Letter to the Editor / IMPEACHMENT INQUIRIES – WHY WAIT?

By ROGER C. KOSTMAYER

The House of Representatives should initiate impeachment inquiries as soon as possible.  If you are an elected Representative, and believe the President has committed treason, bribery, obstruction of justice, high crimes & misdemeanors, or failed to live up to the President’s sworn oath to uphold the Constitution of the US, you are Constitutionally required to impeach.

Even if you believe that, in the future, the US Senate won’t provide the necessary 67 votes to convict, this shouldn’t be the basis for NOT initiating an impeachment inquiry (II).  An II involves investigations and public hearings, as in the Nixon case, that increasingly clarify and dramatize crimes committed by a President – such as the 10 obstruction of justice cases described in the Mueller Report.  An II doesn’t require the House to submit a case to the Senate, so there need not be fear of a President claiming victory because the Senate failed to convict.

There are several additional reasons why an II should be initiated now.  First, time is running out and in 5 months it will be an election year.  Secondly, in the technical/legal arena an II gives the committees an advantage when courts rule on subpoenas, access to documents and other discovery information.  Judges tend to rule more favorably when it’s the people’s right to impeach (instead of Congressional oversight) versus executive power.

It’s possible that II investigations and hearings will cause both the public and more politicians to demand Presidential accountability, reaffirmation that no one is above the law, and national security action against Russia.  But even if it doesn’t, the negative impact of a bipartisan  impeachment inquiry on a sitting President running for reelection, would be profound.

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