Impeachment?

[gimmethesimplelife]

Obstruction of justice, conspiring with our enemies to influence an election (hell, conspiring with anyone who will cooperate to influence an election)...Trump makes Nixon look like an amateur. Russia is running the show--from Trump shunning the G7, to holding up aid to Ukraine, to allowing Erdogan to slaughter our Allies in Syria, and probably some s*** I've forgot.

"The day Richard Nixon failed to answer that subpoena is the day he was subject to impeachment because he took the power from Congress over the impeachment process away from Congress and he became the judge and jurty." --Lindsey Graham, 1998

Thank You, Jane. I had forgotten about the obstruction of justice. Rob

[Alan]

OK, Alan, I'll bite. How does taking a stance against the 85006 qualify as participating in mob rule?

Do you require proof or will an accusation of wrong doing suffice? Mobs don't require proof and so far, in all your odd rants, neither do you.

[JaneV2.0]

The impeachment inquiry is underway, preliminary to a trial. Of course, with all the obstruction going on, it may take awhile. This is all being done in the manner prescribed in the Constitution, just as it was during Watergate. I don't remember all these objections from Republicans during Clinton's impeachment for lying about a sexual encounter.

[Alan]

This is all being done in the manner prescribed in the Constitution, just as it was during Watergate.

The difference being this time there has been no floor vote authorizing an impeachment inquiry. There was a floor vote leading up to the Watergate inquiry and there was for the Clinton impeachment inquiry. The current approach seems to be crafted more to influence an upcoming election than make a concerted effort to remove a President for high crimes or misdemeanors.

[JaneV2.0]

Congress certainly would vote in favor of the inquiry; no reason--that I can see--not to.

Trump is doing damage daily to his re-election chances, but Putin knows a good thing when he sees one. I'm sure he and his bots and troll farms and hackers will come through again.

[frugal-one]

Do you require proof or will an accusation of wrong doing suffice? Mobs don't require proof and so far, in all your odd rants, neither do you.

The whistleblowers (note plural) have proof. Also, trump admitted to the world that he conspired with foreign governments to get dirt on Biden. He even (while being recorded on tv) asked China and Ukraine to get info on Biden. Again, where is your head?

[frugal-one]

Clean.

Absolutely nowhere.

[bae]

The difference being this time there has been no floor vote authorizing an impeachment inquiry. There was a floor vote leading up to the Watergate inquiry and there was for the Clinton impeachment inquiry.

My understanding is that the US Constitution does not specify the procedures used by the House to investigate possible impeachment. The text seems to clearly indicate a vote *would* be required to move forward any articles of impeachment the House drafts to the Senate for a trial.

My further understanding is that the House's current rules allow committees to investigate things as they wish, without need for a full vote.

I believe that in the Nixon and Clinton area, the House hadn't delegated such powers to committees, but that those rules have changed since then.

Glancing at the news the past few days, it appears that the whole nation is putting the cart in front of the horse here, and trying to engage in the trial part of the process before we've even seen any articles of impeachment.

[Alan]

My further understanding is that the House's current rules allow committees to investigate things as they wish, without need for a full vote.

I believe that in the Nixon and Clinton area, the House hadn't delegated such powers to committees, but that those rules have changed since then.

That's my understanding as well. I believe they've even recently delegated subpoena power to committee's without the need for floor approval, eliminating several centuries of tradition designed to ensure all representatives of the people have a voice in this sort of thing. People are bothersome though, best to ignore them as much as possible. Small cabals working for their own interests seem to be the future role of governance .

Glancing at the news the past few days, it appears that the whole nation is putting the cart in front of the horse here, and trying to engage in the trial part of the process before we've even seen any articles of impeachment.

The trial has been ongoing in the press since 2017 and there have been at least 3 formal requests in the house to initiate impeachment inquiries, one in 2017, one in 2018 and one in 2019, all based on nothing more than a desire to reverse the outcome of a particularly troublesome election.

The sad part of the whole thing is the vehemence with which a large part of our citizenry embrace this sort of thing, going so far as to treat anyone cautioning against self-inflicted wounds as if they were Ellen DeGeneres attending a football game with George Bush.

[gimmethesimplelife]

The whistleblowers (note plural) have proof. Also, trump admitted to the world that he conspired with foreign governments to get dirt on Biden. He even (while being recorded on tv) asked China and Ukraine to get info on Biden. Again, where is your head?

I don't want to be a jerk here. Alan keeps this site up and running, and he is entitled to his opinion. That said, Thank You for your last sentence, Frugal One. Rob