The only flaw I see in this opinion is a glaring one: "President Trump may have finished second in the popular vote, but he is the legitimate president." Is that a joke?
The campaign of individual #1 was aided and abetted by an hostile foreign power that spent millions of rubllars to influence facebook and FOX News, and was further assisted by a handful of expertly and grossly gerrymandered districts, voter suppression, and outright criminal voter fraud thanks to some nefarious actions by a cabal of well-heeled, racist republicans.
There is not and never was a speck of legitimacy to this nepotistic psychopath's so-called "presidency." Next up, is the NYT editorial board going to claim that William Barr is a "legitimate" attorney general, or that Rudy Giuliani is a legitimate ambassador to the Ukraine?
40
I despair watching these democrats in action. With so much evidence, they'll still shoot themselves in the foot and lose the fight to Trump!
6
Trumps ego is everything to him. And yes to have an* by his so called presidency would be the best way to distinguish him. What an honor to be only the 4th president to be impeached. Having surrounded himself with yes people shows a great thirst for cult loyalty and approval. Those who disagree, out the revolving door to the gulag.
11
why ask Ukraine to investigate Biden? why? are they experts in the field? what am I missing here? I am baffled.
3
As I see it, the left is attacking Trump’s first amendment rights. A president shouldn’t be impeached for saying the wrong thing, no matter how bad it sounds. The Congress should be respecting the Bill of Rights, which applies to everyone, including their political rivals. Trump has called The Times and other left leaning newspapers “enemies of the American people,” but he’s never done anything to try to silence them. It seems like The Times wants Trump to be impeached over his words and that’s not right. Maybe he’s right about this newspaper.
11
I hope that sometime during the impeachment hearings time will be put aside to hear something from the migrant families who are imprisoned along our borders.
8
The Federalist dug this morsel up...
"Federal records show that the intelligence community secretly revised the formal whistleblower complaint form in August 2019 to eliminate the requirement of direct, first-hand knowledge of wrongdoing."
Hard not to see that as part of the guerrilla war waged by Brennan and Clapper's rear-guard troops.
16
It is ironic that the Editors of NYT believe that impeachment is the correct option, many of it’s op ed writers even those who detest what Trump is doing don't think impeachment is the right option. Beats me.
3
"Whether ours shall continue to be a government of laws and not of men is now for Congress and ultimately the American people."
--Archibald Cox, First Watergate Special Prosecutor after Nixon fired him and closed the Special Prosecutor's Office, October 20, 1973 (the Saturday Night Massacre).
9
In the real world, there would be no need to explain. The case for impeachment is clear as day for any reasonable, clear-thinking American.
But we now live in a surrealistic world in which an erratic, narcissistic, pathological liar serves as president, perverting the system each and every day; traitorous Congressional Republicans simply look the other way, defending the president when needed simply to keep their jobs; and millions of liberal-hating followers, bowing down to their leader as though in a cult, cheering on the madman in the White House.
In thirty years, no one will be able to believe this all really happened.
12
Well said.
6
The nation needs a new John Dean. Now.
10
Wow. It wasn't that long ago that the Times was carrying op-ed pieces criticizing Brazil for impeaching its own corrupt head of government. What a difference three years make...
1
Impeachment of Trump and a thorough investigation of the rest of the UKRAINE MOUNT RUSHMORE is a must.
TRUMP
BARR
GIULIANI
MULVANEY
12
SEND HIM BACK!
9
Thank you.
3
Trump is not getting impeached. Reading the transcript of the phone call, he encouraged the Ukraine President to look into corruption - corruption that was already being looked into. He withheld money because he didn't think Eurpose was paying their fair share. It's just that Trump isn't smart enough to realize that this would be taken the wrong way/used against him. You can't impeach him because he's stupid.
4
Two words of caution: President. Pence.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
3
I can't be the only one who's absolutely tickled by how casually this op-ed just lays down an infographic linking to the paper's consistent opinions on impeachments dating back to *18-freaking-68*.
Well played, NYT.
5
Great job dragging your collective feet on this for years and leading from behind!
Why did you have to wait for the Ukraine nonsense?
2
I support his impeachment. We cannot allow Trump to continue his incredible disregard for laws and protocols. Even if it ‘helps’ his cause (the Me First cause).
He has made a shambles of our democracy and country. His administration is full of crackpots and jokeRs. Enough is Enough already. I’m so tired of having a selfish, immoral idiot try to lead my country. Bah!!!!!!!!!!
10
Enough of Hamlet!
Impeach the rouge!
3
If repeated lying isn't a high crime, isn't it a high misdemeanor? How 'bout the lies that Barack Obama was born in Kenya? How 'bout the lies about the millions of illegals who voted in 2016?How 'bout the lies about thousands of Mexican rapists in Texas jails? How 'bout the lies about Biden and his son? How 'bout the lies about Sen. Chris Murphy? How 'bout it?
14
Mr. Trump has already done immense and irreparable harm to America. I am beyond asking why his supporters/base are unable to see the facts for what they are (it's beyond my comprehension). A bull in a china shop presents as a better option than Mr. Trump in the White House . . .
5
If he is repeating an offense he did as a candidate, then wouldn't that be just more evidence that his initial election was not a legitimate win in the first place? Maybe we should redefine what it means to "win" an election. Maybe we should be punishing candidates who don't behave as they should. If Trump's election was, "legitimate," its seems to me that the laws should be changed so other candidates don't start doing this too.
At this point, the Dems are damned if they do, and damned if they don't. The best outcome can only be from the Republicans, themselves, deciding to take him down. They made this mess, they should clean it up. Meanwhile, every day they don't, every day they leave it up to the opposition party, they should be penalized for this GOP irresponsibility. This is food for thought when we get around to fixing the laws on when and how to remove a President.
6
Just a small time-out to express appreciation to the NYT for posting its editorials on past impeachments. The ones from 1868 are interesting, indeed. The NYT's cool quotient just went up.
The Congress needed to reassert its Constitutional checks and balances, and I'm glad to see it happening, finally. Also, the 4th Estate seems to have recovered from its reluctance to debunk fake news (like setting the record straight that the Biden's activity was not illegal). And it has moved past the false equivalencies that plagued the news at the beginning of this administration. The movement to "contextualize" the news is most welcome.
It really needs to be said that Bill Clinton lied under oath about a personal matter, not a matter of state. Trump's shakedown of Zelensky for personal political gain put America's national security at risk. There isn't a remote resemblance. Republicans like Lindsey Graham, who were prosecuting Bill Clinton in the 1990's, need their feet held to the fire.
7
A clear and eloquent true statement, which should be posted by every news outlet across the country. Thank you!
5
Although I was initially not interested in seeing the impeachment process begin, the revelations that have come to the surface from the whistle blower have really removed either inaction or other options from the Democrats. Yes I know this may not pass the Senate yet we do not yet know how big this is really going to get. The whistle blower seems to believe there may be information related to similar calls made by Trump on this secret server.
I guess at this point only the Shadow knows.......
5
If Congress does nothing, the Country and Constitution are moribund. Impeachment is a risk, and Trump may win in 2020, and the Country might be destroyed anyway. But we can't be cowards about this. Even if we go down the impeachment road and lose, at least we had courage to fight for our country and for freedom.
9
Local news is finally covering this scandal (outside of Sinclair) and folks that don't pay much attention to cable news are starting to see it. His lawlessness has more than a few flashlights on it now.
5
Furthermore, Mr. Trump’s actions expose him to blackmail. Any government could threaten to release a taped phone call in An attempt to coerce him.
6
Undoubtedly there are dozens of others in the administration who can corroborate the information provided by the whistleblower, and/or other equally egregious Trump transgressions.
I would like to plead with those in Trump’s inner circle: you may have tasted the Trump Kool-Aid, and believe you are invincible.
But this is about the future of our country. Not about where your office is located in the West Wing.
See something say something.
6
If the Trump's lawlessness and complete disregard for the Constitution does not merit impeachment, this nation is toast.
If the House impeaches and the Senate refuses to act, or does not convict, all future presidents will clearly understand that they are untouchable.
Presidential candidates will also understand that getting elected by any means imaginable, including inviting foreign nations to interfere with the election, is perfectly acceptable.
Republicans should be planning now for how they will react when a Democrat president behaves as revoltingly and unlawfully as the Trump, and act accordingly.
7
I applaud the writer(s) of this editorial. It's cogent. I think you've won the argument for or against. Very well done.
3
The glaring and transparent problem for the NY Times and liberals is, and will always be, is that impeachment is what they have aspired to, prayed for and transparently sought from the first day of Trump's election. So now, that they think they have latched onto something they can credibly claim as an impeachable offence they hubristically assume that the middle and right two thirds of the country will comply with their ostentatious demand to remove a democratically elected President from office on their command. Ha Ha. Not so fast. From day one after Trump's inauguration, the entire liberal media complex has been focused, almost exclusively on finding an impeachable offense; their rage about loosing an election never abated. Even if this most recent complaint is credible it is only one of many cascading from the hysteria after his election and, now, is irrelevant. The People, NOT CONGRESS, must decide Trump's fate. And the PEOPLE vote in November, 2020. If the PEOPLE decide Trump has committed an impeachable offence then they will vote him out of office. The House of Representatives,controlled by a partisan majority of DEMOCRATS will surely vote for impeachment. But the Senate will vote to acquit.. Good luck in 2020! FOUR MORE YEARS!!!
6
The NY Times should reconsider any headline that says that Democrats subpoena Pompeo or anybody else. Let me remind the New York Times that the democrats do not have subpoena power. Congress has subpoena power.
Headlines should read
Congress subpoenas Pompeo.
To reference a political party is not accurate and only promotes political division.
9
Well done. And about time.
1
I desperately want to see Trump impeached. But I am also troubled by Joe Biden's poor judgement in aiding his son Hunter's work in the Ukraine. He should have known, as Vice President, that the smell of this would not be delightful.
3
I ask a simple question; If Trump expelled the diplomatic spies around the nation, why did he allow the Russian Television station just down the street from the White House to remain?
2
I am glad that the opinion the the Editorial was both more prnicipled and practical than several of your opinion writers, one of whom swallowed the bowdlerization of the Mueller report by William Barr and the conclusions that Barr tried to peddle hook, line and sinker.
2
apparently settling this at the ballot box is exactly what Trump was underhandedly trying to prevent. So, impeachment is the only choice as he obviously is inclined to cheat the upcoming, as well as the last, presidential election.
For Trump, the weak , hollow, immoral person that he is, "winning" is everything, and it doesn't matter HOW he wins, as long as he does. He is afraid of a legit election, and so has to succumb to his most base instinct: to cheat!
He must be removed for office...so corrupt, so untrustworthy, so dishonest...pitiful.
4
If not now, when?
Is there a timeline for morality?
2
You say that "President Trump may have finished second in the popular vote, but he is the legitimate president." This out of context example of apophasis is a sly way of suggesting that President Trump is really less legitimate than he may seem, which is the subtext of your editorial board's opinion here. Debates about the legitimacy of the electoral vote as opposed to the popular vote have their place but not here. To sneak this rhetorical sleight of hand into an editorial about impeachment amounts to a blow beneath the belt. The political atmosphere is already nearly superheated. Let's not exacerbate things by rhetorical underhandedness.
4
You bet! The time has come.
Here's what I don't understand. The key to Trump beating impeachment is proof or near-proof that Biden really was involved in a quid pro quo in Ukraine.
If it can be shown that Biden's story is full of holes - that he was protecting his son - then Trump's request for an investigation begins to look pretty legit. He would have been acting as chief U.S. law enforcement officer rather than seeking merely to discredit a political opponent.
As it happens, we have documentary evidence that Biden's story is highly suspect. Investigative reporter John Solomon has been diligently at work on this story and has uncovered numerous documents of unquestioned reliability which make that story implausible.
So what I don't understand is why Solomon's effort has not penetrated the national conversation on this historic issue. Sooner or later it has too.
To wit:
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/463307-solomon-these-once-secret-memos-cast-doubt-on-joe-bidens-ukraine-story
3
I hold no brief for or against Pres. Trump. The farce called American partisan politics hit its nadir when the election cycles grew to 21 months each and assumed the aura of a TV game show. Our process has truly descended to the most base level of our anything-for-a-dollar culture. We get, as the sage observed, the government that we deserve. And a nation that invades other nations at will, even as its citizens butcher each other on a daily basis, can never be expected to reflect soberly on issues of national concern.
This burlesque only shows the world precisely who we are. From now on we will always get a Pres. Trump, only in many seemingly diverse forms. The die is cast.
That said, Congress twice in our brief history has attempted to remove a president, and each time they failed. Let them go for it again. In this age of people who fall apart mentally and cry when their preferred candidate loses, impeachment will just rip the lid off a giant size can of worms which Congress will never manage to refill. As empty as the gesture of voting has become, the millions who see it as a sacred trust will not take lightly the nullification of their vote. It will be just as important to Americans as the cancelling a beloved TV series - one of the few actions that rouses the entertainment-besotted denizens of the land.
So go for it, Congress. Put VP Pence in the oval office. You will see the game is not worth the candle. But you will never learn from it.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
6
I'd say that journalists shouldn't take party - no matter how agreeable it might be. Trump won in 2016 and is still popular because journalists took sides instead of trying to be as objective as possible. I'm sorry to say but the NYT - for me being a journalist and an avid reader for many years - damaged itself during the campaign tremendously....
And this is going on right now! If you want a Democrat in the White House - why aren't you telling the people out there (not in the cool cities alone) why they should vote for a Democrat next year?
5
A convincing case. I would expect the House Managers to make one equally cogent. Though we typically have to sort out garbage when these things happen, as Russel Baker wrote during the Clinton affair. We shiver in disgust. So hold your nose, House, and get on with the toxic waste handling.
further waste of time, money and ink. impeachment, as you all well know, will not work. why on earth didn't you do as suggested in the first place and completely ignore a senile bankrupt who has, at the end of the day, impacted little economically or socially?
1
Question: Did Donald Trump really expect to win the 2016 election?
If not, if he was as surprised and shocked as some of us were, why doesn't he do the right thing, which would also show that he has some common sense: resign gracefully and graciously and go back to what he was doing before (bluffing suckers and going bankrupt).
4
Trump isn't going to be impeached just because of his attempted shakedown of Ukraine; naw, his impeachment will be a Lifetime Achievement Award for all the sleazy and dishonest things he's done in his life.
2
GOP ! This is your opportunity to get rid of this president you hate. This is your time to save your party. This is when you have a chance to resume the role of a legitimate opposition party with reasonable principles regarding how to govern our nation.
This, Mitch, is your time... Save our democracy while you can!
1
Will someone please help me understand Clinton's impeachment inquiry and impeachment? This article states that after the inquiry the Judiciary Board "supported censure rather than impeachment." But Wikipedia (which I trust with basic facts on such a momentous event) says that the House formally adopted 2 articles of impeachment and forwarded them to the United States Senate for adjudication on Dec 19, 1998. Did the House overrule (vote to) the Board's censure recommendation and vote for impeachment? If that's the case, then NYT does not make this clear
Yes, of course, it’s time. What I will be interested to see is if a pattern of covering up the president’s most egregious actions emerges. That’s what it sounds like. These White House staffers are not idiots. We saw it way back when the Anonymous op-ed piece came out. Regardless of how they spin it, they all absolutely knew he crossed a line with Zelensky. Except for a few exceptions like Nunes, most of the GOP knows they have a crazy, loose cannon on their hands and they are just using him to get what they want. A deal with the devil. I’d like to know what has been intercepted and “handled” by staffers back to day one. And I don’t care if the Senate acquits him, at least he forever has the stain of impeachment on his name. Then we can worry about getting him out in 2020.
1
The perverse essence of American politics, this oligarchical circus we call a democracy, is the replacement of ethical and moral substance with winning at whatever cost. The loss of America's collective integrity is the price paid for the likes of Trump and McConnell. The 40+% of Americans who bend over to the cries of 'We're number one.' and wave silly hats in lieu of addressing the issues are the greatest enemy of what was the dream of our forefathers. Shame on us for descending so low as to be bought and paid for by oligarchs and special interests. No other democracy sells itself like the US.
1
1. It IS a crime to conspire with a foreign power to change the outcome of an American election.
2. It IS a crime to extort a foreign power to work in your political campaign using American tax dollars and the threat of Russian aggression.
3. It IS a crime not to disclose on FEC filings the hiring of a foreign nation to work as consultants and propagandists in your re-election campaign.
4. It IS a crime to defraud American voters.
5. It IS a crime to side with a foreign power against the U.S. That crime is called TREASON.
6. We all know what the meaning of IS is.
3
In summary: It has to be.
1
If "check" is always a noun and never a verb, it isn't really a check.
Trump is a illegitimate fraud—a dangerous "fake" to use his favorite word"—from his pathological head to his bone-spurred feet, from his wayward youth to his angry old age, and from his history of business corruption to his show business political career.
If justice was truly served, he would be removed not only from government but expunged from history to become persona non grata and, more importantly, deleted from our heads and memories, which he has colonized like a plague or virus.
He is undoubtedly the most loathsome figure to step onto the American stage, embodying the very, very worst the country has to offer: racism, lies upon lies upon lies, hatred of foreigners and women, denial of science, and petty vindictive actions against the most vulnerable from children to those physically challenged.
If only we could impeach and terminate his party and confederacy of dunces who support him, that would be a justifiable action as well.
Let's end this "presidential" charade and place an honorable and honest person at the head of the government post haste and before it is . . . too late (the two saddest words in the English language).
3
Thank you Team Obvious. This is the most corrupt administration in U.S. history, "Barr" none!
3
Trump is a symptom - not the cause.
Whether on the right or left, mob behavior is ugly. Educated mob behavior may actually be uglier.
4
Well stated!
1
As a journalist with no intent to take sides in the debate over the President's behavior here, I think it's worth noting that this editorial and most of the media coverage fail to sufficiently raise two questions about that behavior that are vital to two nations' national security.
First, the witholding of military aid to Ukraine - a US ally and the target of Russian actions that have triggered Russia's international isolation and condemnation - quite possibly endangers Ukraine's national security and even existence as an independent state battling documented Russian actions in its own country.
Second and equally important, to the extent that Ukraine is weakened and Russia achieves its apparent aim of dominance there, US national security is harmed -- one of the core reasons for international sanctions against
Russia. Europe and other nations have significant security stakes in this as well.
So journalists should be exploring, and asking more about, not only whether these actions solicited foreign interference in a US elections in ways intended to boost the President's political prospects, but whether they seriously damaged a US ally and US national security simultaneously.
That's all implicit here, of course, but journalists should be making that aspect of the story more clear for the public.
10
The Editorial Board's history of Presidential endorsements is a barometer of their political bias. Not since 1956, the year they endorsed Dwight D. Eisenhower over Adlai E. Stevenson, has the board endorsed a Republican candidate.
The good news for Republicans and the electorate is those "well reasoned" endorsements reflected voters' ultimate decision only 43% of the time. So, there is an excellent chance they got it wrong this time too.
Remember the live NY Times commentary during the Clinton/Trump debates? I do. Trump got all the criticism and mockery from the Times' unbiased employees.
If there were to be a third party Presidential candidate of any standing with any chance at all of winning in 2020, I would likely vote for him or her. With the mess Democrats are making of our political institutions, many of us may get that chance.
4
Your editorial referring to Nixon's travails makes me wonder what would happen today if the same circumstances that led to Nixon's resignation occurred under Trump and the present Congress. Does any reasonable person think that Trump would have resigned, or if impeached, he would be convicted by the Senate? I don't think so. Just shows how low we have come as a nation since 1974.
4
In this finely written manifesto one thing is not mentioned. That after the impeachment there will be a trial in the Senate that is planned out by Moscow Mitch.I have no doubt there will be impeachment and all over the country liberals will cheer that he has been removed. Then they will read that this is not how it works. Of course be a show trial against Biden, Warren and probably Hilary and Obama, that the trial will be held a week before the election, and that for Trump to be convicted will require 20 Republican Senators to give up their party and their careers to convict him. After this extended round the clock Trump rally he will win in a landslide and establish that there is now two words in the Constitution and those are TRUMP POWER. In his second term he will replace Ginsberg and Breyer, he will repeal the ACA, he will turn the EPA into a standing lobbyist committee for the petrochemical and mining interests. AND even then the same people will say .....well it was a matter of principle!
2
How do we get people to venture out from Facebook Friends, internet whacked out sites, and FOX NEWS?Just a little bit of diversified knowledge about Trump will expose how bad he is. I understand that the opposition choices may not be ideal for 35% of the country. I have no problem with that. Why not support a mainstream Republican with moral fiber?We need more than two parties no doubt. FOX NEWS is not only not "fair and balanced" its largely reprehensible. Trump does not care about the "little guy". He cares about Trump.
1
Outstanding editorial. I agree 100%. And why the House would rush the process is a complete mystery to me....and wrong.
Trump's election was likely illegitimate as he received a Billion dollars worth of free Television airtime from the Television industry help from four former federal prosecutors, one later appointed AG, another now his personal attorney possibly to shield him from testifying due to attorney client privilege, help from Russia, and now sought help from a Television actor turned President of Ukraine, a nation likely still bound to Russia socially until this generation passes. I view with a firm suspicion, the fact that the Television actor Trump was aided by a campaign manager, Manafort, who had aquaintences with Russian Television prior to the Trump campaign, and he sought help from another Television actor Zelensky of a nation full of Russian loyalists. I suspect Zelensky is a go between.
After all, it is the Television industry we get the election results from.
2
The Impeachment Inquiry is the best option as of today, but it is not the only option. There is the 25th Amendment.
1
In 1973, Nixon said: "let others wallow in Watergate, we are going to do our job."
In 2019,I am happy to wallow in the fast-breaking reports of how trump has violated his Presidential oath, disgraced the Office, and committed high crimes. trump likely doesn't have the decency to resign as Nixon did; he should be impeached and then indicted. Failing either, he must be voted out in 2020. And then history can write the story of trump, as it did for Nixon.
1
With voter suppression and disenfranchisement leveraged by gerrymandered state legislatures, I am not at all convinced 2016 was a 'fair and free' election. The GOP stole the election in 2000 too!
4
Not too many days ago, the NYT published an opinion piece by John Yoo (yes, THAT John Yoo of the torture memos infamy), wherein Mr. Yoo proclaimed that impeachment should only be used as a last resort. I agree with that one narrow point of his opinion piece. It IS a last resort.
But his statement leaves the most important question open: when, and who, makes the determination that we are at our "last resort" and thus must use that tool?
There is no algorithm here, there is only human judgement. And that judgement is, under our Constitution, vested in Congress. I am fully in agreement with Madam Speaker Pelosi that we have indeed reached our "last resort" with Trump.
The right-wing media sphere is shouting to its listeners that the use of this last resort is somehow an existential attack on them. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is about egregious abuses of one man in power, who took a solemn oath to serve us, ALL of us, instead of himself.
The Constitutionally approved tools that the co-equal Congress has for dealing with an errant President are completely separate from the question of what the people seeking the Presidential office have to offer and propose.
Judge the Presidential candidates (D, R, and other) on their own merits. At this time, the D candidate has not been decided. Many things can happen with all those aspirants between now and next summer when that party nominates their candidate.
5
Other whistle blowers or variants will now be emboldened to emerge and the boundaries of the impeachment will necessarily widen.
Trump’s transgressions are almost certainly not yet fully discovered and there are possibly worse to occur until the election.
As the situation disintegrates, so will Trump and friends...exponentially.
Reagan’s “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet” is prescient.
1
I fully support impeachment and have little to add to the majority of today’s comments.
My one wish is for Democrats to go slow and steady. No grandstanding, no hyperventilating, no gamesmanship. Let the Republicans behave that way.
The last thing we need is a replay of what happened with Corey Lewandowski last week, or recalling an earlier courtroom circus—the OJ trial.
8
The very foundation of the impeachment accusation is built on sand and deception. There is nothing wrong with Trump asking the Ukrainian president to investigate whether Biden's bragging about getting the Ukrainian prosecutor fired by threatening to withhold $1 billion might be linked to corruption. There is a prima facie link between Biden's action and the investigation being conducted at that time by the Ukrainian prosecutor into the company in which Hunter Biden had a seat on the board and was making a lot of money despite not having had any experience in the oil industry and otherwise being a young man with problems. The fact that Biden was VP and had announced his candidacy around three months before the telephone call does not give him or his son immunity from criminal investigation either in this country or in Ukraine. The United States and Ukraine have a treaty on providing legal assistance to each other. Therefore, it is completely appropriate for President Trump, as our top law enforcement officer, to talk about such potentially serious criminal corruption matter with the Ukrainian president.
The essence of the Democratic case for impeachment is that the President, when carrying out his duties, acts illegally, anyway, if the performance of his duties might benefit him in the next election. The absurdity of the political left knows no bounds.
3
@Christopher Arend
Um, you seem to have forgotten that Pres Clinton wasn't impeached for Whitewater, and he wasn't impeached for Vince Foster, and he wasn't even impeached for having an affair with Monica Lewinsky. He was impeached for lying to Congress, obstructing justice.
Even if Trump's phonecall with Zelenskyy doesn't rise to the level of impeachable, the fact that the transcript was purposefully hidden is a simple case of obstruction of justice.
Plus, Mueller has already given the Dems plenty of other instances of obstruction of justice to add more articles of impeachment about.
Don't forget: It's not the crime, it's the cover-up.
Watergate, Clinton, and now Trump!
2
I strongly disagree that the system was working before the impeachment inquiry started. Barr and Trump were successfully spinning and stonewalling. Most people were not reading the Mueller Report and would never fully appreciate the depths of Trump's corruption. My response to the Times Editorial Board is: better late than never.
3
If blackmailing the government of Ukraine to investigate a political rival is not seen as putting personal interest before the interests of the nation, I don't know what is. This president has no clue what is in the national interest because he conflates his own personal interest with the national interest. "L'état, c'est moi" (I am the state) is apparently the point of view of Trump as it was the point of view of Luis IV. Even if the spineless Republicans continue to support this clueless President, let him be impeached because at the very least, the hearings will provide plenty of content for Democratic candidates to use in their campaign commercials in 2020.
5
All politics is to some extent theater. Including impeachment.
However, one way or another Mr Trump's political career is now effectively over. A zombie President.
7
Flyover Country are the electorate that need to be persuaded of the merits.
1
Everyone, have you heard? It's time to "demonstrate the majesty of representative democracy." It's sad that I had to laugh out loud at that.
Trump committed a felony to influence the election and he welcomed Russian interference on his behalf. Republicans also engaged in various schemes to disenfranchise voters. Can anyone honestly say that Trump would have still won without all that? He's about as "legitimate" as a mob run business.
4
They should only focus on this Ukraine issue, I absolutely disagree. It’s the most explosive misconduct of his presidency, we have the most evidence, and it’s in the here and now. The absolute key to this is the fact that it wasn’t the first time the secret computer was used like this. Congress needs to uncover the other times and show us what he did. We the people need to see new revelations, not rehash the Mueller report or Stormy Daniels. Nytimes, it will be too broad if you go into the past issues! Stick to “he abused his power and tried to cover it up.” That line will ring true to all Americans. No one cares about the Mueller Report (sadly) or Stormy Daniels anymore. Real-time abuse-of-power should be the sole focus and is the only strategy to actually convince the Senate to remove him.
4
We haven't even seen the full whistleblower complaint yet, or the other other transcripts that have been locked away to protect Trump. If the redacted transcript was this damaging, imagine what we'll learn as investigators peel the layers of this onion. Meanwhile, Trump's predictable stream of daily lies seems more ridiculous and obvious than ever, as he tries to spin this news to implicate his opponents. Sending out Giuliani and Pence to argue his case on TV is only making him look worse.
1
Trump will insult and demean and threaten the NYT for this editorial. Except I doubt he can read through more than a few paragraphs of it, or most anything else.
I anticipated this "years" ago when Trump was running as an outsider who had no political or survival experience inside the Beltway.
He has now shown how low he goes applying his questionable real estate experience as the leader of the most powerful military and economic country in the world [which we were under Obama ... and early on under Bush].
Now more scary than just sad.
4
Bravo to the Democratic Congress for having the courage to open an impeachment inquiry against President Trump. The GOP and Trump have broken a myriad of laws over the past three years that form the base for our Constitution. Trump has tried every dirty trick posible to keep himself in power. It's too bad and irresponsible that the GOP has followed in his footsteps and turned against the American people. Together they are little more
than conmen seeking to enhance their own personal greed for power.
4
For all of us who oppose the persistant corrupt and anti-Constitutional machinations of this President we have to respond - as Martin Luther did five hundered years ago when he refused to retract his beliefs:
"Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise."
And support the Impeachment of President Donald Trump.
9
Please name just one politician who has not abused the power of his/her office.
I doubt that you can, since all politicians are motivated by self interest and usually greed as well. And the list of politicians who have been censured or threatened with censure for their abuse of office is well populated by current and previous members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The principal value that will be demonstrated in this process will not be justice, but hypocrisy.
@Michael
Oh, Michael. Not everyone is perfect. But very few are completely corrupt.
