Donald Trump was charged with only two articles of impeachment: abuse of power for trying to force Ukraine to help POTUS’ win the 2020 reelection campaign by damaging the president’s top rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. The second article of impeachment charges him with obstruction of Congress. He blocked testimony and would not provide subpoenaed documents, but should there have been more articles?
Were those two too narrow? After all, he kidnapped tens of thousands of immigrant children, pulling them away from their parents at the nation’s southern border. Was that okay? What about caging those children? What about him making millions of dollars off of his presidency aka The Emoluments Clause? Was it alright for POTUS to incite violence against citizens? What about his racial bigotry?
Mehdi Hasan wrote The A to Z of Things Trump Could and Should Have Been Impeached For. In it, he listed 26 examples. Those 26 articles were boiled down to 12 articles of impeachment by former governor of California Ralph Nader. He made the case for these in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). The former governor and activist said that Trump had been trying to destroy the American government and turn it into a monarchy (kingdom).
Clearly, Trump has not been enacting alone. Ever since President Harry Truman took office, commanders-in-chief have begun wars minus congressional authorization. Leaders of both parties have been involved with the war machine.
The following are all of the articles impeachment with a brief of description, according to Nadar.org:
- ‘Contempt of Congress Trump has “repeatedly and unconstitutionally systematically undermined the congressional oversight power, including the ongoing congressional impeachment inquiry”
- Abuse of the Powers of the President and Abuse of Public Trust Trump has”repeatedly and unconstitutionally systematically undermined the congressional oversight power, including the ongoing congressional impeachment inquiry,” and has “secretly deployed special forces abroad and employed secret guidelines for targeted killings”
- Appropriations Clause, Revenue Clause Unauthorized spending on Mexico wall; imposing tariffs
- Emoluments Clause Trump “continues to profit from opulent hotels heavily patronized by foreign governments. He has permitted his family to commercialize the White House,” etc.
- Treaty Clause Terminating the Iran nuclear deal unilaterally, without consulting Congress
- Declare War Clause Presidents have been violating this at since the Korean War in 1950
- Take Care Clause; Presentment Clause This refers to obstructing the Mueller investigation, declining to “enforce statutory mandates of Congress by arbitrarily and capriciously revoking scores of agency rules,” routinely legislating by executive order, dismantling and disabling “scores of preventive measures to save lives, avoid injuries or disease, help families, consumers, and workers, and detect, deter, and punish tens of billions of dollars of corporate fraud” and using signing statements as “the equivalent of unconstitutional line-item vetoes”
- Due Process Clause Targeted killings in the War on Terror, as both Bush and Obama did previously
- Appointments Clause Trump’s pattern of “acting” appointments to avoid Senate confirmation
- Soliciting a Foreign Contribution for the 2020 Presidential Campaign and Bribery This is covered by the Democrats’ existing “abuse of power” charge
- Violating Citizen Privacy Refers to “suspicionless surveillance of Americans for non-criminal, foreign intelligence purposes under Executive Order 12333 and aggressive interpretations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act”
- Suppression of Free Speech This refers to “stretching the Espionage Act to prosecute publication of leaked classified information,” and even more specifically to the indictment against Julian Assange.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
