THE LONG WAY HOME: RECLAIMING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
THE FIRST STEP: IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT
By Jack Random
There can be no way around
it. In the year 2019 the only way
forward and the only chance we have of reclaiming democracy in the land of the
free is the impeachment of the president.
The election of Donald J. Trump is a symptom of systemic failure and one
of such catastrophic dimensions that it must be corrected before anything of
substance can be accomplished.
If we allow this president to
continue without confronting the restraint and distraction that impeachment
proceedings provide we will invite disaster on multiple fronts. We have already glimpsed a sampling of
what the Trump administration intends:
Closing the border to all asylum seekers in violation of international
law, punitive measures like family separation and child abuse, evisceration of
civil rights and voting rights, systemic disenfranchisement of minority voters,
alienation and extortion of democratic allies, annihilation of labor rights,
elevation of dictatorships, nuclear proliferation, normalization of racism and
prejudice, reversal of policies protecting the air and water, a rollback in
health and medical services, corruption on a scale unrivaled since the Teapot
Dome scandal and elimination of assistance to the poor.
We have witnessed all this from a restrained Trump administration. He has until now operated under a pervasive cloud of
investigation for high crimes and misdemeanors. The president hopes and perhaps believes that the cloud
lifted in the wake of the gutless and ineffectual Mueller Report. Because the special prosecutor was less
than animated and compelling in his testimony before congress and the American
people, we are expected drop all doubt and suspicions regarding his relentless
attempts to coordinate his campaign with the Russian propaganda apparatus in
defrauding an American presidential election. We are expected to ignore his repeated and often successful
attempts to cover up his actions and those of his family and staff in
conspiring with the Russians. We
are expected to turn away from compelling evidence that our president and his
family aint nothing more than money launderers for corrupt foreign
governments.
If we fail to
hold this president accountable we are not only legitimizing and sanctioning
the most corrupt and illegitimate president in history, we are also opening the
door to a second term. If we allow
that to happen we will be compelled to bear witness to the high crimes and
misdemeanors that an unrestrained
President Trump will commit. If we
allow this incompetent crook another term he will undoubtedly appoint at least
one more Supreme Court justice and the impact of his presidency will outlive us
all.
If we fail to
impeach the president before the coming election he may well be tempted to
start a war in Venezuela or Iran in a desperate attempt to win reelection. Frankly, he may be tempted to do so
anyway. But if we know anything
about this president it is that he is obsessed with the news of the day. Among the advantages of a constant
barrage of impeachment hearings – highlighting new information regarding Trump
Tower Moscow, 666 Fifth Avenue NYC, Deutsche Bank and money laundering
operations connecting the oligarchs of Putin’s Russia, the ruthless despots of
Saudi Arabia and Trump real estate operations – is that they will serve as a
distraction and Trump will be unable to wrap his mind around anything
else.
If Trump does move us to war you
can be sure it will not go against the interests of the Saudis or the
Russians. If he does give the
order for political reasons there is a very real possibility that his
commanders will refuse to comply.
That is how low this presidency has sunk. The generals that Trump once held in such high esteem have
seen behind the curtain. They have
seen him kowtow to the Russian dictator.
They have witnessed his cowardice when confronted with the violent
crimes of a Saudi prince. They
know who he is.
If we do not impeach the president
we have taken his criminal conduct off the table. We have removed his corruption and character from the topics
of debate. We have given him the
kind of aid and comfort only the gutless Democrats can provide. We will have matched the Republican
Party in complicity.
We must impeach the
president. Without regard for the
trial in the hallowed chambers of the United States Senate, we must impeach the
president. We must impeach the
president because he is guilty beyond all doubt and by any honest
reckoning. We must impeach the
president to restore the fundamental value of American democracy.
We must impeach the president to
assert now and forever that no one is above the law and no one is beyond the
reach of justice.