2
This president stands out as an aberration in all of American history, for his incivility, his disrespect for his office, his incompetence and lack of basic knowledge in foreign affairs and public policy, and his rank dishonesty and corruption. He has disgraced all of us as a nation. His impeachment and removal from office will be the only way to clear our good name in the eyes of the world. The political consequences of impeachment are hard to determine, and it may well end up being counterproductive in the short term. But if nothing is done, we will send the message that a president is free to violate the public trust for personal advantage. People who yammer on about the "coastal elites vs. real Americans" do not know what they are talking about. Who are they to define who is and is not an "authentic" American or a snob? The truth is that his defenders are just additional names on the long list of the people this man has cheated over the course of his lifetime. All who have really looked at how he conducts himself recognize him as a narcissist who cares only about himself. Anyone who does his bidding will one day learn what it means to be completely expendable. Nothing less than our future is at stake. Our grandchildren will one day ask us, if we fail, why we did not make a stand for the constitutional order, why well fell into "culture war" stereotypical polemics instead. The House is doing its duty. If the Senate fails, future generations will remember and not forgive.
7
Thank you for your in-depth explanation and conclusion of where we stand with the Trump pResidency. He literally has been lawless before taking office and while in-office. I have watched in pain and agony as he has destroyed every presidential norm and on the rule of law. He has presented himself as a dictator - he who must be obeyed and cannot be investigated nor indicted while in office per her current Judicial department/head, Mr. Barr.
Your editorial should be read by EVERY American both sides of the aisle. I have heard stories of people who only watch the State cable news channel rethink their position when they find out things never aired by that cable network. Like an Aha moment.
Thank you again for an excellent Editorial Board opinion piece. Everyone should read it.
5
Dear Senate Republicans,
This is your chance. Surely you don't want to be "the party of Trump" for the next quarter of a century. You don't want him to anoint the nominee who will succeed him. You don't want people down the road to run on "Trumpian principles."
Now is your chance to be rid of this meddlesome priest. All it takes is 20 of you to say, "This shall not stand. This is not the behavior of an American President. We stand for our country ahead of any political party." It'll sound great.
And then, with him gone, you have plenty of time to run in the primaries and nominate someone who has a shred of decency. You could even win. It's not like JFK is running for the Democrats.
The first one of you out of the box to make an Eisenhower-like statement will have the advantage in the early primaries.
Marco? Jodi? Rand? Ted? Chance to be a leader....
1
"But an impeachment inquiry was not necessary to deal previously with those transgressions, because the system was working:"
Uh, no it wasn't. Trump was still engaged in these activities, or others, and the ink was barely dry on the Mueller Report before he committed this latest act! How can you say "The system was working"? Not one witness that was withheld - including Trump himself - nor any documents subpoenaed has been produced! The system was clearly NOT working, which is why impeachment should've been launched months ago. The only reason it was not, was because Nancy Pelosi and the DNC leadership placed political calculus above their sworn duty to protect and defend the United States from enemies both foreign and domestic. Donald Trump and his Republican enablers are the essence of a domestic enemy.
I'm glad that Nancy has finally had a change of heart. Now we will see if the system actually does work, but I suspect that no matter how compelling the evidence for conviction is, the Republicans will continue their treasonous support of a man who has been actively working with our enemies to undermine our country. Still, impeachment must happen. It will force the cowardly Republicans to declare themselves against democracy and the Constitution and laws, and it will allow the American people to see just how corrupt Trump is.
Impeachment was ALWAYS the right move.
6
Well stated and well reasoned. And it's high time that Trump faced the music for at least one of the times he abused the office of the presidency. The man has made a mockery of our democracy.
5
«A president’s use of his power for his own political gain, at the expense of the public interest, is the quintessence of an impeachable offense»
Really? Is that what your expertise in public affairs has told you?
Every president routinely uses the office for his own political benefit. It's called politics. And if Hillary or Ms. Warren should succeed to the office, then she will exercise the same prerogative.
It appears that Trump's only impeachable offense is the fury he's provoked in you and your friends.
Too bad. Trump is president, your candidate is not, and three years after the fact you are still at the mercy of it.
2
Speaker Pelosi, Committee Chair Schiff and other leaders of the Democratic caucus should henceforth politely decline from appearing on televised news media shows to avoid what is now happening and what will continue to occur: speaking off the cuff, adlib interpretations of evidence in the formal impeachment inquiry, participating with news show hosts in jokes and laughter. This is serious business! You will inevitably make a mistake (a flub) and pay for it later.
3
It might begin with an examination of Trump, but in the end he should have company - a lot of it. The political hacks he crammed the Justice Department with don't deserve their security clearances any more than Trump and his oil-slick family, they should definitely see the setting of their careers as paid public servants and the dawning of their careers as public wards. But Trump and his myopic Justice Department would still only amount to the tip of the iceberg, what about his enablers in congress, all of them? When are they going to be held accountable for self-serving actions taken exclusively for party at the expense of country? Perhaps after all that good work of holding dishonest politicians accountable for violating their oath to protect the Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC, there will be enough momentum to go after the root cause of renegade wrongheaded Republicanism - conservative news. Conservatives are to news what Lex Luthor is to Superman, an archvillain if ever there was one. Enabling news beholden to no standards with no ethical or moral sense of direction should be OUTLAWED!!!
4
The Times, like Trump, cannot resist letting slip it’s real agenda. The statement that impeachment of Bill Clinton “for lying under oath” was unjustified is outrageous. Commission of an actual crime, perjury. About the most self-serving and selfish violation of a president’s duty to the country that can be imagined. Excusing him is the equivalent of the college football star getting a pass for sexual assault because he is so good on the field. If Clinton is the standard for an unjustified impeachment, you can forget ever impeaching Trump.
Hold Trump’s feet to the fire, but don’t let only Democrats off the hook for bad behavior and further the right-wing argument that the paper is only a Democratic Party organ not to be believed.
2
Perhaps the best reasoned and written editorial I have read in my 40 years of reading NY times. Bravo!
2
Given that 2/3rds of the Senate has to convict to remove Trump from office won't he be emboldened to continue his unconstitutional behavior? Clearly most Republicans are complicit.
1
He used foreign countries to get himself elected the first time and Republican voters loved it. He will use them again without any of his base being bothered in the least. Trump is going to do every illegal and legal that he can get away with. His already loves gerrymandering, blocking voters from voting, and massive miss information. forcing a foreign country to create falsehoods is par for the course for Republicans.
Obama ignored Trump's illegal activities. Remember those last illegal activities gave Trump is presidency. If rational folks let Trump continue his con job unfettered, he will be reelected.
1
In other venues, I keep reading commentators who dismiss Trump's wrong-doing by pointing to the Bidens' suspicious behavior, as though there are only two choices-your crook or ours. How about we get really radical and elect people are *unambiguously* acting as public servants?
2
Trump is increasingly a poster child for incompetent parenting as well as hereditary narcissism. Our country was built with the sweat of many generations and defended with the blood of some before Trump's paternal grandparents showed up, while his mother was an undocumented immigrant.
He is feral at a genetic level, and if he is not removed from power, this country will go the way of Rome--ransacked by materialistic barbarians while the government dithers in self-indulgence.
1
Congratulations to the NYT and afficionados who finally have what they wanted from day1. What this is really about, is that here we have a president that is not a flower pot like his half dozen predecessors, but actually governs and tries to enact policies that, oh my God, the deep state don't approve of. He is a "populist", you know, yikes! See you at the next elections. Hodie mihi, cras tibi.
1
To be frank, I don't think this moment is going to benefit Trump or the GOP. If the Senate refuses to convict, and the American people get a look at the basis for impeachment, that's the end of the GOP's credibility - forever.
Some people will still vote for him, and for Mitch McConnell, too, but be real: some people welcomed the Nazis because they were already Nazis at heart. We should not let hesitation over quislings stop us from doing what is necessary. This isn't about Donald Trump, this is about the safety and security of the 350 million people who live in this country and the wider world that still, sometimes improbably, look to us as an example of democracy in a violent world. This is bigger than one man, one administration, or one party. If the GOP can't step back enough to put it in that perspective, they have no business possessing any sort of power. Just like the 3 other times this happened, impeachment is not about settling political scores, but about what sort of country we want - and need - to be.
Besides, if he didn't do anything wrong, he's got nothing to be worried about, now does he?
5
Many thanks to the New York Times for this excellent editorial and for all of the spotlights shone on Donald Trump's actions and behavior as candidate, President-elect and President.
You do us proud, NYTimes. Thanks for your enduring integrity.
2
Trump doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference between his own self-interest and the interests of the nation. If he really believes "l'état, c'est moi", as Louis XIV did, then it would be perfectly natural for him to think it's OK to pressure a foreign government to help put pressure on his political rivals. But if he understood the national interest, he would realize that it is not in the National interest for him to solicit foreign interference in our elections, which he has done repeatedly. And witholding money that the congress had voted to spend in Ukraine is abuse of the public trust.
3
A very well-written editorial. What we must focus on is ensuring that fair elections can be held. If Mr. Trump's behavior has undermined that, we simply cannot wait for an election to remove him from office - since the election itself would be invalid.
2
This is an outstanding and comprehensive editorial in support of the impeachment of Trump and I agree strongly with all your points except two. One, I do not believe that Trump is the legitimate president because of his coordination and conspiracy with the Russians to meddle in the 2016 election and his hush money payments to the two women just prior to the election. If he was elected mayor of a city in the US, and had committed these crimes, an investigation would ensue and a court would nullify that election. The US House and Senate can choose not to seat an elected member for this type of behavior or expel them. No such mechanism exists for the US president only impeachment. He is illegitimate because he did felony crimes which helped him in the election. Second, I believe that President Clinton could have been charged with workplace harassment which is a serious offense for a president. Ms Lewinsky was a white house intern and so possessed the legal rights of an employee. By having a sexual relationship with her, he committed a serious breach of supervisor and supervisee conduct regarding an unequal power relationship that in some workplaces can cost a company millions in a civil court judgement. It is about time to impeach Trump. If the US senate receives an obviously compelling case, and chooses not to remove him. There are 22 US Republican Senate seats up for grabs in the 2020 election. Any of those who vote him innocent, most will lose their seats and Trump out too.
4
Thank you for standing up for what is right. We need every voice we can get to point out the fact that we as a nation cannot let this lawlessness go unchallenged. What would be next if we ignored his attempts to undermine our Democracy?
Would it be enough if we eventually found out that he had urged Russia to attack his hated nemesis California in some way, just because it doesn't bow down to his every whim? That may be far fetched, but this man is not in control of himself whatsoever and what may seem far out there to us seems to be completely acceptable to his warped sense of what is right or wrong.
Enough of hand wringers, worry warts and nay sayers who tremble in fear that we might upset his base. They are already so far gone that there is no hope of ever bringing them back to putting our democracy over the whims of a mad man.
Republicans have already made it clear that they aren't interested in keeping our democracy. All they're interested in is power and money and if it takes them kneeling to this mad man, let them proceed. And then let them explain why they should hold even one office in our Government.
3
Successful lawyers know when your case is weak or non-existent, you have to fill the air with dust and obscure the truth. The truth is that the phone call contained nothing that justifies overturning the votes of 66,000,000 voters. But the other truth is that the Dems have been pushing for impeachment by any means necessary. So the simple truth that impeachment is not supported by the evidence does not matter. Politics is the art of the possible and the Dems are doing what they told us they would in November 2016. A very sad, cynical spectacle.
5
"President Trump may have finished second in the popular vote, but he is the legitimate president." Many people take issue with Trump being a "legitimate" president. His victory was helped by Russian meddling and influence, with a small percentage of votes being won in 3 states, with the help of the Russians. Congressman John Lewis recognized that, and did not attend his inauguration, saying his presidency was "illegitimate."
3
Godspeed to the whistle blower, the judiciary Committee, the congress, and the Supreme Court in taking the necessary first step in restoring our fragile democracy.
6
@trblmkr
I would not count on the supreme court on this one, or any other, actually.
3
"Already, Democratic and Republican groups are raising funds off the news of an impeachment inquiry, squaring off to alternate as offense and defense, as though this is all just a lucrative game for insiders. That such behavior is not surprising makes it no less repulsive."
Just another reason we should have publicly financed campaigns and overturn Buckley, Citizens United and McCutcheon. Allowing those with money to have more say in our elections should be illegal. Time to level the playing field.
6
The way to hold Trump accountable is to indict him after he leaves office.
This impeachment hearing is going to get him reelected. The noise is going to drown out the messages from the Democrats going into 2020.
It will energize Trump's base without enthusing democrats . And it when the impeachment fails, it will be like the Mueller report.
Worse, it it re-energize the progressives' Democratic 'Tea Party' to blame the centrists. And so to 2028 when the Republicans win against AOC (or the fab 4) even if she is not running for anything.
Sigh. Rope a Dope.
2
It is abundantly clear that from day one that Donald Trumps election was unacceptable to the Washington elite. The fact that the American Public wanted change was unacceptable to those in power. History will show that President endured all attempts to over through him. Simple put America won't allow it to happen. Facts are on the Presidents side, and with the nation support of him will prevail.
5
@Gary
Is this really what the American people (and not the majority) wanted? I think many had no idea how bad he’d turn out. Quit trying to normalize this guy. He had no business even running in the first place.
Mr Trump differs in precedent. He uses foreign powers, big business, his cabinet secretary's, and a lawyer not answerable to congress or the people to orchestrate his lawlessness.
At the end of any impeachment proceedings he knows a senate will acquit him regardless of charges, so that senate can absolve themselves of guilt.
No political harm can come to voter turn-out as a result of the Senate's predictable rejection of Articles of Impeachment. In fact, Impeachment in the House will stimulate Democrats to vote in the numbers that always win historically when they show en masse. There are more of us than the shrunk base of the Trumpian Republicans. Senate Republicans will now be given a chance to show their true colors, and separate themselves from Mitch McConnell's legacy of power-by-any means, and his resulting contribution to the destruction of the separation of powers. Let History show....
6
He has done before and he'll do it again.
The majority leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, will simply not introduce the Impeachment on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He'll say it's an election year. This is the simplest way Senate Republications will never have to vote on the issue.
No Senate trial. No Chief Justice Roberts presiding over a Senate trial. No clarity about the charges. No "I'm only a country lawyer."
As Mitch might phrase it: "We are Federales. We don't need no stinking constitution."
4
After years of occasional lurking, this article compelled me to buy a yearlong subscription. What a well-written, concise take -- journalism like this is what our country needs.
4
Initiating a formal impeachment inquiry might very well be counterproductive. But not doing so would be even worse. Are we supposed to just let him subvert the 2020 election? Is that letting the people vote? I don't think anybody knows what the outcome of the impeachment inquiry will be. Doing the right thing is often hard and risky. Courage is recognizing that but doing it anyway. I have a world of respect for Speaker Pelosi.
9
Trump is a special case in that he never agrees that rules and limits upon what he can do are acceptable. The fundamental presumption of Presidential authority and responsibilities being limited by law according the Constitution and practices which restrain what they do with the discretion given the office just are not respected by Trump. They limit his power to do as he wants and for him, that is intolerable. He will not voluntarily comply with lawful demands from those he sees to be adversaries. For him, it's just giving opponents a free shots at him.
That means to bring him into line with laws and customs requires severe and forceful actions. Where as many President would agree not to do things that violate their oath of office, with Trump he will do so if he can get away with it.
There is a pretty good chance Trump will be charged in articles of impeachment. There is a zero chance he will be convicted and removed from office. So from that perspective, articles of impeachment are a waste of time. democratic political capital, and money.
Forcing Trump to obey the law, on the other hand, is a very worthwhile pursuit. At some point protecting the constitution and laws of the US is more important than time, political capital, or money.
7
And kudos to our journalists - the light bringers who will not rest until every last piece of news has been revealed so that we can understand clearly what has occurred.
Keep going Times reporters! We want all the information.
6
That a President is requesting the assistance of a foreign nation to find out about the corruption of one of his countrymen is not a crime.
The precedent is being set by the Democrats in Congress that phone calls by the president should be recorded, typed verbatim, analyzed by the CIA, made public and given to the opposite party to scrutinize and make a public spectacle of it. One would only hope that when Joe Biden is the president he be held to this standard, but I am sure he will not be subjected to this.
The case is based on a person who dislikes Trump, who wants to ensure he is not re-elected, and who heard rumors about a phone call and made an official report of it.
In the future, when Biden wants to know if Trump was corrupted, will he call foreign heads of state to find out? If he does we better hear every word of that conversation. In fact, make all his calls public.
Trump is surely not the first president to do this, or will he be the last. But he is the first one that had the CIA spying on him and reporting to the opposite party.
Since we are already mired down on this, please complete the cycle, investigate if Biden was in fact involved in corruption, not just of the president was asking about it.
And then let the people decide who is the president. The Democrats in congress are not in charge of telling me who I should choose.
6
When I was a kid, I was taught that if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything. The American people have fallen for far too much these last three year. It is time we all stand up for the country we--Republican and Democrat alike--purport to love.
5
While impeachment may be the only option, I can't help reflecting on the bigger picture. By electing Trump in the first place, this country has set in motion a truly appalling scenario from our point of view, and a dream scenario from the point of view of nations that would love to see us humiliated. We are no longer reliable allies (Trump's undermining of NATO; his cheering of Brexit; his tariffs on our friends and neighbors; his overtures to totalitarian regimes and the enemies of our friends). We are no longer honest brokers (Trump's behavior toward Israel and Palestine). We are so divided that we can't get anything accomplished with the deadlock Congress and the politicization of the Supreme Court. We are tearing down the most important advances we've made over many decades with Trump's deregulation activities and his removal of us from the Paris Climate Accord and the Iranian Nuclear Deal, and the damage he's done to education, health and welfare. Russia and China could never have anticipated how successful this has been for them. And, if we did this once, there we can never be trusted to avoid doing this again. So what if we impeach him. The damage is done. I don't know how we might be able to rise from these ashes.
2
@John
Sadly, you are correct. All hegemonies(empires) come to and end, and usually, that end does not go well for the hegemons/imperials. In the last century, the two world wars were the end of the collection of extant empires at the time: Ottoman Turk, Austro-Hungarian, Reich, British. In their place arose the American empire. History will note that the American empire was briefer than many.
So now we Americans must face the end of our empire, and do the hard work of picking up the pieces, dealing with the effects, and figuring out who we are going to be in the world going forward. The American Century is over, and the Project for a New American Century is a miserable failure. History gives us a very long line of peoples and fallen empires to learn from.
I just don't understand what the Republican leadership (McConnell, Graham, Cruz, Rubio) have against Mike Pence? They now have a clear indisputable example of abuse of power. They can walk into the Oval Office and say, "Sorry, sir. But you'll have to step down." They can turn to their constituents and say, "We had no choice. He was destroying our democracy." Surely, they recognize how much more effective their party would be in the hands of a skilled politician like Pence, however unlikeable he might be to much of the population. Follow up his swearing in with the appointment of an inspiring VP who could run as soon as 2020? They could come out of this looking pretty good. Even if (and if handled properly, I don't think it would) it might cost one or two of them an election, it would not cost them the loss of their party. Then, this whole miserable failed experiment in populism would be behind us. Behind ALL OF US. Republicans, Democrats, Independents and so on. I have no desire to live under a Pence administration for 2-6 years, but I fear our country can not survive another day with Trump at the helm.
It's easier for Congress to forget they report to the people and not the president when this president doesn't think he reports to anyone.
1
All that is required for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. It is not a matter of impeachment or elections, that's the same false premise that the corrupt are forever dangling. We must investigate, we must impeach, and we must campaign to overthrow this thoroughly corrupt and criminal administration.
It may be long. It may be bitter. But truth outs in the end. That's the side that all good people should be on, whether Democrat or Republican.
1076
@Solar Power
" It is not a matter of impeachment or elections, that's the same false premise that the corrupt are forever dangling."
Right!
15
@Solar Power
The guy is a jerk but not evil.
2
I have a problem because I can no longer trust congress.
They are worse than White House.
They are unfit too.
15
There are a lot of people in between New York & San Francisco that disagree with this editorial boards opinion. The fact is since the start of the impeachment inquiry Trump’s campaign has raised over 18 million dollars. Many people I know personally are closet Trump supporters simply because they are tired of being lectured to by the ultra liberal elitist media & academia. The sense that the lunatics have gotten ahold of the asylum is real. You see it in the backlash occurring now that is building momentum in comedy. People are tired of being told their views are problematic or the podcast hosts they listen to are alt-right. In this support of impeachment which to the best of my knowledge is not popular with majority of Americans it highlights how out of step the mainstream media is with the common American. Cancel culture needs to cancel itself. The woke mob got Trump elected in the first place and now appears to be gifting him another 4 years.
102
@Kevin this is not about his views. it's about his conduct. americans from coast to coast recognize corruption when they see it. and your 'knowledge' about popular support of impeachment is woefully outdated.
389
@Kevin
The woke mob got the guy elected by falling asleep in their individual cocoons - regardless of the informed legitimacy of their views.
Check out those lectures that irritate you so much.
Counter them if you see holes in the argument and look into their facts and the authorities presenting those facts.
And keep in mind: none of us knows everything, even if we have to act like we do in order to earn a living and keep the kids in line.
But some folks have dedicated their lives to getting really good at what they do, and they're worth listening to.
263
@Kevin Call me when your Republican party can manage more than ~45% of the national vote for a change (and that's with voter suppression efforts and poor turnout, and a lousy Democratic candidate in 2016)...Then we'll talk about being out of step with the common American.
358
Sorry if I have missed it, but has anyone or any party asked for/subpoenaed the whole, complete, unedited, unredacted, transcript of "the" phone conversation? Knowing the Trump administration and cronies does anyone trust the version produced so far? Would/could that not be the biggest smoking gun?
1
@Tim Senator Dianne Feinstein has called publicly for it, at least: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/463376-feinstein-calls-for-word-for-word-transcript-of-trump-call-at-heart-of
Trump's degrading our Constitution is the point here.
According to its writers, even a "misdemeanor" can qualify for a strict intervention and course correction if we are using it as our north star.
When a president is a degrading, toxic character whose psyche simply is not "adaequatio"- ie, does not have the capacity of character required for the depth of this job, there still has to be accountability. Trump may not be impeached at the end of the process, but the stain on his administration for perpetuity should be writ large and a warning to others.
The Trump crowd is having a Pity Party that his abuse of his entrusted office, his undignified whining and his endless skirting of the laws of the land gets Americans' backs up.
Too Bad.
2
US citizens would like to see Trump's tax returns for information other than tax evasion. We would like to see if he is taking money from Russia or other foreign sources, and laundering it. Remember -- Trump promised to release his taxes.
3
@toomuchrhetoric
Agree—why not just dump out the whole unsavory bucket of bad behavior? Think about the Clinton investigation—it started with Whitewater and after flailing around to find something, devolved into an impeachment about lying about an affair. A deep investigation into Trump is going to turn up a lot worse.
1
The impeachment inquiry and effort will galvanize support among Trump's base, but that doesn't particularly matter. Trump can't win with just that base. And that base would be with him even if (or especially if) he lined up political rivals and shot them on the Capitol steps. They're Americans who are largely through with democratic and legal norms.
The most important result of the impeachment inquiry and effort is how the rest of America (the non-Trump majority) reacts to the information. The Democrats need to approach it with clarity and care, and lay out as wide a case as possible, covering the host of actions Trump's taken. The Ukraine scandal may have started this, but it's so much more than just this.
Ideally, the criminality, corruption, and dishonor of the Trump regime will motivate enough non-Trump/GOP voters to do the necessary electoral housecleaning to bring law and order back in 2020 and beyond.
Ironic that the GOP's "winning" model involves the following: actively soliciting foreign interference in our elections, suppression of votes, gerrymandering, fear- and hate-mongering, and disregarding law, accountability, responsibility, and ethics in leadership.
For Trump (and the GOP) to prevail means the decimation of our republic, appealing to the very worst human instincts some people have.
Investigate, impeach, and, above all, vote out the GOP in 2020 and beyond.
3
"Mr. Trump, during a July phone call, pressed the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate Joe Biden, one of his leading political rivals, according to a written summary of the conversation released by the White House. What’s more, Mr. Trump offered the assistance of the Justice Department in that investigation. " This is what your article says.
I read the entire conversation transcript as released by the White House yesterday. What you say is not at all what was in the conversation that I read. Do you have further or other information? How do you derive your statement as quoted above from the transcript?
It is statements such as yours which make people distrust the media, since it does not appear to be based on fact.
I know you hate Trump and want him out of office, but making up stuff out of whole cloth is not the way to accomplish that.
3
impeachment will fail, the democrats have only themselves to blame, for there inability to understand what normal every day Americans think,while the elite, try to take the country with under handed tactics,they have beaten the bushes for two years ,squealing like a 3 year old who lost there toy, while offering nothing but token broad based idea's that have no substance or depth, there is a dearth of intelligence in the democrat party, they need to address, while this impeachment noise might sound good to there die hard supporters, it has no resonance with the general population. they will lose the next election for certain, no matter who runs for them or the republicans
3
President Trump has thrown down the gauntlet. Only the U.S. Congress can take it up.
Trump has perfected the Run Around Treatment - henceforth to be known as the RAT, a grand new acronym.
America needs to decide if it wants the RAT to take over or stop the RAT.
2
Our country suffers from a cancer that has been growing for decades.
Millions are spent to gain political office which pay $150,000.00.
After Biden becomes V.P., Biden son makes millions.
Meanwhile, Biden plays the poor civil servant who catches the train home every night.
Oh, Hillary sets up an extortion plan hidden with a secret computer to load up a "charity".
The beautiful part of the scheme is to have the extorted money put in a Canadian Charity and then have the money transferred over to the US.
Who's going to look at charity to charity.
The Establishment was out to get Trump from word go because he was going to get rid of this cancer.
6
@True Observer You make allegations without any substantiation. You are right about one thing, though. The country suffers from a cancer. Its name is Trump.
The USA is not going to allow another Trump term.
Should somehow the lower intelligent MAGA base afford another electoral college victory, the intelligent masses will take to the streets, clog the highways, disrupt the airports, stop the rail system and force Trump out of office.
I doubt this will be necessary, as re-electing Trump requires a voter stupidity level that seems beyond belief.
So impeaching him is ultimately worthy, but his Presidency is over, regardless.
2
It seems the Republican leadership wants to have the say so as to what is legal in regard to any abuse of power they choose: which is none. If you can’t have more votes-gerrymander and suppress. If you don’t like brown people-outlaw them. If you can’t win in court-change the judges to stooges. If the facts prove you wrong-just make up stuff and broadcast it on Fox. If you can’t find a good lawyer, hire Rudy Giuliani. If you don’t like Congress-champion a dictator. It’s pretty easy it seems and impeachment is the only knife at the OK Corral gunfight.
Sigh ... one can argue this point ... or debate that .... but what it all comes down to is this ;
The single greatest mistake this country ever made in regards to the office of the Presidency ... thanks in full to the grievous error of Gerald Ford ... was granting Nixon who by all rights deserved a lengthy jail sentence a full pardon ... thereby setting a tone for all later presidents that ultimately their misdeeds regardless of how serious or consequential will most likely go unpunished
The second greatest mistake ... should this congress make it ... would be to NOT place Trump beneath the Damocles Sword of Impeachment regardless of whether or not the sword falls upon its deserving intended ( and hopefully imminent ) target /victim
Because if this congress does make that fatal error ... every POTUS from Trump on forward will assume 100% they will never face the consequences of their actions ... which will then leave us and the very foundations of our Democratic Republic in dire straights on the verge of annihilation
2
Hypothesis ... could Trump have avoided all the brouhaha if he had used Christopher Steele, rather Rudy Giuliani, as his intermediary to the Ukrainian president?
4
" 'Consciousness of guilt' is a legal concept and a type of circumstantial evidence of guilt. It is based on a criminal suspect who demonstrates a guilty conscience by their actions or speech. Some examples of consciousness of guilt are: ... Concealing or destroying evidence [e.g. putting the call record on a 'secret server']... Witness intimidation [e.g. referring to the whistleblower as a 'spy' and demanding to know the identity] ... " (rationalwiki.org) Looks like Mr. Trump may have some guilt in his ... conscience? ... or somewhere, anyway ...
1
With a President who is willing to corruptly wield the power of his office to destroy any candidate with prospects of beating him in 2020, what other choice is there but to impeach? The public was prevented from knowing about the irregularities around Trump’s support from Russia in 2016 until after the election. Then, everyone concerned about election fraud was accused of being angry about losing (“sour grapes”) rather than being angry about Russian interference, which we had every right to be. You can’t cure unquantifiable election fraud after the fact, as we have learned. So it must be exposed before the election. Impeachment is the only remedy.
2
At its most basic, what DJT seems to have tried to do is: use the sweat of our brows, the fruits of our labor, of which our Federal income tax payments are part, for his personal benefit.
In doing so, his actions seem to violate the basic principle upon which our American Revolution was founded-"No Taxation Without Representation".
Our elected representatives earmarked a portion of our Federal income tax payments for the defense of Ukraine.
To threaten to withhold these funds from Ukraine robs us of that representation.
