Donald Trump’s remaining allies resort to a desperation move
In what can only be a highly uncommon, if not unprecedented, development, The Washington Post reports that the House Freedom Caucus has drafted articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as a “last resort.” Developments tonight in a New York Times article might give insight into reasons behind this panic move by the Freedom Caucus.
The articles of impeachment center around House requests to obtain information from Rosenstein regarding the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, as well as other pending probes, and also information related to the email server of Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Freedom Caucus is threatening impeachment if Rosenstein does not comply with these requests.
In the history of the federal government, the impeachment powers contained in the United States Constitution rarely have been used. Fifteen of the nineteen impeachments in the nation’s history have been of judges, two have been presidents (Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton), one was Secretary of War and one was a Senator. Of those nineteen, only a few ended in removal. Holding the threat of impeachment over the Deputy Attorney General’s head, to try to get him to cave to the pressures of this fringe caucus, is a dangerous precedent.
Last night, in breaking news, Michael Schmidt of the New York Times has published the questions that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has for Donald J. Trump. They are topics for discussion and there are four dozen questions, many focused on possible obstruction as well as the outreach by the Trump campaign to Russia. There are questions about Michael Flynn, about Jim Comey, more about Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and campaign coordination with Russia.
What we see here, and we have seen in many other instances, is the Congressional Republicans rear guarding Trump when the investigation gets closer to the truth about what Trump and his team have done and what they knew. This attempted destruction of the rule of law and the administration of justice must be thwarted and not permitted to become reality – our nation’s future is dependent on such resistance.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.