Yep, Donald Trump is facing a second impeachment
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to the Ukraine scandal. This week, the House is signaling that the staining of Trump’s presidency from impeachment might not yet be over.
In a new court filing Monday, the House revealed that a second impeachment of Trump may be in the offing for 2020. Douglas Letter, General Counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, filed a supplemental brief with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals offering reasons why the legal battle to compel former White House Counsel Don McGahn’s testimony is not moot.
One reason stood out like a sore thumb on Trump’s small hands: “McGahn’s testimony is also relevant to the Committee’s ongoing investigations into Presidential misconduct.” Letter made clear that, if appropriate, the House Judiciary Committee “will proceed accordingly—including, if necessary, by considering whether to recommend new articles of impeachment.“ You can read the filing here, courtesy of Politico.
Earlier this month, Democratic strategist Paul Begala pointed out on CNN that “impeachment is not a single-shot weapon.” He then predicted that “[t]his is not the last impeachment we’ll cover of Trump,” explaining to his incredulous fellow panelists that if the Supreme Court compels the testimony of Don McGahn and Trump stands in the way, such defiance “changes everything.”
The House has now gone on record to say that although impeachment has so far been used only once against any President, there is no reason it cannot be used again to fulfill their members’ oath of office. Given the tremendous damage that McGahn’s testimony could bring and the potential for Trump’s further obstruction of it, there’s an increasing likelihood that Trump’s 2019 impeachment might not be his last. Stay tuned.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month