After months of hyping conspiracy theories and pressuring election officials to falsify results, Donald Trump incited a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol and stop Congress from certifying the presidential election.
If this does not warrant conviction in his upcoming Senate trial, what possibly could?
The Senate must convict Trump and disqualify him from ever holding office again.
First, Trump’s actions easily qualify as an impeachable offense. The Senate may convict and disqualify Trump if he committed “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” under the Constitution. The key question, then, is whether Trump committed a high crime.
Of course he did. Trump may not have known the mob would physically breach the capital. And he may not have wanted five people to die as a result. But he organized and incited his supporters to physically stop Congress from performing its constitutional duty.
This is not just a crime; and it’s not just a high crime. Trump’s acts violated the most essential constitutional principle in our democracy, that the peaceful transfer of power follows an election. This principle is, indeed, the basic necessity on which the rest of our democratic system rests. The alternative to the peaceful transfer of power — the usurpation of power by an incumbent against the will of the people — is the antithesis of democracy.
Second, the Senate may convict and disqualify Trump even though he left office. The text of the constitution doesn’t limit Senate trials to incumbents. And there are numerous examples in both American and British law of officials being impeached after leaving office.
Of course, if the contrary were true — and a president could escape a Senate trial by resigning or committing crimes just before leaving office — then the constitution’s disqualification remedy would be hollow. And, ultimately, the Senate resolves open constitutional questions regarding its own proceedings.
Finally, Trump’s efforts to overturn the election conclusively establish he is unfit to be president. A presidential election is the ultimate source of legitimacy in our democracy. It is the only time all Americans come together and vote on the same question. This legitimacy weighed in Trump’s favor for years — protecting him against widespread efforts to remove him from office — even though his behavior was consistently disturbing. The people had spoken in 2016, and they had elected Donald Trump.
Yet this same essential consideration — that presidential elections are the deepest reflection of the people’s will that our system affords — led to Trump’s catastrophic demise when he tried to reverse Joe Biden’s victory.
The constitution provides enormous leeway for presidential misbehavior. It is not an impeachable offense to be crass, inappropriate, immoral, irrational, even reckless. But the constitution likewise has foundational rules that presidents must follow. For months, Trump was at war with the most fundamental one of all, the peaceful transfer of power. And this culminated in his incitement of the mob that sought, through violence, to overturn the election.
Donald Trump’s behavior was an offense — a constitutional high crime — unlike any other in our nation’s history. He must never hold office again.
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William Cooper is an attorney who has written for The Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sentinel and USA Today, among others.
Poorly written and even more poorly thought out. Typical lawyer. Maybe these bad writers should stop obsessing over Big T and move on with their lives. There won’t be a deranged trial because his term ended thus it is unconstitutional, and would set the moronic precedent of every future house or senate using impeachment and conviction to go after every ex president, including dead ones like LBJ for Viet Nam or FDR for Japanese prison camps. End of stupid story.
He needs to be held accountable…
He was impeached while he was still the President.
NOT holding a trial would set the precedent for every future president to be able to commit crimes at the end of their office term without consequence.
The “unconstitutional” card is the only one you Big T loyalists have, because you KNOW he committed high crimes and you know he would be found guilty for that.
I don’t think most ex-presidents would need to worry. I mean, most ex-presidents aren’t BLATANT, UNAPPOLOGETIC CRIMINALS.
Brilliant, Willy!
Let’s convict Trump in a senate impeachment trial so we can remove him as president, just as the constitution provides for…oh, wait Willy, Trump is already removed from office by an election. I’d say your rant reflects a level of irrational hatred for an individual, not any real concern for our “democracy”…er, I mean republic. It also evidences a mid-level, double digit IQ.
RG DeSoto
I suppose it does take a triple digit IQ to master all those logical fallacies, though.
Aloha
Sorry … if you want to live under the constitution … you have to honor the constitution.
To impeach must MUST be holding the office.
It is like having someone flunk you in one of your high school classes … and you aren’t even in high school anymore.
Now if you want to remove Biden and put Trump back in office to impeach him … that would be interesting.
Mahalo
Do you know what an impeachment is? He was impeached during office (twice). The trial in the Senate is for conviction.
He was impeached while he was still the President.
Yes on all counts. But let’s take it further and prove 45 was incompetent and unfit so as to nullify all Supreme court appointments and every executive order signed.
This glove fits very well!
Some good point but NO. Enough spending on this guy. How about spending it on tax paying citizens? Oh that’s right our current admin doesn’t want to do that.
I realize you’re an attorney but you sound incredibly detached. Good luck on your unhappiness.
The Senate is the body of government where the trial happens. This administration is pushing for thing like Covid Relief – you know, where they spend money on the tax payers.
That’s funny no one I know has gotten a shot bc there are no vaccines to be had. You obviously support vaccinating gitmo creeps rather than tax paying citizens. You should work on your unhappiness as well.
We can do both and we will.
I guess it doesn’t matter that Kamala Harris did the exact same thing months earlier telling protestors to not let up. They stormed the court buildings, burned homes and businesses. That resulted in many more murders (including police) than a one time breach into the capital. Should we also call for an impeachment of her? Our former president was never given a fair shake from the day he took office. He was completely bombarded by false accusations. When states changed the rules of the elections even past the time of counting, there are real issues. So many turn their head and look the other way when it’s their man or woman in the fight.
T**** was a grifter from day one. Truly, even before day one, but that is during the life of a civilian, so it is handled elsewhere.
Bless your heart you sound naive.
Biden’s acts violated the most essential constitutional principle in our democracy, that an election must be a transparent and verifiable process that the governed can trust. This principle is, indeed, the basic necessity on which the rest of our democratic system rests.
5 died. A Capitol invasion, failed coup, failed overturn of election. 5 died.
Incited by Trump for months, even before election.
He is responsible and must be held responsible.
Yes Dr. Surf…. five died from Jan 6th Capital Riot, 500,000 died so far in America from COVID-19, and many thousands died in violence under the IMPETUS mismanagement of law enforcement and foreign affairs….
The pendulum of Justice is rapidly swinging towards a brave and final action by our dueling elected officials in Washington.
Mahalo KE AKUA