IMPEACHMENT! What Is It? What’s Next?

Impeachment: We have been hearing this word since the election of Donald Trump as US President in November 2016. Now, it will become a reality. But what is it and what will happen next?

Impeachment, by definition, is the laying of charges against a public official. The US Constitution gives a provision for the removal of a person from public office if they are rightly convicted of bribery, treason, and especially ‘high crimes and misdemeanours.’

Impeachment is initiated by the US House of Representatives. After approving articles of impeachment, the process goes to the US Senate, where a trial is held. If the 100 Senators vote in a 2/3’s majority to convict the official, then he or she is removed from office. Impeachment is serious business; a safety valve for getting rid of overly corrupt leaders who imperil the nation. Never was it intended to be weaponised against political opponents and, like pepper, should be used sparingly.

It has. Until now, since American independence in 1776, only two other Presidents have been impeached. President Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Neither man was removed from office because the Senate failed to convict them (in Johnson’s case, he escaped conviction and removal by only 1 vote). Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached, simply because his fellow Republicans warned him that he would be convicted in the Senate because of the extent of the Watergate scandal.

The Impeachment Train: On 6 December 2019, Speaker of the House of Representatives (the 3rd highest office in the land), Nancy Pelosi, announced that charges will be drawn up against US President Donald Trump, for abuse of power. The accusation is that Mr. Trump pressurised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 2019, threatening to withhold aid to Ukraine unless he investigated former US Vice-President Joe Biden, a political rival for dealings involving his son Hunter Biden. This quid pro quo (meaning, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours) was meant to be for Mr. Trump’s personal gain. Pelosi said Trump ‘abused his power for his own personal, political benefit’ and ‘seriously violated the Constitution.’

Concerning impeachment, Pelosi used phrases like ‘no one is above the law,’ ‘all we want is the truth … why are the Republicans afraid of the truth.’ To allow Trump to continue as President would come at ‘the peril of our republic’ and ‘our democracy is what is at stake.’ She and her fellow Democrats and committee chairmen Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler also claim:

1.        The facts are indisputable and uncontested;

2.        Impeachment has nothing to do with politics or the 2020 election;

3.        They derive no pleasure from this action but do it with a ‘heavy heart;’

4.        They are fulfilling the principles of America’s founding fathers;

5.        They are not sure how they will vote on articles of impeachment when presented in the House; they are reserving judgement.

Are these claims credible and truthful? Are they sincere? You be the judge.

Either these Democratic leaders are being high-minded and principled, only wanting to protect America from another ‘King George III’ (an analogy made by Pelosi herself against Trump)? Or, are they foaming-at-the-mouth partisans who cannot sleep at night until their political coup d’état succeeds and Trump promptly leaves the White House?

Are they like Queen Esther, from the Book of Esther, who have come to the House of Representative for such a time as this? Or are they Haman of old, who, full of seething hatred against Mordechai, built the gallows whereby he was hung instead?

A closer look: Again, the accusation is that President Trump threatened to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless he investigated the Bidens for his own political gain. The affair began through an anonymous ‘whistleblower’ who appears to have partisan motives and second hand information. The House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff did not define the scope of the impeachment inquiry, gave no right to call witnesses or confront accuses, no right to rebuttal or subpoena power, right to be present, or even exercise the normative rule of law ‘presumption of innocence’ unless ‘proven’ guilty. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, released the transcript of his call immediately and his account was backed up by the Ukrainian President himself.

At one point, the White House’s case seemed imperilled by isolated text messages, implying Presidential pressure. But when put in context, it adds to the President’s case. Steve Hilton, host of The Next Revolution on Fox News, did his own investigation. He refers to an 11 page statement given to Congress by Kurt Volker, US Special Envoy to Ukraine. Six times in the 11 pages, Volker, who is at the centre of this whole affair and considered an honest broker by all parties, said he saw ‘no evidence’ of efforts to investigate Biden as a political rival means or linking aid to for a quid pro quo.

The media, who had access to this information, has said nothing, apart from Mr. Hilton. Are they as committed to impeachment, no matter what, as are the House Democrats?

With the evidence being thin, why don’t the Democrats return to the legislative sphere? There should be bills passed on infrastructure, helping lower drug prices for seniors, securing the border, enabling the military and assisting farmers. Have any of these things been dealt with in 2019?

What’s next? There will be a trial in the Senate. What’s their chances of gaining a conviction? With Trump’s Republicans holding a 53-45 majority, it seems unlikely that the Democrats can convinced 22 Republicans to vote against their President.

After all, the next US Presidential election is in November 2020. Why not do the Democratic thing and simply let the American people decide Donald Trump’s fate? Why the ‘rush to impeach?’ As one Democrat bluntly put it, we can’t allow him to continue … he might be re-elected!