The notion that we can only impeach once needs to be discarded.
Instead, I’d prefer to see messaging explaining that there is too much impeachable actions to wait until every single one is investigated. Instead, we’re going to have to forward impeachment every time the evidence becomes clear for each individual type of issue. When those first articles come through, they are probably not the last.
Obviously the Republicans are going to say that’s political, they say the first ones are political, so get ahead of that. It’s not our fault he’s broken so many laws, “maybe you guys should get him to stop breaking laws so fast”, or ruined so many standards of decency (also impeachable).
So on the one hand this is practical, there’s merely too much to have to make a single 4000 page document grouping all the different types of violations of law, decency, and democracy. On the other, it will be exhausting for the Senate Republicans to be faced with a series of trials. They can grit their teeth for one single trial. If there are too many details, they’ll hide among them...
When a prosecutor charges a criminal with a string of related, or unrelated, crimes, either way, they don’t have to choose just one to try them on. And also, if there is a crime they’re not tried on, they don’t pretend that double jeopardy means you can never be tried again in the future. You can’t try him TWICE for the same crime! (actually you can in the case of impeachment but that would violate our standards of justice, so don’t do that). But you can try him twice, once each for two different crimes. And further more, you must.
Making it clear that multiple impeachments may happen frees us up to go ahead with one, and follow up with another. You certainly don’t want to have one and STOP INVESTIGATING after the Senate boots it! You have to set up what happens AFTER they acquit, although I think it’s possible to force a conviction, we can’t count it as likely, and need to plan for the period after a politically motivated acquittal.
In a related point, I think it would be excellent if it was made clear there are going to be OTHER impeachments, like for Barr, Kavanaugh, and/or various others.
I’m curious to get feedback on this, thanks!
