Abuse of Power
The proceedings would begin in the House Judiciary Committee, which can recommend impeachment. The full House would then decide whether to issue articles of impeachment, which requires a majority. If the House votes to impeach, the case would go to the Senate for trial, where a two-thirds majority is necessary for a finding of guilt and removal from office.
The Constitution provides for impeachment of the president when he commits "high crimes and misdemeanors." They include, but are not limited to, conduct punishable by the criminal law. One of the articles of impeachment filed against Richard Nixon was "abuse of power."
Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist No. 65 that offenses are impeachable if they "proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust."
"They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself," Hamilton added.
No individual embodies the trust of the public more than the president, who is elected by the people. When the people choose their president, they are entrusting that person with their security, well-being and survival. The voters should be able to trust the president to act in their best interests and protect them from harm.
The neo-Nazis and white supremacists are on a roll, with rallies planned across the country. By emboldening them and encouraging widespread polarization, Trump is abusing his power and placing the country at risk of a new civil war.
Five months before Charlottesville, Keith Mines, a State Department expert on internecine conflict, predicted, "the United States faces a 60 percent chance there will be a civil war over the next 10 to 15 years." The consensus among several national security thinkers interviewed by Foreign Policy about the likelihood of a new civil war is closer to a 35 percent chance -- lower than Mines' estimate but still quite significant.
Since 2002, militant right-wingers have killed more people in the United States than Islamic extremists have, according to Newsweek.
Trump has also illegally threatened North Korea with nuclear annihilation. The United Nations Charter prohibits the threat or use of military force against another country except in self-defense or with the Security Council's blessing. After the Department of National Intelligence restated a four-year-old unconfirmed claim that North Korea had miniaturized nuclear warheads for its missiles, Trump stated, "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." Four days later, Trump warned North Korea that the US military is "locked and loaded." If Trump attacked North Korea, he would not be acting in self-defense or with approval of the Security Council.
By supporting neo-Nazis and white supremacists, and threatening to start a nuclear war, Trump is violating the trust and abusing the power "We the People" have placed in him.
Obstruction of Justice
Another article of impeachment leveled against Nixon was "obstruction of justice." Even before Charlottesville, there was sufficient evidence of Trump's obstruction of justice and law-breaking to support impeachment.
Trump prevailed upon then-FBI Director James Comey to halt his investigation into former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn's wrongdoing. When Comey refused, Trump fired him. In addition, Donald Trump Jr. violated the Federal Election Campaign Act by meeting with Russians to get damaging information on Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign. When it became public, Trump wrote a statement trying to cover it up.
Trump has also violated the Constitution's Take Care Clause, which says the president "shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed." He pledged to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (the law of the land), encouraged police brutality (advocating violation of the Fourth Amendment), promulgated an unconstitutional Muslim Ban, illegally bombed Syria and killed numerous civilians, and violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
Do Republicans Have the Will to Impeach Trump?
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