Thursday, October 10, 2019

A genuine constitutional crisis

David Catron writes in Spectator,
...our government now faces a genuine crisis whose magnitude the nation hasn’t seen for more than 150 years. Americans have long celebrated the orderly transfer of power that is unique to our form of government. The Democrats, however, have abandoned that tradition by refusing to accept the outcome of the 2016 election.

Having pursued a policy of transparency and shown extraordinary forbearance with the antics of House Democrats only to be declared “illegitimate” for his trouble, President Trump has had enough. Tuesday, Counsel to the President Pat Cipollone put House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on notice that Trump would no longer allow their machinations to distract him from his normal duties. Pointing out that the ersatz impeachment inquiry concocted by Pelosi and her accomplices was constitutionally invalid, in brazen violation of basic due process, and contrary to the separation of powers doctrine, Cipollone wrote that the president would ignore it henceforth:

Never mind that President Trump has been investigated relentlessly by the Democrats and their surrogates since he was elected, and no credible evidence has been found that he has abused his office. Yet Madam Speaker gratuitously insists that he has committed all manner of offenses, and she has arbitrarily launched an “impeachment inquiry” without authorization by the full House — the first time this has been done in the history of the republic. The House has initiated impeachment inquiries against three presidents: Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. All were authorized by a vote of the full House.

...In addition to their refusal to hold the House vote that would legitimately authorize an impeachment inquiry, the Democrats have denied the president basic due process rights such as the ability to confront the witnesses testifying against him, the right to call his own witnesses, and to have the assistance of counsel. They are also deposing witnesses in secret. In essence, they are denying the president fundamental rights guaranteed all Americans by the Constitution.
Read more here.

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