Buckle Up

I think the impeachment inquiry in the House is the right thing to do. If the president did withhold financial aid from Ukraine to get them to investigate his political opponent, it’s a grotesque abuse of presidential power. It would be a president subverting foreign policy to benefit himself. That’s worse than Nixonian.

This move does not guarantee impeachment or conviction and removal from office but it will get the public closer to knowing what’s in the whistleblower’s complaint. The conduct in the complaint reportedly goes beyond a phone call to Ukraine and we need to know the full story. The withholding of the whistleblower’s complaint from Congress in itself violates the law. I think the inquiry throws real weight behind the ongoing investigations.

Many people are skeptical of gaining public support for the impeachment process but I think this scandal would be easy for the public to understand. It’s not as labyrinthian as some of the other scandals of the last few years. If the allegations are true, it’s a clear-cut crime, as bribery is one of the few offenses explicitly listed in the Constitution as impeachable. It also could damage our national security. (The president keeps changing his story on withholding the aid, which does not inspire confidence.)

There are political risks to this, of course. I’m sensitive to the idea that this could backfire for the Democrats but I think even an acquittal could spur voters to the polls. There had seemed to be a prevailing view that we could solve the problems with the administration by voting it out. Given that the president has blatantly said he would accept foreign interference in this election, we need more than a vote to keep him in check.

Even if the Senate acquits the president, it’s important that the House do its duty and act as a constitutional check on an administration that has time and time again shown that it thinks it’s above the law. The alternative to this inquiry is to sit there and take it, to let witnesses give Congress the finger during testimony, to issue toothless threats and condemnations, and the country can’t accept that.

If nothing else, this fascinates me. Buckle up for a bumpy ride.