November 17, 2019

by Steve Stofka

Those who voted for Mr. Trump in 2016 were drawn to his plain-spoken if gruff manner. Some older voters might have been reminded of another New Yorker with the same characteristics: Archie Bunker, of the 1970s TV series All in the Family. During the financial crisis, politicians handled the financial elite with kid gloves while ten million families lost their home to foreclosure (Picchi, 2018). Despite candidate Barack Obama’s 2008 promise to treat homeowners fairly, most of those foreclosures happened on his watch (Qiu, 2017). Tired of mealy-mouthed rhetoric from politicians of either political party, almost half of voters in 2016 pulled the lever for a candidate with no political experience.

This past Friday, former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch testified before a House Select Committee on Intelligence. Ms. Yovanovitch is a highly decorated officer with the foreign service, and for several decades has served both Republican and Democratic presidents. Shortly after her opening statement on Friday morning, President Trump tweeted an attack on Ms. Yovanovitch, linking her service in dangerous regions like Mogadishu with the unrest in those countries (Shear, 2019).

Mr. Trump’s spiteful tweet reminds us of someone who rode a wave of worry in post-WW2 America. In 1953-54, Senator Joseph McCarthy hunted down communists in the U.S. and found them everywhere, including the U.S. Army. Thousands of American citizens ran afoul of Mr. McCarthy’s self-aggrandizing campaign and suffered the permanent loss of their careers. This included several high-profile actors, writers and directors in Hollywood.

Mr. McCarthy, a heavy drinker, was noted for his lack of decorum at the committee hearings he chaired. Fed up with the personal attacks and insults at a hearing, the Army’s lawyer, Joseph Welch, asked Mr. McCarthy, “Sir, have you no decency?” (U.S. Senate, n.d.). The question resounded with the American public who soured on McCarthy and the hearings. He quickly lost power and the witch hunt was over.

Mr. Trump attempts to vindicate himself against criticisms that he was the chosen candidate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. As Republicans in Congress gather around to defend the president, they are ignoring the fact that the 2016 Russian disinformation campaign was launched against fellow Republican candidates before it was turned on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

The comments by members of either party surrounding this week’s proceedings are characterized by a low signal-to-noise ratio. Each side tries to frame the debate, the process and the facts in evidence. The contradictions in speech and behavior thrive like weeds in a sunny field. When House Republicans launched impeachment proceedings against President Clinton twenty years ago, Democrats protested procedures and cried foul. These are experienced politicians with access to the same playbook.

Despite assertions to the contrary, the Constitution specifies no rules of impeachment. In 1998, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) prepared a history of previous impeachments for the U.S. Senate. What is an impeachable offense?

Each of the thirteen American impeachments involved charges of misconduct incompatible with the official position of the officeholder. This conduct falls into three broad categories; (1) exceeding the constitutional bounds of the powers of the office in derogation of the powers of another branch of government; (2) behaving in a manner grossly incompatible with the proper function and purpose of the office; and (3) employing the power of the office for an improper purpose or for personal gain.

(CRS, 1998)

 13 impeachments? Presidents are not the only federal officers subject to impeachment. Our political system is an organized street fight. There are rules of engagement that both sides have agreed on and each presidential impeachment has been prompted by a breach of those rules.

In 1868, President Andrew Johnson was impeached for the termination of a cabinet member without approval by Congress (CRS, 14). A Democratic House impeached Mr. Nixon because he obstructed a Congressional investigation into illegal campaign activities during the 1972 election (CRS, 15). Mr. Clinton was impeached for lying to Congress about his dalliance with a White House aide, Monica Lewinsky. Mr. Trump has been accused of parlaying foreign aid to Ukraine to gain an electoral advantage in the coming election.

No president has been convicted of the charges of impeachment brought against them. The Republican led Senate seems little inclined to break that tradition in President Trump’s case. In 1974 the public impeachment hearings of Mr. Nixon helped the Democratic House turn public opinion in their favor. Responding to public pressure, Republican Senators advised Mr. Nixon that they could not guarantee his safety against a vote of conviction. Mr. Nixon resigned rather than face the ignominy of a conviction in the Senate.

Democrats are hoping for a similar shift of opinion against Mr. Trump. While there is only a slight chance of conviction, Democrats hope that the impeachment hearings will convince a decisive number of voters that Mr. Trump does not deserve a second term in office. If he is to be convicted, it will be at the ballot box next November.

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Picchi, A. (2018, September 14). 5 groups still recovering from the financial crisis. [Web page, video]. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/5-groups-still-recovering-from-the-financial-crisis/

Qiu, L. (2017, January 5). Barack Obama’s top 25 campaign promises: How’d he do? [Web page]. Retrieved from https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/jan/05/tracking-obamas-top-25-campaign-promises/

Photo by Wim van ‘t Einde on Unsplash

Shear, M. (2019, November 16). With a Tweet, Trump Upends Republican Strategy for Dealing With Yovanovitch. New York Times. [Web page]. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/us/politics/trump-tweet-yovanovitch.html

U.S. Senate. (n.d.). Have You No Sense of Decency? [Web page]. Retrieved from https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Have_you_no_sense_of_decency.htm

Congressional Research Service (CRS). (1998, October 29). Impeachment Grounds: A Collection of Selected Materials. [PDF]. Retrieved from https://www.senate.gov/CRSpubs/dfe6ac8e-78ad-4e59-bcda-d612c382ec2f.pdf Pgs. 14, 15, 26.