The idea that some internal
Justice Department memo can overrule the basic tenet of judicial decree is
ludicrous and offensive. [1] All presidents should be held to account for
criminal conduct without delay and without exception. This president has scorned justice and turned the office of
the Attorney General into a sycophant for the chief executive. It must not stand.
The president of the United States
is guilty of high crimes and conduct not only worthy of but demanding
impeachment.
1. The president through his agents conspired with agents of
the Russian government to defraud the 2016 presidential election.
The Mueller Report chronicles over
one hundred interactions between the Trump campaign and Russian agents. The Trump campaign provided polling
data to target key voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – the very states
that turned the election. The
Russian propaganda machine in turn provided fake news to targeted voters
through fake social media accounts.
Before the eyes of the American public, candidate Trump incorporated the
daily WikiLeaks reports into his campaign. Russia provided the attack data, WikiLeaks laundered it and
Trump employed it on the campaign trail.
This is what collusion, coordination and conspiracy look like.
2. The president and his agents repeatedly lied to the public,
the FBI and Congress to cover up their interactions with Russian agents.
Trump stated
point blank he had no business dealings whatsoever with Russia. That was a lie. He stated he had no interactions with
the Russians. That was a lie. The truth is he was trying to negotiate
a deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow even while he was campaigning. Reports have it he wanted to gift
Vladimir Putin one entire floor of the tower. The truth is he had many dealings with Russian agents concerning
laundering money for real estate deals in Florida. The truth is we have only uncovered the tail of the elephant
when it comes to laundering dirty money from Russian oligarchs for their
supreme leader. The truth is Trump
authored a misleading statement for his son to explain the meeting in Trump
Tower. The truth is Trump is
willing to throw his own son to the wolves if it serves his interests.
3. The president willingly engaged in
behavior that would subject him to extortion by foreign agents in Russia and
Saudi Arabia because of his and his family’s hidden interests and criminal
activity.
Son-in-law
Jerrod Kushner received untold millions to save the family business from
certain bankruptcy due to one of the worst investments in the history of New
York City. The record will show
that the Saudi’s loaned Kushner a great deal of money when no legitimate
banking interest would and that Donald J. Trump helped broker the deal. While we do not yet know what the
Saudis expected in return we do know that Trump vetoed legislation blocking a sell
of arms to Saudi Arabia. We also
know that Trump excused compelling evidence that the crown prince of Saudi
Arabia ordered the killing and dismemberment of a prominent journalist.
We have not
yet begun to uncover the Trump money laundering operation. We need to begin the impeachment
process to gain access to his financial records, his tax returns and his
accounts in the notorious Deutsche Bank as well as the Bank of Cypress where
his Treasury Secretary Wilbur Ross was once chief executive.
4. The president failed to act to defend
the nation’s electoral integrity from an overt attack by a foreign
adversary.
Never mind
that his failure to defend American democracy serves his own political and
financial interests. The president
has alternatively refused to acknowledge Russian interference, implied that
there is nothing wrong with foreign interference and pretended that it had no
impact. He has done absolutely
nothing to ensure that it will not happen again. He is a president that places no value on the integrity of
the ballot. He has done everything
in his power to block minority voters and tip the balance in his favor. He steadfastly refuses to support
legislation that would require a paper trail in the event of electronic ballot
tampering. He pushed hard for a
citizenship question on the census that is designed to suppress the Hispanic
vote, resulting in reduced funds for minority districts and under
representation of minority voters.
His admiration for foreign dictators and disdain for our own democracy
is alone grounds for impeachment.
5. The president has intentionally imposed
policies resulting directly in crimes against humanity on the southern
border.
We have all
seen the photos, the videos and heard the testimonials of children being
separated from their parents for the “crime” of seeking asylum in the United
States. This nation has long
offered refuge to individuals seeking to escape discrimination, inhuman
treatment and unconscionable violence in their own lands. We value immigration because the
founders of our independent democracy were themselves refugees seeking to
escape intolerance in their native land.
