Harvard Law Professor Says If Donald Trump’s Actions Aren’t Impeachable ‘Then Nothing Is’
Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe recently appeared on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes to discuss the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, Newsweek reports. The appearance comes not long after the House revealed two articles of impeachment against the president — one for abuse of power and another for obstruction of Congress.
According to Tribe, a professor of constitutional law, Trump’s actions provide the “clearest case” for impeachment in United States history. He pointed to the president’s alleged pressure campaign on Ukraine, in which the president is accused of leveraging foreign aid to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden via a public investigation. Tribe believes that this campaign is an example of Trump abusing his office ?— one of the things the professor claims the writers of the Constitution meant as a basis for impeachment.
“This isn’t just using the president’s power to benefit himself, but it’s doing that in a way that endangers our national security, and that corrupts the electoral process by inviting foreign involvement,” Tribe said.
The American legal scholar then touched on the second article and noted that ?— breaking from “all prior presidents” ?— Trump has refused to comply with the impeachment process Congress is following. Tribe claims that Trump’s continued disregard for the constitutional power of the House of Representatives would put him on the same level as a dictator.
“And if this isn’t impeachable, as many have said, then nothing is,” Tribe concluded.
“The fact is that the US… is in real danger,” says legal scholar Laurence Tribe. “We’ve got a President who is willing to compromise our national security by hurting a country that is a buffer zone between an expanding Russia and the NATO alliance by undermining the Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/z4BNWSI2JT
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) November 8, 2019
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Tribe has been outspoken about Trump’s actions and his belief that they warrant impeachment. Back in November, the Harvard professor spoke to Ari Melber on MSNBC and likened the president’s alleged withholding of aid from Ukraine to extortion. He also told Melber that Trump’s approach to the probe suggests he thinks he is above the law, Raw Story wrote.
“He’s called the impeachment a lynching, a phony proceeding. He’s basically said nobody can investigate him.”
Per Fox News, Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee will soon hold a vote to adopt the two articles of impeachment against Trump. The items are expected to be approved by the Judiciary Committee and make their way to the House Rules Committee. From here, the Rules Committee will set parameters next week for the impeachment debate, after which Fox News notes that the House will debate and formally vote on the articles. If the articles pass the House, they will move to the Senate for a trial.
