Democratic Congressional Leadership: Stop Shirking

You said you wanted to see the Mueller Report. It’s here, and there is only one sound response.

The public version of the redacted report released today by the Department of Justice makes clear that President Trump’s campaign received aid from Russia, and whether or not the campaign or president conspired with the Russians, they accepted the aid without objection and without reporting it to authorities. The report also shows that Mr. Mueller thought there was evidence that the President intentionally acted to obstruct the investigation into his actions. Mueller did not go further than identifying the instances showing likely obstruction because he was bound by the Office of Legal Counsel’s opinion that a sitting president cannot be indicted. The report has given lie to everything that Attorney General William Barr has said about it for the past few weeks.

For months, Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives has avoided discussing impeachment, except to reiterate that they are not interested. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that “the President isn’t worth” impeachment. Today, CNN reporter Dana Bash tweeted

This evening she reported that House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff agrees with that sentiment. If Pelosi, Hoyer, Schiff, and other Democrats continue hewing to this position, they will be committing several cardinal sins. First, they are shirking their constitutional duty to hold the president accountable, which in this case means to begin impeachment proceedings for his “high crimes and misdemeanors.” In addition to the grounds revealed in the Mueller Report, the president appears to be violating the emoluments clauses every day. In his meetings with President Putin and other heads of state, he refuses to allow other Americans in the room. In refusing to defend the Affordable Care Act in court and ordering agents in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Control to ignore laws and judicial decrees, every day he is failing to faithfully execute the laws of the United States. The evidence is clear that there is probable cause the president has committed high crimes and misdemeanors. It is not too much for us to expect the House leadership to begin proceedings. It would not be a rush to judgment.

The second cardinal sin has several elements. First, in their statements, they are acting on the assumption that a Democrat will win the 2020 presidential election. This is plainly foolish, as the president commands the undying devotion of 35 – 45% of the electorate. We know from the Mueller Report and other information from intelligence agencies that Russia is continuing its efforts to meddle in our elections. There is no guarantee of a Democratic president in 2021.

Next, they appear to think that the country can withstand another twenty-one months of a criminal president who plainly is an authoritarian; who attacks the rule of law and the judicial system; who exchanges secret communications with foreign adversaries. I have absolutely no confidence that they are right.

Third, this is the best opportunity they will have to act on impeachment. If the president should pull out a win late next year, then it is likely that Republicans will recapture the House, and impeachment will no longer be an available remedy. We would face another four years of a criminal, corrupt presidency.

Fourth, a failure to act on impeachment now will influence this president, or a future one who may be more competent at implementing authoritarian desires, that the Congress will not stand in his or her way. This would be a terrible precedent to set.

Democrats may argue that the Republican pursuit of President Clinton’s impeachment backfired on them. That is a mistake. President Clinton was accused of lying in matters not relating to his official duties. There is a credible case that President Trump has committed flagrant breaches of his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, obstruction of justice, and more. This really is an apples and oranges comparison.

They may also argue that the Senate will not vote to convict and remove, even after a trial shows conclusive evidence that the president has committed the offenses that would be contained in any articles of impeachment. This may be true, but they should not consider this a foregone conclusion, given that they and the public will hear testimony from Robert Mueller and others that will detail the president’s offenses. Furthermore, they are ignoring the likely judgment of history.

If the Democratic leadership does not begin impeachment proceedings, future historians will know they shirked their constitutional duties. Their reputations will be forever stained for their inaction. If they pass articles of impeachment that do not carry the day in the Senate, then it will be only the Republican senators who carry that stain.

Speaker Pelosi and your Democratic colleagues, do you job.

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