And further, for DJT to try to use these funds to gain an advantage over a political adversary is the definition of "Tyranny".
4
Attacks on the Constitution by the president, including:
Calling for violence against citizens without due process.
Saying, " "I have the right to do whatever I want as president."
Misappropriation of funds.
Taking payments from foreign governments.
Demanding private loyalty from public servants.
Obstructing an investigation into attacks on our elections by a hostile intelligence agency, and giving them aid and comfort by accusing the entire U.S. Intelligence Community of being "treasonous" with no credible evidence, for two years.
Publicly welcoming interference in our elections by foreign nations for his political gain.
Refusing almost all Congressional Oversight by inventing fake executive privileges.
Saying that he can interpret the 14th Amendment (instead of the Supreme Court) to end birthright citizenship.
Questioning the Citizenship of his critics, including members of Congress.
Saying that the entire judiciary is broken and only he can fix it, even though he has no authority over that co-equal branch of government.
Making personal attacks on judges hearing his cases.
Calling the Press "the enemy of the People," directly contradicting the First Amendment.
Calling for violence against the Press.
Saying that assaulting a journalist got a politician reelected.
Threatening us all with "the military, the police, and bikers for Trump."
And on and on...
are ALL High Crimes and together constitute a deliberate PATTERN of attacking all of the pillars of our Constitution.
6
We can't trust that the 2020 election will be fair:
What were the Russians doing INSIDE our voting machines in 2016?
What has been done to stop them from taking that farther? Nothing.
Add to that that Trump keeps hinting about wanting extra years or terms.
This is not something for Dems to think about. It's something for all decent Republicans—if there are any left—to think about.
4
Regardless of what we may guess the Senate may or may not do, Trump needs to be held to account to the fullest extent possible. Otherwise, this flagrant abuse of power and disregard for electoral integrity will just continue from this and future presidents. Even Trump supporters should get behind reining these abuses in, since the next president who tries them may be one who they don't like.
It the outrageously and multiple crimes and misdemeanors of Trump don't rise to the level of Impeachment, what would? Every member of congress needs to be held to a vote on this if for no other reason than to show who sides with foreign attacks on democracy.
I think this just goes to show that Mueller failed in his mission to get to the bottom of Trump's criminal activity, failed to hold him to account, and failed to properly inform the American people. He likely will go down as one of the least effective independent councils in the history of the Republic.
The American people deserve better than 24/7 lies and disinformation to prop up a criminal enterprise they call the Trump White House.
The impeachment process is most likely to suceed if the Democrats quietly and methodically proceed, with minimal political fanfare, and sticking to the facts. The more they say out loud, the more partisan the whole process will become.
They have to quietly maintain the high morale ground. It is Trump’s personally and intellect that he will keep giving himself enough rope to hang himself, as he never knows when it is best to shut up. Ultimately Trump is his own worst enemy.
He does however have a stuck on base that is well glued because they see him as their warrior in the modern American Culture War.
I agree with the NYT Editorial Board that impeachment is the only option, and I agree with David Brooks that impeachment is a mistake. Interesting that David, who normally takes the moral high road, is willing to waive criminal prosecution for the sake of political practicality: an argument whose premise I agree with but the rationalization stinks to high heaven! The answer to whether to impeach or not to impeach lies between a rock and a hard place!
I must admit that I have been frustrated with Speaker Pelosi, whom I greatly admire, in the recent months wondering what would it take. Now that we are here it's clearly a sad and sobering state of affairs.
That Trump and company have been holding Ukraine hostage to their congressionally authorized aid is despicable. They exploited a vulnerable democracy in a war with Russia in an effort to further destabilize our elections.
Ultimately I am thankful the corruption has been more fully exposed. Trump has further weakened the US as a world leader.
And for what it's worth...while there is no apparent misconduct on the part of the Bidens I think their choices regarding Hunter Biden and his position with Burisma were, at the very least, reckless.
2
What if Trump were impeached by the house and removed from office by the senate, which finally grows a conscience. Might the presidential election of 2020 become a contest between two honest adults that turns, not on gutter ad hominem attack, but on honest debate about policy? Were this to happen we could all be proud Americans again.
2
The credibility of the EB and the commentariat on this issue is a little thin since the EB and its echo chamber have been clamoring for Trump's removal from day 1. This is just another straw (hopefully not plastic) to grasp at.
4
@Ralphie This is no straw
3
I do not like President Trump as a person. I am far more open-minded about his performance (not spoken or written word) as a president. However, it amazes me how even the most intelligent and well studied people can't separate their feelings from the facts. Almost every post here lobs the certainty of Trump's bad behavior as settled fact.
There is nothing illegal or even immoral about a president asking a fellow leader for information. The fact that Biden is a presidential contender can not be proven as a reason for Trump's inquiry. It may well be, but there is no proof of that other than coincidence. Further, the Biden story itself absolutely reeks of impropriety. The fact that Trump is taking the heat for what his conversation was while Biden and his son skate is utterly remarkable, but a sign of the times. The left SO DESPERATELY wants a GOTCHA! moment, that they are willing to shoot far too early (and often), and when you do that your own feet do not fair well.
5
@JTIrish No, the "Biden story" does NOT "reek of impropriety". In fact, Joe Biden was pressing for the removal of a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor because that prosecutor was NOT investigating companies like Bursisma. "The publicly available evidence suggests that the Vice President... pursued anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine that would INCREASE the legal risks to the Ukrainian gas company, Burisma Holdings, where Biden’s son, Hunter, served on the board. The U.S. government’s efforts, led by Biden, explicitly and specifically targeted the office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine not only for its failure to pursue investigations – but also for blocking an investigation into allegations concerning the owner of Burisma."
https://www.justsecurity.org/66290/the-swiftboating-of-joe-biden/
@JTIrish
You say,there is nothing illegal or immoral about a president asking a fellow leader for ( dirt) information ( on a political rival) ???
Quite unbelievable.
1
Impeachment IS the only option.
As Rep. Al Green said, "I'm Concerned If We Don't Impeach This President, He Will Get Re-Elected".
Apparently, the Democrats abhor legal elections.
5
@George Orwell
You are mistaken. Only one party, the Republican Party, has a clear history in this century of voter suppression and election fraud.
6
You guys are hilarious. You claim that Trump committed some great crime, an impeachable offense, because he asked the government of Ukraine to conduct an investigation to determine whether Biden and or his son that Biden protected engaged in corrupt business practices in violation of Ukraine law. You say that in a gross violation of his duties as President because he is using his power to help himself politically, contrary to the public interest. But how is it contrary to the public interest. If the Ukraine has information that Biden is corrupt, isn't it in the public interest to know about it , and now before we the people install Biden as the next President. Isn't it better that our president whoever he is, if he has knowledge that a foreign government has dirt, true dirt, on an American politician that he put pressure on that government to disclose that information to the American people rather than put it in its vault and use it against that politician if he should become President.
If Biden had any brains and wants to save his campaign he would be publicly denouncing the impeachment inquiry and telling the world that he welcomes an investigation by Ukraine because neither he nor his son did anything illegal under either Ukraine law or American law. But he is an idiot and he supports the impeachment and the cover up of whatever he did so he is toast.
8
@Bob Richards He didn't ask. He withheld funds and extorted.
6
@Bob Richards You are being lied to about Joe Biden.
Those investigations were already done.
"The Vice President, working in tandem with other U.S. officials such as Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, pursued anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine that would INCREASE the legal risks to the Ukrainian gas company, Burisma Holdings, where Biden’s son, Hunter, served on the board. The U.S. government’s efforts, led by Biden, explicitly and specifically targeted the office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine not only for its failure to pursue investigations – but also for blocking an investigation into allegations concerning the owner of Burisma."
https://www.justsecurity.org/66290/the-swiftboating-of-joe-biden/
1
Initially, I was too politically fearful that impeachment would play into a Trump re-election. The whistleblower's complaint forced open my eyes. With others, I now see the integrity of the constitution supersedes any political fears or calculations. Impeachment is not a "gotcha." It's the right thing to do.
907
@Brown
At this point, we have a demonstrably corrupt President who is willing to destroy any credible opponent. The 2020 election, and even our multiparty system are at stake at this point,
60
As David Brooks points out in this morning's column, seeing the impeachment process through to a certain ending in Senate acquittal may well be counterproductive in the worst way. So does the House simply abandon its duty? Abdication would certainly convince voters that there is no reason to go to the trouble of voting the despot out, even if they think that should happen.
Surely, however, there are clever enough folks among Democrats to circumvent the certain Trump circus and to swing the spotlight onto the bread-and-butter issues that affect where Americans live daily. Inequality is actually getting worse, with many worried about the their future and that of their families. Democrats need to do their duty but also get busy settling on a candidate and moving forward with a program.
334
@FactionOfOne
Right. The Democratic candidates for president need to stay focused on their respective plans for a better America. It will be a split screen election. The House should methodically lay out the monumental case for impeachment while the candidates speak (mostly) to the issues affecting the everyday lives of the voters. It’s hard to believe that the faux outrage of Trump and his enablers will shift the view of anyone beyond the hardcore base. Trump cannot win with that base alone.
62
@FactionOfOne
We do not know that the outcome is a certain acquittal in the Senate. Like Mark Twain, I have been astonished by the number of people who do the right thing when it is demanded.
71
@FactionOfOne
There was a time when I thought David Brooks was a voice of "reason". Now, I believe that he is an exceptionally gifted manipulator of words to sow doubt in anything anti-Republican.
67
Excellent, well-reasoned analysis and opinion why Congress must exert its duty to initiate impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump.
However, one slight correction. The Russians did not just TRY to divide Americans and help Mr. Trump win. They DID divide Americans and did help him win.
934
@FrankWillsGhost
What a contrast between the decisiveness( and patriotism) of this public official with the "dithering" Mr. Mueller who after 2 years of deliberations and expense did not have the courage to reach a similar conclusion about Trump despite the many comparable opportunities which arose from his investigations.
48
As a young West Point cadet, I was required to read the New York Times every day, and be prepared to respond to questions from upperclassmen about the news of the day.
I used to wonder why the New York Times was chosen as the source of information.
I do not wonder any more.
1263
This is an articulate, impartial, and impassioned editorial. Spot on!
4
Asking a foreign country to perform opposition research on your behalf , poses lots of questions ...
Nixon looks like an alter boy compared to this character.
The present occupant of the WH is more interested in the affairs of Russia and the Ukraine than of Utah or any American state. People wise up this is highly unusual of an American president. Did he pledge an oath to Putin on inauguration day?
6
This is not the ONLY option! Come on folks, don't take the bait. Trump is a problem - he is not the problem.
1
The Democrats appear to have adolescent emotional ties to their game of "lets get Trump". I would assume that their popularity is dropping but no way to get an accurate read on this. As a libertarian I view this most recent activity to be very "Circus-like". There doesn't appear to be any impeachable actions or evidence- just more "we don't like what he did" information supported by the real Democrat boss - the NYTs. Absent the NYTs complete influence and characterization there's very little here and certainly nothing that going to warrant impeachment. The whole part looks silly and immature. Too bad the party doesn't have a strategy that isn't so negative - maybe a strategy that would improve the middle class or get homeless off the streets. You know - something useful.
5
Hand-wringing and garment-rending over what version of events the poorly informed viewers of Fox believe will not suffice. And even if the Senate, beholden as they are to these dimwitted masses, can't muster the courage to remove Trump from office, impeachment is still the way forward. Through time's wrong-way telescope we won't remember the weak and withering who proudly defended Trump, his ignorance and lawlessness. We will remember those who brought his obscene administration to an end.
3
Some of us are old enough and sufficiently politically engaged to remember the blow by blow of the Watergate saga 45 years ago. What started out as a "minor bungled burglary" was unable to garner much traction with the public (Nixon handily won re-election) until Senator Sam Ervin brought down the gavel to open the televised hearings of the Senate Watergate Committee om May 19, 1973. There we heard from John Dean about "a cancer on the Presidency," from Alexander Butterfield about the secret taping system, and ultimately, following the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court in United States v. Nixon, heard the conspiracy in the Oval Office unfold. Nixon tried to use the full power of his office to stifle the truth, threatening the press, using slush funds as hush money to buy off witnesses, but all to no avail. Even his own hand-picked Chief Justice helped dig his grave. Nixon was a piker compared to Trump, however, and never has flagrant corruption been in evidence more than during this Presidency. Impeachment is the only remedy at present. I do hope, however, that after a Democratic President is elected and sworn in, and following a brief acceptance speech, she pulls an envelope out of her purse and says, "We now have one final piece of business. I have here an indictment for a multitude of crimes entered by a New York Grand Jury against Donald Trump in October 2019 with instructions that it be opened today. Handcuff him and take him down."
5
Very coherent and logical. Mr. Trump is the epitome of unfit. First, he is not at all credible. We simply cannot believe anything this guy says. He routinely lies. This is demonstrable, Trump fans. Second, he is divisive. He seeks to pit people against each other, often it seems for his own entertainment. He stokes the flames of racial animosity almost daily. He refers to half the country - women - in the most offensive terms. He clearly has serious problems with women, seeing them only as a means for sexual gratification. Again, very unfit. Finally, and worst of all, he has demonstrated very little respect for the rule of law. This to me is the most problematic aspect of his unfitness. If nothing else the president must see the law as sacred. It is clearly what sets America apart from man other countries. I've lived in a dictatorship and can tell you from personal experience that when the president just does whatever he likes, almost everyone else except his cronies suffer terribly. That he'd even suggest to young people that the Second Amendment says he can do whatever he likes should offend every patriotic American. How can any American, new or old, accept any suggestion that the president is a king?! Now, thankfully, the president will learn that he is not above the law. I could care less if he wins again. He must be contained. And the law will contain him. As long as the Congress exerts its power, he will be limited - and hopefully removed.
3
Thank you, NYT editorial board, for this excellent editorial.
2
This gambit will end up humiliating the Democratic Party.
Prepare for a raft of indictments against Obama appointees.
5
Did Nixon visit Moscow and Beijing only after Mao and Brezhnev dug up dirt on McGovern? Did Nixon help Pinochet oust Allende for political favors? Did Nixon withold aid from Israel during the Yom Kippur war and then ask Golda Meier for dirt on Democrats investigating Watergate? Watergate was small potatoes compared with the dangerous, even treasonous conduct trump commits on a daily basis. trump will not have the decency to resign the way Nixon did, the secret service will have to literally drag trump from the Oval Office.
3
He will be impeached if courage prevails. And perhaps the "legitimacy" of our republic will be restored. But, the damage he has been legally able to pursue should leave us all skeptical of the laws that structure our nation.
That he has - as the Editorial Board points out - been divisive, destructive, and dishonest "on the environment, immigration, taxes, trade" while "acting within the law," emphasizes how deeply insufficient those laws are.
In comparison, the offense that brings about his impeachment does seem relatively benign compared to the ways he has ruined so many lives while taking a slash and burn approach to the environment. This feels a bit like getting Al Capone on tax evasion. But if this is the law that broke the camel's back, so be it.
I hope that this background - his consistent abuse of the power of his office -will fuel the courage and conviction of those that vote to impeach him, especially the Senate Republicans who break ranks and do the right and lawful thing.
3
A marvelous and eloquent statement that should be read widely.
1
Trump's Presidency has led to to the degradation of the EPA, Interior, Education and the USCIS, to name a few departments. Any time that allows him to remain in office is detrimental. Removing him from office simply needed a valid starting point. Alas, this whistle blower has finally allotted this.
Let us hope this starting point afforded quickly leads to "Trump Be Gone"
2
The allegations against Hunter Biden and the former ambassador to the Ukraine are serious. Joe Biden intervened and used his power to delay approval of U.S. loan guarantees. A prosecutor fired but Ukraine continued the investigation. The documents were never shared with U.S. officials by the "corrupt" Ukraine administration.
It seems that Mr. Giuliani attempted to get the documents on his own from the new administration but failed. The U.S. Justice Manual requires that the foreign authorities be contacted and permission obtained, before there is an investigation or exchange of documents and information relating to the foreign country.
Under the rules, the FBI may not even use the phone and interview a witness in the Ukraine without permission. Of course, Mr. Giuliani is not bound by the Justice Manual but President may act as the highest enforcement officer in the U.S. and ask a foreign president for to share information with the FBI and with his personal attorney and de facto envoy. This process also overcomes any objection by either side that the rules may not have been followed.
The Justice Manual does not have any exception for political candidates and their associates. The Obama administration did not hesitate to investigate Trump's associates, including Mr. Manafort who had a long history with the Ukraine.
President Trump is correct to want all Biden-Ukraine matters fully investigated ASAP. Blame the Democrats for airing the dirty laundry in public prematurely.
5
What the NY Times Editorial Board fails to acknowledge, however, is that major newspapers (often called the main stream media) have been engaged in an ongoing going effort, prior to and throughout Trump's election and presidency, to undermine or "subvert" the election process. I don't like Trump, didn't vote for him, and think this is some quantum reality that we are living through....But the problem is that MSM is complicit, and has cried wolf too many times. MSM and NY Times couldn't believe Trump was running for president, ridiculed his campaign, and from the ill-fated morning after has engaged a multi-pronged attack on the credibility of Trump's election. Is that not the case? That is what we've seen almost every day from NY Times and WaPo. The irony of this incessant desire to "prove" the illegitimacy of Trump is that their actions have actually enhanced his credibility, and perhaps even more damaging, discredited Democrats and liberals.Tell me that I am wrong - does it not appear that the primary goal of the NY Times is to prove that Trump is not legitimate? As a mainstream liberal (or at least I thought I was one), I'm quite simply sick and tired of all this, and wish that politicians and the press would actually focus on efforts to improve the country, not tear it apart.
4
@Brett Lane Objective coverage of a legitimately awful person will tend to make him look awful. That's not "subversion," it's accurate reporting. You've completely lost the plot on what actual corruption is.
You request that someone tell you if you're wrong that the primary goal of the NYT appears to be "to prove that Trump is not legitimate." Well, you're wrong. This editorial lays it out explicitly in its opening paragraph: "President Trump may have finished second in the popular vote, but he is the legitimate president." The American people legitimately elected a cartoonishly incompetent and corrupt billionaire, who is now abusing the powers of his office and the public trust by using them to bribe and pressure foreign governments into manufacturing slander he can use against the potential challenger to his office.
Being "sick and tired of all this" doesn't give you cover to dismiss one of our country's oldest and most respected journalistic institutions - who are able to base their stance on consistency dating all the way back to the Johnson administration in *1868*, for crying out loud - as a fly-by-night partisan rag, nor to write off a man so unfit for office that even the Simpsons lampooned him a decade or so ago as the worst possible president we could've chosen as being upstanding and lawful.
1
@Tom
Thanks for the response. I use my full name, which is what everyone should do if we are to have civil discourse.
But I do appreciate the response.
I didn't mean to totally write off NYTimes, just meant to point out that they are complicit in Trump's success. I don't think the Times was very strategic in how they have worked to get rid of Trump. I wish that they had been a bit smarter. If they hadn't put his name on the front page every day, in the name of "pointing out how unfit" he was, is, and every will be....then perhaps he wouldn't have won. That would have been nice.
Of course, this is the same "respected journalistic institution" that bought Bush and Powell's claim that there were WMD in Iraq. You think NY Times is totally objective? I have bridge I could sell you for cheap - in Brooklyn.
I'm reminded of nothing so much as part of George Washington's Farewell Address. It seems so eerily prescient, as if he had been reading this morning's newspaper:
“The disorders and miseries which result [from partisanship] gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
“It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration.
“It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.
“It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.”
1
I applaud the NY Times Editorial Board for their perspective on the issue of impeachment inquiry. The horror occupying the WH has undermined the rule of law and flaunted the most unethical behavior of a US President, ever. It is very troubling to see he still maintains a large body of support and tells us something about divisiveness within our 'melting pot' society. Most troubling is 45's use of hate and fear to accomplish his narrow minded goals. This despicable imitation of a human being should be relegated to a padded cell to do no more harm.
3
Impeachment isn't nearly as traumatic as the entirety of Trump's Presidency. Need criminal indictments today.
8
The job of president is to faithfully execute the law, but it has always been clear to anyone that listens to Trump talk that he is unable and unwilling to put anything above his personal interests.
Trump always puts his wealth and power above the interests of We the People. His supporters know that, and that is why they love him.
This means that he is incapable of doing the job of president. It means that every decision he makes is an act of Official corruption. This makes his entire presidency a series of High Crimes against the Constitution.
If George Washington had put his personal interests above the interests of We the People, he would have accepted his crown, and made sure to stay in office till he could find an heir to replace him.
Trump went to Mount Vernon to make fun of it and the Father of Our Country. He regularly says that he is the best president ever, except maybe Lincoln, an obvious dig at Washington.
I guarantee that Trump thinks Washington made the stupidest deal in history, by letting We the People put checks on the president's power, and wants to reverse his mistake.
Trump has an obvious PATTERN of attacking ever principle of the Constitution. If it was random, he wouldn't attack all of them but only some. He knows that he is trying to weaken the Constitution by attacking all of it as often as possible.
Those that focus on each act, without drawing attention to the entire PATTERN, as you would when prosecuting a mob boss, are helping Trump.
1
Also of concern here is the way his staff and cabinet enable his transgressions. In particular the White House Counsel and his Attorney General need to be hauled before Congress to answer questions. Clearly the huge staff turnover the administration has experienced can be explained by people of integrity leaving due to the pressures of trying to protect a lawless President. Impeachment is a must. It is not just about getting rid of a corrupt and lawless President, but also cleaning out the White House of Trumps consorts in crime.
1
The Trump administration's sole accomplishment has been proving that you can fit 30 or more children into a small room and hold them there for months if their skin is brown. And also shown that you can enrich your buddies to the tune of over $700 per child per day to slowly destroy these children and the reputation of the United States around the world.
It appears that this accomplishment makes Trump's supporters swell with pride.
2
all these handwringing about impeachment causing divisive politics is amusing!
- Politics has already been very divisive at least since Clinton -30 years ago, or Nixon -50 years ago
1
Trump must consume over 80% of the media's attention and as for me I fatigued by Trump, aren't you? The question is though is the republican party? or does that party love the insanity of this circus, its revolving door of unprincipled characters, and doing nothing.
1
I had slowly come around to impeachment mainly because the civil servant Nancy Pelosi, whose acumen I trust, kept holding back. A month ago I finally felt that Congress must impeach despite my regard for Pelosi. Now that she's in after Trump's most arrogant and egregious violation of the Constitution, I am relieved. Let her run the show. She can manage it better than anyone else.
5
@Jerry Blanton Nancy Pelosi predicted Trump would "impeach himself". She was right. Giving her support to impeachment earlier would have left Nancy Pelosi wide open to accusations that she had “forced” or “ordered” House Democrats to support an impeachment, or that Democrats felt obligated to follow their leader’s example. This way they got there on their own volition. This is now the House impeachment and not the Pelosi impeachment. This is critically important as to how Americans view this impeachment. Others argued for earlier action despite a minority of Democratic House members supporting impeachment. That would have lessened the impact of what is now a House majority on board. Pelosi turns out to have perfectly judged the correct moment to act.
2
Beautifully said. The New York Times is often so anxious not to be accused of "liberal bias" that is will not call a spade a spade. That makes the willingness of the Editorial Board to make this argument at this time doubly important.
We are witness to an unprecedented assault upon our republic, upon the measures which our founders put in place to keep a President from becoming a king.
Trump and his GOP enablers are victorious if we continue to allow them to intimidate us into cowardly acquiescence to their blatant efforts to overthrow the rule of law, to nullify the separation of powers, to gut checks and balances, to smear law enforcement agencies as "partisan" when they investigate crimes committed by the would-be-king, to smear intelligence agencies as "the deep state" when they investigate treasonous dealings foreign powers in pursuit of personal power and enrichment.
If we had remained cowed and intimidated for four years while the Constitution of the United States was continuously attacked, besmirched, and raped before our eyes—if we had acquiesced to this—then even if we had gone on to win in 2020 it would have been too late to have a chance of renewing the republic that the founders left us. The American experiment would have been forever stained by four years of their treason and four years of our cowardice.
1
What is amazing about Trump is that we have a sitting president who has equaled the malefaction of both Nixon and Clinton. He has used his office for personal benefit while asking for foreign aid to influence and interfere with a national election. He is a serial adulterer who paid off two women to buy their silence and hide his wrongdoing before the 2016 election in violation of the campaign finance law – then lied about it publicly. Donald Trump views the presidency as a mob boss views his territory, and he has in William Barr an AG who functions as a consigliere. Add to all of that his mental instability and profound ignorance and you have a president who places this country in imminent danger.
2
The Commander in Chief is supposed to coordinate all of our security and intelligence agencies to defend our nation. Putin ordered Russian intelligence to attack our actual election systems at the state level, not just the DNC or "a couple of Facebook Ads. The USA was under attack, so Trump stood on stage on foreign soil next to the man who ordered the attack, and said, he doesn't believe the entire U.S. Intelligence community, because "Putin strongly denied it." Trump then spent over two years aiding and comforting our attackers, by accusing the entire U.S. Intelligence Community of being "treasonous" with no credible evidence.
No one has explained to me how those actions do not fit the definition of Treason.
Then Trump's Republican appointee of his Republican appointee accused him of multiple acts of Obstruction of Justice, and clearly referred it to Congress for impeachment.
The New York Times refused to translate Mueller's legalese into plain English for its readers, even though it was clear that Mueller had accused Trump of felonies and that when he said, "the Constitution has a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president," he had to be talking about impeachment. Instead the NY Times said Mueller was not "electrifying" enough, as if "electrifying," not High Crimes are in the Impeachment Clause.
Trump was accused of Federal Felonies by his own department of Justice, and corporate media yawned. Chuck Todd literally yawned on TV.
2
I agree with everything in your editorial, except your comment that impeaching a president for perjury is unjustified. Truthful testimony is the cornerstone not only of the US justice system, but of a functioning Congress, as well. Since a president can not (apparently) be indicted. what do you suggest is an appropriate remedy for a president who commits perjury? Perjury is perjury. The subject matter of the lie is irrelevant as long as it is material to the matter under investigation. Clinton's lie was completely material to the matter under investigation.
1
It was Mark Twain who said, "The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it."
Replace "Government" with President Donald Trump, we get, The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to President Donald Trump when he deserves it."
By his actions of soliciting (not pressuring or with a quid pro quo) a foreign government to serve his personal re-election bid, he has shown to be undeserving of the respect and the loyalty of those he leads.
It is time for the true Patriots, regardless of political affiliation, to say, enough is enough and support the logical actions of imposing the checks and balances our founding fathers in their great sagacity envisioned in our Constitution.
1
After hearing about the pressure Mr. Trump put on the Ukrainian president to smear his political rival, my first impulse was, "Finally, impeachment is justified!" But on more sober, and cynical, reflection I doubt that the Senate Republicans could be enticed to vote in favor, regardless of what they may privately think of the evidence. They've spent quite a few years now trading their honor and intelligence in exchange for money and power, and I see no reason for them to change now.
A successful impeachment would be delightful; a failed impeachment would probably ensure the Chucklehead-in-Chief's re-election.
But by all means, inquire away, although getting cooperation from this administration will likely be impossible.
What is broken about our politics has been broken by party loyalty and the overriding goal of protecting party power. It is to the point that there are two Americas, Red America and Blue America and all thinking and civil debate about the pros and cons of particular legislation has been shut down, in both the halls of government and the electorate. Now we come to the point where even obedience to the law and our national security are subordinate to party loyalty and power. Or maybe it's even worse. Maybe it has become loyalty to one man with cult-like influence. Because it is so serious, what the whistleblower revealed will be the test. Republicans will have to show us by their impeachment votes whether they are in the thrall of Donald J. Trump and serve him, or whether they still put America, her constitution, laws and security, first.
1
Today in the NYT, Bret Stephens writes, "The best way to end this administration — and the only realistic way — is for him to be convincingly turned out by a vote of the American people next year." He also adds "the former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti makes the case that even if Trump had offered an explicit quid pro quo to the Ukrainian president, it would not violate federal bribery statutes or any other existing criminal statute. Elections give millions and millions of Americans a voice in selecting the president. This process gives 100 mostly millionaire senators a voice in selecting the president." David Brooks also states, " impeachment is a political process, not a legal one. There is no obligation to prosecute. Congress is supposed to do what is in the best interest of the country. And this process could be very bad for America.” This has always been political. They don’t mind tying up congress to keep Trump off the ballot. If they were confident, they would not need to do this. They could work for some accomplishments by congress and trust the American people.
A very well-expressed view, and one that creates the essential issue: if nothing is done and no inquiry is held, it will have terrible implications for the future of the government, separation of powers, and the rule of law. If this were about haggling in a flea market, then it might be best to get cagey, to sniff the wind and walk away. But this is about upholding the foundations of our governemental system. Period.
The EB is completely nuts. You have been advocating removing Trump since he was elected. This is just another febrile and feeble attempt by progs to get rid of Trump and overturn the results of the 2016 election.
1) Trump didn't pressure the Ukraine. They were talking about the corruption in the past admin. Trump mentioned Biden's actions in passing. The purpose of the phone call was to congratulate the Ukraine president on the elections. Were there follow up calls?
