The Constitutional Crisis Thread

[_EAllusion]

We’re here. The Constitution gives the House the power to impeach. The executive branch refuses to recognize that power.

Welcome to your Constitutional Crisis.

"an unauthorized impeachment inquiry..."

[_EAllusion]

The letter the Whitehouse sent more or less declares the President above the law in the style of a Lou Dobbs rant.

My money is on Republicans in the Senate agreeing because the President is a Republican. Constitution is kinda dead at that point. The authors of the Constitution had some radical ideas about what to do when such things occur.

[_EAllusion]

There's a whole narrative surrounding the Nixon impeachment that has made it into highschool history education on the era that argues the saga proves the Constitution works. I'm fairly certain it suggested the opposite might be true, but if you buy into that optimistic reading of Nixon's fall, that has some dark implications for right now.

[_MeDotOrg]

We’re here. The Constitution gives the House the power to impeach. The executive branch refuses to recognize that power.

Welcome to your Constitutional Crisis.

"an unauthorized impeachment inquiry..."

You don't understand: With respect to Trump, the Constitution is unconstitutional.

It's called Trumpian exceptionalism.

This whole idea of a kangaroo court is a joke. This is an investigation, not a court. If there is a vote to for a trial, Trump and his defenders will have their day in court in the Senate. Republicans are upset because Pelosi can continue the investigation without a vote, it means Republicans will not be able to subpoena.

The Constitution gives the sole power of Impeachment to the House of Representatives. The Executive Branch has no standing as to the legitimacy of an Impeachment inquiry.

[_moksha]

It's the fault of the Constitutional Convention for failing to imagine the day when the Office of the President was occupied by a full-scale criminal.

Of course in their defense, the terms malignant narcissist, pathological liar, and megalomaniac were not yet in any dictionary.

[_Res Ipsa]

It's the fault of the Constitutional Convention for failing to imagine the day when the Office of the President was occupied by a full-scale criminal.

Of course in their defense, the terms malignant narcissist, pathological liar, and megalomaniac were not yet in any dictionary.

Actually, I think they did imagine such a day. That’s why Congress has the impeachment power — to act as a check on a corrupt President.

[_EAllusion]

Actually, I think they did imagine such a day. That’s why Congress has the impeachment power — to act as a check on a corrupt President.

What they didn't imagine is that political parties would make the bar for impeachment so high. We're to the point that the President is effectively immunized from (most) blatant impeachable conduct if they can meet a relatively low number of members of their own party in the Senate. Aside from slavery, the original sin of the Constitution was not anticipating and planning for the existence of political parties and how they behave. Madison et. al. had some understanding of political parties, but were very naïve about their implications.

[_subgenius]

It's the fault of the Constitutional Convention for failing to imagine the day when the Office of the President was occupied by a full-scale criminal.

Of course in their defense, the terms malignant narcissist, pathological liar, and megalomaniac were not yet in any dictionary.

Actually, I think they did imagine such a day. That’s why Congress has the impeachment power — to act as a check on a corrupt President.

Yet they actually imagined it for "The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States". Federal Judges currently have the record for impeachments and subsequent Senate removals...but don't you get distracted from yet another DNC fundraising effort.

[_subgenius]

The executive branch refuses to recognize that power.

Its not Carte Blanche power, but perhaps you could respond to a CFR for how the EB is not recognizing that power as opposed to simply refusing to cooperate with an Impeachment Inquiry on the grounds that said inquiry: "[is] designed and implemented your inquiry in a manner that violates fundamental fairness and constitutionally mandated due process,"

[_Dr Exiled]

What they didn't imagine is that political parties would make the bar for impeachment so high. We're to the point that the President is effectively immunized from (most) blatant impeachable conduct if they can meet a relatively low number of members of their own party in the Senate. Aside from slavery, the original sin of the Constitution was not anticipating and planning for the existence of political parties and how they behave. Madison et. al. had some understanding of political parties, but were very naïve about their implications.

Isn't this really about form and process? Trump the buffoon, clumsy idiot, who cannot control what comes out of his mouth at times, directly asks foreign leaders to investigate an opponent when he should have had layers between him and the actual petition. What he should have done is what the Clinton campaign did to start off the russiagate thing. Have Nellie Ohr, who worked for the firm (fusion gps) hired to get dirt on Trump in the form of the debunked "dossier" go to her husband, Bruce Ohr (#5 in the Obama Justice Department) and give him the flimsy opposition research in hopes he will initiate the investigation into an opponent. Layering gives plausible deniability and yet gets the investigation into an opponent going.