(Caricatures of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump are by DonkeyHotey.)Now that the Mueller Report has been issued, the question is whether House Democrats should immediately start impeachment proceedings against Trump, or just continue the investigation through other House committees (Judiciary, Intelligence, etc.).
Speaker Pelosi has come down on the side of not starting impeachment proceedings. She said the investigation of Trump can be done by other committees.
I am a supporter of Nancy Pelosi. I supported her re-election as Speaker, and I think she has done a good job as Speaker this year. But I believe she is wrong on this issue.
Others (like Bernie Sanders) say impeachment should not be started because it will take voters minds off the message they want to send. That is just silly. The only real issue in 2020 will be Donald Trump. Everything else is secondary.
I firmly believe House Democrats should immediately start impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. Here are my reasons:
1. Donald Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice. The Mueller Report makes that very clear. And it wasn't just once, but many times.
2. The only reason Trump wasn't indicted for those crimes is because the Justice Department has a standing rule that they won't indict a sitting president. But that rule doesn't exonerate Trump. In fact, Mueller said he could not exonerate Trump, and made sure we understood that all of the legal elements of obstruction were present.
3. Trump continues to obstruct justice. He recently told a member of his administration to ignore a subpoena to testify before Congress.
4. Congress has the authority and duty to act when there is evidence of corruption and criminality in the presidential administration. Impeachment is the way Congress deals with this.
5. Impeachment must start in the House of Representatives -- and the idea that the Senate (controlled by Republicans) might not remove Trump from office should not enter in to whether the House should do its job or not. House Democrats must do their job, and let the Republicans face the voters in 2020 if they won't do their job.
6. The current committees investigating Trump will only have a few highlights broadcast on most news stations. An impeachment investigation will likely have the entire proceedings broadcast (like it was done when Nixon was being impeached). If you want more people to see the truth, an impeachment proceeding is the way to do that.
7. Donald Trump has been made bolder by the Justice Department refusing to indict him for his criminal conduct. He will continue to break the law unless he is impeached. He must be made to realize that his criminal conduct is NOT acceptable.
8. History is being made by the action or inaction of House Democrats. If they fail to impeach, then future presidents will know they can break the law with impunity -- and our democracy will suffer (and maybe even disappear).