2) It would be one thing if Trump (like HRC) was trying to gen up fictitious accusations about Biden (like the Steele dossier), but he's not. He's simply interested in what happened.
3) -- the guilty party here is likely Joe Biden. How do you look away from the fact that his son got this sinecure for a Ukrainian company and when that company came under investigation Joe intervened and got the prosecutor fired by threatening to withhold a billion in US aid. That's pretty hard to ignore but as usual the liberal press looks the other way.
4) -- did Trump set a deadline? Did he say, I need this info before the election. No he did not (unlike Obama who demanded his intel chiefs produce a report on Russian interference -- that just happened to claim with no evidence that Russia intervened to help Trump -- before he left office).
If the left wants to lose in 2020, go down the impeachment road. They can pass articles but Trump won't be impeached. Particularly when there is no impeachable offense.
8
One wonders if Bill Clinton could sail through the narrow impeachment straits given no gauntlet from the Progressive paddle-swingers, will the same free-pass-by occur by the gauntless Senate.
'Tis all sound and fury signifying not a helluva lot in these muddied fields of political play.
3
The Editorial Board is wrong. The impeachment Inquiry should have begun long ago.
Trump publicly said that he would take information from a foreign government to use in elections. That was a threat by the President of the USA to ignore the Constitution and the law. Then he made good on that threat.
There was no reason to wait for him to make good on the threat. When a president threatens to do the opposite of the the plain meaning of the Constitution and the law, that is a Misdemeanor if not a High Crime.
Trump keeps threatening to do the opposite of his job, then doing the opposite of his job.
Trump has said, ""I have the right to do whatever I want as president." A leader that has the right to do whatever they want is called king or emperor, not president. That statement is a clear attack on the Constitution by POTUS.
Trump has threatened to interpret the Constitution instead of the Supreme Court, to "fix" the entire judiciary, even though he has no authority over a co-equal branch of government, to take away birthright citizenship without mentioning the 14th amendment (how did you get your citizenship?), threatens the Press with violence, and threatened us all with violence from "the military, police, and bikers for Trump."
Trump calls on his supporters to attack citizens, and some of them respond with hate crimes, and mass murder.
The president's free speech is limited by his job, just like yours or mine. Threats to violate the Constitution are High Crimes.
6
@McGloin
Precisely. The Constitution was clearly written as a LIMITATION of government power, not a blank check!
1
Pelosi’s reluctance up to this point gives her some credibility in turning aside accusations of naked partisan payback schemes. Anybody really paying attention knows that she was a prominent voice among those who advised that we should let the voters decide. She beat that drum for months, and took considerable heat for that position. She genuinely believe that this is different, and important. I agree with her.
The game is changed. The president is a mafia boss, and now it had been made simple and clear. And even those citizens who don’t care or don’t want to tune in can understand something as basic as that. Goodfellas are running the country. Joe Pesci has his finger on the red button. If we don’t at least try to remove him, then we just don’t care about the Republic anymore. Spin wins. Twitter is the fourth branch of government. Cynicism alone will walk the halls of power, and the citizenry will despise the government, and each other, for generations. If we don’t make an attempt, if we don’t at least try to excise the disease, it won’t matter if the Dems beat Trump in 2020. The country will still wither and die.
4
Prior to these Ukraine revelations, the many calls for impeachment were wrong-headed, and I deeply respect Nancy Pelosi for having had the wisdom and strength to resist them. It gives her current decision to begin hearings much more gravity and meaning.
This no longer about Trump's rancid personal style, narcissism, or countless other, smaller abuses of power. We must confront him, regardless of political consequences for Democrats and the 2020 election. It we don't we will have surrendered our democracy.
6
After seeing her spectacularly fine, balanced, even noble appreciation of the Trump desecration-of-the-constitution scandal (clearly involving Barr, Giuliani and very likely Pompeo, Pence, and at least several others), I humbly opine that: NANCY PELOSI WOULD MAKE A REMARKABLY FINE PRESIDENT!
2
Republicans already botched their opportunity to address election security. If they fail to stand with Democrats and draw a line in the sand here, that a president can't conspire with foreign governments to meddle in our elections, then I'm afraid this jaded American will have lost all faith in the government's ability to protect our most sacred institution, voting, and I will consider our experiment with representative government to be over.
1
"He has attacked the legitimacy of law enforcement, of intelligence agencies, of Congress "
All of which were also attacking his legitimacy in the most partisan manner possible. He did it, but so did they, and there is nobody in all this deserving of any pride in their behavior.
You can have a side, and be sure you are right, but in fact the whole political system is behaving badly, dysfunctional, and utterly failing to address the real problems we face.
We do have candidates who try to address those problems, and the elite institutions such as this Editorial Board oppose them in favor of those who defend the old problems.
Our politics is disgusting, and Trump himself isn't the half of it, though there is no reason to defend him either.
2
Right on.
3
Why did the White House release the phone call notes? A number of possible reasons have been suggested. But the Whistleblower's complaint says that there were at least "half a dozen U.S. officials" who knew about it and others who listened to the call. Likely, any one of them would have been ready to release the information & notes to Congress if the White House had refused to so so. Some appear to be sources for the Whistleblower. (The people Trump called "spies.") So the White House had no choice, since resisting inevitable release would only magnify the already evident perception of guilty purpose. - DSK
1
Why doesn't anybody try verifying that the Ukraine president knew aid was being withheld? Other sources are reporting the money was held up a month before the call, and the Ukrainian president didn't find out until 4 weeks after the call. Hardly blackmail, and obviously not a threat.
1
There are two main reasons we shifted from a monarchy to a Constitutional Republic.
The first reason was to take the Authority for government action away from the king and give it to We the People. The legitimacy of government action no long comes from the whim of the monarch, but now from the Will of We the People.
The Will of the People is supposed to be written into law by Congress, signed by POTUS, interpreted by the Courts, and faithfully executed by the president.
The Founders took the Authority to enact law away from the executive branch.
TRUMP RULES BY WHIM using tweets!
Trump thinks that his word is law. He constantly says things that are the opposite of his job, and is angered when people say he can't do those things.
Trump questions the citizenship of U.S. citizens, and tells them to leave the country (exile). There is not even a process for that in U.S. law. He is just making up powers that don't exist.
He claims he can interpret the 14th Amendment to take away birthright citizenship. He takes payments from foreign nations. It's endless.
The other main reason for a Constitution is to replace political decision making using violence with debate and voting. Violence by the state is regulated by law and follows due process. Trump keeps calling for violence against citizens without due process! This undermines the reasons for a Constitution.
Trump has always done the opposite of his job, and if he was a Democrat, he would have been removed two years ago.
HIGH CRIMES
1
David Brooks wrote an Op-Ed the other day that said he believes impeaching Trump is wrong. It is bad for the Democrats because McConnell won't conduct an impeachment trial in the Senate, which means the efforts by the House will bear no fruit and shall energize the Republicans to rush out and vote for Trump on election day.
For the one billionth time, impeachment by the House is NOT about removing Trump from office! It is about holding him accountable for his crime, laying it out in black and white for the country to see. People will be able to see and read in detail all about the crime Trump has committed with the President of Ukraine. THAT is what's important: show the American people exactly who this Commander-in-Chief is and what he is willing to do to our great country for his personal gain.
It is about time Congress did its job.
10
Good luck! Perhaps this process can achieve what all other "checks & balances" failed in achieving so far: to hold this President accountable. I sincerely hope so.
But to be honest, I do not expect this to happen. Republicans seem to be deaf and blind and I cannot see the likes of McConnell, Graham et al suddenly discover their moral compass - if they ever had one.
1
I'm going to predict that Mitch McConnell will simply refuse to hold an impeachment trial. He will say something along the lines of "the American people should decide in the next election if Donald Trump deserves to be President," or "We're not having an impeachment trial because I get to decide whether we do or not."
I am kind of surprised he hasn't done it already.
1
@Vexations
Reasonable prediction.
But then the House could hold the trial itself. It would be political theater for sure, but it would entail real facts. It would be good for the public to witness a well rehearsed staging of an impeachment trial. Maybe in July before August recess.
1
@Vexations
That wouldn't be so bad (which probably means he wouldn't do it). Let the American people be the jury.
@fbraconi We went through that mess with Merrick Garland.
No one knows how this will turn out, and all of us have the ability to influence what lies ahead.
For all of the impeachment skeptics out there (and I was one until this week) please consider the potential harm done by all the second guessing and nay-saying.
It is time to follow the lead of the half dozen White House staffers, Mr. Whistleblower, Inspector General Atkinson, the moderate op-ed writing first-term Democrats, and Speaker Pelosi who have all made the hard decision to do what is right rather than what may be politically expedient.
The dye is cast and the fight is on.
If you believe President Trump and the forces allied with him are a stain on the Republic this is not a moment for hand wringing. Be brave. Use the voice you have to support impeachment.
6
Thank you for providing solid reasons to impeach the president and emphasizing constitutional accountability over political fears of adding to the divisiveness of our country.
As Intelligence Committee Chair Schiff said, the whistle-blower complaint and all that it reveals is a "smoking gun", and Speaker Pelosi is right to formally announce an impeachment inquiry.
You also speak to returning to the stalled business of getting Don McGahn and others to comply with earlier issued subpoenas; bravo! I get uneasy when I hear talk of "limiting" an impeachment inquiry to just the President's effort to get "dirt" on Biden for an electoral advantage in 2020, and covering that up.
One very significant mention in the whistle-blower report is about the President asking the Ukrainians to spin the Russian hacking narrative such that Ukraine was the source of that computer hack of the DNC servers, and not Russia, as found by American intelligence agencies.
On this point President Trump is pushing a counter-narrative that would please Mr. Putin; so, in whose interest is the President really working?
I hope there will be an article that speaks to this misdemeanor because it may very well amount to treason.
1
I think that the House is doing exactly what our fore fathers had in mind. Democrats did not make this story up, and are not lying, as so many Republicans insist. It is the whistle blower’s complaint that brought this to light. We cannot allow Trump to continue trashing American values and ethos. Where might that stop? We can’t actually allow him to shoot someone on 5th Avenue, and get away with it. I think the investigation should be of a narrow scope, limited to the withholding of funds from the Ukraine, the phone call, and the coverup of the phone call. This needs to go down in history as what actually happened, not as a partisan tactic, as the right is pushing.
1
The Editorial Board was wrong about Johnson. Although they impeached him on a technicality they created for this purpose (much as we later went after mob figures for tax evasion rather than their real crimes), he was fighting the new policies and direction Congress and the Union had decided on (a society where all males were equal before the law and could vote for the representatives that would govern them), and should have been removed from office.
Nixon should not have been allowed to resign. His misdeeds should have suffered official condemnation by all of Congress, and been spelled out in detail as a learning experience for those who had been mistaken enough to support him.
Clinton was the victim of a political vendetta dishonestly and supposedly based on moral criteria, and this vendetta was rejected by Congress and the people.
A president who takes a razor-thin victory as justification to go in a completely different direction, imho, is committing an impeachable offense. Hayes and dubya should have been impeached. This would have enshrined the principle that major changes in policy should be done by persuasion and negotiation rather than arcane political maneuvers and partisan skirmishing.
Our current situation is that persuasion does not work because one side refuses to listen to facts, as discovered by science or revealed by arithmetic and accounting, and negotiation is not working either. What needs to be fixed is this immunity to persuasion.
Those who fret about the effect on the election in 2020 might reflect on the fact that it took nearly two years before Nixon resigned. It is highly unlikely the impeachment proceedings will be completed and sent to the Senate before the Presidential Election in 2020. The course of those hearings may well serve to illuminate the President and his staff's actions. This education is exactly what voters need. Many will ignore the findings as they are revealed. But many will find that the path to their vote is clearer.
1
To its credit, the Times employs columnists with conservative principles, who often have been outspoken in their criticism of President Trump. If any of them find the impeachment inquiry misguided or over-reaching, I would expect them to say so. If, however, they are in agreement with its aims, I want them to call Republican office-holders to account if they refuse to acknowledge the evidence of wrongdoing and the damage done to our democratic institutions and the rule of law. The future of the Republican Party is at stake. This is a contest between powerful adversaries, but is it all about brute political power, and who has the most of it?
Yes as tempting as it is to rejoice at Trump being brought to account for his abuses of power it is not great news for the country. On the plus side the USA may gain respect around the world for having an accountable govt guided by a constitution written hundreds of years ago . The founding fathers fresh from enduring the yoke of a monarchy wanted to ensure we would no be saddled with a tyrant ,hence impeachment a political act to counter abuse of power by a president. Trump seems to have no idea of constitutional law or presidential tradition and tried to use the presidency as one of his entities of Trump Organization where he ruled as a dictator answering to no one. That is not how the presidency of the USA works there are checks and balances to keep our republic and they must be used as it is now les't we lose our republic as we were warned by Franklin ,a great republic if you can keep it . We need to be determined to keep it no matter a democrat or republican president as democracy is not easy to maintain.
"Some of Mr. Trump’s defenders assert that no criminal statute prevents a president from soliciting foreign interference in American elections. [...] the absence of a criminal statute to restrain this sort of abuse of authority only reinforces the need for Congress to act..."
For the record, there is a criminal statute!
As Ellen Weintraub, chairwoman of the FEC, pointed out last July, "It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election." (I think most fair-minded people would agree that this is especially true of a foreign government.)
Astute readers may recall she issued that statement after Trump told ABC News that he would accept dirt on a political opponent, even after what happened in 2016.
1
The Board is correct, there is no alternative to an impeachment inquiry in this case to prevent further damage to our country and our institutions. Many people are concerned that the Republicans in the Senate will not vote to convict him and he will be therefore able to claim vindication. However, he will not be the only one on trial. The senators will also be on trial. If they vote to protect a president who has been shown to have compromised our country's national security for personal gain, they risk being the ones who suffer for their traitorous behavior also at the next election.
1
Our country suffers from a cancer that has been growing for decades. The core of it rests in forgetting what the government is and, in turn, losing our faith in it. It was Reagan who popularized the idea that government was the problem which completely obliterated the fact that collectively we are the government. We have been living with this dissonance and the effects have been grim.
Trump is not the problem but is the metastasizing of the cancer. He has continued degrading not just our faith in government but every other institution that made this country what it was. We are now at a point where many millions of people in this country don't see how Trump's phone call with a foreign leader was anything bad and is just how things were always done. It may be impossible to convince them otherwise because their faith now rests with those that profit from our weakness.
Impeachment is necessary in this case and like chemotherapy may kill us. It is the only correct response and the only treatment that may save us. But through this time it is imperative that the institution stand together like a free press, the parts of the government that know that they are us, leaders of an honest faith, educational institutions, and those that deal in facts. They all need to shine light on the forces that divide us and weaken us and manipulate us. This is a great opportunity because the facts are clear and obfuscation is the primary tactic to be used. Expose it all and hopefully...
4
@Lucas Lynch
Amen and well said.
I agree with you and would emphasize that the extortion aspect changes everything.
Why did Trump mention money in the first place to President Zelensky if he couldn't get this help for free? Because Zelensky can figure out that Trump's reelection isn't a slam dunk. Zelensky could well be dealing with Biden or Warren in January 2021. His relationship with either would be very problematic if he helps Trump without some quid pro quo. Trump could have asked for this help much earlier in his term, but of course, why would he? He had his own troubles with his campaign manager and his security advisor to stir those waters.
Having a sitting president use extortion during a campaign season is something that can't be ignored and warrants impeachment. If this isn't the threshold, then what is?
1
This impeachment inquiry will be more than a test of the Trump administration. It will also be a test of our Democratic Republic itself. Were the solutions provided by the framers for an out of control Executive sufficient to resolve the most dire assaults on the country or is this the beginning of the end of America’s leadership in the world, the devolution of the latest “great empire?” We will be lucky to survive one full term of Donald Trump. Another, with the Republican Party enabling of the tear down of our already strained institutions, would be devastating. Removal cannot happen soon enough.
3
Trump arguably won the presidency in 2016 by encouraging and exploiting Russian interference (the Mueller investigation found plenty of evidence of collusion but was unable to "establish" the existence of a conspiracy according to the very strict definition it set.) Now, Trump has shown that he is willing to use the powers of the presidency, including even military aid to beleaguered allies, to subvert our next presidential election as well. I have not heard anyone offer a plausible alternative to impeachment as a means of checking his apparent determination to cheat his way to reelection. Impeachment is, as this editorial concludes, the only option left.
2
As the House moves toward impeachment we should all understand that the action is taken in defense of the Constitution, not as an an attack on Trump. It is especially important for Republicans to understand it.
There will still be a Republican Party no matter the outcome of this chapter in our nation's history, and we will need their participation in our shared constitutional government.
3
There goes any meaningful, policy changes to the Democratic platform coming from our candidates. THIS is how corporate media colludes with our political establishment. We might as well nominate Biden right now.
3
When the Constitution was ratified there were no political parties, and its creators made sure to make no provisions for political parties, after all, it is a legal, not political document. Republicans in the House and Senate who regard themselves as strict constitutional constructionists know the right thing to do. Their leader has incontrovertibly committed serious impeachable offenses referred to in the Constitution as high crimes and misdemeanors. They will have to make the choice between upholding the Constitution or placing their party above it.
3
I agree with the Times and applaud Pelosi, Schumer et al for standing up for rule of law and democracy.
6
The only quibble I have with this well-reasoned piece is your intro characterization of "legitimate president." If we were talking only about the electoral college, I would agree with you. But when we have indeed had foreign interference in the 2016 election, which we are now witnessing again in the 2020 election and found objectionable enough to launch an impeachment inquiry, we can dispense with any claim of legitimacy.
3
Seems the dogs of media warfare are released....
Forget the Russians, I wonder how many Americans (just at NYT, say) are involved in THIS disinformation campaign?
I would appreciate being enlightened by a historian here. I had the impression the REASON that "The founders intended impeachment as a remedy for committing treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors" was mainly to protect us against savvy and influential politicians who could operate corruptly WITHIN the legal justice system... and there are many socially-destructive examples of this on Wall Street alone. But it was NOT designed to catch a non-sophisticated populist who 'stepped in it' at every turn and who was elected fairly to act just this way. (The establishment could never be significantly reformed, if this were the case, i.e. what might stop Trump today would probably have stopped MLK, if he had run for office.)
This latest "gotcha" transgression is being used by Trump's opponents to manipulate the public in order to bring him down for reasons OTHER than this event. It is a dishonest process, IMO. There are more than enough, non-engineered reasons for us to vote him out of office next year.
3
45% of the voters refuse to condemn Trump for anything. Perhaps this investigation may change that. If so, then an impeachment would likely result in conviction by the Senate and removal from office. At that point, the replacement President may give Trump a full pardon from any Federal Law offenses which he may have committed. Some states may choose to prosecute him, or they may not.
But if the majority of Republican voters do not support Trump's removal from office, it will likely not happen. The distraction from other news like global warming and the 2020 campaigns may prove beneficial to Trump and to the Republicans.
2
Hear, hear.
Wonderful words!
“...like apples of gold, in pictures of silver...” [Proverbs 25:11]
—
Nothing more for me to say, really.
But will Congress act?
"Perfect" Trump & "Of course I did" Giuliani engaged in extortion of foreign leaders, then lawyers & other staff in the WH, & Justice Dept conspired to cover up. Trump begins a campaign of witness tampering & obstruction suggesting that witnesses to his criminality are spies who in past times whould be shot.
1
That women would vote for a predator, that so called Christians who call Jesus their savior would look the other way....this country might have the strongest military but is approaching the bottom in moral charachter & values. The conversation should not be about impeachment but how many people will vote for Tramp again! Gun violence, no action with the good ole usa leading the world in gun violence. Climate science...put in a coal lobbyist to lead the EPA , & have Tramp skip the United Nations Climate Conference last week as all that matters is big money which involves rape & pillage of the earth. Our votes do not just represent what this nation represents, but as importantly as how the rest of humanity see's us if "us". Bought & sold politicians on both sides, MONEY the ugly GOD & motivation of the masses. Think of all the soldiers who gave their lives for this country, our freedom & how their ultimate sacrifice is being invaludated...People paying more attention to Fantasy Football or Cardi B than who they elect if voting is even imlortant to them. Watching Tramp throw rolls of paper towels to Puerto Ricans who lost everything & hearing him talk of what the disaster aid was doing to his/our budget...How much worse can it get before it is TOO LATE???
4
Finally, the dozing Grey Lady comes to grips with the one and only recourse this godforsaken nation has at its disposal.
2
And this is exactly why I respect the New York Times more than any other newspaper.
1
Did you know that President Clinton in 1999 signed a Treaty Between the USA & Ukraine Regarding Cooperation For Prosecuting Crimes?
https://www.congress.gov/treaty-document/106th-congress/16/document-text
3
Brilliant.
You state that Trump's behavior indicates that he has learned nothing. But clearly, he has learned 1) that Republicans will back him up even, as he pointed out, if he shoots someone on 5th Avenue 2) Mitch McConnell will see to it that no impeachment effort is able to remove him from office 3) The Federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court which he has been packing with right-wing zealots will enable his legal overreach 4) The Democrats in Congress can be walked on like a doormat 5) A brazen miscommunication campaign (as with the Mueller report) will succeed in nullifying the impact of damning evidence and 6) William Barr is his Roy Cohn and will not only allow him, but will HELP him to subvert the law and the constitution. It's up to our elected representatives to show us that any of these conclusions are wrong.
2
If there are no obstacles or checks on abuse, we have nothing worth having. Damn the torpedoes!
3
The times have found us.
2
Thank you, Editorial Board. While all of us are afraid of a disastrous election due to this impeachment, we cannot ignore such a blatant violation of the law. We need to quit feeding this monster with passivity. The whistleblower put his life on the line, and as a an assumedly seasoned professional, he knew how serious his report would be. If any other president in history had committed these acts, he would have been impeached. Because this president fills us with so much fear, we sometimes think it's better to cower and wait until it's over. I feel like the whole nation understands now what it is like to be an emotionally battered person who walks on eggshells waiting for the abuser to just change. That's not going to happen, and it's not good for our nation (whether a supporter or non-supporter) to know that a very exacting report detailing egregious behavior with hard facts isn't even good enough to challenge the illegality of this president's actions. I praise the whistleblower and Nancy Pelosi. The decisions they had to take are brave, and they would not have done so lightly.
3
Impeachment isn't one hundredth as traumatic as the Trump administration's non-stop assault on the environment, on ethnic minorities, on immigrant children, on the justice system, on education, on every institution of government. Removing him and his cronies from office would be a lot less traumatic than dying from the combined effects of increased pollution and runaway global warming.
5
Agree with moving forward. one thing the impeachment process will do is give Trump a fair chance to defend himself. He is up against the Democrats, MSM, FBI, CIA and the same plethora of left wing organizations that went after Kavanaugh.
if you are going to unseat a duly American president, you need to have facts, not second hand information and be prepared for an unprecedented backlash.
Go for it.
2
Democratic lawmakers need to reiterate over and over this in an American problem each time the Republicans try to politicize this. Every time.
2
@Carl Schreiner
How do you "politicize" resistance something that is purely political in the first place. If President Hillary Clinton had made the exact same phone call, would the House have started an impeachment process against her?
2
This is a bit off topic, but worth bringing up, I think, because it is time for everyone of all political persuasions to stand up against corruption.
Right now, the EPA is targeting California with some Trumped-up claims that the homelessness crisis is affecting water quality. This effort is transparently political and it smacks of retribution.
One of the unprecedented things about Trump as a national leader is that he feels completely free to express unfiltered hate towards Americans that don't support him (the majority of the country, in fact). This bizarre action by the EPA against California indicates that Trump is brazenly using federal departments to punish specific communities within the US. Perhaps, like the Ukraine phone conversation this might not be technically against the law, but it certainly represents a "high crime" to me. He needs to go.
1
Ok, let's flip this around. Let's say that Dick Cheney obtained for one of his daughters a board position that paid $50 k a month for doing nothing for a company in a foreign country that we are allies with. Then when that company comes under investigation Cheney pressures the government to fire the prosecutor and stop the investigation.
Later, after president Obama is elected he gives the newly elected leader of this country a congratulatory phone call. During that call -- when the new leader declares his desire to drain the swamp and rid his country of its past corruption -- Obama says something to the effect that you really should look into what Cheney did.
Would the EB and electorate demand Obama's impeachment. I seriously doubt it. What they would do is interpret Obama's comment as saying -- if any US officials were involved in corruption or benefited from it -- we want to know.
Which is a legitimate question. It would make no difference if Cheney had decided to challenge Obama in 2012.
Answer honestly -- if that's even possible for the progressive left.
6
@Ralphie Once again, for those who keep promotiNg this line. Trump did not simply ask, and certainly not for an unbiased investigation. First he withheld crucial funds, which turns the asking into a form of demand, with the implication that in order to release those funds, he should receive an investigative report that is decidedly in his political favor. In short, he commited extortion. Yes, some of this has yet to be proven, but that's what the impeachment process is for, to finally get the facts, yes the FACTS, out in the open and on the table, where the American people can make an INFORMED decision for themselves.
3
@Ralphie You are being sold a false narrative about Joe Biden. The facts are completely the opposite of what you are being led to believe:
"The Vice President, working in tandem with other U.S. officials such as Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, pursued anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine that would INCREASE the legal risks to the Ukrainian gas company, Burisma Holdings, where Biden’s son, Hunter, served on the board. The U.S. government’s efforts, led by Biden, explicitly and specifically targeted the office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine not only for its failure to pursue investigations – but also for blocking an investigation into allegations concerning the owner of Burisma."
https://www.justsecurity.org/66290/the-swiftboating-of-joe-biden/
@laolaohu there is no evidence that Trump withheld funds in order to extort the Ukraine. There is no evidence he asked for a report helpful to his campaign. If you look at the cal transcript, he mentioned Biden in passing. He didn't say, hey, I need this by x date in 2020. He didn't call back to follow up. There is no disputing the facts that 1) Biden's son, with no qualifications, got a seat on a Ukrainian company and $50k a month for doing nothing. 2) when the company was investigated Biden withheld a billion in aid unless the prosecutor was investigated and fired.
All Trump did was mention what everyone knows is true.
Impeachment is the duty of congress.
Ignoring the abuse of power is to
encourage it further. Election is long
way off. Mr. Trump may have done
worse things during the one year of
campaign. It is also a warning to
American voters to think carefully
about the character and fitness for
the office before casting their votes.
He may not be removed from the
office because no president has ever
been.The threat of leaving office in
disgrace is a good check on presidential
bad behavior.
Can someone explain why the Times (and many other sources), have framed Trump's alleged crime as "pressuring" Zelensky to investigate Biden, or as offering a "quid pro quo"? Isn't enough that he merely asked a foreign power for political help, without "pressuring" that power, or offering something in return? Why set the bar higher than necessary in this important debate?
1
Folks saying that the impeachment will help Trump are seriously naive. At this point there truly is no other option as it is now proven that he is continuously subverting our democracy- in ways that surely are not known.
It is also known that the Republicants have refused various efforts to strengthen the election process. Ergo with a man who is known to have conspired with enemies foreign and domestic against our democracy there is no other path but to charge him with it and do all that can be done to hold him accountable.
With a true villain like Bill Barr holding the critical position that he does surely does not help.Thus it is up to the peoples represenatives to save our country.
The Republicants in the senate will protect him. This will be an cloak of shame over them. The deep red states will stand by those, repub senators, who defend him, but the purple ones could well swing to the center. A Democratic sweep is coming, IF the election is clean, which is a big if.
No part of the legal investigation of the so called president have been unfounded. A withchunt? Not at all. The man is an ogre- charitably.
1
American's aren't talking about impeachment because the last time we went through this it was like a soap opera that essentially involved a man and his wife. Americans shrugged and thought, "would I lie if caught cheating on my spouse?"
Americans may not understand the gravity of a situation involving nuanced political and diplomatic legalities, much less the merger of the two. It's not that Americans don't think that what Trump has been doing is bad for the country (and the world), they don't understand it. But, the majority of the country didn't understand why the United States needed to be more involved in World War II on December 6, 1941, either.
It is times like these when the generations-old Republican campaign to smash the public's trust in public institutions and the media is most regrettable. The public, even if presented with undeniable facts, has been effectively trained to distrust facts. Trump's "fake news" delusions are not new, just the most overt perverted espression of Republican modus Operandi.
The Democrats have no choice but to impeach Trump for the sake of our Republic. For Conservatives, who pontificate about patriotism and the infallibility of the Constitution, to question it just makes them hypocrites.
2
Aside from his criminal proclivities, Trump never possessed the intellect, curiosity or maturity to hold the office of president. This was obvious on the campaign trail, in his weird, dystopian inaugural address, and in the way he has conducted himself since January 20, 2017. His impeachment was only a matter of time. Frankly I think he'll be oddly relieved when this nightmare is over. Then he can return to being a substandard builder in New York.
4
@H. Clark
The nightmare is over. Obama is out of office, and Hillary lost. However, the fight continues.
1
A few comments here say that Trump didn't do anything wrong. Here's a few points why it is wrong on a moral if not legal basis.
