The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Impeachment Consequences

With the acquittal of President Trump in the Senate Impeachment trial this phase of their resistance (not loyal opposition) to President Trump is over. If they have not after three years gotten over that President Trump was duly elected, that President Trump did not collude with the Russians in the 2016 Presidential election, and that President Trump was not guilty of the Impeachment Articles then it will never be over. The Democrats enmity, and indeed hatred, of President Trump will never be over. Their behavior, and misbehavior, during the recent State on the Union address by President Trump is also indicative of their enmity. Comments by Democrat leaders about further impeachments of President Trump and others in his administration (i.e. Attorney General William Barr) are more evidence of this enmity. And they have shown a lack of will power to put this enmity behind them and come to terms with the election and administration of President Trump.

Their attitude, and their words and deeds during the Impeachment of President Trump, have consequences to our Republic. Consequences that may be far-reaching and perverse to our Constitutional Republic. Some consequences that can be foreseen, and other consequences that cannot be foreseen as I have explained in my article “The Law of Unintended Consequences”. Some of the foreseeable consequences are:

Due Process and the Rule of Law are arbitrary and optional in Impeachment hearings. The Constitutional right to be represented by an attorney of the defendants choice, call witnesses in their behalf, cross-examine witnesses, a presumption of guilt rather than innocence (the Rule of Lenity), and the introduction of opinions, presumptions, or inferences of witnesses as evidence is contrary to western jurisprudence and an assault on the Constitutional rights of all Americans. The fact that the House subpoenas were not adjudicated by the Judicial branch to determine their Constitutionality is an assault on the balance of powers between the Congress, the Executive, and the Judicial branches of our government.

The balance of powers between the House and Senate has been shifted. With the demand that the Senate call witnesses the House has abrogated its responsibilities to the Senate. While the Senate impeachments are referred to as a trial it is in reality a tribunal. A tribunal that examines the evidence of the House Impeachment hearings to determine guilty or not guilty, not a tribunal that gathers new evidence. If the Senate is responsible for gathering evidence that the Senate tribunal would take weeks, if not months, to gather all the evidence. Weeks or months that would tie-up the Senate from doing the business of the people. Weeks or months that are better suited to be accomplished in the House Impeachment hearings where it would not tie-up the House from doing the other business of the people.

Impeachment is no longer a weapon to utilize as a correction for severe harm. It has become a political tool to influence public opinion and elections (both for and against). Impeachment was constituted as a means of protecting the body politic from grievous harm that could be done by Executive and Judicial officers (including the President, Vice-President, and Supreme Court Justices). It is the ultimate weapon to assure that serious wrongdoing is not countenanced. Utilizing it for any other purpose is to neutralize or negate its effectiveness. The Founding Fathers were very concerned that Impeachment could be turned into a political tool to make Executive or Judicial officers subservient to Congress. That is why they made it difficult to impeach someone. Yet, this is exactly what has happened in the Impeachment of President Trump as evidenced that there was no bipartisan support for impeachment in the House and the Senate. Consequently, from now on an Impeachment will be seen as a political maneuver rather than a correction of harm to the body politic.

The political gamesmanship, by both sides, has blurred rather than enlighten the American people on the Constitutional limits of both the Presidency and the Congress. It has confused the public understanding of the Constitution Impeachment meaning and process, and the role of the House and Senate in impeachment. It has also engendered confusion of what constitutes Due Process and the Rule of Law in America. The rhetoric used to describe President Trumps’ actions was inflammatory for the purposes of smearing him, rather than instructive of what occurred and its importance. President Trump’s impeachment has further polarized America and made bipartisanship even more difficult. As a result, we are now even more divided and intransigent in our policy disagreements.

As for the unforeseen consequences you need to consider the impacts on "A Civil Society", "Justice and The Rule of Law in America", and “Divisiveness in America” as I have previously written upon.

If the enmity cannot be abated, if civility cannot be restored, or some semblance of bipartisanship cannot occur then we will be locked into mortal combat rather than governance. If this can be rectified, then we can proceed with the business of the governance of the United States. But, alas, I do not expect this to happen. With the coming 2020 Presidential election you can expect more displays of the enmity and hatred, rather than policy disagreements.  The only way it will ever be over is for the American people to remove the Democrat Party from the reins of power in an overwhelming manner. It is only this removal that will force the Democrats to reassess their tactics and approach to governance, and we can then proceed with the regular order of doing the business of governance.