Though we cannot neglect the intolerance, violence and discrimination
that our founders dealt to Native and African Americans, we cannot allow any
president to close the border by practicing inhuman and inhumane treatment of
innocent children and families to dissuade them from seeking and claiming
asylum.
It has been a
long time since anyone in our government demanded that individuals who dissent
from the majority view should leave the country. That is the very definition of un-American yet this
president made that request of four members of congress. In so doing he has demonstrated an
intolerance that crosses the boundaries of inhumanity and demonstrates unfitness
for office.
6. The president has profited from the
presidency in violation of constitutional prohibitions against accepting gifts
or equivalent items of value.
The president
and his family have collected large sums of money from the family hotels and
business ventures. They have
accepted loans from foreign interests and encouraged corporate interests to
invest in Trump business concerns, including stays at Mar-a-Lago and Trump
International Hotel – the old Post Office – in Washington D.C. The president has somehow persuaded the
military and government officials to spend millions for stays and unnecessary
refueling at Trump properties in Scotland and Ireland.
Trump business
ventures have made record profits at Trump Tower in NYC as well as memberships
at Trump country clubs and his Florida resort. Every time Trump holds an event at one of his properties,
profits soar. Corporations and
foreign governments courting the Trump administration’s favor book rooms at his
Washington hotel and spend lavishly.
Trump has zealously guarded his financial records, including his tax
returns, so that we do not know the full extent of his profiteering but we
certainly know enough. Open
Secrets has estimated that Trump business interests have received in excess of
$35 million from Republican Party organizations since becoming president. Open the books and we will learn how
boldly the president has sold his office. [2]
7. The president attempted to extort the
president of Ukraine by withholding military aid in exchange for compromising
information on a political rival.
Shortly after
special investigator Robert Mueller’s listless testimony before congress, the
president withheld congressionally mandated military assistance to Ukraine and
requested on a phone call to President Volodymyr Zelensky that the Ukrainian
government re-investigate the business dealings of Hunter Biden, son to former
vice president Joe Biden. At the
time of the call Joe Biden was clearly the leading candidate for the Democratic
Party presidential nomination. [3,
4]
While the
underlying story should offer cause for doubting Biden’s squeaky-clean
reputation and his claim of electability, that President Trump would consider
it acceptable to withhold allocated aid for political advantage even after an
investigation of his dealings with Russia in their attempt to interfere in a
presidential election, suggests that this president is far beyond
redemption. He truly believes the
Mueller Report vindicated him. It
absolutely did not. He truly
believes he can conspire with any foreign government to interfere in our
elections. The law says
otherwise. He truly believes he is
above the law. He is not.
Let us
stipulate that you cannot and should not be impeached for being a being a man
of substandard character. Let us
stipulate that you cannot and should not be impeached for despicable behavior
toward women – even if that behavior may have included criminal liability. Let us stipulate that you cannot and
should not be impeached for being a common con man and a crook.
Let us focus
on what he has done and why he is a danger to the nation. Let us place no value on what the
United States Senate may or may not do.
It is sufficient that we compel each and every senator to stand with us
or stand with the crook in the Oval Office. If we value our democracy, if we value our system of
justice, if we value human rights and common decency, we must impeach the
president.
1. “Indicting a President Is Not
Foreclosed: The Complex History.”
By Walter Dellinger.
Lawfare, June 18, 2018.
2. Open Secrets: Center for
Responsive Politics. “All the
President’s Profiting.” Federal
Election Commission Data released June 10, 2019.
3. “Trump pressed Ukraine leader
to investigate Biden, memo reveals.”
By David Smith. The
Guardian, September 25, 2019.
4. “As vice president, Biden said
Ukraine should increase gas production.
Then his son got a job with a Ukrainian gas company.” By Michael Kranish and David L. Stern. Washington Post, July 22, 2019.
Jack Random is the author of
the Jazzman Chronicles.