1. Asking foreign governments for personal favors.
2. If Biden was suspected of doing something wrong it should go through proper legal channels.
3. Hiding and holding back information.
4. Treating the United States like a company he owns. The American people own this country, not one person.
5. An Adult lifetime of deceptive tricks, bullying people and questionable business practices.
6. If he is admonished now how much bolder will his transgressions become in the future.
His dirty tricks need to be stopped. It is not too late for the Republican party to run a much better person for the 2020 election. Please there has to be a decent Republican out there somewhere.
2
Nonsense.
"But there is no known precedent for a president pressuring a foreign nation to tear down a political rival." In America... since 1776? Probably untrue, but I'm no historian. More importantly, there is precedent for much WORSE than this - like, the DNC break-in (Watergate), Ellsberg's psychiatrist break-in, the fabricated Canuck Letter against Muskie... it goes on and on with Nixon. Furthermore, framing Trump's comments to Zelensky as, "...pressuring a foreign nation to tear down a political rival" is a huge over-statement. Trump did not seek BOGUS damaging information against Biden (or his son). He was hoping to uncover ACTUAL corrupt activity; the conflict of interest here makes it wrong in this situation, but this is not the transgression that is being created here by his political and media opponents. And Trump's linking this request to defense spending is also inappropriate. But there is zero evidence for REAL quid pro quo here (for which there is plenty of precedent in American politics). He only suggested (with a great reputation for making empty threats) that he could hold up prearranged spending plans; not that he would spend a certain amount of money IF he got certain information. There is no evidence that Zelensky took any of this to heart (however there is counter-evidence to this).
Trump should NOT remain our president, IMO. But we have an election just next year and he should be replaced for many reasons, FAR more serious and honest than this.
2
Trump continues his total disdain for the Congress and the rule of law. Now that impeachment hearings have started, it is time for the House to exercise its full powers and subpoena witnesses to cooperate and order the sergeant-at-arms to take violators into custody.
If there is a larger plan unfolding in the hearts and minds of Americans, that we are indeed a nation united under the rule of law and that from many we are one, then we must see Trump as the unwitting agent of that larger plan. His narcissistic audacity tells us plainly that he serves only himself. His obsessive compulsion to nullify everything Obama accomplished and stood for reveals the hollowness of his own thinking. From a larger perspective, he serves America by clearly reinforcing that we are indeed one from many under the rule of law, that we are at our best under God.
1
Impeachment was not a viable strategic option until Trump forced the issue. No longer political strategy, impeachment has now become a simple, clearly defined matter of principle, which is why the White House and GOP Senators are in such a hopelessly untenable, unwinnable situation. Up against facts, the truth, the United States Constitution and a simple phone call and cover up served on a silver platter, Trump has engaged in one of the most egregious examples of self-sabotage in American history. If I were a supporter, I would be outraged at his "I dare you to impeach me" hubris. Dare accepted. Well written editorial, NYTimes!
Interestingly , there are profound similarities with Nixon and Trump.
I read every single bit news, books and watch movies and documentaries about Nixon and Watergate.
There is a day and night difference between Nixon and Trump.
Nixon was coming relatively from a poor family, lots of grudges towards life. However Nixon has an self pity and idefix about no body likes me paranoia which eventually contribute his presidency loss. He did very bad things and some good things.
When it comes to Trump, He is from a rich family and he doesn't have any good human quality. That is all that much dry and harmful human being Trump is .
USA unfortunately had to live this trauma , it happened , we need to get out of this and learn some lessons.
Trump with his not good human personality exhausted out morality, Physical stamina, patience and hopes.
Enough is enough.
Let's send this garbage to history's junkyard.
1
If I'm understanding you: The reason that this Ukraine action makes impeachment the necessary remedy, is that the action was aimed at making a fair election impossible. It was using public money and national power to coerce a foreign president to help Trump win an election. Otherwise, the (only) remedy for a dangerous, destructive, criminal president is...the next election?
I don't see how you get to such a narrow idea: directly related to the election of the person in question, impeachment, yes; anything else, no.
In this case, the corrupt use of our money, allocated by our elected officials, meant to bolster our ally against Russian aggression, is impeachable--but not because the 'favor' was an ask for tainting the next election.
Whatever personal and selfish kickback he might have been demanding--getting election assistance, getting a golf course, giving Russia a chance to attack, rewarding a mobster, paying off an unknown debt--Congress could and should open an impeachment inquiry.
The corruption of an election is just the particular kickback he was after, but any kind would do.
I continue to gain greater and greater respect for the NY Times each and every time the Editorial Board takes such a positive stand to inform the people about the facts and reality. Thank you for a quality of journalism that we all deserve.
Remarkably well said.
On September 24, this newspaper published an opinion piece by Ross Douthat entitled "Does Donald Trump Want to Be Impeached? (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/opinion/impeach-trump.html).
In response to this piece, I resubmit (in part) my comments on that piece: As the Ukraine debacle unfolds, Trump's polling numbers are sure to sink lower, even if only by a tick. A properly managed impeachment strategy hands the House the ultimate weapon: the ability to compel testimony and to demand documents from the Trump administration. Imagine how public opinion will turn if, say, former White House counsel, Don McGahn, is compelled to corroborate his testimony as stated in the Mueller report? Or, for that matter, any other White House aide or administration official is compelled to give testimony about Trump's lawlessness?
Either or both of these scenarios renders moot the first point in this piece. They also make the third point problematic as well. Despite the Republican Senate's complete unwillingness to cross Trump, to call him out for his lawlessness or his stupidity -- really, anything for that matter -- there is no guarantee that the "Republican Fausts" (to use David Brooks's phrase) would stay onboard the SS Trumptanic until it sinks entirely from view, rendering their political futures null and void...
.
1
I have to agree with Boris Jones below.
Trump's IDEAS are bad. We need to defeat those IDEAS.
Speaker Pelosi is having a temper tantrum over 2016's loss to Trump in 2019. Speaker Pelosi--wants this in 2019: "To Defeat Trump Again."
That is the WRONG way to go about defeating Trump.
DEFEAT his IDEAS. Not him.
Already---all the real substantive dialogue since January has been blown off the political map--Medicare for All, Campaign Finance Reform, Free College for All, etc., Immigration Reform--in just the last four days.
Speaker Pelosi's "Nancy Drama"--with her sidekick--Glendale's Congressman Adam Schiff--just calls Trump names. It gets us NOWHERE. Except defeat in 2020.
BTW--Speaker Pelosi shares the significant blame for Hillary's defeat in 2016. Robby Mook was the WORST CHOICE EVER for a National Campaign Director. 2016 was an EASY VICTORY for the DNC--and 2016 was when to have the "Nancy Drama"--over Randy Mook.
Will someone please investigate the other "favor" our President asked of the Ukrainian president-elect? So far, all the discussion has been about smearing Biden. Yet the transcript of the call shows Trump saying this as well: "I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike... I guess you have one of your wealthy people... The server, they say Ukraine has it." (Clearly the ellipses indicate chunks removed - why isn't this obvious to everyone?) My current understanding is that this demand is not about hacking the 2020 election, but is part of Trump/Putin's efforts to deny "collusion," by shifting blame for the 2016 DNC server hacking from Russia onto Ukraine. The bigger impeachable offense may be that our president continues to do Putin's bidding. PUTIN WANTS TO PREVENT U.S. DEFENSE AID GETTING TO UKRAINE. Remember, Putin seized Crimea from Ukraine and then saw the pro-Russian govt of Ukraine voted out in favor of the current govt which seeks to protect the country from further Russian aggression. Both of the "favors" Trump sought to extort could be twisted, "trumped up" window-dressing excuses for the real objective - denying Ukraine the defense funds Congress authorized. It also seems that Putin pressured Trump not to send Pence or another high-ranking official to Zelensky's inaugural. To save face, Trump sent Perry. Perhaps we do have a spy/traitor in the WH. Perhaps it is the President. Russia seems to own him.
2
All this shows that the United States needs change, and change will not come with "President" Biden, nor with Mitch McConnel (one a "centrist", i.e. a wishy-washy malleable candidate; the other an obstruction that has totally constipated Congress and the legislative process).
Let's bring about some change, and vote for Elizabeth Sanders and Bernie Sanders. They may be called "socialists" of even "communists", but look at who is doing the calling!
Warren for President, and Ditch Mitch.
@Fran
Correction: I wrote "Elizabeth Sanders" when (obviously) I meant Elizabeth Warren.
In the middle of all these treason and betrayal activities by the WH, the republicans are pretending like nothing has happened. Its very, very disturbing to see one half of the lawmakers who are supposed to uphold the democracy of the country are oblivious to this criminal actions.
Seems like they have completely lost their morality for Power and Money.
1
Nothing works better than an "impeachment" fiasco to energize the Trump base. Bet on four more years in office for Trump as the United States President.
No one can convince me that McConnell did not know about all of this. He should be thoroughly investigated along with the rest of these hooligans. Now I think I will go wash my hands because I feel dirty after having read this report.
3
To me, Trump's behavior shows not just staggering corruption but also supreme laziness. Mr. "Bone Spurs" who got a fake doctor's note to skip Vietnam likes doing things the easy way, not the honorable way. He would rather bully Ukraine into inventing dirt about Biden than win an election the fair way. Democrats need to not just point out the corruption but also emphasize how dishonorable the man is.
1
Absolutely brilliant editorial. Thank you.
1
"Just days before the call with President Zelensky, Mr. Trump froze nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine" - no mention that Zelensky wasn't even aware of this, as another Times article pointed out. Lying by omission.
1
"This is a moment for political courage." The Times has joined the barricades, and the republic thanks you.
1
Correct. To ignore the law breaking constitution defying actions of Trump for the sake of "populist impunity" is to take part in the Trump base destruction of America. David Brooke's is wrong. The only way to address Trump's addiction to abusive power is to name and address the GOP's proverbial elephant in the room. In addition to impeachment, I think the 25th Amendment should be implored to address his mental unfitness for office. It would be the one-two punch in this fight.
2
September 27, 2019
Yes - time for the impeachment process and all for the public record. Those that are in the business of journalism and other fields such as the academics their opinion is necessary, and readers like myself at the NYT online subscriber portal look forward to advancing its time honored tradition to employ the best news cover reporters, and opinion columnist that offer their judgement to events and then it is up to myself to consider to draw my own conclusion to all the writings published and let's include the NYT Readers Comments Picks and the all other regular posting comments with readers recommends. So that is the good neighborhood world of our daily embrace to the Times columns and all for the better - indeed in a half century or more of reading herewith I am please, and encourage by the nobility and grand character of this NYT Cultural expressions in all its variety,
Period. I as well support the legislative process toward this impeachment hearings and usual coverage herewith - life is good when we know who and how to think smart.
1
Of course it’s the only option, all democrats themselves are saying the same thing. If they don’t impeach him now they can’t win back the whitehouse after he is re-elected. Come on get with the program. Russia, sharpie gate, Ukraine. Worry about the details of how to do it later, not important.
1
Of course there are downsides to Impeachment.. especially with elections fast approaching..
.. 2020 will be one of the most important & significant elections we have had in decades.. yet the candidates and their messages risk being drowned out by the impeachment.. An impeachment circus could be a drag on the Democratic candidate's effort to build momentum & public support.
...--There is little chance that 2/3 of Senate will vote to remove Trump.. Which means the 2020 election is all important.. --- Yet an impeachment threatens to distract voters..and even could reduce voter turnout..
.--Most Americans do not want to go through impeachment at this time.. So Democrats are going against the will of the people..--They could suffer for this in 2020..
..---- An Impeachment could strongly influence the election process & outcome.... Isn't this what we are trying to prevent..??
The collusion with Russia is also an impeachable offense, and the attack on the Ukrainians also appears to be tied in with this. Trump is so compromised from his real estate dealings with the Russians, that it can't help being surmised that he is either a "useful idiot", an actual agent, or is blackmailing himself to keep them from releasing damaging information about him. Looking at his record, all three together are possible--any one of which is Treason. That Republican Congressmen know this and choose to look the other way is remarkable.
In the Senate's rush to pack the Courts with ultra-conservatives who will negate civil rights laws, including the right to vote, we already have one Justice, who like Tillerson as Sect'y of State may have been appointed with Russian interference. Justice Kennedy was pressured to resign by Trump. His son acted as an employee for Deustche Bank in their money laundering schemes by the Russians that also aided Trump--they bought his real estate and the bank provided financing. It's not far fetched to surmise that Trump put pressure on Kennedy to keep this quiet if he resigned, and he was then able to appoint a Supreme Court Justice that is on the record as Trump being above the law.
We see the same sort of intimidation with the President of Ukraine, indeed throughout Trump's career, when Michael Cohen was his enforcer and now with Giuliani.
Being caught red handed in one scheme doesn't mean the evidence will not be produced in others.
Excellent editorial and why I subscribe. Barr has gone rouge and he should be impeached was well. He must resign now.
In his presidential campaign, Trump promised to “drain the swamp.” Now it’s up to others to drain the swamp of his making.
1
“...This is a moment for political courage...” !
Absolutely ! We are “writing” history at this very moment and for every elected official, regardless of party, this is your time to prove that the oath you took was to represent “us” not your own personal interest or political aspirations. It’s time to stand up and be counted OR be forever disgraced by your failure to act in our country’s best interest.
100% right on! Thank you!
This is madness. The time has begun for what? To give Trump more power? To hand him a second term in office? Punishment is not punishment if it becomes made into a mockery. This whole process will destroy the checks and balances on which this nation is built, and will only justify even greater abuses of power.
Why not wait. Why now? This issue is not enough to turn the tide with the public. Maybe the next one will be. But we should be focusing on 2020, and this process has all but destroyed our prospects. We will go in to that election talking about what Trump wants to talk about---whether he or Biden is corrupt. That is a great anti-intellectual debate that really favors him, especially when the alternative is debating the merits of policy with Warren.
This is stupidity of the highest order. I liked AOC, but I lost virtually all my respect for as a thinker for how she handled this situation. She thinks like a child, and risks everything for nothing.
Pelosi was right all along. She should have stuck to her guns and not conceeded to those low-minds pressuring her. This is not a reasonable idea, it is purely emotional. Those who back it are emotional wrecks. They are willing to risk everything for nothing. We have crippled ourselves. So what? We can watch Jerry Nadler and Tom Steyer--two of the least charasmatic politicians we have go head to head with Trump in a charisma contest.
This is disgraceful. So disappointed in AOC. What a waste.
If he is re-elected after all that has happened it is the end of the planet. So the future is in the hands of under educated, corrupt and corporatist anti Americans and we ALL let that happen.
Perhaps the shocking, unprecedented, incriminating disclosures of White House and greater Administration corrupt and criminal conduct will, at last, cause General Mattis to start publicly revealing what he knows about Trump and his co-conspirators. If not now sir, when? Do your duty!
1
Don't forget to investigate what Trump and Putin said in their Helsinki meeting. Did Trump make or try to make the same deal, or something worse? What is he hiding? How many dirty secretes he's being hiding ?
1
Sometimes it is necessary to remove a scab for the skin beneath to fully heal. The scab in this case is the fact that Trump, with the cooperation of major media, has managed to hijack the narrative of our times and our nation. He dominates news coverage day after day. Why? Because he is so "colorful" and so constantly controversial.
Trump pushed out the role of the press secretary to the president because he came to understand that by going directly to the media each day, often several times, the major networks, the 24/7 news channels and the newspapers of national influence would feel forced to cover him, no matter the content of his mangled messaging. On any given day, when he is not at one of his resorts playing golf, Trump's only focus is to set the agenda, the dominate the narrative.
Impeachment offers a modest opportunity to re-balance news coverage in the continuing absence of an editorial responsibility awakening in television newsrooms. Impeachment is the only chance to fully educate the public about what is going on. Otherwise, the ups and downs, ins and outs of DC are a blur, too confusing, to most private citizens.
Because we have entered the era of media overload and social media corruption with memes rocketing around in seconds, most voters are bombarded with disinformation more than actual facts. Impeachment will not clear the air but perhaps it will allow some calmly presented information to breathe.
1
Bill Barr is even bigger danger to our democracy than Trump or Moscow Mitch. I have never witnessed a more blatantly dishonest and corrupt law enforcement official in my lifetime.
1
There is no place in the White House, seat of the US Presidency, for this person Donald Trump. Everyone knows where he should be placed. And it's not in the White House.
1
Lying, cheating, bullying, cowardice, adultery...the constellation of personal characteristics apparently admired by Republicans and so-called "evangelicals." Not to mention faking a medical condition to avoid military service during time of war...a characteristic shared by both Donald Trump and Wayne LaPierre, President of the NRA. Tell me Mr. President(s), what do you suppose the punishment used to be when we were, as you say, "smart" about handling such treasonous acts?
2
The spy who infiltrated the government is Trump himself -- citizen of the nationality in his head where he reigns supreme.
1
I still can’t see how anyone stood behind Trump after his eight years lying about where O’Bama was born for one. Why anyone would believe now anything he says would be True. This is about Power and nothing more. Vote Blue and I don’t care Who. It worked for Trump.
1
Hillary BitBleaches 33,000 emails that were under subpeona, obstructing justice.
Democrats: (shrug)
Trump moves a file to a more secure server, doesn't delete it.
Democrats: "Impeach! Impeach! Impeach!"
I am shocked, shocked that there is politics going on in this establishment!
1
"The impeachment of Clinton was unjustified".
You need to explain that statement.
1
At last, the body politic has a remedy for the manifest malfeasance of D.J.T..
Here's a good one:
“Rep. Adam Schiff totally made up my conversation with Ukraine President and read it to Congress and Millions,” Trump wrote. “He must resign and be investigated. He has been doing this for two years. He is a sick man!”
Yeah, that's Trump, this morning on the head of the House Intelligence Committee, who read aloud portions of the notes the WH turned over to Congress.
How long before his desperate flailing turns into calls to have Congress shut down, the media censored, and all Democrats jailed?
2
The only thing this inquiry has done is narrow the race for the Democratic nomination for President.
Biden is done. Nancy Pelosi accomplished this.
Now, its Warren's race to lose.
The Democrats' largest donors have made it clear they cannot and will not support Warren for President.
Now what?
Now what?
Keep pushing the impeachment show because that's all we have left. Go. More stories in the NYT. Get a journalist at NYT to do a profile on the integrity of the Democratic Party. Maybe, get a couple of Kennedys to run around in the background. Something - anything - Please
1
He has acted to subvert. Exactly. He is a subversive. He hates America and wants to change it. Not only a traitor; perhaps even a terrorist of sorts. I certainly feel I have been terrorized by him, his lawyers, his sons especially who declare "don't listen to your teachers." What he and his ilk have perpetrated down at the southern border will haunt me for the rest of my life. How do we atone for separating children from their parent/guardians? The damage he has inflicted on the environment by reversing efforts to address GCC could possibly have been the death knell of the planet's coastal environments. Treason is not a large enough label; subversive is better; perhaps even terrorist.
Yep, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy or more model citizen. In the immortal words of Donald J. Trump: "We'll see what happens."
1
Excellently written.
1
HIstory cannot ignore the lessons it teaches. To any reasonable person, "High crimes and misdemeanors" is a weapon to be used against political adversaries and had little to do with the national interest. Johnson was almost removed because he was a Democrat who fired a Republican Stanton as Secretary of War. Bill Clinton the Democrat was Impeached by Republicans for having sex in the Oval and lying about it. Now the Democrats are trying to Impeach a Republican for trying to get help in an upcoming election. The liberal media has never hidden its contempt for Trump and has sown the seeds of hatred with extreme bias and prejudices for a long time. Even the Times couldn't resist getting in the gutter with the most pathetic political animal in US history and has given him no quarter in over three years. Numbing daily criticism has inoculated the American people to the point where they take the cheap seats in this ridiculous showdown by politicians obviously acting in their own best interests with media help.
"The virtue of justice consists in moderation as regulated by reason" "The law is reason, free from passion." Aristotle knew what he was talking about, and the Framers knew him. What is unfolding in America is a political show trial orchestrated by the media. The Constitution does not tell us what constitutes High Crimes and Misdemeanors and neither can history, but only political enemies of an incompetent ship of state burdened with too many loose cannons.
Excellent article.
1
An eloquent defense of constitutional checks and balances from the "newspaper of record." This was written with history in mind, and history will approve.
1
The reprehensible conduct of this president in general and concerning the Ukraine extortion in particular brings to mind what the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York called "defining deviancy down."
Except with Donald Trump, enabled by the likes of Bill Barr and Rudy Giuliani, there is no rock bottom. The abyss of his corruption is infinite and ever darker, much worse than Richard Nixon's.
If the Constitution of the United States has any meaning, he much be impeached by the House, convicted by the Senate and removed from office. Otherwise, we might as well rename our country Trumpistan.
@Dotconnector
Correction: "must be" rather than "much be."
No, for entertainment value, I much preferred impeachment based on impassioned defense of the honor (and payoffs) to sad old porn star Stormy Daniels. You do realize that this has careened between the Muller Report, Stormy Daniels' economic future, Brett Kavanaugh's behavior in college and whether or not 15 year old girls should be knowledgeable about avoiding drunken parties with college guys? No wonder polls say that 58% of potential voters surveyed say this will in no way affect their vote in 2020.
It's all over but for the shouting.
Not that the GOP senators will suddenly grow a conscience -Impeachment will fail - but I'll take what I can get: their vote on the record for all to see in perpetuity.
1
Thank you for this concise, succinct, and dare I say, unbiased opinion. This was Impeachment 101 for me. Glad to learn House Intel Committee will work through the Congressional recess on this inquiry.
3
The president if clearly guilty of various crimes against our country. He is going forward to try to steal another election with the help of another foreign government. It is a matter of principle. It is a matter of fact. It is a moral necessity. If the Dems failed to act they would lose so much support they surely would lose. That is the bottom line.
The people get to vote in 2020. The people whining that this will get him re elected should quit their hand wringing and get out and help the Democrats win.
2
What a well-written piece. The decision of whether to pursue impeachment is a very difficult decision. Those who argue that Trump will only emerge stronger have undeniable credibility. This editorial brings out the larger, more philosophical reasons why impeachment is necessary. These also weigh on us heavily.
These concerns should weigh most heavily of all on the minds of Republicans, who should have slowly become aware of the historic damage on American institutions the president is causing.
At the end of the day, they face a decision: is it worth damaging these institutions for the sake of temporary political gain? Republicans already made this decision several times in favor of the latter. Obstructing the Supreme Court nomination process of Obama is one example. Now the stakes are much higher both constitutionally and politically. This is really about them, and their conscience, not ours.
1
My greatest hope I have for our nation is that we learn not only that Trump is corrupt but how corruption in government brought about Trump.
Dark money, money that politicians don't have to account for to their voters, brought us to this point in our history.
The NRA, Fox News, and the fossil fuel industry thrive on dark money, and that is only to name a few of the contributors our politicians take their voting records and consciences to.
I suggest a Federal Law that requires all politicians to declare their benefactors. Then, let the public decide who deserves their vote.
2
Every grade school child learns the three branches of government and the reasons of checks and balances to mitigate powergrabs from any branch. This president has tossed that concept out of the window, along apparently with the patriotic belief of American values of democracy and representation for all his constituents, not just the ones that voted for him. A president will always play to his support system, but hopefully do his or her best to represent all Americans. This president has seemingly only tried to win at this game of governing, to benefit himself and his support system. The saddest part of this entire presidency has been the support of the Republican party that seems to have no moral base regarding our American values; holding our Constitution in the highest regard, and protecting our democratic practices against all foreign and unethical influence. I am constantly surprised that his base neglects to see that he could care less about them, and only cares to try to win this game he sees as his ultimate reality show. I would think his base would be the ultimate patriots, shunning this president that seeks to play games with other countries to get his way, instead of doing the best thing for Americans. I would think his base would be in favor of our founding father's visions. Apparently, I am wrong.
6
Republicans repeatedly claim that each expression of moral outrage at Trump's conduct, and each attempt to challenge him for his vile acts and words constitute attempts to overturn the results of the election. Of course that is true. Do they expect the American public to believe that Trump can do or say anything and not be criticized or ultimately removed, no mater how evil and illegal the words or deeds, because to do so would be an "attempt to overturn the election?" Is a President immune from impeachment for any of his or her actions because he or she was duly elected? The position is absurd. Why would the provision even be included in the Constitution?
There is some degree of risk that an impeachment inquiry into President Trumps actions may trigger some of his most aggressively loyal followers to take overt action which endangers the lives and safety of the public. There is also a risk that he will tweet messages which incite violent action.
Impeachment is not a risk-free proposition.
1
We all think about the next election. Very short sighted! Whether Donald Trump wins another 4 year term will be determined by the voters, based on his policies, actions and fitness to serve. Congress is obligated to uphold a document written more than 230 ago. If Congress (the House and the Senate) do not uphold their Constitutional duty, much more than 4 years is lost.
Beautifully written Op-Ed explaining and justifying the necessity of an impeachment inquiry at this time. I wish every American would read it. Thank you for doing your best to raise the level of political discourse in our country.
5
"They have wondered at what point the checks and balances of American governance might have to be restored by means of the most radical check of all. That point has now been reached."
The writing has been on the wall for some time. Trump has often hinted that he would not relinquish power if there was any doubt in his mind that the voting had been fair. A supporter had suggested that Trump should be given a third term because of the time wasted through the Mueller inquiry. Like so many cherished fruits of our political institutions, a smooth succession of power has been threatened by Trump. Once elected, Trump made it clear that he represented a threat to our system of government. His presidency couldn't come to an end soon enough for me.
1
I disagree.
Democrats have been clamoring for impeachment since the day after the election. Any common-sense person would realize this is a House (now that it is controlled by Democrats) that was always in search of a crime (real or perceived). This House has proven that it cannot be trusted to undertake the solemn proceedings of an impeachment inquiry and partisan vote. Unlike Nixon cooler heads prevailed. Speaker Tip O'Neal acted as the Speaker of the House and not as the top Democrat of that body. Democrats knew they needed to go slow, let the facts come out and.... here's word we seem to have lost... persuade their colleagues on the other side on the merits of the articles of impeachment.
This House is not capable of that and, in fact, simply doesn't care, rushing to form an impeachment inquiry and yelling "cover up" even as the source materials are made available. Unlike Nixon and Clinton, this spineless House won't even vote as a whole to authorize the impeachment inquiry.
Make no mistake, impeachment is an attempt at nullifying an election in which millions of people voted in a legitimate president based on the framework of the Constitution. It is the ultimate act of voter suppression and should be done with the utmost caution. The current occupants of the House have shown they aren't fit for that important job.
3
I'm not sure it should be a drawn out process. Get the needed information, make the case, and go for it. The longer it gets drawn out, the more misinformation gets out there. Trump is playing on short attention spans and shorter news cycles. The narrow type of politics may need to play out in how it is handled - which I think favors the Democrats if it is done swiftly.
3
Trump lacks the sense to seek relaible advice. If he had been made aware of the seriousness of the risk of impeachment in his attempt to activate a probe of Biden in the Ukraine (by community-line telephone), he would not have been encouraged to go ahead - except by Giuliani who still thinks it's a great move. Trump lacks decent instincts and his co-conspirator is no better.
6
I have yet to see anyone on Capitol Hill or in the media use the strongest sound bite from the hearings yesterday. When asked what is the greatest danger to US national security today, Trump's acting Director of National Intelligence immediately replied: "Foreign interference in our elections."
No one on the Judiciary Committee followed up by asking, "Well if that's the greatest danger, and you are the one in charge of our national security agencies, didn't you stop to think that in this admittedly unprecedented situation you had a special obligation to ensure that the credible and urgent complaint be brought to a government body that would act on it? Instead of thinking like a cautious bureaucrat, you could have acted on your oath to defend and protect the Constitution, just like the whistleblower who 'did the right thing.' "
Media opinion writers should be using this Trump administration official's description of the danger to highlight the hypocrisy of the cover up and the depth of the offense.
Democrats on the Hill should be reminding Executive Branch employees that the Trump Administration acknowledges that our Constitutional system of free and fair elections is under attack and their oath of office gives them personal responsibility to report attempts by anyone to undermine that system. That oath overrides all other laws and regulations. I want Pelosi to say, "See your lawyer and bring the evidence to Democrats - we will protect you."
5
The last sentence of this editorial sums it all up: "Mr. Trump has disparaged and degraded the institutions of American governance, and it is now time for them, in historic rebuke, to demonstrate the majesty of representative democracy." Trump has thumbed his nose at accepted norms, offices and institutions, and done so with great alacrity. He gleefully incites acrimony and hatred at his rallies (what other president has felt the need to even hold a rally?), salivates over the prospect of undoing his predecessor's advances in health care and environmental protections, and champions white supremacy while sadistically excoriating people of color and immigrants. America was never perfect, but under Trump it has taken on an ugly hue, a sour taste and a blemished countenance. Impeachment is arduous, but if that is what it takes to rid America of the scourge of Trump and his criminal syndicate, bring it on. Americans deserve better than a tyrannical autocrat who wants nothing more than to vanquish his enemies while enriching himself. He needs to go, and we need to move on with clarity and renewed hope. Let it happen, and allow us return to the country we were once proud of. It's time.
