Member-only story
Is Impeachment Optional or Mandatory?
I should put my pundit license into the same status as my law license: inactive.
When I came back, sort of, from my cancer surgery, it was obvious that I could no longer call the coins while they were in the air, as is required of both trial lawyers and judges. Now I’ve sinned against the practice of punditry: I dithered.
We who chatter from the cheap seats are expected to be fearless, and that seems fair when our risks are minimal. Still, I could not make up my mind how I would vote and therefore how I would advise the House of Representatives to vote on the issue of impeachment if the following facts appeared to be true:
*There is probable cause to believe that Donald John Trump is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors within the meaning of the Constitution. This is actually the easiest of the issues.
*There is enough evidence to convict him of at least one article of impeachment.
*It is highly probable the Senate will not vote to convict President Trump even if he confesses.
*If the House passes articles of impeachment — particularly on a party line vote — the voters are likely to punish the Democrats, who will then lose control of the House.
The question, to me, is not whether a House member could vote to impeach and…
