Does the Constitution justify impeaching Trump? | News Talk WBAP-AM – WBAP News/Talk

For two tumultuous months, Washington has been fixated on what President Donald Trump did. Now its time to work out what should happen to him.

Four renowned law professors showed up before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to conduct an intellectual and rigorous constitutional seminar while ducking the partisan crossfire from Democratic and Republican lawmakers. They had been called to explain the arcane business of impeachment the investigation, trial and possible removal of a president to Americans watching on TV.

Does the Constitution justify impeaching Trump over his attempted manipulation of Ukraine? Three of the high-powered legal quartet the experts chosen by Democrats agreed the President had crossed a line. The Republican witness did not rule out such a verdict but cautioned against rushing a process that could countermand the 2016 election.

On that central question, Pamela Karlan of Stanford Law School had no doubts:

What about how Trumps behavior compares with the actions of other Presidents including the two who were impeached before him and Richard Nixon, who resigned before the House could get to him? It leaves them in the dust, argued Michael Gerhardt, of the University of North Carolina Law School:

But Trump is not just in trouble for his dealings with Ukraine. Hes been blocking the investigation all along, refusing to allow key White House officials to testify and ignoring 71 separate requests for documents by Democrats. Is this also grounds for impeachment? You bet, said Harvard Law Schools Noah Feldman.

But wait could Democrats be a little ahead of themselves here? Sure, the White House is stalling and trying to mire the process in months of legal challenges. But removing a President is the most consequential act in Congress power, and Democrats have not yet used the full extent of the law to force key witnesses to testify. George Washington Universitys Jonathan Turley that Republican-called witness worries that things are going too fast and not far enough:

In his opening statement, Turley said, I get it. Youre mad. The Presidents mad. My Republican friends are mad. My Democratic friends are mad. So were all mad, and where has it taken us? Will a slipshod impeachment make us less mad? Will it only give an invitation for the madness to follow in every future administration? This is not how you impeach an American president.

Yes, Trump was the unwitting subject of a chuckle-filled chat among other NATO leaders, copped Justin Trudeau on Wednesday. But the Canadian Prime Minister insists theyve still got a good relationship.

It doesnt look like a good one Trump, after all, accused Trudeau of being two-faced and hastily stormed off from the London gathering. Their relationship didnt seem that great even before Trudeau was caught gossiping Trump had earlier skewered Canada as slightly delinquent in its fiscal duty to NATO. And last year, they clashed after a G7 meeting in Quebec, with Trudeau calling US tariffs insulting and Trump tweeting from Air Force One that the Canadian princeling was very dishonest and weak.

This is bad news for Trudeaus bid to repair relations with the mercurial US leader who can make life very difficult since the North American neighbors share the worlds most lucrative bilateral commercial relationship. But since both men have a common goal in getting Congress to pass the US-Canada-Mexico trade deal, theyll have to bury the hatchet.

And there may be a political upside for both: Feuding with liberal leaders like Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron is all good for Trumps brand as the politically incorrect, foreigner-baiting America First bulldog. And showing some steel to the bully down south might be just what the PM needs, as he tries to earn back the Canadians trust after a scandal-tainted couple of years and only just winning reelection by the skin of his teeth.

US President Donald Trump met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO meeting in London. We discussed Syria. We discussed the Kurds, Trump said, adding that the border and the safe zone is working out very well and I give Turkey a lot of credit for that. The ceasefire is holding.

In October, the US withdrew forces from northern Syria to make way for a Turkish attack on the USs Kurdish allies. Syrian Kurdish and US officials have said that the attacks continue, despite a nominal ceasefire.

We have soldiers where the oil is and thats the way I like it, Trump also noted.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells office released the Senate schedule for 2020 with just 11 months displayed. January is conspicuously absent. Pencil in a possible Senate impeachment trial.

Click here to read full story

Read this article:
Does the Constitution justify impeaching Trump? | News Talk WBAP-AM - WBAP News/Talk