The second impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump is even more disappointing and more revealing than the first impeachment.
The House of Representatives should have impeached Trump on several charges, not one. This is how the one Article of Impeachment begins:
ARTICLE 1: INCITEMENT OF INSURRECTION
The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment, for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Further, section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any person who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States from “hold[ing] and office … under the United States.’ In his conduct while President of the United States — and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, provide, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed — Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States….
There should be at least one more, and probably two more, Articles of Impeachment: 1) Failure to discharge his duties as Command in Chief to protect and defend the Capitol of the United States and other federal properties; 2) Failure to enforce and comply with the election laws of the United States and several of the individual states.
Republicans can claim all they want that Trump didn’t willfully incite insurrection. They will claim words are just words. Republicans cannot deny that Trump, while the president, failed to defend them and the Capitol during the riot. Section 2, Article 2, makes the president the commander in chief of all the forces, including the state militias, during an emergency. He clearly, willfully, did not use the National Guard available to defend the Capitol.
A chief executive violating election laws through intimidation, direct and indirect, is likely a violation of laws in Georgia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. We already know the president’s representatives are also facing civil lawsuits from two election equipment providers. Interfering in the legitimacy of an election must be considered a high crime in this republic.
Republicans have long claimed to be the defenders of the United States Constitution, as it is written as opposed to the “living document” suggested by some Democrats. During the Clinton years, Republicans would walk about the halls of Congress with pocket editions of the Constitution.
If only the Republicans had meant it. Their tolerance, acceptance, and embrace of Trump (depending on the Senator or Representative) suggest that national Republicans care nothing about the Founding Fathers’ intentions or the text of the Constitution.
The Constitution is a great document, one that has been and will be changed when necessary. It is not an unyielding holy document; it is an amendable basis for national governance. Still, believe in following the laws as they are while advocating for change when necessary.
Republicans have no fidelity to the document as it is. None. They (and the Democrats) treat the Constitution and its current Amendments, as a menu of items to be chosen a la carte. That’s unacceptable.
The Republicans likely retake the Senate in 2022, based on current models. That’s in large part because we have sorted into partisan states. This situation makes Republican Senators and Representatives more concerned with primary voters than general election outcomes. The winner of the dominant party’s primary in many states and districts wins the general election easily.
Republicans in Congress are afraid of Trump’s voters. They are more afraid of losing a primary than they are of being judged by history for supporting Donald Trump.
Yes, Republicans, you are on trial with this impeachment. Most of you have already revealed yourselves as co-conspirators.
