I’m alarmed to hear some people think the House should level only very limited charges against Donald Trump. This is a mistake.
Every indication is Republicans will fail to remove Trump when impeachment reaches trial in the Senate. It is therefore important that the articles of impeachment cover all aspects of Trump’s brazen attempts to undermine the nation. If Democrats fail to put into the record any detail of the Trump attempt to undermine democracy and the rule of law, then they are leaving it out of history.
That would be a colossal failure and would avoid the duty of our representatives to look out for the best interests of the country.
So, I want to make sure it is plain to all what a thorough accounting of Trump’s high crimes would look like. That way, you can compare what he ought to be charged with against what the House actually does and render judgment on the results.
Including in the articles everything that belongs in them isn’t just essential to make sure the record is complete. It is also absolutely necessary politically. The people behind corruption of the Republican Party want to corrupt or eliminate the Democratic Party, as well. They made the impeachment process political. I think they did that to weaken democracy and allow themselves the best chance to subvert it and replace it with a dictatorship of the rich elite.
A widespread belief in the U.S. is that we are special (“exceptional”), so a dictatorship can’t happen here. That’s a dangerous belief to hold, because if it turns out to be false the results will be catastrophic for our country and the world. You can no longer go off in the woods and start a new country. The destruction of democracy in the U.S. would be permanent. There’s no feasible way to challenge it once it is in place. And it would impact everyone on the globe, because there is no place where you can go to be realistically out of reach of the U.S. government. If we lose democracy and our individual liberties, we lose them everywhere and for all time.
We may be exceptional, but if we are then this is the time to show it. If dictatorship cannot take hold here it is because we step up and remove people who abuse power when we need to. We stepped up and forced Richard Nixon out of office when it became apparent he had abused his powers to try to rig his re-election. If we are not able to step up and remove would-be dictators from office, then we aren’t special. We’re just dumb animals, employing the Law of the Fang and the Claw to settle disputes.
Those who think America is exceptional should employ a little exceptionalism and get rid of Trump. I would invite them to be Americans, alongside the rest of us.
We need to win this battle. That means not just removing Trump, but making it obvious this path is not open. It means anyone who has been protecting Trump needs to either get out of politics or completely change their tune.
Resisting impeachment of Trump makes his defenders complicit in his crimes. This should be the main attack line against Republicans in our next campaign. For that to happen, all aspects of Trump’s crimes need to be a part of his impeachment, and they should all be used both in the formal impeachment process in Congress and in all our political campaigns against Republicans.
I devised this list of articles based on my observations of conduct reported in the press, including numerous hours of testimony before Congress. However, I want to also recognize that there are other progressive groups calling for a broad set of articles of impeachment. I’m indebted to Simplify for bringing this to my attention. Much of their effort is summarized in an article in BuzzFeed News, Progressive Activists Release Their Own Articles Of Impeachment, Including Calling Out Trump’s Racism by Addy Baird. This effort includes groups such as By the People, CREDO Action, and Free Speech for People. They have put forward a set of articles, which you can read here. Some of their material I’ve included in my presentation of articles, without specifically quoting the text, so that it can be integrated into my descriptions. However, I hereby give credit for this material that comes from their work.
These groups also suggest an omnibus article, which restates and includes all of the separate ones. This has been useful in the past where the sum of the conduct rises to the level of removal, even though a consensus on any individual article could not be reached. I have not included an omnibus article, but I think the committee should consider adding one.
Summary of Articles
I propose these articles of impeachment against Donald Trump:
Article I: Treason
Article II: Bribery
Article III: Abuse of Power
Article IV: Breach of Agreement
Article V: Obstruction of Congress
Article VI: Crimes Against Humanity
Article VII: Deceiving the American People
I’m going to briefly describe each of these and indicate some of the evidence that fits into each charge. However, the Judiciary Committee should expand the list of charges to include everything where there is reasonable evidence Trump committed an impeachable act.
Article I: Treason
Treason is defined by the Constitution as follows.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.
Article III, Section 3.
Acts of Treason
1. Donald Trump withheld security assistance, which had been duly authorized by Congress, from Ukraine, while that country was under attack by our enemy, Russia.
2. Donald Trump withdrew troops from northern Syria, yielding back territory to our enemy, Syria, and materially aiding our enemy, ISIS.
3. Donald Trump curtailed joint exercises with South Korean military forces to please our enemy, Kim Jong-un.
Each of these acts undermines the security of the United States. They each constitute a separate act of adhering to our enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
Enemies of the United States
The following entities are enemies of the United States:
Russia and Vladimir Putin
Russia is attacking the United States over the Internet, and has been doing so at least since 2015, with the intention of subverting the U.S. government and interfering in our elections. As a hostile foreign power currently attacking our country Russia is an enemy of the United States.
