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The Ten Steps of Impeachment (It's Step #3 That May Save US Democracy)
There's much talk of impeachment, but very few fully understand what it is and how it works. Robert Reich provides a clear and concise summary of the ten steps to impeachment at this link:
http://robertreich.org/post/162982167115
It's a good, quick read, and I'd recommend it to anyone.
It's widely agreed that we're unlikely to ever get to Step 10, in which the Senate votes to convict Donald Trump and remove him from office. But in my view, the crucial step that we must reach is Step 3: the House Judiciary Committee investigation.
Step 1. It starts in the House Judiciary Committee, when a majority of the members vote in favor of what’s called an “inquiry of impeachment” resolution.
Step 2. That resolution goes to the full House of Representatives where a majority has to vote in favor, and then votes to authorize and fund a full investigation by the Judiciary Committee into whether sufficient grounds exist for impeachment.
Step 3. The House Judiciary Committee investigates. That investigation doesn’t have to be from scratch. It can rely on data and conclusions of other investigations undertaken by, say, the FBI.
Step 2. That resolution goes to the full House of Representatives where a majority has to vote in favor, and then votes to authorize and fund a full investigation by the Judiciary Committee into whether sufficient grounds exist for impeachment.
Step 3. The House Judiciary Committee investigates. That investigation doesn’t have to be from scratch. It can rely on data and conclusions of other investigations undertaken by, say, the FBI.
A full, in-depth, wide-ranging House Judiciary investigation into the question of whether Donald Trump should be impeached would dominate the headlines and the airwaves for months. The Committee would have the power to subpoena evidence, and compel witnesses to testify under oath. The innumerable crimes of Trump and Company would be laid bare in excruciating detail, leading to his certain removal from office - if not through Senate conviction, then through electoral defeat in 2020.
There should really be no disagreement among Democrats on the topic of impeachment. Whether one rallies under the banner of "Impeach the sonofabitch!" or the banner of "Let's focus on defeating Trump in 2020!", the way forward is the impeachment inquiry.
Far more important than these political considerations, though, is the upholding of the Constitution and the defense of the Rule of Law. The nation faces a crisis whose remedy was spelled out by the framers of the Constitution. That remedy is impeachment, and the duty of Congress today is clear.
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