Why impeachment matters
Hold others accountable
Regarding “Don’t let Trump off,” (A12, Jan. 22): If former President Donald Trump is not convicted, Congress will be inviting another attack from the same mob. The assault on the Capitol and attempted overthrow of the election, incited by a president of the U.S., was the worst offense by a president in the history of this country. This isn’t about political gamesmanship — this mob intended to do physical harm to Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others, and they were egged on by Rudy Giuliani, Ken Paxton and others. The Senate should convict the president and his co-conspirators. Their actions were dangerous, and they treated it like a sports competition.
Sarah Burnett, Houston
The impeachment trial is not about punishing Donald Trump so much as about defending the Constitution, Congress and our democracy. Consider the precedent if he is not convicted. Any president losing an election can incite an insurrection just before his term expires. If it’s successful, he has stolen an election and perpetuated himself in office for at least hopefully only another four years. If it fails with not enough time to impeach and remove him from office before his term expires, he need only go on the lam, leaving the door open for a successor to do the same thing.
Tom Moore, Katy
Some are saying that impeaching the former president because he is out of office is pointless, suggesting he is no longer a threat. Actually, they are missing the point. The impeachment is not about Donald Trump alone. It is about Trump 2.0. A conviction with serious consequences will go toward ensuring no copycat will later think to try, nor the obsessively ambitious Trump himself, to overthrow our government. It is we the people who are the world’s greatest country — one not available to tin-pot dictators. We need to keep it that way because clearly no one else will.
Mark R. Turner, Houston
I ask you to help hold former President Donald J. Trump fully accountable. If this is allowed to stand, might a future president employ his or her misguided followers to terrorize the Supreme Court during deliberations to impact a verdict or direct an assault on Congress to control broader legislation? His abhorrent act is exactly the sort of scenario the constitutional checks and balances system was designed to prevent. That is why it is imperative that Congress now use its power to demonstrate the limitations the Constitution has placed on the executive branch of government: a president must be held accountable by Congress. Please send a message to Trump and to all our future leaders that no branch of government may use its authority or its popularity to create a personal militia for any purpose, especially to wage an attack on another branch of our own government.
Kristy Nilsson, Cypress