Section: Reason.com (USA)
Let Us Now Thank Donald Trump for Revealing Brutal Truths About How Power and Privilege Operate
As the impeachment of Donald Trump becomes increasingly popular—45 percent of Americans now support the investigation of the president over his dealings with Ukraine—nobody knows exactly how it’s all going to play out. But this much is gloriously clear already: The behavior revealed in call transcripts, the emerging parallel story line...
Everyone Dares Call It Treason
Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, who is notionally challenging Donald Trump for the Republican Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, last week claimed Trump is guilty of “treason, pure and simple.” He added that “the penalty for treason under the U.S. Code is death.” Weld thus joined a long list of...
Trump, Not the Whistleblower, Has Acted Illegally
Partisans of this president are looking for every way to undermine and smear the Ukraine whistleblower. They have accused the person of being a Democratic hack. They have questioned the whistleblower’s motives and integrity. And they have speculated that he or she is part of a deep state conspiracy to take down President Donald Trump. But...
Evidence Increasingly Indicates Trump’s Ukraine Pressure Tactics Usurped Congress’ Power of the Purse—and that he may have Committed a Federal Crime in the Process
President Donald Trump.Last week, I wrote a post explaining why, if Trump used withholding of US aid as leverage to try to force the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, it would be an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’ power of the purse. Quite simply, it would be a case of the president trying to use federal...
Did Trump Commit a Crime by Seeking a Ukrainian Investigation of Joe Biden? And Does It Matter for Impeachment Purposes?
Did Donald Trump commit a crime when he urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden? Many of the president’s critics say yes, and they have floated several legal theories, ranging from frivolous to debatable. Treason This week, former Massachusetts governor William Weld, who is notionally...
Intel Chief Tasks Congress With Investigating Trump’s Dealings with Ukraine
The acting chief of America’s intelligence arm sat before a Congressional committee hearing Thursday morning to repeatedly remind Democratic members of the House that it is their responsibility to determine whether President Trump’s behavior with Ukraine’s president crossed an ethical or legal line. Joseph Maguire, who became...
Trump’s Ukraine Call Was an Abuse of Power—and This Time, He Can’t Claim Ignorance or Inexperience
One method occasionally used to excuse or explain President Donald Trump’s behavior is an appeal to the president’s lack of formal political experience. After fired FBI chief James Comey testified back in 2017, for example, Paul Ryan, who was at the time the speaker of the House, said Trump is “new at this” and “not...
John Yoo Warns That Impeachment Would Undermine Presidential Power. That’s the Point.
The Berkeley law professor John Yoo warns that impeaching Donald Trump over his alleged solicitation of re-election assistance from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy could undermine presidential powers to conduct foreign policy and protect national security. Given Yoo’s expansive understanding of those powers, that prospect may count...
Whistleblower Report Alleges Trump Used Presidential Power for Personal Gain
“I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election…” The whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump that has fueled an impeachment inquiry was made public this...
Congress Should Not Be Satisfied With Ukraine Call Transcript, Given the Trump White House’s History of Fiddling With Records
One of the dumbest news cycles of summer 2019 is somehow actually relevant to Wednesday’s release of a transcript of a phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. More on the transcript in a moment. First, let’s recall the multi-day fiasco that was the approach of Hurricane Dorian during the...
