The U.S. Congress has the right, and the responsibility, to check a president

WASHINGTON >> House Speaker Nancy Pelosi believes opening an impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s misdeeds would be risky. She needs to realize that not doing so is beginning to look riskier.

The congressional testimony of former special counsel Robert Mueller may have been postponed, but after we do hear from Mueller, the impeachment question will demand an answer. Even if Mueller manages not to stray beyond the boundaries of his report, the evidence of impeachable presidential misconduct his investigators found is clear and compelling. Hearing Mueller state what is essentially a criminal indictment of Trump will have more impact than Mueller’s dry and lengthy tome, which few have read.

Meanwhile, Trump’s abuse of presidential power, including his open defiance of the judiciary, becomes ever more brazen and alarming. The Supreme Court has no army to enforce its rulings. Only Congress has the power, and the duty, to check a president run amok.

I think Pelosi is wrong when she warns that Trump is trying to bait House Democrats into impeachment. Even if he is confident his lapdog Republican majority in the Senate would never actually remove him from office, Trump does not want the stigma and shame of being just the third president in history to be hauled into the dock.

But what Trump wants is irrelevant. Pelosi has to ask what’s best for the country — and, since this is the real world, what’s best for her party.

I respect the speaker’s political acumen. But after Mueller’s high-profile testimony, what’s next? The House Judiciary Committee voted to issue a passel of new subpoenas Thursday, including one for Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner. But the White House isn’t going to let Kushner testify without a fight. Stonewalling congressional demands for documents and testimony may be unlawful, but it’s effective. And getting the courts to intervene takes months.

Mueller’s testimony may be good for the purpose of using public hearings to educate the nation about Trump’s misdeeds — but if the House opens an impeachment inquiry, things change dramatically. Then Congress’ power to investigate would be at its height, and courts would act speedily to enforce properly constituted subpoenas.

If Pelosi’s strategy is to build public support for impeachment, she’s putting the cart before the horse. Only an impeachment inquiry can produce testimony and evidence vivid and compelling enough to shape public opinion.

Pelosi worries impeachment might endanger reelection of moderate House Democrats who won last year in districts Trump carried. Her concern may be justified. But she should also worry about the overall effect on the Democratic Party — including its eventual presidential nominee — of the House appearing to spin its wheels impotently while Trump continues to do whatever he pleases, trampling constitutional norms in the process.

There’s also the question of what Congress is obliged to do, like it or not.

Mueller’s report provides ample evidence that Trump committed multiple acts of obstruction of justice — essentially a roadmap for impeachment. Democrats keep saying no one is above the law, including the president. But the Justice Department’s view that a sitting president cannot be made to face criminal charges means Trump is indeed above the law — unless the one body that can hold him accountable, the Congress, does its job.

Doesn’t the lawmaking branch of our government have a sacred obligation to uphold the rule of law? After we hear from Mueller, Pelosi and her caucus must answer that question.