Laurence Tribe lays out roadmap, calls on congress to impeach immediately

[ffr]

Link to tweet

The time for waiting is over. The House must move on Trump impeachment articles now.
The Constitution makes clear the House can conduct its Trump impeachment inquiry however it wants. It should move fast. America has no time to spare.

The White House’s blanket stonewalling of the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump isn’t just deeply troubling or further indirect evidence of the president’s underlying abuse of public power for private gain. It signals another clear ground for his impeachment: obstruction of Congress.

Article III of the Nixon articles of impeachment provides the closest precedent to what Trump did here: He directed the State Department to prevent Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, from testifying about what his texts revealed to corroborate the whistleblower complaint about a scheme to withhold military aid in order to extort Ukraine into meddling in the 2020 election. The White House counsel followed up by telling House leaders there would be no cooperation with an inquiry he called illegitimate and unfair.

The House Judiciary Committee in 1974 identified President Richard Nixon’s direction of systematic defiance of congressional impeachment inquiries by his administration as an obstruction of the constitutional role of Congress and thus a violation of the president’s duty faithfully to execute the laws. Such a charge is manifestly warranted against Trump today. - USA Today

Strike while the iron is hot.

[Garrett78]

1. The public's attention span is short, so the need to move quickly is there.

Trump has committed enough impeachable offenses to impeach him repeatedly. Make the Republican Senate condone all of his crimes.

[wcast]

2. I used to think we should drag impeachment out, but have recently changed my mind.

Mostly because the media has gotten over the shock of what Trump did and is now playing for clicks and views, portraying the Republican talking points as valid.

In addition, the less time we have to hear about White House's lack of cooperation the better. The public at large is susceptibil to Trump’s constant barragement of lies and distortions.

[ScratchCat]

3. Yep x100

[Garrett78]

6. There's no reason why we can't impeach him multiple times.

I suppose one could argue that multiple acquittals would backfire on us. But I worry about the precedent that will be set if we ignore a dozen or more impeachable offenses.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. That actually happened with the impeachment of Andrew Johnson

(had been researching it a bit this morning and it was surprising to see the multiple attempts... but then the guy was a pompous racist ass)

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/johnson.asp

[dalton99a]

22. +1

[Moostache]

4. These should be drafted and voted on before Halloween:

Article One - The President in the execution of his duties of the office of President of the United States, did willfully and intentionally abuse the power of his office in seeking assistance from foreign nationals to advance and aid his efforts to win re-election. This abuse of power was repeated on multiple occasions between June and October of 2019 that are known and attested to by deposition, written complaints, and/or video evidence of the President's own words.

Article Two - The President did order the deputies in his cabinet, and in positions of trust within the government of these United States, to defy Congressional subpoenas, requests for testimony, and production of relevant documents needed to further the investigation of the allegations of abuse of power. This blatant obstruction of the Congress is an attempt to block the Legislative Branch of the people's government from carrying out its oversight and investigatory responsibilities over the Executive Branch of the people's government.

Article Three - The President did on multiple occasions commit perjury and / or suborn the perjury of others in an effort to cover up the abuses of power he committed during the timeframe of June through October 2019.

Article Four - Just read the goddamn Mueller Report Section 2 and pick any of the 10 instances of Obstruction of Justice that were committed by this President...for fuck's sake people do you all have to have EVERYTHING spelled out for you in 72-pt font?

Game.
Set.
Match.

Republicans will refuse to convict or remove, but Trump will be an officially impeached president and he can run for re-election on THAT, right alongside the rest of the treasonous bastards in the GOP.

I'll gamble on the citizens of this country to recognize the complicity of the Senate in allowing Trump to trash the Constitution and threaten the republic. And if for some reason he STILL manages to steal re-election next year, I will wipe the dust of this now shithole country from my feet and immigrate far, far away so that the rot and stench of the carcass of Democracy does not foul my air...

I'm putting all my chips on BLACK and waiting to see the results now.

[Garrett78]

7. Well said.

[joost5]

11. +1

[G_j]

5. K&R!

[NewJeffCT]

9. While we're ready for impeachment

and would get excited for multiple impeachment inquiries, would the media turn on Democrats even more if they held a quick vote on this impeachment and then opened another impeachment inquiry in January or February?

[triron]

13. Irrelevant.

[lame54]

10. Then he is Impeached - Now what?

[Garrett78]

14. Senate acquittal with maybe a few Republican Senators doing the right thing.

Then campaign on Republicans condoning crimes.

[lame54]

15. He makes beating the system look so easy

[Garrett78]

16. Judges' orders and subpoenas simply get ignored. The whole damn GOP is corrupt beyond words.

[Moostache]

18. Here is one clip to take MANY soundbites from for 2020 ads.

Nadler: "Does THAT say there was no obstruction?"
Mueller: "No."

Nadler: "So, the report did NOT conclude that he (Trump) did NOT commit obstruction of justice?"
Mueller: "That is correct."

Nadler: "Did you totally exonerate the President?"
Mueller: "No."

Then play Trumpy Bear in a loop claiming "No Collusion. No Obstruction. 100% Exonerated."

Next up? Ads with Trump's voice asking to investigate Biden. Then a roll call of GOP House and Senate members who voted to allow Trump to break the law.

They are DARING us to play hardball here. It's time to just flat out smack these dumb, overly-entitled motherfuckers right in the jaw with their own words, acts and inactions.

[Garrett78]

19. Controlling the narrative is vital and requires vigilance.

Dems cannot, for an instant, let Republicans get away with normalizing their corruption or projecting onto Democrats the crimes they're committing.

Hire a spokesperson such as John Fugelsang to give a daily press briefing for the sole purpose of addressing the lies, hypocrisy and obfuscation.

[smirkymonkey]

12. K&R

[Hortensis]

17. Well, I'm sure they are consulting all the consultants they have

most confidence in. I wonder what they know that he does not; it's sure to be a great deal. Also for sure is that his goal of achieving a bill of impeachment is certainly theirs, but how many of the other goals far beyond merely that, which they must succeed at, are his?

I would always listen to Prof Tribe, but I have a lot more confidence in those with far more information, even more expertise, and the weight of the nation on their shoulders. For them none of this is about getting personal attention, while his public career depends on keeping these pronouncements coming.

[LastDemocratInSC]

20. The final paragraph above, in bold type, is compelling.

[triron]

21. Listen up Nancy and Adam.

[ooky]

23. Works for me. Do it now. Obstruction of Congress.

Draw it up and vote.