Ukraine call pushes House toward impeachment
What happened
House Democrats began formal impeachment proceedings against President Trump this week amid revelations that Trump pressured the Ukrainian government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, one of his strongest potential rivals in the 2020 presidential election. Notes from a call Trump made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky show Zelensky asking for U.S. Javelin missiles and Trump then asking him for “a favor”—to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter, who once sat on the board of a Ukrainian company. Trump said the senior Biden had as vice president “stopped the prosecution” of that company, and asked Zelensky to “look into it,” urging him to work with U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Trump also pointed out that the U.S. has “done a lot for Ukraine.” Just days earlier, Trump had suspended $391 million in foreign aid to Ukraine—a decision later reversed because of bipartisan pressure from Congress.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s use of the power of the presidency to pressure a foreign government for personal political gain represents a “betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.” After months of resisting impeachment speculation, Pelosi instructed the six House committees investigating Trump to marshal evidence of impeachable offenses as part of an “official impeachment inquiry.” Trump “must be held accountable,” Pelosi said. “No one is above the law.”
Democrats learned about the Ukraine call as the result of an official whistleblower complaint about the president’s conduct with foreign leader, which the Trump administration initially refused to share with Congress despite being required to do so by law. The complaint reportedly involves a troubling promise Trump allegedly made to a foreign leader, as well as other instances of potentially illegal conduct, including the call to Zelensky. On Twitter, Trump raged at the growing likelihood he will be impeached. “There has been no President in the history of our Country who has been treated so badly as I have,” he tweeted. “Witch hunt!”
What the editorials said
Democrats “had no choice” but to start impeachment proceedings, said the San Francisco Chronicle. Speaker Pelosi has done everything she could to make impeachment a last resort, fearing the potential political backlash and knowing the Republican-controlled Senate is unlikely to convict the president. But at this point, it’s more dangerous not to impeach Trump. With his brazen attempt to seek foreign help for the 2020 election and subsequent moves to muzzle a government whistleblower, Trump “has
What next?
openly declared himself above the law.”
Pelosi’s move toward impeachment might thrill her Trump-hating base, said The
Wall Street Journal. The American people, however, “will want to see evidence that warrants overturning an election.” Trump showed seriously bad judgment in his overtures to Zelensky. But “bad judgement is not a crime.” We still need to know a lot more about this case, including whether there was any specific quid pro quo regarding U.S. military aid. We also deserve to know “the role, access, and motivation of the whistleblower.”
What the columnists said
Trump’s bullying of Ukraine isn’t just another partisan “mud fight,” said David Ignatius in The Washington Post. Ukraine, a vital American ally, is currently involved in a proxy war against Russia-backed separatists, and relies on U.S. assistance for its defense. But Trump’s apparent shakedown of the Ukrainian president turned U.S. commitments into Trump’s own personal “political tool.” That’s what pushed so many moderate Democrats to finally embrace impeachment. American power should not be deployed for “the president’s personal political gain.”
Trump’s pressuring of Zelensky was “unseemly,” said Tom Rogan in WashingtonExaminer.com, but “hardly rises to an impeachable offense.” There was “no explicit quid pro quo” in the president’s call. Unless more evidence comes out, “Democrats do not have the smoking gun they would need for any prospect of successfully impeaching the president.” Trump’s defenders are kidding themselves, said David French in NationalReview.com. The call readout contains clear evidence of a quid pro quo. In fact, “the asks are very clear.” When Zelensky asks for anti-tank missiles to fight Russian proxies, Trump responds, “I would like you to do us a favor,” and begins talking about Biden. Zelensky later promises to have his prosecutor “look into the situation.” This was a “profound abuse of power.” Pelosi’s pronouncement has changed “nothing and everything,” said Andrew Desiderio and
Kyle Cheney in Politico.com. “With her muscle behind the process, it is more likely than ever that articles of impeachment will head to the full House for a vote.” But the Judiciary Committee has been calling its probes of Trump an “impeachment investigation” since July, with Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York asking the other House committees to begin sharing documents with his committee last month. It’s unclear what the time frame will be for actually drafting and voting on articles of impeachment. The most immediate change may be one of mindset. “There’s a different energy,” said Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois, a member of the Intelligence Committee. “There will be much more resources and effort toward that end. I also think there’s a dramatic difference tactically in courts when you have an impeachment inquiry with the full body behind it.”
“It cannot be said that Democrats are doing this for political gain,” said Jonathan Chait in NYMag.com. Polls have repeatedly shown there is little political appetite for impeachment. “Yet there is reason to believe the politics may change.” Unlike the byzantine particulars of the Russia investigation, Trump’s attempt to arm-twist Ukraine is relatively easy to understand. “His extortion of Ukraine’s government is perfectly in keeping with his stated belief that the powers of government can and should be put at the president’s personal disposal.” Impeaching Trump is “a gamble.” But so is doing nothing. Trump has shown he’ll do whatever it takes “to cheat his way into power.”