Evidence shows that Vladimir Putin directed and sponsored these cyber-attacks.
Syria, ISIS, and Bashar al-Assad
Syria on numerous occasions used weapons of mass destruction against its citizens within that country. In addition, much of Syria was occupied by the “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” (ISIS), causing an international crisis. The U.S. has had special forces operating in Syria since at least 2015, fighting ISIS. Armed hostilities between the U.S. and Syria, as well as the U.S. and ISIS, make Syria and ISIS enemies of the United States.
North Korea and Kim Jong-un
The U.S. began fighting North Korea in mid-1950, pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 83, which recommended “Members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack” [of North Korea]. Congress authorized military action and appropriated money for military assistance to South Korea in August 1950. The United States has been at war with North Korea since then, although an armistice was agreed in July 1953. As a foreign government at war with the U.S., North Korea is an enemy of the United States.
Article II: Bribery
Donald Trump has used his office to enrich himself, in violation of both the foreign and domestic Emoluments Clauses of the Constitution.
The foreign emoluments clause states:
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
[Article I, Section 9, Clause 8]
The domestic emoluments clause states:
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
[Article II, Section 1, Clause 7]
In particular, the U.S. military has paid for services from the Trump organization, and any profits from these payments constitutes an emolument. Numerous foreign governments and organizations have also paid the Trump organization for services. Since Trump has not fully divested his holdings, any profits from these payments is an emolument subject to these clauses of the Constitution.
Article IV of the Activists Articles of Impeachment detail numerous instances of Trump violating the emoluments clauses of the Constitution, and those details are incorporated here by reference. (See pages 13-15.)
Article III: Abuse of Power
Donald Trump has committed numerous abuses of power, including:
- Attempting to prevent people coming to the U.S. from primarily Islamic countries on the basis of their religion.
- Interfering in the proper administration of justice in the military.
- Misusing his emergency powers to transfer military funds to build a wall against Mexico.
- Transferring scientists away from their posts to thwart their work.
- Allocating emergency funds away from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and California for political reasons.
- Targeting political adversaries, critics, and the press.
- Promoting discrimination, hostility, and unlawful violence.
- Stationing U.S. military personnel at the southern border with no military purpose.
In many cases these actions have only been prevented by court action.
Article IV: Breach of Agreement
In agreeing to become President, Donald Trump agreed to:
Faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and … to the best of [his] Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
He has failed to faithfully execute the Office of President, and he has failed to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.
Each abuse of power is an individual breach of this agreement. However, the overwhelming number of instances leads to the conclusion that he never intended to fulfill this agreement. As he has never intended to abide by the contract of office, the contract is void.
Article V: Obstruction of Congress
Donald Trump directed members of the Executive Branch not to testify before Congress, and denied or obstructed attempts to obtain documents pertinent to congressional oversight of government.
This goes beyond the normal protection of executive power to attempts to hide illegal activity from Congress and stymie its normal oversight privileges.
Congress represents the will of the people. Congress is defined in Article I of the Constitution precisely because it is the branch of government most closely expected to represent the people; and, the House of Representatives is defined first in Article I precisely because the members of the House are most closely in touch with the people and best know their will. Obstruction of Congress is therefore an affront to the people of the United States, and cause, on its own, to justify the removal of a President from office.
[This reading of the Constitution is detailed in America’s Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amir, and I’m indebted to his thoughts.]
Article VI: Crimes Against Humanity
Donald Trump and his cabinet members directed agencies of the government to separate children from their parents when they applied for asylum. They denied asylum, in contravention of U.S. law, and directed asylum seekers back to countries were some of them were murdered or otherwise harmed.
The cruelty of the Trump Administration knows no bounds. Recently it was revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set up a fake university to entrap immigrants.
In another case, Trump ordered the end to disciplinary action against a Navy Seal accused of war crimes in Iraq.
There are numerous other instances, including pardoning a sheriff who blatantly abused human rights.
Trump is on the record describing waterboarding as not torture (in contradiction to our own use of it as a charge of torture after World War II) and favoring even more torturous methods. He claimed waterboarding “works”, but it doesn’t. And even if it did it’s still torture, and it’s still illegal. His encouragement of people in the executive to use torture constitutes a crime against humanity.
Article VII: Deceiving the American People
Donald Trump, aided and abetted by the Republican Party, has systematically lied to and deceived the American people, with the purpose of subverting democracy and the rule of law.