8
Sedition? I urge all of us to watch and listen carefully to Trump's next few rallies. I will not be surprised if he loses it, going several steps too far in attacking the "fake media" or the "dark state" or "crooked Joe Biden" or "Pocohantas" or "the Democrats" or "the liberal/socialist Congress" or other targets. Look for him going beyond these familiar scripts to direct messages that "they" (the various dark forces) must be resisted by "whatever means necessary." Scary stuff. Will it amount to incitement to violence, or otherwise equate to "sedition" (defined as "conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state")? Madness, but keep tuned.
5
@C.L.S.
By telling his base that the free press is the enemy of the people and now adding to that that those who revealed his nefarious actions with Ukraine are close to being spies, he is openly advocating violence. No one is fooled by his clothed words.
2
I think that an impeachment by the House, without concurrence (& thus, removal) by the Semate) will be good for the Biden campaign, which I think is too bad, since he is far from the best of the Democratic candidates. It will also, unfortunately, be good for Trump, an aid in rallying his base, in opposition to a so-called Democratic witch hunt.
1
While I am in alignment with the views expressed here, I also know that one of the end results will be to energize the Christian Right, who have already very nearly elevated Mr. Trump to the status of "messiah." Unfortunately, it is likely that they will equate this necessary process of impeachment with the trials and eventual crucifixion of Jesus. That is a frightening scenario.
As one who spent years in the Christian Right, and finally walked away when I could no longer stomach what was happening there, I do know whereof I speak. We are in for a bloodbath, led by rabid religious zealots who cannot admit they are wrong here because it will cause their carefully crafted world to crumble.
Thank you, Editorial Board. One comment:
"It is quite possible,..., that an impeachment inquiry will produce political benefits for Mr. Trump."
Perhaps, in the very short term, but I would remind you those who support this fraud crook are a distinct MINORITY, and that is shrinking, especially as those previously "on the fence", and those that have been seriously harmed by WH policies (e.g., our farmers) bring their own political force to bear.
The man in the WH has been lying and pretending since his inauguration, and has no attachment to, nor understanding of, the U.S. Constitution. He has NEVER served this country, in any capacity. NOW he MUST serve the U.S. Constitution, and not on his terms, but on those clearly laid out in the document itself.
6
What baffles me is how so many people, people who, at least as we know, have conducted themselves in the past as honest and "law-abiding", become part of Trump's circle of corruption. Barr, Giuliani, the unnamed "White House lawyers" (and so many others) choose to undermine the law (or given acceptable norms) for what? Do they think Trump's warm spotlight is worth sublimating their personal & professional integrity? Their law licence? Their very soul? Don't they all know that HIS attention is fleeting, mercurial, transitory and, ultimately, not genuine? When their grandchildren ask them what they knew, what will they say?
6
It is so outrageous to say that Trump is the legitimate president. Although he won the electoral college vote, that cannot make man legitimately hold the president if he worked with the Russians to undermine the election, as he did.
Nothing can make Trump legitimate.
Down with the tepid Times.
Cue frantic search for the ghost of Rose Mary Woods. You're gonna need a lot more than an 18 minute gap!
We can not ignore the wrong doing of an elected official any more than we can ignore the wrong doing of a murderer.
The ONLY choice we have is to investigate the allegation to gather evidence and file charges if warranted by the evidence.
A fair trial will determine the guilt or innocence of the accused.
We can not predetermine the outcome of the trial in determining if an investigation should take place.
We can not predetermine the outcome of the trial in determining if charges should be filed.
We can not predict the verdict based on the jury.
I whole heartedly support the Impeachment Inquiry.
"We the People of the United States, in Order to
* form a more perfect Union,
* establish Justice,
* insure domestic Tranquility,
* provide for the common defense,
* promote the general Welfare, and
* secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Regardless of the outcome of Impeachment, we are obligated to all of the Americans who before us "secured the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"
1
It's not about winning under impeachment. It's about exposing in its rawest nature, the lengths this president will go to just to win. Depraved behavior, not dissimilar to even Clinton-Lewinsky in some respects. Trump's base won't grow in number, but yes in sound. On the flip side, once enough of these schemes are uncovered, those independents and voters in the middle will have enough information to make an informed opinion in the voters' booth.
2
"Those governments have spent vast sums at Trump properties, enriching the president in possible violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits foreign gifts."
"In possible violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution" — Stop with the weasel words, there is not anything "possible" about it.
2
Oh please. The EB and commentariat are gleefully overlooking the fact that Trump was asking about an investigation into actual corruption by Biden. He's not asking them to make it up. There clearly was misbehavior by Biden -- he needs to explain how his son got his position on the board of a Ukrainian company. Second, he needs to explain withholding US aid unless the prosecutor was fired.
His status as candidate for president does not shield him from investigation. If there is evidence of him using his influence to get his son placed on the board and that he pressured the Ukrainian government to remove the prosecutor investigating the company Hunter Biden worked for, we should ignore that?
As Kim Strassel, a real journalist, said in her current column, somehow Biden's conflicts are fine, asking about them is corrupt.
At the very least Biden should have recused himself from being the point man on Ukraine.
If you read the transcript, it takes a leap of faith to consider Trump's comments re Biden pressure of any sort. And has the NYT or the dems found evidence of follow up calls, timelines for completing an investigation, etc? That might be considered pressure.
And keep in mind the call wasn't originated to talk about Biden.
It's OK for Obama to tell Medvedev he can be more flexible on missile defenses after the election. It's OK for HRC to pay for anonymous Russian dirt on Trump. But a legit question into corruption isn't?
1
@Ralphie Trump did much worse than simply ask for an "investigation" of Biden. He is actively participating in promoting a completely BOGUS smear of Biden. Inform yourself: https://www.justsecurity.org/66290/the-swiftboating-of-joe-biden/
It is the only option for sure. It is also something democrats are incapable of doing, for sure. Ergo, engagement in impeachment proceedings ensures a Trump victory - even if it is from a jail cell
What the republicans want is ordinarily illegitimate in a democracy; i.e., the absolute right for every white male to rule from a position of political, economic, and sociocultural advantage while disenfranchising others. They cannot have this without allegiance to the complex mix of evil (Cheney, religious right, AM radio), vacuous (Fox, Bush II), or plain mobster (Trump).
But look at how easily they can get what they want. The American center is disengaged, disinterested. Democrats point to the village and not the criminal. It is the democrats who championed notions of "there are no objective truths, every opinion is relevant and equally meritorious, and every point of view is equally valid."
Democrats want to impeach, but are too afraid of their own shadows. There is no sense in impeaching the right wing's criminal cult leader Trump when it is left to democrats, who are rather quick to take everyone's money away and enshrine Greta Thunberg as their cult leader.
Yes, Trump must be impeached. Except, no one - definitely not democrats - are able to manage impeachment. Contrast that to what would have likely occurred had Obama committed even of the thousand infractions of Trump (swift impeachment). Such are the times.
Democrats MUST also include the 10 clear cut counts of obstruction of justice during the Russia investigation, and it's all tied to the same construct of soliciting and using foreign interference in our elections.
Plus, it's the only way to get witnesses like McGann to testify fully and truthfully. Imagine a trial in the Senate, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as the judge, and McGann and others directly telling the American people that Trump ordered him to fire Mueller.
Yes, it's all in the Mueller report, but 95% of Americans didn't bother reading it.
I think it's important that you respond to the Republican arguments.
1) It was second hand information. Therefore, it should be ignored. 2) Trump claims that he was holding back the money because of general corruption. He just threw in the Bidens because they were part of the corruption problem. 3) The president of the Ukraine said he was not pressured by Trump during the phone call. 4) The White House has the right to put recorded phone calls on whatever server they want. 5)Just because one event follows another doesn't mean there is a cause and effect relationship. 6) Saying "I'd like you to do me a favor" can just be a pleasant way to ask for a favor and establish a relationship. It doesn't necessarily mean a quid pro quo. 7) If the president really thought he was doing something wrong would he offer up the transcript of the phone call? 8) The president was holding up the money because he felt that other countries were not paying their fair share to support Ukraine. 9) You can't read someone's mind. Your biased attitude toward Trump has caused you to ascribe negative motives to his actions.
If you can effectively respond to these Republican arguments you will go a long way toward pulling the rug out from under Trump's defense.
1
@Paul
1) Interviews with those who DO have first-hand knowledge already seem to have been conducted by the DNI Inspector General - which is why he deemed the whistle blower report urgent and credible. Actually, Trump himself has already provided via the Zelensky call transcript some pretty damning first-hand information.
2) Joe Biden has never been part of "the corruption problem". Trump is attempting to drum up a phony narrative: https://www.justsecurity.org/66290/the-swiftboating-of-joe-biden/
3) The country of Ukraine is walking a tightrope - they are literally being held hostage to Trump's schemes. Their very existence virtually depends on American aid - of COURSE the Ukraine president is going to do everything he can to keep the aid flowing if it depends on Trump's whims. Once Trump has been removed from the equation, expect a very different take on this from the Ukraine.
(continued)
1
It has been apparent from the start, dating back to his constant crooked and inept business fumblings, what Donald Trump is and will always be, barring some unlikely epiphany. Even a number of his supporters voted for him while admitting that they didn’t like his manner or some of the things he said. He is a thoroughly unpleasant, childish, narcissistic, power mad admirer of dictators and hater of any constraints on whatever his demons tell him to do. He is anti-rule of law; willing to at least say anything, no matter how outlandish, to achieve his ends. He is openly trying to destroy the structures and institutions that make America what it once was. He says he is trying to do the opposite and people believe him. Respectfully, NYT Editorial Board, anything and everything Mr. Trump has done since achieving office, in my opinion, meets one or another of the criteria for impeachment. The Democrats, God help us - and them - need to find a way to capture the public's attention and bring home to those who remain unconvinced the truth about what a horror story sits in the Oval Office, cackling and conniving. Good Lord, simply the fact that he stubbornly and angrily insists that climate change is a hoax, supported by the actions he has taken to exacerbate its affects, should be enough. It won’t be, of course. We need to use every arrow in the quiver to bring down this behemoth.
Please let us have an election! No one wants to elect a president by the impeachment process. This is the third time for us and it is getting tiresome!
1
The White House communications office accidentally sent out their "talking points" to defend the president to nearly everyone in Washington DC. Every Trump-supporting Republican interviewed over the next several weeks will use those points to try and instill outright lies and twisted narrative into the public consciousness. We can't let them to that. Every one of those "talking points" needs a forcefull, succinct, clear and truthful response every time they are trotted out in public. Stop.The.Lies.
5
"The president has insisted that he raised the matter with Mr. Zelensky because Mr. Biden, as vice president, had engaged in criminal conduct. Mr. Biden has denied that; Mr. Trump has provided no evidence; and previous investigations have found no evidence of wrongdoing."
What previous investigations have there been of this matter and more importantly the Chinese transfer of $1.5 billion to Hunter Biden's hedge fund? Which Congressional committees have held hearings and which federal agencies have conducted probes? How about none.
It is such a lie to tell the American people that Biden has been properly cleared on these matters. He hasn't. And if it turns out that his influence is the reason Hunter Biden has been on the receiving end of such riches, then the American people should know it.
Trump is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States; he should be asking for answers. The idea that, because you are a candidate, you are immune to inquires is nonsense. The idea that the country where you committed an abuse of office cannot look into the matter because the revelation of an abuse is somehow a benefit to your opponent is also nonsense. If Biden did nothing wrong, if there is no appearance of impropriety, then there will be no benefit to his opponents.
2
When Trump is removed would we celebrate his birthday? Wouldn't it be more like a Bastille Day where we would celebrate the day of his removal as head of our Country? And those states that continue to support him could have statues and celebrations for him like they still do for their confederate heros.
It is astounding that Trump's first attorney general Sessions had the professionalism and honor to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. I detested his politics but give him props for his recusal. Barr is blatantly corrupt and Sessions should call him out.
Thank you, Editors.
So glad to see the tide is turning. Already, those who opposed impeachment a few days ago have changed their minds and support it.
Time to get rid of this horrible "president" and clean the stables.
A black man in the south is jailed for life for stealing a TV. A white man on the east coast steals a presidential election with the help of a foreign power yet we are subjected to years of debate from endless pundits on the TV and in the newspapers as to whether it would be politically expedient to prosecute?
No-one is concerned about the law in this country.
No. You are only helping the man. The way to oust Trump is to present real alternatives to Republican xenophobia and racism that actually address blue collar and lower middle class needs and concerns, and beat him at the polls in 2020. But the sclerotic Democratic establishment is not only offering just more of the same old status quo, but also making its centerpiece impeachment charge one that brings to the forefront their own putative frontrunner's corruption in the Ukraine and China -- and no centrists, those allegations have not been "debunked" at all, far from it. If this exercise simply leaves people shrugging their shoulders and saying, well, they are all corrupt, it will have been a spectacular failure. Leave it to the Democrats to find a way to virtue-signal and commit harikari all at the same time!
50
@Boris Jones
I'm sorry, but have you seen what game we are playing? To simply sit back and hope justice will prevail and count on Trump being voted out is straight out of a playbook from 1980.
McConnell and the modern GOP are in a fight to the death, and the Democrats continually sit back and count on the electorate to wake up and "do the right thing;" it's not going to happen.
Impeachment should be attempted because he deserves it, period. And frankly, as far as the Constitution is concerned, the voters don't get a say in this process.
145
@Boris Jones
The democratic candidates can focus on "real alternatives" while Congress does its job...
holding Trump accountable for his ongoing repeated lawlessness and reckless behaviors.
76
@Boris Jones
You WON'T beat him at the polls if he has the help of foreign governments like Russia (once again) and Ukraine!
66
In my opinion, he needs to go. And maybe be tried for treason. He made aid to a foreign country contingent on information regarding a political opponent.
So he took $400 million in aid money that the US had approved and held it hostage contingent on producing damaging information on a political rival. Looks like extortion to me. Extortion using public money.
But yeah, he will probably be fine and be crowned King in 2020.
One of the best NYT's editorials I've read in a long time!
Clear, precise, trenchant. Keep up the good work!
As we're all going to need such clarity it in the coming months.
5
I would encourage all highly educated republicans, those who still believe in "things" like science and mathematics to read this column carefully. If years from now, we still have a representative democracy, this opinion piece will be seen as an important act of courage by the free press.
5
I would like to know more precisely what persons tied to the administration did to secure information on Biden. Was the Presidents phone necessary because his agents were unsuccessful in getting information or was the President's request in the phone call a random thought unrelated to any broad conspiracy seeking foreign help to undermine the front running Democratic opponent ?
My other concern, if the President gets help from a foreign country to undermine an opponent, how is the opponent then able to defend themselves if the evidence is in a foreign country ?
Brilliant Editorial. All the bases have been covered. The Constitution is bigger than Trump. Hopefully the Democratic House will pursue their task with dignity and efficiency and with profound respect for the Constitution.
3
This editorial rests on the assumption that we, the American people, are united in our belief in the peaceful transfer of power through free and fair elections, and the balance of power enshrined in our constitution. My fear is that we are not united in these beliefs, but impeachment will serve as an important test.
3
Among the many ignominious uses of presidential power I never currently see mentioned as a potential point of investigation is Trump's pressure on Qatar to fork over $125 Million dollars in loans to Jared Kushner to save default on a Manhattan high rise deal. The whole episode smells of Trump-style pressure exhibited once again as now against Ukraine. That incident is at least as horrific an abuse if not more so than the current one where the Trump family were willing to create a real risk of armed conflict when they didn't get their way.
7
This editorial is on the button. I noted that it is roughly twice as long as the usual Board op-ed, and for good reason. I agree that there was really no choice but to pursue impeachment. The only thing sadder that the need for it is the fact that, to date, not one Republican member of the House sees the necessity. Perhaps, as the impeachment process moves along, conservatives will come to see the matter not as partisan but as existentially American.
8
Considering the political climate these days, with stubborn opinions and partisanship, "open carry" and factions, the idea of impeachment is very disturbing. What will happen in this country? No matter what happens this incident has probably ruined Mr. Biden's candidacy, which was Trump's main motivation, and the country is in a state of uncertainty. This is why I have very mixed feelings about going this route, though at the same time I realize presidential overreaching of power must indeed be checked before democracy is harmed forever.
3
I’d really like the Times board to identify one Democrat who is “already clamoring for the House to rush to judgment.” That’s their slant on things disguised as a statement of fact. Nor would narrowing the focus to the Ukraine incident be a mistake. The board would have more fruitless and seemingly endless confrontations with defiant and unproductive witnesses. The Ukraine incident is a clear and flagrant violation. Keep it simple.
1
Trump wanted the Ukrainians to investigate Biden’s son. Devious or inane? Inane. 25th Amendment material. That should work. If not, go for impeachment.
1
Mr. Trump, please resign and save our country from further disgrace.
5
Here, here!
Words Bret Stephens and David Brooks should read.
5
As an American, and a somewhat skeptical, perhaps even cynical, citizen, I am sickened by this. I am perforce aware that impeachment might very well be the very thing Trump craves. And it might very well be what propels him to another four years. Regardless, it has to happen.
Macduff to Macbeth
"Then yield thee, coward,
And live to be the show and gaze o' the time:
We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,
Painted on a pole, and underwrit,
'Here may you see the tyrant.'"
1
I agree. Impeachment is the only option now. To do otherwise would further normalize Trump. What are we supposed to do? Stand down and let Trump subvert the 2020 election? How would that be letting the voters decide?
Trump extorted Ukraine into carrying out a politically motivated investigation of a political adversary--a textbook case of "high crimes and misdemeanors." Trump promised Ukraine that Barr would help them--a violation of the sacred independent, nonpartisan role of the DOJ. Barr and Trump are party to the whistle blower complaint--but Barr has not recused himself and the White House was improperly informed about the complaint. Moreover, Barr blocked the complaint from reaching Congress, and shut down the criminal investigation requested by the acting director of national intelligence. That all is abuse of power, and a violation of the whistle blower law. Trump has threatened the whistle blower and his or her sources with execution--a grotesque violation of the whistle blower law. Trump, Barr and senior White House aides have conspired to cover-up this and any number of other phone calls. We've only seen a summary of this call. How much worse is the real thing? Mueller and his team identified numerous instances in which Trump perpetrated the obstruction of justice. If we do not impeach, Trump would be able to successfully subvert the 2020 election. That is the practical imperative here. If we care about our democracy we have no choice but to impeach.
8
I was disappointed with the board's decision to use the verb to concretize in the second sentence of this piece.
Manifest, symbolize, represent or even express would have been more appropriate and more readable in my humble opinion.
Where is William Saffire when you need him?
3
@Debbie
Yep. "Concretize" is extraordinarily weak. Once upon a time we would never have encountered a clunker like that. As you say, something like this would be better: "The peaceful transfer of presidential power makes manifest the people’s will." However, the Constitutional free press is getting by with only a fraction of its prior Safires. It is hanging on by its fingernails. The principal cause, of course, being the depredations of Google, Facebook, and Apple which have legally pirated their content for decades. Of late I have been hard on NPR but the other day, after suffering through yet another hour at the gym of CNN slow-on-their-feet spinelessness, I almost wept when an NPR news show anchor rightly went after yet another instance of see-no-evil-ism from yet another immoral, bad faith Republican.
3
Trump will be impeached, as it seems the only way to stop his arrogant and unhinged trampling of the rule of law and abuse of power for personal gain. Let's trust his criminal activities are subdued while the process is underway, so he won't go on thrashing the honor of the presidency in his last desperate wing flapping.
1
I am not a crook - Trump.
How hard could it be to write « resign « on a peace of cardboard and take a walk down Broadway?
Today, here in Montreal, hundreds of thousands are going to walk for climate change.
Independently of what kids will say about this comment, I think your president is a more urgent matter than climate change.
3
The idea that government should be run by a “deal-maker” business man brings ridiculousness to new heights. DJT doesn’t accept limits on his wants or desires. He epitomizes the very worst in business ethics that now reign in our country. He has become the poster child for CEO’s, surrounded by sycophantic enablers, who bend the mission to their own interests; policy, precedent, law, and ethics be damned. Damnably, for the rest of us, he now has the levers of power to realize that goal. Impeachment is absolutely essential.
My question to Speaker Pelosi is: When the many committees submit and the House votes to approve Articles of Impeachment, what will you do if the President and his consiglieri, AG Barr, simply extend a middle finger at the Congress? Based on his and the AG's well-documented histories, that is their most likely response.
It looks like disbarment proceedings should begin against Barr, Giuliani and the White House lawyers who covered up Trump's dereliction of office.
8
This editorial should be outside the Times' paywall; everyone should be able to read ths well-written, well-reasoned piece.
8
The Frames made the legislature branch of the government -article I, equal to the presidency -article II and the judicial -article III, first in the Constitution.
Trump should have understood that his roughshod methods of conducting his businesses are not acceptable. We know now that h is incapable of thinking of anything or anyone but himself.
A.G. Barr has prostituted himself with his sycophancy and disregard for the non-political requirements of the Justice department. Moscow Mitch has violated his oath too many times and should also be investigated for 'crimes and misdemeanors'' as should his wife, now a cabinet secretary.
It will be a long time before the stench of this administration, the cowards in the house and senate who look the other way and support it, are finally sent back to where they came from and the country can breathe again.
5
The NYT editorial board should be proud of this clear statement of principles upholding our system of government. It is why the Times has been considered an on going bastion of truth dating to before the Civil War. This voice is needed especially now as the very nature of truth and ethical democratic ideals are being tested by this president. When a president thinks himself above the law and is encouraged to do so by his sycophants our system of checks and balances requires that impeachment is our last defense against a total breakdown of our system of governance. The House as so many have said is our last voice of conscience.
3
Is Trump the legitimate president? Wasn't the electoral college supposed to ensure “that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.” Trump is clearly unfit and unqualified. Even George Will says so -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-has-a-dangerous-disability/2017/05/03/56ca6118-2f6b-11e7-9534-00e4656c22aa_story.html
6
I am a contrarian.The real crime is what the Biden's probably done.It would be a dereliction of duty by the president not to follow up on it.
Hunter and his corrupt father should have a day in court.
The media bias is unacceptable.You leap to judgement before the facts are all in.
4
NYT. What took you so long? A book could be written on the damages done by the Trump administration!
Trump has disparaged and demeaned everything he has touched, not just "the institutions of American governance." His history is of demeaning and attacking women, the poor, non-whites, immigrants, the disabled, and everyone else he thinks he can get away with bullying. Impeach him and remove him, yes. Then try him on the rest of his criminal activity.
I suspect, that since 45 didn't even expect to win in 2016 -he doesn't and won't subject himself to the impeachment proceedings...he'll resign and claim the he only needed 3 years to clean up the "mess he inherited"...thinks he can go back to his bankrupt ways...criminal charges need to follow this clown.
LONG PAST TIME.
Well written, conclusive and RIGHT. Once again the New York Times confirms why its reputation is well deserved.
3
If we can't do this, we can't, and shouldn't be called a democracy. We will have devolved into some sort of strongman thug "democracy" typical of many third world countries.
4
There is no reason at this point to do an impeachment inquiry, it's time to vote on articles of impeachment so we can get this impeachment started NOW
I must add important clarity/fact to ".. has disparaged and degraded the institutions of American governance, and it is now time .. .. to demonstrate the majesty of representative democracy."
This is how it should read:
"[GOP] has disparaged and degraded the institutions of American governance, and it is now time for [all real Americans in Congress], in historic rebuke, to demonstrate the majesty of representative democracy [and then importantly for brave patriotic rational real Americans to vanquish the GOP at the polls every chance they get]."
That more fully speaks to the reality of today and issues the proper and necessary instructions to the 58% of "We the People" that have the psyche to save the standard of liberal democracy - our USA.
Really, what is happening in USA today mimics 1930s in Europe. And it ain't pretty. The model playing out in USA is all too similar.
Simply put - authoritarians masterfully and amorally capitalize on the People's fears, bigotry, prejudices, hatefulness, spites, and some REAL grievances to develop cult like solid support - embodied in about 40%.
They obfuscate, lie, and play mean but they also use nuggets of truth and some "good works" as weapons do keep lots of the 60% a bit unsure/ambivalent to their real aims.
They polarize - they split and divide - they capture our existential souls and hold them as their ugly own.
It is NOT about who can best build the autobahns! It is about your soul! Vote existentially right - vote D!
Kudos to the NYT for the most complete argument for impeachment and its refuting all the nonsensical claims that this ultimate step is not necessary. Once again, the NYT shows why it is our newspaper of record.
3
Great editorial. Thank you.
3
It is time to disinfect the Executive Branch from Trump to Pence to Barr. The true patriot is the whistle blower. Hopefully the Trump minions will come clean either from a sense of Constitutional ethics or at the very least as rats jumping ship to save themselves.
1
The only thing Trump left out of his perfect "do us a favor" phone call was ending with "or else"
Then Trump looks like a mob boss by suggesting he would execute the whistle blower as a spy.
If it walks like a dictator and quacks like a dictator...
1
Thanks, but what is really at stack is DEMOCRACY, itself!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Trump and his people destroy DEMOCRACY, here and worldwide.
Millions of lives have been sacrificed to protect our DEMOCRACY.
Trump and his cronies have to be held responsible and punished.
If Trump continue on, then the damage may spread globally.
But let me ask the NY Times to focus on DEMOCRACY, itself.
Please consider the "DEMOCRACY" song of Leonard Cohen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cohen, prophetically sang, "Democracy is coming to the USA."
The Times could write a story about the song, and its meaning.
I hope DEMOCRACY will survive, and even thrive, after Trump.
"Democracy is coming to the USA"
------------------------------------------
I have waited almost 3 years for this day that the NYT declares impeachment necessary. Thank you.
1
We should take a close look at what happened in Ukraine, February 2014, to see if we had foreign policy made offstage by intelligence agencies. Online dispatches from the New York Times and The Guardian of Feb. 20 and 21, 2014 from Kiev show that paramilitary rightist extremists broke a truce, surprised off-guard police and set in motion a process that drove a democratically elected president, Viktor Yanukovych , from East Ukraine, from office. The German and Polish (Radek Sikorski, husband of career-Russian-critic Anne Applebaum) Foreign Ministers were in Kiev negotiating with the government on behalf of the opposition just before the elected government fell. The EU's foreign policy chief, Lady Catherine Ashton, had already encouraged opposition demonstrators in the Maidan, as did the State Department’s Victoria Nuland and the then German foreign minister. (Some of the strongest opposition to the elected Government came from the city of Lviv, a part of Poland (Lwów) before Hitler and Stalin partitioned Poland in 1939. Lviv was called Lemberg when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.) Who funded and trained the paramilitary rightists? Joao Soares, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said Ukraine’s 2010 presidential election, won by Yanukovych, was an "impressive display of democracy." Additionally, Manfort and the CIA appear to have been working opposite sides of the Ukrainian political street.
Didn't we know that Barr had gone rogue when he misrepresented the findings of the Mueller report? The question now is ' How low will he go?' and we are about to find out. I'm afraid it's a bottomless pit.
3
Nothing in the transcripts worth impeachment. From day 1 the demos had nothing on their mind but impeachment of the president. And here we go again the failing demos and their endless futile pursuit to impeach the president. Rest assure, they will have at least 5 more years to pursue their pathetic circus of impeachment. It is more comical than pathetic. AOC the squad and the bunch of demo losers working so hard to ensure Trump’s re-election 2020
4
@lieberma At last something different from liberals talking to each other. I agree with you 100%!
1
The President's modus operandi in his business is to lie and cheat and steal whenever such actions were to his advantage. If an opponent sued him for legitimate reasons - they were tied up in courts for years.
POTUS has carried this mind set of being a liar and a cheat into the White House.
It is amazing to me that people who claim to be Christians and or honest human beings support this cad.
3
The architects of the new Alt-Right regime believe that facts are the hang-up of weak, old-fashioned people. The Strong New Conservatives believe that they now control reality. Attorney General Barr's capture of the Mueller Report was more than just spin. It was a display of brute force. Anyone who expects a truthful President simply doesn't get it. They are so powerful they don't have to be true.
The Impeachment inquiry might help us answer two questions:
1. Does this nation still have the capacity to discern what is true?
2. Does this nation care what is true anymore?
6
The president's supporters claim the impeachment inquiry is just partisan politics and that democratic House members are motivated by their hated of Trump. The democrats, however, are taking a huge political risk pursuing impeachment; they do this not because they want to but because they believe they have to. Once the Ukrainian debacle became known, Nancy Pelosi and the House democratic leadership had to make a choice. Either to accept Trump’s actions and communicate to this president, and all future presidents, that violating the constitution is acceptable, or use the only tool the constitution provides, impeachment, to hold this president, and all future presidents, accountable to the American people. They chose impeachment knowing full well the cost the country would pay but also knowing that the cost of failing to take this step would be far worse.
6
As a country, we've fought far too numerous laws ostensibly to protect the Constitutions guarantees of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Far too many American's have sacrificed their lives in that noble and just pursuit.
If their lives, and those who survived their ordeals, are to mean anything, it's our duty to uphold the actual words of our Founding Fathers. Political expediences are fragile, chaining with the daily winds.
