Yes, we know we are preaching to the choir in western Massachusetts, but it must be said: Donald Trump is deserving of the impeachment charges doled out by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday — he should be removed from office.
We also know that’s not likely to happen when impeachment proceedings move to trial in the Republican-controlled Senate next month, but nonetheless believe the Democratic members in the House made the right decision to move forward, even if an impeachment trial in the Senate will likely further divide an already deeply split nation.
Wednesday’s historic vote — Trump becomes just the third president in U.S. history to be charged with committing high crimes and misdemeanors and to face removal by the Senate — is a repudiation of the nation’s leader for his abuse of power in the Ukraine affair.
Over the last few days, newspaper editorial boards from Los Angeles to New York have called for impeachment of Trump.
“Impeach,” declared the New York Times.
The Baltimore Sun surmised that “President Trump’s impeachment is richly deserved,” while the Denver Post wrote, “It is with a solemn sense of responsibility to the U.S. Constitution and a deep love of this country that we call for Congress to exercise its power of impeachment.”
And the Los Angeles Times earlier this month declared, “We’ve seen enough,” adding that there was “overwhelming evidence that Trump perverted U.S. foreign policy for his own political gain. That sort of misconduct is outrageous and corrosive of democracy.”
They are all correct. Trump’s disregard for honesty and integrity should be troubling to all Americans, whether Democrat, Republican or independent. This behavior cannot be tolerated, even if Trump stays in power and brags about eluding the witch hunters who pursued impeachment on his reelection campaign next year. Standing up now is the right thing to do.
We’re pleased that all nine members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation supported the two articles of impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee.
First, that Trump abused the high powers of his office to solicit “the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election.” Second, that he obstructed Congress by directing “the unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its sole power of impeachment.”
Over the course of several months beginning in late April, Trump attempted to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, who is one of Trump’s possible political rivals for 2020. He withheld congressionally-approved military aid to a country under siege to extract a personal, political favor, said Congressman James McGovern in remarks ahead of the impeachment vote Wednesday.
“That’s a cold, hard fact,” the Massachusetts House member said. “I would take losing an election any day of the week when the American people render that verdict, but I will never be OK if other leaders decide our leaders for us. And the president of the United States is rolling out the welcome mat for that kind of foreign interference.”
Republicans in Congress want the public to believe Wednesday’s vote was about Democratic hatred of Trump and resentment over his surprise victory in the 2016 election.
“Democrats have been searching for a reason to impeach President Trump since the day he was elected,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called impeachment “partisan nonsense.”
Here’s the problem with that logic — the Democrats, no matter how much they dislike Trump, didn’t bring us to this pivotal moment in history. Trump did, with his own disrespect for the office he holds. In fact, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for months resisted the idea of impeachment despite blistering pressure to do so. The evidence that came out in the wake of a whistleblower complaint was too much to ignore, and Pelosi had little choice but to move impeachment forward.
We would have like to have seen the impeachment charges mention the Mueller report, particularly the 10 instances of obstruction of justice enumerated by the investigation.
The Senate now must treat these allegations with serious consideration and an open mind. Or, as McGovern said Wednesday, “I ask all of my colleagues to search their souls before casting their votes. I ask them all to stand up for our democracy, to stand up for our Constitution.”