Can’t prove a political opponent’s claims the President is in bed with Russia? Claim (that you heard) he was too rough in a conversation with another head of state and impeach him. Don’t like the direction a doddering old President is taking the country? Accuse him of collaborating with his son in a variety of disgraceful behavior and impeach him. Don’t like a partisan Georgia prosecutor’s charges against your political hero? Impeach her. Upset that following the procedures prescribed by the Constitution has left the current Supreme Court with a small conservative majority? Impeach a Justice or two.
The knee-jerk reaction to try and remove anyone from office, first and foremost, by legislative procedure, is embarrassing. Both parties should be ashamed. There is an election next year, during which any and all high-jinx of the Biden family should be brought to light. If a Georgia prosecutor went rogue to push her own political agenda, the voters should consider that when they vote for her position the next time. As for the Justices? Good Lord, please stop with the shameless attempts to reshape the high court by alternative means, such as expansion or impeachment, while pretending it is in the name of justice.
Imagine just for a minute that instead of investigating and bashing each other endlessly, both parties in the United States Congress focused all their efforts on things like the economy, inflation, energy, health care and other top issues that actually matter to Americans.
Stop the impeachment threats, investigations and related foolishness. It serves no purpose other than to chip away at what was once the greatest democratic republic in the history of the world. If you don’t like a duly elected or appointed official, get to work on a campaign and be sure to vote. Stop with the threats and efforts to circumvent the election process with some elaborate procedural nonsense.
- Tim Constantine is a columnist with The Washington Times.
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