Seven Proposed Articles Of Impeachment For Trump

Freddie53

Superior Member
Gold
Joined
Nov 19, 2004
Posts
5,842
Media
0
Likes
2,609
Points
333
Location
Memphis (Tennessee, United States)
Gender
Male
Here are 7 impeachable offenses buried in the Ukraine scandal — and how they tie in to Trump’s broader crimes – Alternet.org

The author of this article lists seven possible articles of impeachment to consider. Perhaps this is too many or maybe this is not enough. I included just a little of the author's rationale below.

The purpose of this thread is for posters to carry out the impeachment of Donald Trump LPSG Estates style.

We won't all agree. Some will give good reasons why a point one of us makes is good, poor, relevent or not relevent to the discussion should Donald Trump be impeached. Why or Why Not?

There is the major issue of picking the right number of articles that have clarity. An article that muddies the water should be left out. I would leave an article out if I wasn't convinced that the House could pass the article.

Have fun explaining why the other side is wrong. Let's see who the best debators are here in the Politics Forum.

On with excerpts from the article:

Impeachment is barreling forward toward President Donald Trump, and it’s not clear if he has any moves left to avoid a full-on collision.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff appear committed to largely to focusing the effort on the Ukraine scandal, since Trump’s efforts to induce the foreign government to investigate his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden are clear, salient and damning.

Some critics, however, are worried that impeaching Trump narrowly on the Ukraine matter risks letting him skate on his many other high crimes, such as those detailed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. Failing to acknowledge these violations in an impeachment would trivialize Trump’s conduct and set a terrible precedent by lowering the bar for future presidents, they argue.

Here are seven potential charges articles of impeachment by the author of this article could be based around, and how they would tie in to Trump’s broader high criminality. I included a an example for each, but I deleted well over half of the article.


1. Cheating in an election


A key aspect of the Ukraine scandal is that Trump was trying to gin up charges against a Biden, who has for months been seen as the frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. The most natural interpretation of this action is that Trump was trying to get dirt on his likely opponent in the 2020 general election.

This is a potent impeachable offense on its own, but it also ties in to Trump’s previous crimes. For example, Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, is sitting in prison right now for conducting a criminal hush money scheme to benefit the president’s 2016 campaign, and prosecutors have indicated that Trump himself directed this violation of the law. It seems likely that Trump hasn’t been indicted in this case only because he is a sitting president, making it a strong candidate for an impeachable high crime.

2. Soliciting foreign interference


Related to the first proposed article, Trump could also separately be charged with soliciting foreign election interference. This is a campaign finance violation and a national security threat. And after the Mueller investigation, Trump can’t pretend he didn’t know better.


3. Foreign bribery


One way to understand Trump’s call with Zelensky and campaign to influence Ukrainian prosecutors is through the lens of a quid pro quo. As the other articles demonstrate, there are many other objectionable features about the conduct, but this analysis also seems to fit. Trump told Zelensky the United States’ kindness toward Ukraine has not been reciprocated, and then he specifically asked for a “favor” in response to Zelensky’s request to buy weapons from the U.S. Part of that favor was the investigation of Biden.

If Biden committed genuine crimes, the Justice Department could and should handle that matter on its own, without political influence. Trump was asking for the investigation because it would benefit him personally — which Rudy Giuliani acknowledged. impeachment.)

This article could also potentially be supported by a mountain of evidence that Trump is improperly accepting funds via foreign payments to his business empire. Many have argued that this violates the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause and is impeachable in its own right.

4. Obstruction


Pelosi has been arguing for months that Trump is obstructing Congress in its investigations of his interests. Recent reporting suggests that the Trump administration is carrying out this trend by trying to block witness testimony to Congress as a part of the impeachment inquiry.

This relates directly to Trump’s obstruction of justice, as outlined and analyze in the Mueller report.

Perhaps most urgently, Trump’s threatening of witnesses, including his actions toward, at the very least, the whistleblower in the Ukraine scandal and Michael Cohen in the Russia investigation, is a particularly pernicious form of obstruction.

5. Violating the Constitution


While Trump and Giuliani were enacting their pressure campaign toward Zelensky, the president froze military aid that had been approved by Congress for Ukraine. In addition to counting as part of a potential quid pro quo scheme, Reason Magazine argued that Trump’s actions could count as an “unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’ power of the purse.”

If this claim is supported by the evidence, it could warrant its own article of impeachment. Trump has been accused of violating the Constitution by using an emergency declaration to seize military funds and redirecting them to pay for his border wall, a project that Congress explicitly declined to fund on its own.

6. Targeting American citizens and opponents with law enforcement


By targeting Biden for non-predicated law enforcement investigations (if they were properly predicated, they wouldn’t have needed the president to intervene), Trump was not only trying to cheat in an election — he was violating the civil liberties of a political opponent. … the president also indicated he wanted the U.S. Justice Department involved by invoking Attorney General Bill Barr’s complicity in the scheme.

In fact, Trump was also violating the civil liberties of a third party — Hunter Biden.

Mueller also uncovered similar behavior. According to the report, Trump repeatedly urged then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate Hillary Clinton behind closed doors. (Trump has also called for this publicly.)

7. Abuse of power


Trump could also be impeached on a broad abuse of power charge. Fundamentally, regardless of whether a “quid pro quo” could be established, and regardless of what details emerge about the stalled aid to Ukraine, asking Zelensky to investigate Biden was a blatant abuse of power. Just by being president of the United States, Trump has immense leverage over Zelensky, so asking for anything improper was necessarily corrupt.

An abuse of power impeachment article could also encompass many of Trump’s other impeachable offenses. One offense I haven’t mentioned yet was Trump’s promise, reported by multiple publications, that he would pardon Kevin McAleenan, then the head of Customs and Border Protection, if he violated the law by denying migrants asylum in the United States.

This concludes my review of the article. For those really into details, I urge to to download the article. The Democrats would be wise to consider grouping the articles around these seven impeachable events and actions of Donald Trump.

The dead will rise from the dead. How do I know? King George III has risen from the dead in the form of Donald Trump who without a doubt has put George III in the shade when it comes to abuse of power, corruption and insanity.
 
D

deleted15807

Guest
4. Obstruction

Pelosi has been arguing for months that Trump is obstructing Congress in its investigations of his interests. Recent reporting suggests that the Trump administration is carrying out this trend by trying to block witness testimony to Congress as a part of the impeachment inquiry.

This relates directly to Trump’s obstruction of justice, as outlined and analyze in the Mueller report.

Perhaps most urgently, Trump’s threatening of witnesses, including his actions toward, at the very least, the whistleblower in the Ukraine scandal and Michael Cohen in the Russia investigation, is a particularly pernicious form of obstruction.

Total brick wall

The White House on Tuesday said it would not cooperate with the House’s impeachment inquiry of President Trump, arguing that the probe “violates the Constitution, the rule of law, and every past precedent” in an escalating standoff with an unbowed Congress.

In a scathing, eight-page letter, the White House said the inquiry into the Ukraine scandal was without merit, complained that the president has been denied his due process rights and argued that Democrats were intent on overturning the results of the 2016 election and influencing the 2020 contest.