If our democracy is to endure, it can only do so when its citizens stand up for the rule of law. Our Congressional representatives took an oath to do just that. Let's get on with it.
2
@Norm Levin "...we've fought far too numerous WARS..."
For some reason, typing without typos eludes me.
Well, it has finally come to pass: all of Trump's previous transgressions have culminated in this latest misuse of presidential powers. It makes one wonder what other criminal or immoral activities have yet to be revealed?
Trump's ego-maniacal pursuit of reelection and justification have resulted in his probable impeachment by the House. It still remains questionable whether the GOP would impeach or convict its 2016 nominee and current occupant of the White House. One wonders how much more would be necessary to convince the Republicans that this man clearly needs to go? Do we need even more examples of criminal conduct? Have all of his character defects not been exposed for all to see?
It's not as if the Democrats automatically gain power. The fact is that Mike Pence, a traditional Republican, would become the next president. Surely, from the Republican point of view, Pence is to be preferred over Trump or any likely Democratic nominee. And Pence would even stand a better chance of election and avoiding a GOP catastrophe next year.
So, what makes the Republican members of Congress so adamant in their refusal to see the evidence for what it is and do what is right, not necessarily for the good of their party, but what is essentially the good of the country? Only time and the electorate will tell.
3
@JAM
What if Pence was involved with Trump's Ukraine deal? Should all those who polluted our country be ejected: Guiliani, Barr, Jared, et al.?
(Yes, imho.)
A clean sweep.
It will be long and difficult to pry from the White House complete audio recordings of Trump’s conversations with Ukraine’s new president. But there is another means to obtain such key evidence for an impreachemt inquiry by all deliberate speed: surely Zelensky’s staff recorded them all.
Based on Congress’ power to fund the nation’s foreign policy to defend allies and confront adversaries, it or the House alone should pass a forceful resolution of continued support for Ukraine in its struggle against Russia, no matter how Trump may retaliate upon Ukraine’s release of the recordings.
Voters can watch and remember if Moscow Mitch or his fellow Republicans dare block it.
3
If the Democratic leadership is serious about putting country before party, it would make a deal with the Republican Party leadership that in exchange for Trump being removed from office, Democrats would agree to support a moderate Republican like Mitt Romney for president in 2020 and select a Democratic nominee who has no chance of winning, e.g. Marianne Williamson.
2
@Jay Orchard
What in the world are you talking about?
1
regardless of the outcome - there will be n asterisk in the history books *impeachment inquiry.
a stain that cannot be removed for all to see.
additionally, all, and I mean all, well-known and respected presidential historians will portray trump for what he is and was - the most incompetent and destructive (to the process of gov't; to the environment; to ethics; to honesty...and I can go on) president in the history of our country.
A brilliant statement. I hope to see the last paragraph chiseled in stone and taught in future history classes.
1
As soon as the Repubs realize that Trump will not be re-elected, and more important, is now damaging their chances to hold onto their jobs, they will jump off the ship and support impeachment, if only to prop up a stronger candidate for 2020. That day is coming soon. Trump is finished
1
@Stevie Matthews
That is the ONLY thing that will get the Un-American Republicans to support impeachment. Trump is racist, sexist, a pathological liar, has committed crime after crime after crime, and is clearly a traitor to our country.
But, as long as they can enrich themselves with gross corruption and huge tax cuts, they could care less.
Excellent editorial.
1
“Mr. Trump is testing the norms and limits of the American system of government. He has left Congress no other recourse than considering impeachment to prevent future presidents from emulating and even expanding upon his piratical application of executive power.”
My biggest concern is for the younger generation. What example and legacy would we be setting for them without standing up to this abuse of power and ethical governance. Trump is probably the most inappropriate person ever to occupy the Oval Office.
“Mr. Trump would often say this campaign was going to be the greatest infomercial in political history. He never expected to win the primary. He never expected to win the general election. The campaign for him was always a marketing opportunity."
— Michael Cohen
1
Demand democracy!
1
amen and bravo, NYT.
1
Unimpeachable argument in this editorial, if you'll excuse the lame pun.
Succinct and well said......
Is time for the 30% or tea party if you call yourself that to get the backbone to support the American people, you have alienated the American people to law and on the wrong side. I have never seen a dysfunctional group of people that go along with the president of the United States a con artist and now William Barr DOJ acting as president Donald Trump personal lawyer not for the American people. With the new revelation of the letter that came out yesterday. That William Barr was involve and carrying out the order of Pres. Donald Trump.
If 30% or tea party if you want to live in the type of society one why do you go to North Korea, or Russia they will welcome you with open arms because you don't deserve to be Americans your spies we should all around you up and catch you all across the border because you are immigrants illegal to the basis of the Constitution. You can't get away for your actions 30% tea partiers.
I can only see the best thing that William Barr can do DOJ is give his letter of resignation to the president or the Congress should impeach William Barr for actions not becoming the DOJ. All Americans should stand up today because of the Ukrainian letter that came out yesterday it shows you the criminal activity of Pres. Donald Trump and how far he would go to win another election or trying to steal it or have other countries do his dirty work.
30% tea party is it time to smell the roses and get on the side of the Democrats to remove this president today .
So when Obama told Medvedev to tell Putin to go easy on European missile defense until after Obama's re-election when Obama would have more "flexibility" that was acceptable, heh?
And when House Democrats wrote the President of Ukraine asking that he investigate the Trump campaign, that too was acceptable, heh?
Or when HRC and the DNC and the Obama State Department sought "dirt" on the Trump campaign from Ukraine that was acceptable, heh?
You have yet to explain why asking Ukraine to investigate the Bidens as part of a corruption investigation is wrong. The US has a treaty with Ukraine for that very thing.
Please explain why Hunter Biden was paid over $600K by a shady Ukranian energy firm with ties to Russia. Hunter can neither speak nor read nor understand Ukrainian. He has no knowledge of nor experience in the energy field. He was hired shortly after being dismissed from the Navy for failing his drug test. And then, lo and behold, Joe Biden, as VP, threatens to withhold a BILLION$$$ in defense aid unless Ukraine fires their top corruption prosecutor.
Your response? "Turn it over to the FBI!".
Right! The same FBI whose leadership was castigated by the DOJ IG for, among other things, lying to investigators.
That FBI, right?
What is the saying? Without double standards there would be no standards at all.
3
@Barooby
If there was ANY truth to what you are saying, you would have a point. However, these are all LIES fueled by Trump and Fox News. Sad that you allow yourself to be conned by these traitors to our country, over and over again.
1
AMEN!
Bravo!
Hilary and the Democrats went to the Russians to investigate and to get a whole Dossier on President Trump. But the NYT has never condemned that. Talk about corruption.
3
Amen.
1
The NYTimes and others made it so untenable for Mr Nixon that he knew he could not last in office so he chose the bone tossed to him.
Mr Trump is not that intelligent, he would sacrifice the world to salve his ego, witness Sharpie-Gate.
Neither does he learn; 5 times he has had to declare bankruptcy after starting out inheriting $200M decades ago.
His vindictiveness has no precedence by any others known in public office; witness the jettisoning of all who offered him cautionary words for his temperament.
His supporters/enablers will accept no validated facts of his mal-deeds & have closed their minds to anything other than praise, the fate of the country and world be damned.
So my question is; Are we surviving or just don't know that we, the American dream of a united democratic people, have been destroyed?
Mr. Trump is testing the norms and limits of the American system of government.
NO KIDDING!!
The fact is that many, especially in NYC already knew of this 'now' president and his peculiarities.
I suppose in various ways many writers tried to warn of his flaws.
But Trump campaigned on racial, religious, ethnics and cultural differences, a message aimed at many whites in particular.
Whites are the majority in this country representing about 70% of this country's population.
A lot of whites have 'anti others' views and vote their biases.
Trump was able to capitalize on that.
In addition, Trump said during the national debates he would challenge any laws or rules he disagreed with, within our very Constitution no doubt.
All other presidents had the decency to follow protocol and decorum when it came to running the country because they had respect for the country and our laws as being bigger than themselves personally.
Not Trump.
With Trump, it is/was always about him and what he wants, the country, the laws and anyone else are damned.
Trump never does anything for anyone unless he gets something out of the deal.
Being benevolent and altruistic is not his thing.
Never was, never is.
And unfortunately, he has found many who share the same feelings to support him.
1
It is not only Trump who is at risk - VP Pence , AG Barr, and a list of subordinates who interacted with Ukraine, enabled Trump’s aid blockade, and covered up evidence of the damning call. All must be held to account.
Anthony Scaramucci speculated Trump would resign by March 2020. For Trump to stay in office that long now seems wildly optimistic.
1
@Hank Linderman
Scaramuccie is an IDIOT, who has been wrong about everything. Trump will NEVER resign - he literally believes that he is a dictator, above the law, and the entire Republican party, and 40% of voters, support him every step of the way, no matter how many crimes he commits.
Very well stated.
We are rapidly arriving at a point where the American citizenry will be forced to take a side: authoritarianism or democracy. There are far too many Americans who have concluded that embracement of Trump and Trumpism is preferable to the messiness and uncertainty that is our democracy.
Regardless of this impeachment outcome, the 2020 election will be first and foremost a referendum on the preservation - or not - of the democratic values that have defined the American Experiment for over 200 years.
How important is personal freedom to you?
It seems pretty simple to me. A person's response to this entire affair is either:
1. You believe in what we have built as a nation over the last 200+ years. You believe that a set of rules is important in governing the nation, and you believe that no one person, no matter their position, is above those rules.
2. You don't believe in those things. You instead believe that the president of the United States does not have to follow the established rules that we have set up to govern our nation.
At this point there is little room for a middle path. I suppose there might be a third choice - that you couldn't care less.
But I'm only offering these choices to those who are participating in our democracy. If you don't care, then you don't count.
1
So Rudy Guiliani has replaced Michael Cohen as Trump's fixer. Rudy should really talk to Michael because Cohen could help him quite a bit, and especially about the danger of getting himself way in over his head - but perhaps Rudy has already done that with all of the "fixes" he has installed in Ukraine.
Trump always needs a fixer - but there is no fixer alive who could possibly solve the immanent impeachment end Trump's facing now.
As soon as Trump is removed from office he will be indicted. If it's by the State of New York, even Pence will not be able to pardon him. The same goes for Giuliani. He and Cohen might have the opportunity to compare notes in the same cell.
Removal from office is not the only possible punishment for a conviction after impeachment. The Constitution sets a ceiling with removal and disqualification, but not a floor. ("Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office....")
Why not impeach, convict, and censure but let the voters in 2020 decide whether he remains in office? The ignominy of being the only President in history to be convicted of a high crime or misdemeanor is punishment enough.
On the surface it seems so simple. A qualified agent, doing their job discovers very troubling info. They pass this on through the chain of command and get the OK . All done "by the book". Also, they are assured that no punishment for doing their job.
Next , first error, not by whistleblower but by their boss who passed the evaluation onto the people that are to be investigated rather then following the law to pass to congress. Then, the maybe guilty group began the further coverup and the Justice department covers up their guy.
When it finally arrives to the committee the repub members do not even read the accusations, they do their video bit and bash everyone investigating and walk out.
This is not how the system was designed.
2
@RichardHead
Because Republicans are un-American. They absolutely DO NOT believe in our constitution, our democracy, or our system of justice. They prove this every single day.
Donald Trump not only withheld the $400 million from Ukraine, but he directed his administration to deceive Congress about the reason.
The constitutional branches need a certain level of trust to run the government. Donald has long since breached that trust.
Congress cannot function with Trump in the White House.
1
@Occupy Government
The politicians of the Republican Party have demonstrated, since the inauguration of President Obama, that they are absolutely fine with Congress not functioning. It's on the rest of us - including those who voted for those politicians - to decide what's acceptable. If the impeachment inquiry finds that the call transcript is not a forgery, and yet the Republicans in the Senate vote to approve formally the president's status as above the law, the Constitution and ethics, then our vote next November will be a referendum on their having done so.
1
Democratic Representatives conducting the impeachment inquiry need to be careful and thorough not only identifying each high crime and misdemeanor they might uncover, but also clearly explain why and how each transgression threaten the rights, protections and lives of voters themselves.
Do not take for granted that just because you identify each offense by name, that voters will understand why they should care! It should be clear from how consistent Trump's support has been that many voters cannot distinguish between how Trump conducts himself and how other politicians who don't violate their oaths of office conduct themselves. We are awash in cynicism, and half or more of all voters hold all politicians in low esteem, generally, and believe "they're all the same," their all in it for themselves, and the narrow interest groups that fund them.
I would caution Democrats to not even take the understanding and appreciation of their own natural constituents for granted. I personally find way too many voters who are even "on my side" unable to make a good argument for their position - which makes them soft targets for discouragement and demotivation.
To be effective, the teaching element of an impeachment inquiry must be paramount!
3
@Robert Henry Eller
This is very true, and often overlooked. The people who read the NY Times opinions, think about them, comment about them, and comment on other's comments about them (like me for instance), live in a bit of a bubble of our own making. We, unfortunately, represent only a small fraction of the electorate.
The majority of the country probably doesn't have the time (too busy working two jobs to survive ...) or the inclination to consider the gravity of what is going on right now with this topic. So they must be patiently educated.
I would like to ask anyone who is reading this who is maybe a lot younger than I am, and who is using the Instagram, or maybe even the Tik Tok platform to please create some educational content for the generation who needs it more than we do.
The only reason why Fox News gets away with the constant "Nothing Burger" reference is because for a lot of people it really is a "Nothing Burger". But this can change, as Mr. Eller explains above - with education.
1
@O very good reply. thanks
I of course agree but would still believe that this process, based on enough evidence, should have been started long ago. The evidence for timing is in "the day after" Mueller testified and when Trump was still broadcasting his belief that he was completely exonerated ("no collusion!"). The Mueller Report of course revealed multiple instances of obstruction, sufficient to hold Trump accountable. And then there are also all of those blatant instances of malfeasance that this Board lists. I'd wondered as it went along, how many must we endure? Well, Trump finally overdid it, taking that lack of applying any meaningful consequences as a ghastly form of acquiescence, as his behavioral type would typically do--of course!
The time is long overdue, actually considering all of the abuses that Trump and his administration have committed over the last three years. We know that Trump is capable of doing anything to win the next election, so things are bound to get ugly anyway. This is the moment when the GOP can demonstrate they are more than "party first." If they don't, they better prepare for a free-fall into irrelevancy, which frankly, they deserve.
1
@Birdygirl
We can only hope that enough Americans have finally woken up to what the Republican party really is. They did so last November; they need to come out in even greater numbers next November to offset the foreign interference that will happen again, to a much larger degree, since Trump and the Republicans are doing NOTHING to stop it, and in fact have encouraged it.
The president of the United States demonstrates no moral conflict what so ever in his, personally, coercing foreign governments to interfere and undermine our nation's free and fair elections. His actions, and those of his lieutenants, are traitorous to our democracy, as defined by the U.S. constitution. To not impeach would be a dereliction of duty on the part of lawmakers. With appreciation for the NYT bringing resolute clarity to the mire created by the current administration.
Thank you Editorial Board for this coherent and thorough argument in favor of impeachment. Let's all hope that Republican's change course and embrace American democracy over tyranny corruption.
John Dean famously told Nixon there was "a cancer on the Presidency." In our current situation, the President himself is the malignancy. To pursue impeachment at this time is the opposite of a political calculation--it is a constitutional obligation on the part of Congress. It is not hard to see who will be on the right side history in this matter. It is hard to understand why so many with formerly honorable service to the country have continued to enable this cancer to metastasize when so much is at risk with each day this malignant narcissist is in office.
1
The editorial includes tax fraud as something that should not be pursued. It was my impression that tax fraud was a Federal felony or, if you wish, a "High Crime."
"...much of Mr. Trump’s behavior should remain outside the scope of the inquiry. "
Yes. The inquiry should focus on Trump's actions that truly lie within the arena that involve impeachable offenses.
All the other bad, and possibly illegal behavior? That's ok, we can nail him on all that in the regular courts afterwards.
1
@Joe G.
Democrats MUST also include the 10 clear cut counts of obstruction of justice during the Russia investigation, and it's all tied to the same construct of soliciting and using foreign interference in our elections.
Plus, it's the only way to get witnesses like McGann to testify fully and truthfully. Imagine a trial in the Senate, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as the judge, and McGann and others directly telling the American people that Trump ordered him to fire Mueller.
Yes, it's all in the Mueller report, but 95% of Americans didn't bother reading it.
@TraitorTrump,
I agree. Nothing I said contradicts that. I am thinking about things like his tax returns, which may not come under the scope of an impeachment inquiry.
Trump has demolished much of the international plutocratic order which exported jobs, power and Intellectual Property to distant powers, first of which, China, a dictatorship. This exportation of all power overseas was a major betrayal and, had it proceeded further, would have lethally wounded democracy. The Roman Republic fell precisely because power was diverted from Italy to overseas territories, by the wealthiest Romans, for the wealthiest Romans. That process quickly made the average Roman powerless.
Hence Trump’s demolition of the unhealthy relationship with China (inter alia) was a laudable, extremely important task. By contrast the Biden business in Ukraine and China is the paradigm of what is wrong with the old global, Davos plutocratic order. The goal of reining in global plutocracy, all progressives, such as yours truly, who want no more billionaires, applaud.
Trump’s posturing on climate is grotesque, but of relatively small consequence, so far: US states still proceed towards a green economy.
Viewing globally Trump as "unfit for office" is equivalent to saying the anti-democratic world plutocracy is fit to rule. The board is indignant that the president uses his office to help with his re-election... something all presidents running for re-election have done. We are in extraordinary times. Democracy needs to be boosted. That’s done by passing progressive laws, not by trying to turn into a martyr a clown in chief coming for re-election in 13 months.
2
@Patrice Ayme
OK, I can actually agree with some of this. Especially the part of no more billionaires, the export of jobs, etc.
But Trump is most definitely not the answer, and he is anything but someone who wants to destroy the plutocracy. How could he be, if he signed a 1.5 trillion dollar tax bill that was aimed toward the rich?
How could be be that, if he selects craven billionaires as part of his cabinet?
The fact is that he campaigned on, and then re-enforced with this inaugural address, that he was the champion of the lower classes. And then proceeded to govern in exactly the opposite way.
And I most certainly cannot agree with the comment "...US states still proceed towards a green economy." Did you miss the headline last week that the administration is seeking to revoke the California exemption?
I fully understand how a certain percentage of people who express the ideas you have expressed above voted for Trump in 2016, but I cannot understand how all of them do now not understand that they were tricked.
@O
The war between Trump and California is interesting: both sides are correct, and hopefully, both will win, where they are correct. The piles of excrement and squalor in San Francisco Bay Area streets, which the EPA condemned are facts. I live there, and also observe that excrement and squalor are not found where the millionaire "Democratic" loud mouths live. This has got to stop, even the WHO said so. Now California is proceeding with green energy: starting January 1, 2020, all new homes have to have solar. Trump and California can even concur: the administration found the hydrogen fuel cell buses operating around Berkeley-Albany worked beyond all expectations (Obama has killed hydrogen fuel cell research... a US tech which got Apollo to the Moon). The main problem California is having with green energy now is how to store it (34% of the electricity is green now, ahead of schedule). Trump of course is a billionaire, and was made so by US banks, part of a corrupt system lending to the wealthy. His cabinet, like Obama's is full of extremely wealthy people and even more pull the strings, as under Obama. Depressing: that was supposed to a "Democratic" administration. But Trump is different. He is more like a viper one can make good anti-venom with. Global plutocracy escapes local laws: this is how Rome fell. If Warren becomes president (which I wish), she will be able (Congress willing) to tax US billionaires. Global wealth is more of a problem... which Trump is mitigating now
@Patrice Ayme
I think you are the only person on the planet that has provided me with the ability to agree that Trump might have some kind of use - and I never thought it would be snake-related, although I should have! Just kidding .. I actually love snakes.
I appreciate and respect your laser focus on what is perhaps the most important part and perhaps source of all political strife - inequality.
I don't believe that it is realistically possible to actually use Trump in any way, though, and I also think that he is, in fact, being used to better effect at the moment, by those who are precisely on the other side of our argument.
But we can certainly disagree on this point.
I do agree that Obama's legacy is disappointing when it comes to this issue, as it was for Clinton - like when Clinton more or less forced out or at least created a reason to leave for Robert Reich, who I believe is by far the most skillful communicator/educator delivering information about inequality these days
If Obama had surrounded himself with people like Reich and attacked inequality like he meant it, I'm pretty sure we would not have Trump. I refuse to believe (or perhaps I'm in denial) that the racist vote would have still propelled Trump to office.
Anyway, thanks for the comments and focus on inequality. It really is an enormous and intractable problem.
1
I disagree that the impeachment inquiry should focus on issues other than Trump's phone call and related activities. The Emoluments Clause in Trump's case is really only about money. Trump's family has so much interest in Saudia Arabia, for example, that officials paying for stays at hotels that Trump still has an interest in represents a drop in the bucket. Trump would be attracted to corrupt dictators no matter how much they spent at his resorts because of his family's other connections (see, Russia, for example). As for payments to porn stars? If his gross remarks about women, veterans, etc., did not deter people from voting for him then knowledge about a couple of affairs he wanted to cover up wouldn't have mattered either.
The bottom line, none of Trump's past transgressions can be directly linked to actual harm inflicted on the American public. Except this one. My hope is that the Judiciary Committee's focus will be strict. A deep inquiry into Trump's motivations, Guiliani's and Barr's role in this affair, the extortion, the extraordinary abuse of Trump's power in withholding defense funding for political purposes, is more than enough to convince anyone with any bit of patriotism that our national security is tied to Ukraine's. And, a breach of our national security harms Americans directly.
Earlier this week, I kept looking at your "scorecard" of those members of Congress who supported an impeachment inquiry. I am hoping, against hope, that eventually I will see some Republicans on the support side. That they have consistently supported someone who is antithetical to the most agreed upon ideals of America just depresses me beyond belief. Your editorial puts down in black and white all of the reasons why they should change their stance and - more importantly - do their best to change the minds of their constituents who blindly follow an incompetent showman with zero regard for what is truly American.
@Sam
Yes, they are taking a huge gamble right now. History will not judge them well - but I am hoping for a judgement much sooner than a textbook treatment a few years from now.
Let's make sure that we send a message in 2020 what we think of their craven collapse of integrity.
A near-term problem I see is that after the riveting events of this week, the public will have a letdown without a daily dosage of Trump impeachment bombshells. Democrats need to act quickly to keep up the pressure on Trump and his lies - sorry, I mean allies.
3
I have not supported impeachment until now. Trump's latest awful action leaves no choice. It is treason (among other things), and we can't have that by the POTUS.
The situation reminds me of an employee that I really liked, but had to fire because he left me no choice. He too seemed to not even understand what he had done was wrong. My company was not better off for his firing, and I fear the same result will happen with impeachment for the country. But sometimes people leave you with no choice, even if in doing the right thing you hurt yourself.
Trump wasn't just going after Biden. The whistleblower's letter alleges that he also pressed the Ukrainian leader to support a crackpot theory that the Democratic National Committee fabricated evidence showing that Russia breached their servers in 2016.
Trump, in other words, wasn’t just cheating to help himself. He was cheating to help all Republicans. If he's not stopped, then any Republicans who win in 2020 will have asterisks next to their names.
1
Having oversold the Robert Mueller report and having ignored President Trump's failure to declare, disclose and divest his assets into a blind trust after paying off an actress and model to remain silent about his adultery in order to get elected President along with the President's bizarre inexplicable subservient obsequious weak behavior towards Russian President Vladimir Putin Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called into question her own courage honesty and integrity.
Speaker Pelosi has been primarily focused on mocking and marginalizing the Squad along with offering a bevy of excuses for neither investigating nor impeaching President Donald Trump. With the next presidential election about 13 month's off this will bring the nation's domestic governing business to a halt while opening and exposing America to the most evil and malign acts of it's foreign competitors and enemies.
Donald Trump needs to resign.
1
Also note that the 2016 Trump transgressions occurred as he was a private citizen; whistlegate occurred as he was president.
1
To all Americans, now it is time to put partisan politics to the side. Our Country needs nothing less. We need to strengthen our ties with our allies, our planetary environment is at the edge and countless species including our own is heading towards extinction. We owe it to those we will pass the torch, to give them a fighting chance. Overpopulation, degradation of our oceans and fresh water, feeding billions of people is not going to be easy. Protecting the air and environment is paramount. Vote blue everyone in 2020. And I call on you all to make a “planetary” political party in the future.
Quid pro quo:
1. Ukraine’s readout of the call at the time stated that they had discussed corruption cases that needed to be dealt with to clear air between Ukraine and US.
2. Day after the call two State ambassadors met with Ukraine’s President to “explain” how Trump’s demands could be met.
Impeachment is the only answer. Crime or not, Barr, as head of the DOJ, has corrupted our entire legal system by participating in the hiding of this.
1
well said . it baffles me why the Congress has not been more aggressive in asserting their oversight rights. I did not vote for my representative -congressman or senator- to be a come along get along legislator. I voted for them to uphold the values and principles in the constitution.
Obstruction should be met with the stiffest penalties - subpoena, fines , jail. Failure to follow the legislative intent - funding or otherwise- should be met with a swift blow to the nose - budget cut /legal suit.
In the commission of a crime such as Ukraine the full weight of the congress -impeachment- should be employed.
The only way to change a bully's behavior - and Mr Trump is nothing more than a schoolyard bully- is to fight with equal or greater vigor.
Get on with it
If we had gotten rid of the electoral college and had every vote actually counted, we would not even be going through this. He's been an illegitimate president from the start and now the nation is paying the price by having to go through the impeachment process. Hopefully, he will actually be impeached and removed from office. However, so far, he's gotten away with all of his treasonous acts and it doesn't look likely that we'll be rid of him.
I despise Trump. I did not vote for him, nor will I ever. But I do not find this essay very convincing.
If the point of impeachment is to remove a president, then this would seem to be an exercise in futility given the makeup of the Senate and the near-impossibility of finding enough votes to actually remove Trump.
Then there is the matter of Vice President Mike Pence, who would become president if Trump were to be removed. Christian fundamentalist Pence might be as bad as, or worse than, Trump --mainly because Pence has some idea of what he is doing, and how to do it.
Then there is the issue of how this impeachment inquiry distracts from the important work that Congress is supposed to be doing.
And let's not forget how some voters may be swayed by the fact that Democratic legislators have seemingly embarked on a fool's errand.
Maybe it would have been better to let Trump keep misbehaving until election day so that voters would be constantly reminded of how bad he really is.
More than 300 former officials call Trump’s actions concerning Ukraine ‘profound national security concern’
How can any Republican/ trump enabler ignore that?
1
Why all the hand-wringing. Impeachment should have been launched long ago, as soon as Trump took office, because (1) he was an illegitimate president, elected only with the help of a hostile foreign power; (2) mentally, emotionally, he was clearly unfit for office: (3) while still campaigning, he broke the law and violated the constitution numerous times before ever becoming president, and (4) he continued to obstruct justice and abuse his power after taking office. His insistence that he did nothing wrong in his phone call to the Ukrainian president shows that he does not know the difference between right and wrong which itself is cause for removal.
1
An exceptionally well written editorial from the board. Thomas Paine wrote "These are the times that try men's souls."
The time for courage is now.
"I have the right to do whatever I want as president."
No doubt he's believed that all along, but I suspect William Barr reminds him on a regular basis as well. Donald was only emboldened by the Mueller report, and will be emboldened by this as well. I agree that Democrats have no choice but to move forward, but I hate it too.
It's obvious to all by now that letting Trump be Trump means letting a criminal be a criminal, and it's insulting because he does it in plain sight and revels in it. Nothing makes him happier than getting away with something. Mostly, I dread this because it will further remind us that the once-serious Republican party has been remade in his image and is now as thoroughly rotten as he is.
My first thought, thank God for the freedom of the press. Just think where we would be today if that freedom was taken away as our present president is attempting to do. Yes, the press has made their mistakes, the Times included, but the big picture tells me we are still afloat if only for the freedom of the press.
This is a well written and direct article focusing on the problems our Nation faces today. I am especially impressed by the following statement: ".... when political factions feel entitled to their own facts and so many lawmakers confuse party loyalty with patriotism." YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO YOUR OWN FACTS!!
This clearly defines our present national problem.
What is the answer? I feel it involves a major review of our Constitution and the role political parties play in our nation's government. Congressional Procedures and representational government must be applied to curtail fleeting egos and biased opinions (one obvious example is the abuse of the "life-time appointment" in judicial appointments).
Senator McConnell (and peers), this is directed at you! Your "party first" concept of governing is the most serious problem our nation faces today.
How dare you!
Trump and his jolly team of loyal thugs must go. Impeachment is the right thing, now.
In this case alone we have Trump soliciting assistance for his 2020 campaign (unconstitutional), his aides hiding transcripts (obstruction of justice), AJ Barr determining not to prosecute a case in which he is named as a participant in questionable acts (grounds for disbarment.)
