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Op-Ed

Dick Morris: Impeachment? Over What?

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The day Donald Trump was elected president was the date on which the Democrats running Congress decided to impeach him.

Indeed, the former officials of the Obama administration had laid a trap for the president by leveling their phony allegations of collusion with Vladimir Putin.

Since the Mueller report exonerated the president, the House Democrats have been searching for new grounds to impeach.

Now, they have seized on something in the conversations between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr  Zelensky that they claim contains evidence of an impeachable offense.

Just to be sure, they are also piling on everything they can think of and have been seeking to dredge up through their congressional subpoenas, all packaged into impeachment resolutions. Trump’s tax returns, his foundation activities, his hotel rentals for public events, and everything else is now fair game and likely to be wrapped into impeachment resolutions.

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Their actions are not the considered opinions of responsible lawmakers. They are the desperate attempts of incumbent congressmen to avoid losing primary battles against pro-impeachment insurgents.

The ghost of Joe Crowley, defeated for re-election by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, prowls the Democratic House cloakrooms and haunts its members. They are pushing impeachment — on whatever grounds they can find — to avoid and win primary fights.

And I’m sorry, but if President Trump had picked up the phone and called Zelensky and said “I have some military aid that I am holding up from Ukraine and I want you to investigate the Bidens and their activity in your country. If you do that, I will release the aid,” I don’t believe an impeachable offense would have been committed.

It is the long standing policy of the United States to condition foreign aid on investigations of corruption in recipient countries. The U.S. foreign aid has been increasingly used as a stick to get nations like Nigeria, Pakistan and the Congo to crack down on corruption.

Do you think Trump committed an impeachable offense?

Just because the corruption occurred due to actions by our former vice president’s son should not exempt it from American pressure to investigate it.

In fact, it makes it more important that it be checked out. And the fact that the former vice president is running for president should not confer immunity or impunity on him from such an investigation.

Ever since Congress began to regulate the activities of American citizens and corporations as they operate in foreign countries, the battle against corruption has involved foreign nations and their political leadership.

The fact that the son of the vice president of the U.S. was possibly guilty of corruption makes it all the more important for an investigation.

If Biden were not running for president, nobody would raise an eyebrow at Trump’s request.

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In the phone call with Zelensky, Trump did not link aid to investigations, he hinted at it.

Even had he said it explicitly, it would not be grounds for impeachment.

And when are the Democrats bringing impeachment charges? A year before voters can choose to re-elect or defeat Donald Trump.

Ever since losing the 2016 election, Democrats in Congress have been wary about letting democracy take its course.

Eventually, this will help Trump by showing how Democrats are obsessed by impeachment to the exclusion of any substantive accomplishments for the American people.

Voters who backed Democrats in 2018 elected a grand jury not a legislative chamber.

And, the process will doom Biden’s candidacy leaving only the un-electable Elizabeth Warren in its wake.

The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.

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Dick Morris is a former adviser to President Bill Clinton as well as a political author, pollster and consultant. His most recent book, "50 Shades of Politics," was written with his wife, Eileen McGann.




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