Stephen Scott Crockett for BuzzFlash: Make Trump Legally Accountable by Impeaching Him Again During His Last Few Weeks
November 9, 2020
Impeach Donald Trump, again (Bill Herndon)
By Stephen Scott Crockett
President Trump continues trying to rip apart the American public to protect himself from any and all legal liability for his misdeeds. Trump desperately needs to retain his position of power because being President (at least in his administration) shields him from all federal criminal prosecution and effective investigation.
Once he is forced to yield to the will of the people as expressed by about 75 million American voters, it is likely that Trump will either pardon himself and all his co-conspirators for all their federal crimes or resign and let Pence do the same. The House of Representatives can prevent this from happening.
The US Constitution gives the President nearly unlimited pardon power. There is little reason to believe that the current Supreme Court would do anything to limit that power even when it is being exercised for corrupt purposes. McConnell, Trump and Senate Republicans using highly unethical tactics have packed our federal courts with highly partisan Republican judges.
However, the US Constitution does state that Presidential powers cannot be used in matters of impeachment. Any attempt to pardon anyone including the President concerning any matter covered by impeachment hearings would be invalid and have no legal force.
I fully realize that the Senate Republicans would not remove Trump from office under any circumstances. It is not necessary to do so to prevent the abuse of Presidential pardon powers by President Trump.
In order to hold Trump accountable for any federal crimes he may have committed, it is necessary just to prevent him from being pardoned. It would also be good for the nation to have public Congressional hearings covering the full range of questionable issues and actions not addressed in the Mueller investigation or Trump’s first impeachment hearings.
Trump was impeached once already by the House on very limited grounds. There was extensive evidence available to the Senate to support removal from office. Senate Republicans blocked the public from seeing any additional evidence. It existed. Senate Democrats had the needed witnesses and evidence. Democracy does not work well when the public does not know the facts.
The House of Representatives should announce impeachment hearings against President Trump, Attorney General Barr and others at this time. They should include Trump’s finances, violations of federal law, all conflicts of interests, abuse of power, foreign actors, political donations and campaign law violations, postal service abuses, statements encouraging political violence, human rights violations and business deals. Trump has unethically thwarted investigation after investigation. Impeachment should cover this behavior as well. American citizens deserve these hearings,
Trump should not have immunity for any federal crimes or abuse of office. Of course, nobody, including Trump, should be prosecuted in court unless there is sufficient evidence.
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