The only reason to decline impeachment is fear that it might create Trump as a martyr and aid in his election chances. Not likely. Americans are exceptionally tired of hearing about Trump's illegal and unethical behavior and they want it to go away.
Fatigue does not mean votes for Trump however. Dig deeper and one would find that swing voters want Trump to go away to make it stop. The people who would see Trump as a poor, innocent martyr are the folks who would vote for him anyway.
1
Trump would have been Impeached long ago were it not for the GOP, Barr, and most importantly ..FOX NEWS and their Nation of believers. Too many Americans are tuned out or are apathetic. Most never bothered reading the Mueller Report for themselves. They don't even realize Barr's distortion of it. Not many on Fox were saying Trump was wrong when he promoted his theory that Obama wasn't born in the US. They even found ways of criticizing Greta Thunberg. Where's the public outrage?? There can't be much when so many of us have condoned Trumps bizarre antics since the Primaries leading up to his 2016 election. He criticized and bullied Americans from all walks of life ! Women, Gold Star families,POW's..and now...even children like Greta. Where's the outrage? There can't be much when so many of us support and enable this kind of divisiveness !! Trump would have been Impeached long ago if Public Opinion had spoken louder. I still can't figure out if the GOP, Barr, and Fox actually believe what they say or are knowingly hoodwinking us??
As a Brazilian living in Brazil, I have enough respect for American institutions to believe that your country will find the best solution for the current quandary, impeachment or not. I only hoped the NYT Editorial Board had been similarly sober-minded when commenting the Brazilian not too distant impeachment process. A financially ruined country trying to find its way to back solvency while being derided worlwide as a consequence of mostly biased news coverage. Luckily you won't face the same degree of scorn.
I can't condemn the character of those who even now hold on to their support for Mr. Trump, given the particular difficulty for them of this moment: Accepting the gist of this editorial means relinquishing a position they've held for some time, even under fire.
But I'll say this: The editorial points out,
"During this administration, Americans have discovered to their sorrow the degree to which past presidents were constrained not by specific laws but only by tradition, character and an understanding of the framers’ intent. Mr. Trump has proved immune to such considerations."
Some might respond, "but that's precisely why I support Mr. Trump - he tells it like it is, he goes with his gut, he ignores the rules and he succeeds." My question is, what kind of success are you talking about? Is it the creation of something of value? Or is it a transient, unpredictable win in a zero-sum game, in which one party claims a token by wresting it away from another by any means necessary? Even in an MMA cage match there are rules. If you endorse a president's consideration of himself as rules-free, and his violation of our trust in free and fair elections, then you don't elevate our country above others so much as you elevate him above yourself.
Read the transcript of the call and the whistleblower's complaint:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/25/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-transcript-call/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/26/us/politics/whistle-blower-complaint.html
These are powerful and insightful words. They stir in us a sense of honor. Regrettably, unlike other eras, we must contend with the foaming at the mouth conspiracy theories, slander and hateful belligerence of conservative news outlets with massive ratings.
I am beginning to believe there is nothing, nothing Donald Trump could do to make his followers question their loyalty. He flicks away objections as Fake News. He Twitters his rage and continually assails his opponents as failures and liars. And instead of being dismayed by the vitriol, he is loved. He is protected.
We have reached a crossroads, and I fear these kind of editorials will seem quaint one day, vestiges of a time when decency - let alone the Constitution - meant something.
1
Our country needs just one republican senator to come forward and strongly back the impeachment process in this case. I believe if that happens surely others will find the courage to do the same. Is there at least one republican patriot in the senate? Mitt Romney or Ben Sasse? Your country needs you.
The claim that the system had been working to constrain Trump until now is absurd. He has obstructed justice in order to protect himself, makes money for his personal gain every day off of the presidency, threatens people from the office of the presidency, encourages violence from that same office, paid people off prior to the last election in order to keep them quiet and on and on. There have been no consequences. So, of course he will keep committing crimes and demeaning the office of the presidency because it has benefitted him greatly.
Why does the NYT make such a ridiculous claim? We have all been watching him tear the country down and destroy our democracy while the NYT raises issues like norms and has headlines about the democrats in disarray and falls into all of the GOP traps of both sides and describing everything as partisan. The press has allowed the GOP to make issues partisan. And then worked the refs (the press) and it has worked!
A nation that tolerates this level of dysfunction and criminality -- let's be clear about this: We are now firmly in the terrain of high crimes and misdemeanors--is one inviting its own ruin.
Are we that nation? Are we really going to allow one corrupt man, who has in turn put in place many corrupt men, to take down a nation of 327 million people? Are we really okay with enabling a man who abuses his power every waking moment of every day to continue to lead us over a cliff? Really? Especially when that man habitually and glibly opines about using nuclear weapons on "anyone [he] feels like"?
Wow. When did we become a people hellbent on national suicide?
The choice has never been starker, the solution easier. How many times does this need to be repeated before it gets through: Impeachment was put in place by the founders for a reason. How or why this notion that it's there to be gaped at without using, even as our nation careens from disaster to disaster, is anyone's guess.
Those resisting impeachment will be seen for what they are. Cowards. Rank opportunists. Those complicit with criminality. Do they grasp their names are going down in the history books?
It astonishes me that the GOP has not figured out that they finally have a get-out-of-jail-for-free card. They created this nightmare, but all they need do is walk to the nearest podium and declare themselves on the side of impeachment and they become instant heroes. They should not be allowed to walk away but can.
It shouldn't mater what the Senate might do when it considers Articles of Impeachment. Let the process unfold in the House, bring in Messrs. Giuliani and Barr to explain themselves. Impeachment is a cleansing process and if there was ever a time for scrubbing out dirt and corrosion, it is now.
This is a good time for Americans to revisit Watergate. They will learn that Richard Nixon's corrupt attorney general, John Mitchell, became a convicted felon and served time in a federal prison. The parallels between Mitchell and his protege Bill Barr are relevant. The role the press played in Watergate was one of this institutions proudest moments.
Give men and women in Congress the opportunity to do their duty. Some are better than their image. And who knows? Maybe they'll find a little Howard Baker, Barry Goldwater, Barbara Jordan and Sam Ervin deep in their souls.
Trump is clearly morally untethered. Who would be his next target for gaining 'dirt' on his opponent. Governors asked to task their attorney generals with investigating relatives of Ms Warren, for example, in return for Medicaid money... it doesn't sound crazy anymore.
He must be impeached because Trump Undermines R Democracy. Everyday
1
So is the plan to impeach Trump over the fact that he wanted Ukraine to investigate a potential extortion and corruption crime in his country that involves our political class? The Bursima-Biden situation is undoubtedly dripping with conflict of interest, and no completed investigation to date has properly laid out the facts of what happened. Even if you can wave away Biden's open admission that he withheld a billion dollars as a condition for firing the prosecutor investigating his son's company, why exactly was Hunter being paid $600,000 a year to work in a sector and country he had zero experience in?
If you can't see the likelihood for illegal quid pro quo on the Biden's part, I have a bridge to sell you. And if you want to impeach Trump over investigating that, good luck.
2
This editorial will stand up well to the test of time and history, in spite of being written in the heat of unfolding events. Thank you, NYT.
Among the many disgusting acts of this president is that, during the horrific slaughter of Americans in the first weeks of August, his attention was on his own self-interest via the Ukraine. He never did and never will act in the public interest, and had no regard for the law. Impeachment is long overdue and much too good for him. Voters need to boot him out in 2020.
Who, more than the former star of "The Apprentice," should better understand and appreciate the morality of "You're fired."
That's what happens with you fail, Mr. Trump. You lose.
Frankly, I hope the fallout from this episode is damaging enough to Joe Biden that he fails to win the Democratic nomination.
It was wrong for Hunter Biden to (but for his family name) be making scratch in Ukraine in a field which he had no experience.
Goodbye Trump.....Goodbye Biden. Hello Elizabeth Warren
Of course Trump should immediately resign or be impeached. But if anyone thinks this is the beginning of the end of Trump just watch FOX for a few minutes in the evening and see the incredible lies and distortions from Trump’s agents that millions of naive Americans who don’t know any better are swallowing on a daily basis.
3
I would point Trump defenders and supporters to 52 USC 3012 “Contributions and donations by foreign nationals”. I would argue the constitutional definition of Impeachment to include Treason, Bribery, and High Crimes and Misdemeanors would include violation of 52 USC 3012.
Trump defenders and supporters can believe whatever they wish, but such belief is based on lies they are being told and lies they are embracing, misleading themselves. This is their prerogative. We cannot have both a corrupt President and a functioning democratic Republic. It is becoming clear Trump defenders and supporters embrace the former.
As one who finds the ideas and values of Founding documents the essence of patriotism for which so many have sacrificed, shed blood, and died to protect, I take great offense at those who reject these ideas and values, patriotism, and our unique governing philosophy of Equality and empathy for individual Rights, Freedoms, and Liberties with the goal of “...forming a more perfect Union...” to support a political party, a political ideology, or a political individual with corrupt, unAmerican, unpatriotic intentions.
I'm a young a adult, or at least consider myself to be one. The New York Times was the first newspaper I ever subscribed to, and through living in different cities and countries, I've always maintained, in one form or another, my subscription. This is why.
The ability to draw on 150+ years of experience and involvement in history is what sets this editorial, and indeed this paper, apart from others.
It is comforting that in times of great unrest and upheaval in our country, there are institutions such as NYT that showcase the power and potential possessed by the Fourth Estate.
I'm guessing the Democratic House will vote for impeachment and Mitch McConnel will simply table it and there will be no trial. Trump will rant and rail and his sheep will gloat as, once again, they "stick it" to those despised liberals. Only in America.
Pelosi threw Biden under the bus in a last ditch effort to try and undermine Trump in the 2020 Presidential election. It appears that the Democrats are pinning all of their hopes on Warren, a woman that is either intellectually challenged or a person that knowingly commits fraud for personal gain. No other way to explain Warren identifying herself as an American Indian to gain her preferential access to Harvard under Affirmative Action. At least this circus is getting more Americans interested in learning about the players.
I disagree with the board's premise that trump was duly elected. On that issue we will never really know the truth. Russian interference and voter suppression may well be responsible for the 70,000 votes trump won in three states to lock in his EC victory.
6
As great as this opinion piece is: it's astounding that 40% of Americans, including the President, do not have the attention span to read something of this length, and if they did, would have trouble with the definitions of many of the words, would fail to comprehend it, and/or would somehow find a way to denigrate it as a pack of lies and misinformation. (Our education system needs improvement).
5
@Average Human: This is what it boils down to. We need more of the electorate to have the ability to comprehend what they read, think critically, and reason logically. I'm stunned and disheartened at the proportion who are either unable or unwilling.
1
The problem, of course, is that the GOP does not, and has not for quite a while, believed in representative democracy. The current resident of the White House is only there because of the GOP, and remains there at the party's pleasure.
3
A powerful historical record wrapped in a reasoned opinion. Bravo! This dark time in our country calls for moral courage and objective reasoning for now and for our future. Our children are watching.....we must teach them how to navigate to ensure the sustainability of the noble experiment we call our American democratic republic.
1
If you are going to start this process, then you must go all the way. I don't think Trump is smart enough to cut a deal and resign. He will have to be Removed by the Senate; that is, and always has been, the big question: Are the votes there for Removal? If not, then what happens? Trump does not impress me as someone who would quietly serve out his term as President.
Will we have made a bad situation worse by Impeaching rather than focusing on defeating Trump in the election?
To quote one of my favorite philosophers: "Do! Or Do Not! There is no try." - Yoda
1
"That Mr. Trump was not dissuaded by the response to Mr. Mueller’s findings from seeking political aid from another foreign source suggests he has learned nothing."
Actually, that's not true. He learned that he can get away with it.
5
Republicans who criticize Democrats for seeking to "reverse an election" have little ground to stand on.
What else was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell doing when he refused to even allow the Senate to consider President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in the last year of Obama's second and last term, than "reversing the re-election" of President Obama by effectively denying Obama's prerogative to fill a Supreme Court seat that came vacant while he was in office.
Besides, if Trump believes his own hype, that he's been the best President ever in history, let him prove it. He should have no trouble defeating any election opponent on the obvious merits of his inarguable accomplishments while in office.
1
I thank the Board for it's thoughtful statement and agree. We have no choice but to act to restrain this president's actions. I particularly love the last line, for it's majesty and lofty vision of our democracy. I dream of the day when it is restored.
5
This editorial was superbly written: Clear, flowing, logical, erudite and, above all, supported by facts. Bravo and brava, editorial board members.
1
@Paul Facinelli
If this editorial was a motion to commence an impeachment inquiry brought before the Court of Public Opinion in Trump County, the Court, a la Judge Chamberlain Haller from My Cousin Vinnie, using your words Paul, would say: Mr. Board, your motion was superbly written: clear, flowing, logical, erudite and supported by facts. DENIED.
1
The touring production of Hamilton came to our town recently, and I was lucky enough to be able to see it. The play demonstrates something that has always amazed me--the brilliance of our Founding Fathers, and the depth of thoughtfulness and care they put into drafting the founding documents. For a bunch of men trying to carve a life out of a remote and undeveloped land, they showed unequaled integrity and brilliance. Watching Lin Manuel Miranda's amazing play was the first time I've been proud to be an American in quite a while.
Today, this editorial draws on some of those same foundational principles in supporting the impeachment of a man who has no concept of and no love for our way of government. I suspect he walked into the Oval Office and began planning where to hang his own portrait, rather than thinking of and being humbled by the history and wisdom that must infuse that room. Instead, Mr. trump has set out to enshrine himself in office as if he were King George III, returned after being denied his sovereignty over America.
Thanks for this editorial. It is good to see that Americans still recognize and value our foundational principles and see the worth in fighting to protect them. We may like and admire Queen Elizabeth, but we are still not royalists, and we still don't want an American king.
3
An impeachment aims to prove to the American people that at least part of their government sets a higher standard of behaviour than their president does.
So far part of Trump’s presidency has been defined by fights and battles – offensive and defensive tactics. The impeachment will be the next phase.
If the Democrat-controlled House votes to impeach him, Senate Republicans will have to think long and hard, asking themselves what else must Trump do before they say enough is enough.
They will be judged by history on whether they were judicial and operating on behalf of the country or just rubber-stamping his presidency, choosing to be on the wrong side of history.
The coming weeks will test whether Trump’s familiar playbook — lashing out at the accuser, while floating dark conspiracies to divert attention etc. — will be successful in the face of mounting pressure.
3
This impeachment inquiry needs to be sharply focused on Donald Trump’s criminal attempt to get a foreign government to help him win election in 2020.
Unfortunately, most Americans know little about civics and the workings of their own government. They are bombarded daily, even hourly, by lies from the President, Right Wing demagogues, and Russian and other meddlers on the Internet.
The issue of criminal, perhaps even traitorous, actions by the President are neatly tied together in a package by the Ukraine matter. And the prime evidence is the President’s own words.
For a people with limited civic knowledge, a limited attention span, and seemingly unlimited diversions, a simple indictment explained fully and fairly is vital if Trump and his stooges are to be held accountable.
3
"The majesty of representative democracy."
May it be so, and this process carried out in that spirit, on both sides.
3
Thank you for this. Beautifully written and argued. May it clear the fog of this particular war...
1
I remembering feeling extremely sad after the 2016 election that Trump's portrait would one day be up on the wall with those of Washington, Lincoln, and FDR.
The impeachment proceedings, whether they lead to his removal from office or not, give me some consolation. At least there will be an asterisk attached to his presidency that records the fact that the fight for decency and honesty was still being waged during this dark period of our history.
5
I don’t see “high crimes and misdemeanors” in a phone call. We’re talking about words, not actions. Has the Editorial Board forgotten the Constitution? If you’ve ever seen undercover police videos of sting operations, a person usually isn’t arrested over their words alone. I’ve seen videos where a person tried to hire a hit man where the supposed hit man was actually an undercover cop. It wasn’t until the person handed over cash that they got busted. Trump froze military aid to the Ukraine, but he had the power to do that. Why he did it, we don’t know for sure, but again, I don’t see “high crimes and misdemeanors” in his words. It’s true, as David Brooks pointed out in his opinion piece today, that impeachment is a political process, not a legal one. But, the president is still entitled to his constitutional rights and the Congress should respect that. If a president is fearful that they could be impeached for saying the wrong thing, then I believe their right to freedom of speech is being violated and they could fight an impeachment over such a thing in the Supreme Court. As journalists, you should be defending freedom of speech for all Americans, not just yourselves.
5
@Mark
"A phone call" which Trump's own White House aides saw as so transgressive they attempted to "lock down" all record of it.
And withholding $400 million dollars of aid which led even Majority Leader McConnell to admit that he had no idea what basis there could be for such withholding...
...withholding that, clearly, was for the purpose of illegally pressuring a foreign government by holding back aid.
"Just a phone call" - you might consider questioning Fox talking points before writing a comment.
1
I fail to see the reason that all of a sudden we are so interested in Ukraine. We are talking about a country that has only existed as a country since 1991, Before that it existed as a region, province, in some other country.
Since gaining independence in 1991 it has had a history of corrupt governments. in fact it is considered the most corrupt government in Europe. Its presidents have all had their hands in the till and looted the country. You have only to step back in time and read about previous presidents.
The US's only interest in Ukraine is to stop Russia from seizing part of Ukraine and merging back into Russia, or to make it a Russian Satellite like Belarus. For the most part we have turned a blind eye to battles of previous presidents.
The only reason we got upset and interfered openly in Ukrainian internal affairs. was the election of Victor Yanukovich. a pro-Russian president. We feared he would anchor Ukraine to Russia, so we arranged a coup to overthrow him. We put in Petro Poroshenko and also installed some Ukrainian Americans in government position to make sure the country was run following US directives
We do NOT have clean hands when it come to our conduct in Ukraine..
1
The Senate will not convict. The Senate republicans are spineless. Why would Senate millionaires and billionaires want to convict one of their own? What is important is that Congress is doing exactly what it has been mandated to do. If the Senate does not convict, history will. DJT will not last forever.
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Thank you. That is surely one of the most cogent,rational and comprehensive editorials I've read and it should speak to all thinking --THINKING !-- Americans who value their countries values.
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The impeachment process has just begun which I think is a bit of a shock and wake up call to some who have been supporting and enabling this president. So many people may be enlightened to discover this was not simply reality TV for the amusement of the electorate instead of the serious business of running a country. There are consequences for breaking the law and disorderly conduct. Many of us have known there was something terribly wrong from the day Trump assumed power but catching him on it has always seemed to be just like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Now we know why, because he had so many people willing and abetting him to constantly throw more hay on the stack as we hunted. I am very grateful for this patriot whistleblower who put the good of this country over the schemes and lies of this president and his cronies to tell the truth. I don’t think we’re going to like what this inquiry will unravel but it’s time to end this show and get back to running this country!
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When courage is demanded, Democrats step up. They always have.
They raised taxes in 1993 in order to set the country's finances straight and immediately lost the next midterm. The country, however, regained its financial footing and experienced a record-breaking economic boom throughout the rest of the decade.
In 2010, Democrats passed Obamacare in order to fix the nation's healthcare system. They immediately lost the midterms that year, but their legislation saved thousands of lives and set the nation on a path towards making healthcare a right instead of a privilege.
Now, they are tasked with saving our Democracy. There is no doubt that they will be courageous in their efforts.
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This editorial correctly states that impeachment is well-founded and necessary. It also correctly opines that this impeachment proceeding should not be narrowed to the Ukraine matter. I am completely in accord with that opinion.
We must base the Articles of Impeachment on all of Trump's transgressions since he has been in office. There are many. To narrow the proceeding would indicate that democrats are willing to throw out two years of the Muller investigation findings. Mueller gave us eight instances of obstruction of justice committed by Trump, and stated that his team could not even consider them because of the DOJ memorandum. That memorandum will have no influence on impeachment by the Congress.
It would be betrayal of Mueller and his report for the democrats to disregard it completely by simply concentrating on the Ukraine matter.
When you have eight arrows already in your quiver, why just select one?
Pelosi, by doing so, is snapping defeat out of the jaws of victory. Republicans are rejoicing.
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@Underdog I very strongly agree with you, let Ukranegate be the key that unlocks the door on all of Trumpelstilskins transgressions of the Constitution- 10 obstructions spelled out in the Mueller report, his emoluments violations, etc..
Mueller's report stated that he was bound by Justice Department precedent that prohibited indictment of the president. That left only impeachment as the method for finding out what Trump did. His conversation with the president of Ukraine is only part of that and might not in itself be grounds to impeach him. But it has triggered an impeachment inquiry that, like the one involving Nixon, will make it a lot more difficult for Trump to withhold facts.
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Totally agree with your assessment: "The decision to impeach a president is inherently political, in the sense — the noble sense — that it must be made in the public interest." All of the arguments against impeachment are not based on the core constitutional reasons for the existence of the impeachment process. The behavior, facts, and implications of the the current and past actions of Trump demand that this process be utilized without fear of the implications. Our integrity as a nation depends upon it.
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The impeachment process will surely reveal those in Congress who possess the moral fiber and integrity to put country and the Constitution over potential damage to their own political future.
My own opinion (worth nothing except to myself and family) has been wavering regarding impeachment, but at this point I'm definitely all for impeachment.
The world will be watching.
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@Pat Boice I disagree. Your opinion is worth a great deal. You are a member of a community who surely values what you believe. Share your opinion. You sound like the kind of calm and reasonable person our country desperately needs now.
And yes, the world is watching.
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@Bill Prange - Thank you very much - your comment means a lot to me.
It will be interesting to see if the democrat's desire to impeach Trump will extend into his second term because it will most certainly guarantee one.
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@It isn't working https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/463266-poll-four-dems-beat-trump-by-double-digits-in-virginia
Polls currently show Trump at a disadvantage compared with Democratic candidates:
Biden 55 % vs Trump’s 37 %
Sanders (I-Vt.) 53% vs Trump 38%
Elizabeth Warren 53% vs Trump 38%
Harris 50% vs Trump 38%
No other candidates were included in the poll.
It may well be that approval of Trump and likelihood of voting for him is still largely confined to his base of voters, as it has been since 2016. Obviously things can change a lot before Nov. 2020, but it is entirely believable that voters may be reviewing Trump's character flaws and lack of accomplishments in office and arriving at negative view of his performance.
@It isn't working He won't finish out his term. He has no idea what he's in for, because, for the very first time in his rotten, spoiled, miserable existence he will have to face accountability for his actions.
I agree that the political risks of the inquiry are outweighed by the responsibility to oath. I was dismayed at the sarcastic parody of Mr. Trumps call in the hearing yesterday. I call on the Democrats, in particular, to set the proper tone - to take no joy in the discharging of a solemn duty.
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But Mr. Trump is on the record to have said that he will welcome any interference from any government that will help his campaign. If enough electorates are ok with that and are still voting for him, then we have a bigger problem than Trump!
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My only fear is that Trump has so effectively discredited the other two branches of government, and the press--the most important branch of government--that Trump's loyalists, and many who are too busy to follow the fine points of the news, will see the impeachment process as persecution. If large numbers of the public now consider all responsible reporting by ethical news outlets--from the Times to the WSJ to the Cowtown Courier--to be fake news, we are in serious trouble. For those who haven't reviewed their civics notes in a quarter of a century, maybe the other two branches of government really ARE subject to Trump's authority. Those guys in Congress issue a subpoena...so what? What's a subpoena anyway? Just ignore it and go fishing!
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@graygrandma The major difference now vs the time of Watergate is that the Supreme Court, since 2000, has inserted itself more into political issues. The court compelled Nixon to produce the tapes as evidence in court. We can't be sure whether the current court will vote in the interest of the country or to protect Trump.
Those who view the Impeachment Inquiry through the lens of politics are woefully misguided. The breadth and depth of the numerous violations of trump’s oath of office have been presented to the American people through the Mueller report and the parade of henchmen who have been tried and convicted of crimes related to the 2016 presidential campaign. For many of us, the 2018 mid-term elections presented a glimmer of hope that the Congress would finally take action on the most lawless and corrupt president in the history of our nation. This whistleblower is an American hero, for finally exposing the action of trump that not only demands Impeachment but also removal from office. Our democracy must be preserved and no one is above the law.
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The unanimous vote in the senate to investigate the whistle-blower's story is an important watershed.
Republican senators understood that they needed to vote for investigation, and that they needed to vote as a unified block to avoid the wrath of Donald.
What this means is they have already abandoned the Donald to his justly deserved fate. They will no longer support him, mostly in order to save their own sorry hides.
So on that note Voters, please examine the entire public voting record of each one of these spineless Republican senators BEFORE you cast your vote.
If you find any, and I mean any, behaviour that supports Donald in his assault on the Constitution, then please do the right thing and do not vote for them. They are using you, the voting public, to enrich themselves at your expense.
Hang on to your healthcare, hang on to your social programs, work towards a more just economy, and remember that a civilized society maintains a strong social safety net, especially for its most vulnerable citizens.
That is the true American Way. (And Canadian, and European, and many more.)
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@JRW The GOP has promoted and protected Trump consistently since he first started campaigning. I don't see them as ready to abandon him yet. They should cut him loose, but I wonder if they still see him as offering something they want (deregulation, more tax cuts, limiting Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security ?) My guess is they won't abandon Trump until they are convinced he will damage their own political careers.
"...and so many lawmakers confuse party loyalty with patriotism ."
They are not confused. They have steadfastly chosen party over country and the Constitution ever since Trump assumed the office of the presidency. It is this office which must be defended by the impeachment proceedings.
Republican lawmakers have not been confused. They have chosen to be the party of Trump and left earlier, more moderate Republicans by the wayside without a party. What those Republicans do next will be important. I hope they know that "anybody but Trump" is the answer in 2020.
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As this unfolds it is imperative that the Democrats stay at least two steps ahead of things. They must shine a bright light not just on Trumps wrong doings, but, more importantly, on the Republican party's constant pandering and enabling, and habitual stance of looking the other way. Specifically the Senate. Trump will yell and scream, obfuscate and deflect. Will the Senate just back him and shrug. Likely yes. And that is the big reveal that has been the governing principle for too long. That needs to come to a halt. That needs to be called out on repeatedly as the days painstakingly unfold.
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One of the scariest things about Trump has been his complete inability to learn from his mistakes. How could he, when he is incapable of admitting that he ever made a mistake? But this inability seems to have worked in our (the public’s) favor this time. Congress and the press have sent him clear messages about how he should moderate his behavior to avoid negative consequences, but he refused to listen. Unless those consequences occur, his behavior will become increasingly egregious. Consequences are overdue, but his inability to understand that risk should make it easier to find evidence that even Republican senators will not be able to ignore. We must use this opportunity to educate the public about what they should expect from their leaders (and what kinds of people they should avoid). Regardless of the outcome of the current impeachment inquiry, I hope the current situation will help the entire country avoid a similar disaster in the future. Unlike Trump, we CAN learn from our mistakes. I hope.
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@QSAT Apart from his corruption, greed, and incompetence, there is a case to be made that Trump has done more harm than good as president. He takes credit for any positive trends (even those like employment which was alredy increasing years before he was elected) and blames all problems on others (usually Obama, sometimes Democrates or liberals). However, the public should consider the downside of Trump's believing and trusting in Putin while also insulting and disparaging the US intelligence agencies. His alienating longtime allies like the UK, France, Germany, Canada, etc., will make dealing with Iran or North Korea much more difficult than it would be if he had treated them with respect and realized they could be helpful. Trump has a general inability to work with other people, as evidenced by the large number of firings and resignations in his staff, and by his own claim that "I am the only one in government who matters." A country of over 300 million people needs leadership, not an unpredictable, disgruntled, egomaniac president.
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There are enough undisputed facts out there to justify impeachment. Congress needs to get them on the record without grandstanding and fan by each member as quickly as possible. If it goes on and on wish showy days, fodder for talk show circuits, etc., it seems like just another episode of Dems vs Trump -- one of these battles we've been reading about since day one...one where Trump and friends jump into the rhetoric. In the end, all Americans should be able to have the arguments on an irrefutable postcard and decide whether they are "okay" with the conduct. T
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The details of the whistle-blower situation are compelling, and certainly, for the health of our democracy, Trump should face serious penalty. While I understand, as this opinion essay asserts, the "imperative of constitutional accountability," I'd suggest a different course of action, one which satisfies ethical imperatives, without the political dangers of impeachment.
We are about 1 year from the next national election. The impeachment process is unlikely to be concluded by then. Impeachment is equally likely to benefit Trump and help him win re-election in 2020. Is it ethical to engage in a process that may have that result? As this essay explains, the decision should "never be political in the narrow sense of being dictated by the latest poll or the next election." But there's a way to fulfill ethical obligations and reduce political risk. Democrats could lead an organized, sustained effort to put the facts in front of the American people, increasing the likelihood of removing Trump, without the risk of helping him win in 2020.
@MatthewSchenker Why do people think Trump will benefit from impeachment? Being the subject of investigation will not make him competent, focused, respectful of others, or willing to work hard. He will spend a lot of time whining about being the most mistreated president ever, but he will not become more sensible, informed, or able to lead in a rational manner. Will people outside of his base of voters buy the poor persecuted Trump act?
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