Donald Trump Impeachment Chances Higher Because Of GOP Move Against Rosenstein, Watergate Lawyer Says
The more GOP pushes for the impeachment of Deputy Attorney General, the higher the chances are for President Donald Trump to get impeached, according former Watergate lawyer Michael Conway.
In an NBC News op-ed, Conway, who acted as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee in the impeachment inquiry of President Nixon, argued that many of the legal arguments the Republican Party is using in an effort to impeach Rod Rosenstein were rejected by the GOP during Nixon’s impeachment.
The resolution Congressman Mark Meadows and a handful of fellow Republicans filled out “lowers the already ambiguous standard for an impeachable offense,” Conway wrote. Although the lawmakers, as The Hill noted, walked back the resolution after seeing no support, they have still managed to redefine and lower the bar of what is generally considered impeachable.
In the July 25 resolution (text available on Document Cloud), Congressman Meadows listed five articles as alleged basis for Deputy Attorney General’s impeachment. Two of them allege conflict of interest, alleging that Rosenstein is a potential witness in Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, and the other three are based on the Department of Justice’s response to subpoenas issued by two House committees.
According to Meadows and his Republican collaborators, the executive branch’s refusal to produce every document subpoenaed by the Congress is grounds for impeachment. However, as the Inquisitr previously reported, Rosenstein and other Department of Justice officials insist that they have largely completed Congress’ document requests.
GOP efforts to impeach Rod Rosenstein could have unintended consequences for Donald Trump, writes Michael Conway.
For one thing, the new resolution lowers the already ambiguous standard for an impeachable offense: https://t.co/0jpU2y09RV
— NBC News THINK (@NBCNewsTHINK) August 5, 2018
But, the resolution introduced by Meadows and other GOP members still lowers the legal bar, according to former Watergate lawyer Michael Conway, who wrote the following.
“First, the resolution lowers the bar in defining what are ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ — the ambiguous standard for an impeachable offense. Second, it reduces the threshold necessary for the House to commence impeachment proceedings in the first place.”
In conclusion, “Meadows’ resolution also degrades the standard necessary for the House to initiate an impeachment proceeding,” Conway added. However, according to the lawyer, the chances of Rod Rosenstein actually getting impeached are slim to none. If, in any case, Rosenstein was to get ousted, the floodgates would open.
Watergate lawyer: GOP push to impeach Rosenstein could make Trump impeachment easier https://t.co/HN6aGvkCtE pic.twitter.com/zjK2rM3PN3
— The Hill (@thehill) August 5, 2018
What Republican lawmakers have failed to take into consideration, according to Conway, is the fact that they may have accidentally opened the floodgates.
“Rosenstein is almost certainly going to keep his job. But the existence of this new impeachment solution could make future impeachment proceedings easier to start — and maybe even easier to prove.”
Talks of impeachment begun as soon as Donald Trump set foot in the office, but a recent Gallup poll shows that president Trump has managed to maintain a solid approval rating of 41 percent in general. Meaning, 87 percent of Republicans approve of him, and only five percent of Democrats.