In lying to and deceiving the American people he has shown a desire to create or inflame discrimination, hostility, or violence on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin.
One of the most obvious examples is his claim that climate change is a hoax. This is a dangerous distortion of reality, which has policy implications, and will be harmful to the American people. Out of the many thousands of lies, we should select the two or three dozen that are most harmful to our country for this article.
Un-Indicted Co-Conspirators
In writing up the articles, I’ve not specifically mentioned numerous people who seem to have committed illegal acts to help Trump further his criminal schemes. I don’t want to slow down unnecessarily impeachment of Trump, but I think the House should impeach each of these co-conspirators as soon as impeachment of Trump moves to the Senate.
This is important, because it sends a strong message to Republicans that just acquitting Trump won’t get them off the hook. They will then be faced with months of investigations of his administration and impeachment proceedings against those in that administration who look guilty. It will also mean that the corruption and illegality of the Trump Administration will be a front issue during the entire campaign, up to the 2020 elections.
Political Uses of Impeachment
Consistent with making the Republicans pay a steep political price for backing Trump, we should continue to use impeachment hearings to attack their party.
Aren’t you making impeachment political, Rich? No, the Republicans made it political. I’m just making them sorry for making it political. It was a mistake for them to make it political, because if they’d just excised Trump it would have done minimal damage to their party. It might have actually enhanced their standing. But by taking Trump to their bosom, they’ve shown what vile corruption lurks in their hearts. So, they made impeachment political, and it is our duty to use that against them.
One of the key failings of Democratic officials and party leaders over the last n years is their weak response to Republican’s politicization of our government.
Our party did not impeach George W. Bush for his abuse of power. That’s literally one of the reasons Trump is in power now. For years, we haven’t been calling Republicans on their failure to uphold the Constitution, and that’s one enormous reason we are fighting for the survival of democracy today.
That’s not good enough.
Democrats need to mount a strong impeachment offensive against Donald Trump because we are in danger of becoming an autocracy, with a ruler not subject to the will of the people. The Declaration of Independence posits that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed”.
Donald Trump has not shown at any time that he has the consent of the governed. It’s time for him to go.
Notes
Some of the ideas for this article were suggested in comments in previous articles announcing this work. Those include Preparation of Articles of Impeachment (from Friday) and Articles of Impeachment—Theory of the Case (from yesterday). I want to thank everyone who provided their feedback, and I hope I correctly represented it in today’s publication.
In addition, I’m re-running the poll that appeared on those two previous publications. This allows me to get a sense of opinion on this matter by looking at the aggregate votes for each option. Thank you for taking the poll.
Updates
In the comments, Simplify noted some other efforts at composing articles:
- Roots Action, Trump Articles of Impeachment — extensive!
- Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, H.Res.396 — includes Donald’s white supremacism, attacks on the free press, and more
- Free Speech for People, The Legal Case for a Congressional Investigation on Whether to Impeach President Donald J. Trump — formal articles, and there’s more about abuse of emergency powers, the Ukraine scandal, and racism and bigotry
- The Impeachment Project, Resolution to Authorize Impeachment Hearings and our Articles of Impeachment — I think it’s a related effort
- Need to Impeach, Trump’s 10 Impeachable Offenses — Steyer’s former group, pretty good list
In addition, we now have the report by the Intelligence Committee. A summary and a link to the full report can be found on the Intelligence Committee Website. They focused more on the bribery part of this, and they are making a strong case for it. This has filled out the narrative Trump held up aid to Ukraine for his personal gain.
It’s good they are making a strong case for this. However, I don’t think the desire to get Ukraine to conduct investigations was the root cause of Trump holding up military aid to Ukraine. I think he did that to please Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. In my view, he only demanded investigations from Ukraine because he thought he could get something for himself while fulfilling Putin’s wishes.
Trump has a consistent pattern of taking actions that favor Russia and other U.S. enemies to the detriment of the diplomatic and security position of our country. It is much more consistent with this pattern that he withheld aid from Ukraine for this reason than that he did it for personal gain.
To me, this represents a missed opportunity to make the strongest possible case for removing Trump from office, and unfortunately I don’t think his corrupt attempt to shake down Ukraine will be enough to persuade Republicans in the Senate to remove him. Even so, the additional evidence the Intelligence Committee has presented about his corrupt demand for Ukraine to announce investigations is very compelling, and shows the committee has been diligently pursuing evidence. Within the framework of their narrative, they are doing a great job of following the evidence and presenting it to the public.