11. A serious impeachment process would obviously have to be a carefully orchestrated investigative and deliberative process centered on a well-defined set of legally chargeable constitutional violations. The Mueller Report documents a great many violations to investigate and then potentially charge. There may well be other chargeable violations as well, related to campaign finance law, the emoluments clause, tax fraud, or even possible violations of national security (the President has very wide latitude in this domain; but the absurd way that he has flouted security clearance processes to advance his relatives ought to be highlighted nonetheless).
The purpose of such an impeachment process would be to investigate serious instances of actual or suspected malfeasance. But also to educate the public. It would be a chance for Congressional Democrats to organize a very public process of identifying the very real Constitutional violations of the Trump Administration and the very real consequences of these violations for democratic fairness, and in doing so, to project an alternative, more egalitarian, interpretation of the Constitution and of democracy.
The Resolution advanced to the House by Representatives Rashida Tlaib (MI) and Al Green (TX) on March 27, 2019, proposes exactly this:
Inquiring whether the House of Representatives should impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America.
Resolved, That...
(1) the Committee on the Judiciary shall inquire whether the House of Representatives should impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America;
(2) the Committee on the Judiciary or any subcommittee or task force designated by the Committee may, in connection with the inquiry under this resolution, take affidavits and depositions by a member, counsel, or consultant of the Committee, pursuant to notice or subpoena; and:
(3) there shall be paid out of the applicable accounts of the House of Representatives such sums as may be necessary to assist the Committee on the Judiciary in conducting the inquiry under this resolution, any of which may be used for the procurement of staff or consultant services.
This Resolution does not call for the removal of the President. It simply -- but crucially -- calls for a serious and sustained Congressional investigation into whether the House should impeach the President, a question that has been on the minds of a great many people for at least two years. This is a first step on the possible road to impeachment. Where it leads cannot be known in advance. But by taking this step, the Democrats can put Trump and the Republican Party on notice: there will be a real, public, constitutionally prescribed, and very legalistic but also very political reckoning for the very serious ways that Trump has abused his office and corrupted the political process, a reckoning that will focus on Trump himself, but that will politically implicate all of his enablers.
Nancy Pelosi said last month in a Washington Post interview that she did not support pursuing impeachment: "I'm not for impeachment. Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he's just not worth it."
But that is precisely the point: to enact a clear division, between those who support the values of democracy and those who oppose them or at least are willing to let them be traduced with abandon.
House Republicans will try to stymie the process. If it moves to an impeachment trial, Senate Republicans will surely obstruct the prosecution of the case and then vote against a conviction. All the while, Trump will lie, and obstruct, and mobilize his base, ever angrier and angrier, against the Democratic Party, against the press, against liberals, and against constitutional democracy. And the rest of the country will see this entire process take place, in plain public view. And if Democratic leaders are wise, the country will also see Democratic politicians acting with integrity and articulating a serious and compelling conception of democracy.
For Congressional Democrats to refuse to do this would be for them to refuse their own constitutional responsibility. But it would also be an act of political cowardice.
Taking the Mueller Report seriously, and commencing an impeachment inquiry, does not in any way preclude conducting a broader policy debate about universal health care or affordable housing or environmental sustainability or tax reform.
Democrats in Congress can continue to split their time between their legislative activity and their own campaigning on the issues. And the Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination can continue to organize their campaigns, and travel the country, and conduct their debates about policy.
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