The One-Sided Case Against Impeachment
As President Trump faces down the barrel of impeachment, certain recent statements by Republicans bring into question the integrity of a likely Senate trial. The House Judiciary Committee has released a 658-page report outlining two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — on which the Democrat controlled House of Representatives is expected to vote to bring to the Senate later this week. While the Constitution grants the House the power to impeach, conviction and removal from office lies with the Senate— currently held by a Republican majority. In the event of a trial, Senators are required to take an oath of impartiality, in this case: "I solemnly swear that, in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, president of the United States, now pending, I will do impartial justice, according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God.”.
While the political climate during this administration can be characterized as one of hostile partisanship, recent statements made by Republican Senators allied to the President draw into further question the extent to which America’s political processes have been undermined by political tribalism. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told Fox News there was “no chance” the Senate would vote to remove the President from office, that throughout the impeachment proceedings he would be “coordinating with White House counsel”, and “there’ll be no difference between the President’s position and our position as to how to handle this”. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) , speaking on Face the Nation, referred to the Democrat-led impeachment as a “crock” he wished to end. Pam Bondi, an impeachment adviser to the President and former Florida attorney general, stated on Fox News Sunday “we should be working hand-in-hand with them. These are the senators who will decide if our president is impeached, which will not happen. We should and will work hand-in-hand with them.” In spite of her procedural error — members of the House vote to impeach, not the Senate — Bondi’s confirmation of cooperation between the White House and the GOP seem to indicate that an eventual Senate trial would be less than legitimate.
Unsurprisingly, these Republican comments have received backlash from their Democrat counterparts driving the impeachment proceedings. The House Judiciary Chairman, Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY), referred to McConnell’s statement during an interview with ABC, “the Constitution prescribes a special oath for senators when they sit as a trial in impeachment. They have to pledge to do impartial justice, and here you have the majority leaders of the Senate, in effect, the foreman of the Jury, saying they’re going to work hand and glove with the defense attorney… Now, that’s a violation of the oath they’re about to take, and it’s a complete subversion of the constitutional scheme.” Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said he was “disappointed” in his Republican colleagues’ “see-no-evil, hear-no-evil attitude… they don’t want to look at anything that might disagree with their world view of Republicanism and the president”. Brown himself claimed to have supported bringing articles of impeachment against the President but will wait until seeing the evidence, and hearing the prosecution’s case and President Trump’s defense before deciding whether there is sufficient cause for conviction and removal from office.
Republican partisanship in these proceedings has even garnered significant reactions from those outside the political process. Jeffrey K. Tulis, a professor in the University of Texas Department of Government, wrote in a recent op-ed that McConnell’s behaviour is “patently anti-Constitutional” and "in literal violation of the oath McConnell and the other 99 senators will be required to take”. He goes on to elevate the significance of these impeachment proceedings from removing the President from office to determining the character of America’s political culture going forward. Richard W. Painter, President Bush’s chief White House ethics lawyer, in two tweets claimed that McConnell’s conduct is “corrupt and partisan beyond the pale” and that the impeachment trial has been rigged.
The significance of these impeachment proceedings cannot be understated. Democrats must be careful to conduct themselves in a professional, fair manner if they wish to temper the frequent claims by Republicans that impeachment equates to a political hackjob. Republicans too should consider the ongoing political polarization driving America’s snowballing culture war between the right and left. While division and disunity may well lend themselves to successful political campaigns given the current climate, in the long run America should be striving for cohesion and solidarity in what appears to be a decreasingly stable world order.
