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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepublican congressman calls Trump's conduct "impeachable"
Link to tweet
Here are my principal conclusions:
1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Muellers report.
2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
4. Few members of Congress have read the report.
I offer these conclusions only after having read Muellers redacted report carefully and completely, having read or watched pertinent statements and testimony, and having discussed this matter with my staff, who thoroughly reviewed materials and provided me with further analysis.
In comparing Barrs principal conclusions, congressional testimony, and other statements to Muellers report, it is clear that Barr intended to mislead the public about Special Counsel Robert Muellers analysis and findings.
Barrs misrepresentations are significant but often subtle, frequently taking the form of sleight-of-hand qualifications or logical fallacies, which he hopes people will not notice.
Under our Constitution, the president shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. While high Crimes and Misdemeanors is not defined, the context implies conduct that violates the public trust.
Contrary to Barrs portrayal, Muellers report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment.
In fact, Muellers report identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice, and undoubtedly any person who is not the president of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence.
Impeachment, which is a special form of indictment, does not even require probable cause that a crime (e.g., obstruction of justice) has been committed; it simply requires a finding that an official has engaged in careless, abusive, corrupt, or otherwise dishonorable conduct.
While impeachment should be undertaken only in extraordinary circumstances, the risk we face in an environment of extreme partisanship is not that Congress will employ it as a remedy too often but rather that Congress will employ it so rarely that it cannot deter misconduct.
Our system of checks and balances relies on each branchs jealously guarding its powers and upholding its duties under our Constitution. When loyalty to a political party or to an individual trumps loyalty to the Constitution, the Rule of Lawthe foundation of libertycrumbles.
Weve witnessed members of Congress from both parties shift their views 180 degreeson the importance of character, on the principles of obstruction of justicedepending on whether theyre discussing Bill Clinton or Donald Trump.
Few members of Congress even read Muellers report; their minds were made up based on partisan affiliationand it showed, with representatives and senators from both parties issuing definitive statements on the 448-page reports conclusions within just hours of its release.
Americas institutions depend on officials to uphold both the rules and spirit of our constitutional system even when to do so is personally inconvenient or yields a politically unfavorable outcome. Our Constitution is brilliant and awesome; it deserves a government to match it.
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Republican congressman calls Trump's conduct "impeachable" (Original Post)
Qutzupalotl
May 2019
OP
Many in congress IMO are there for a good time and to enhance their wealth. Many IMO are
RKP5637
May 2019
#2
Is this guy in a blue district? Please explain. I can't believe someone from 'rump' country would
UniteFightBack
May 2019
#6
dchill
(38,642 posts)1. "4. Few members of Congress have read the report."
Dismal, disappointing and completely expectable.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)2. Many in congress IMO are there for a good time and to enhance their wealth. Many IMO are
woefully unqualified.
UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)7. Well they can't read the report....ignorance is bliss. nt
Qutzupalotl
(14,349 posts)3. This makes impeachment bipartisan.
Start the hearings.
Skittles
(153,321 posts)4. NO SHIT
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,509 posts)5. Lock him up!
UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)6. Is this guy in a blue district? Please explain. I can't believe someone from 'rump' country would
be taking a stand like this.