Sarbanes, Brown, Hoyer and Ruppersburger all must vote to impeach President Trump

The two articles of impeachment passed Friday in Washington, D.C., by the House Judiciary Committee lay out the case for removing President Donald Trump from office.

The president used the immense powers of his office to coerce a tiny ally under attack by a rapacious Russia into launching an investigation that might benefit his reelection campaign. When Congress launched an investigation, the president ordered members of his staff to ignore the House of Representatives.

Abuse of office. Obstruction of Justice. There is no doubt about the outcome of this exercise. The House will vote this week to impeach the president of the United States for the third time in the history of our republic.

Sometime next month, the Republicanled Senate will take up the articles of impeachment and hold a trial. And for the third time in our history, the process laid out in the U.S. Constitution for removing a president for high crimes and misdemeanors will fall short.

Donald Trump will join Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson as presidents impeached but not removed from office. Richard Nixon resigned before the House could vote, acknowledging the outcome in the Senate was a foregone conclusion.

Despite the inevitability that Trump will remain in office, we urge the four members of Congress who represent Anne Arundel County to vote for impeachment.

As Democrats, House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, and U.S. Reps John Sarbanes, Anthony Brown and Dutch Ruppersburger are hardly waiting for our encouragement. This vote will follow the party line, with a few moderate Democrats breaking ranks for political survival.

We know partisans will view this call for impeachment as an endorsement of the Democratic Party. It is not.

Instead, it is a reluctant assessment that Trump has violated his oath of office.

Whatever the consequences for next year’s election, that is the crisis that must be addressed now. Failing to vote for impeachment would open the nation to a future of dictatorships unencumbered by the system of checks and balances built into the

Constitution.

Evidence that the president tried to use congressionally approved military aid for Ukraine as a bribe to damage his potential opponent in November has not been refuted. Sworn testimony makes it clear the president knew of and supported the effort by his personal attorney to find dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden through his son, Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden, who lived for a brief time in Annapolis, was foolish to allow a foreign company to use his father’s name for crass personal profit. It was reprehensible, but not a crime.

The Constitution gives the power of government oversight to Congress, making it the duty of the House to investigate Trump’s rogue foreign policy.

Rather than acknowledge this and defend himself, Trump has called the impeachment hearings in the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees “the greatest witch hunt in the history of the USA.” He ordered members of the executive branch to ignore the House and refuse to testify when called.

The president has accomplished many things since taking office. He has dismantled or neutralized a wide array of government regulations and programs. He has reshaped the judiciary through appointments that will resonate for a generation. He has denigrated public servants, broken bonds of friendships overseas and presided over a strong economy.

From immigration to military justice to foreign relations to climate policy, he has proven to be the great disrupter his supporters wanted.

But he is not and never will be king. The president of the United States, with all the formidable military and civilian power that has accrued to the executive office over 243 years, is accountable to Congress.

The president cannot use his office for personal gain and then ignore those given power by the voters to call on him for an explanation. He can tweet about its unfairness; he can cite executive privilege in front of the committee. He can ask the courts to intercede.

But the president must be held accountable. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was right.

No one is above the law. No matter the outcome, the House must act.