Letter to the Editor: Assertions of Impartiality by Republicans Are Hypocritical

As President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins, it is worth noting some of the hypocrisy on the part of the president and the Republican Party. Last week, the senators took an oath to “do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws” when they serve as jurors in the impeachment trial. Yet Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate majority leader, has said on numerous occasions that he is “not impartial at all”, and he “will not be an impartial juror.” He has also proudly said he is working in “lockstep” with Trump to ensure Trump is acquitted. Senator Lindsay Graham said he is “not trying to be a fair juror.” These two senior Senators are proud to announce they are violating their oath and committing perjury right off the bat.

Republicans complained that during the impeachment inquiry, there was not enough testimony from people with first-hand knowledge, although there was some. Now we know John Bolton and others are willing to testify, but so far, the Republicans don’t want to hear from them. And Trump is still preventing others from testifying and complying with subpoenas under a claim of executive privilege. Ken Starr, one of Trump’s attorneys, argued in the 1990s when he was investigating Clinton, that every stone should be turned over in a search for the truth. Alan Dershowitz, another attorney for Trump, said the impeachment of Nixon was proper because “he subverted the Constitution to his own partisan benefit.” If Trump’s call, and surrounding actions, with the Ukrainian president were so “perfect,” why is he hiding so much information?

Trump says he shouldn’t have been impeached because he did not commit a crime (although the Government Accountability Office, an independent, non-partisan agency just released a legal opinion saying he did). The Constitution does not require the president be convicted of a crime before he can be impeached and legal scholars for decades have confirmed that. Republican Senator Lindsay Graham said, during the Clinton impeachment, “You do not even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic if this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role. Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing of the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.”

Trump has also said he shouldn’t have been impeached because the Constitution gives him unlimited powers and so the impeachment is unconstitutional and a dangerous attack on our country. Many Republicans support him in this belief. They clearly haven’t read the Constitution of the United States or any of the writings of our Founding Fathers who discussed and provided for impeachment in Articles I and II. Our founders clearly did not want our president to be a dictator or a king with unlimited powers which is one reason they created three separate, co-equal branches of government with limits on the power of the presidency.

I am quite sure the Republicans will not support unlimited presidential powers when a Democrat is elected president. 

Susan Miller

Onalaska