Impeachment without rules: why Trump is accused of "betrayal" in Congress

In anticipation of the next congressional hearings on the impeachment of the US President, Donald Trump accused the representatives of the Democratic Party of changing the rules of procedure for their political purposes.

“Less than 48 hours before the start of the fake impeachment hearing on Monday, Democrats who do not follow the due process of law, believe it or not, change their impeachment guidelines because the facts are not on their side. When you can't win the game, change the rules! ”- wrote the president of the United States on his Twitter.

Less than 48 hours before start of the Impeachment Hearing Hoax, on Monday, the No Due Process, Do Nothing Democrats are, believe it or not, changing the Impeachment Guidelines because the facts are not on their side. When you can't win the game, change the rules!

Trump did not explain exactly what he had in mind, but, according to The Hill, on Saturday (December 7), the House’s Legal Committee released a report on the constitutional grounds for impeachment of the President of the United States.

It is on the basis of this report that the allegations against Trump should be formulated, which will go into the articles of impeachment. This special document will then be put to the vote by the House of Representatives. If most parliamentarians support him, the case will be referred to the Senate.

A similar report was first written during the removal from power of President Richard Nixon. An updated version of the same document was used in an attempt to impeach Bill Clinton. However, this time, as the head of the lower house of congressional committee of justice Jerry Nadler reports in the preface to the report, it was necessary to prepare a new document that would fully meet the circumstances of Trump’s impeachment.

“Earlier reports remain important reference points, but no longer reflect an optimal understanding of issues related to impeachment of the president. Moreover, they do not concern a number of aspects of constitutional law that are directly related to the ongoing investigation into the impeachment of President Donald Trump, ”the document emphasizes.

"Treason" and "betrayal"

As Politico notes, in a new report, Democrats paid special attention to foreign policy, which was unusual for documents of the Clinton and Nixon eras. The document, in particular, gives an expanded interpretation of the concept of “treason” (treason).

The United States Constitution states that "treason against the United States is considered only to wage war against them or to join their enemies and provide them with assistance and assistance." It is emphasized that no one can be convicted of high treason except on the basis of the testimony of two witnesses or his own confession at a public hearing.

However, the Legal Committee of the House of Representatives associates the concept of treason with the concept of betrayal and argues that "the very essence of treason is in the conscious betrayal of the country and its security."

Referring to the opinion of the founding fathers of the United States, including private correspondence, and to the practice of Great Britain, where the impeachment tool has historically arisen, the legal committee claims that the president may be removed from power.

“Although the authors of the Constitution did not plan to impeach because of genuine and reasonable disagreements between the president and the congress on diplomacy, they openly called the betrayal of the country by conspiracy with foreign powers the reason for removal from office,” the document emphasizes.

• Rep. Jerry Nadler
• Reuters
• © Drew Angerer

Commenting on the release of the report on the constitutional foundations of impeachment on his Twitter, Jerry Nadler directly accused Trump of betrayal.

“The worst nightmare of the authors of the Constitution is what we are faced with at the moment. President Trump has abused his power, betrayed our national security and corrupt our elections - all for personal gain. In cases of such violations, the Constitution prescribes only one remedy - impeachment, ”said the head of the legal committee of the lower house of Congress.

The Framers worst nightmare is what we are facing in this very moment. President Trump abused his power, betrayed our national security, and corrupted our elections, all for personal gain. The Constitution details only one remedy for this misconduct: impeachment.

"Intervention" again

As Nadler said in an interview with NBC, official charges against Trump will be brought forward this week. At the same time, the congressman said that the head of state allegedly condoned foreign interference in the US election.

“There is strong and not contested Republicans evidence that the president put himself above the country, sought foreign assistance in the elections and sought to hide it,” the politician said.

Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi supported formal charges against Trump. Explaining her position on CNN, she reminded the audience of the danger posed by Russia, which supposedly undermines democracy around the world.

According to her, although the current attempt to impeach Trump is connected with another country - Ukraine, "all roads lead to Putin."

“In my opinion, the Ukrainian question is strongly ... entirely connected with Russia, because in delaying or providing military assistance to Ukraine, its delay was beneficial to Russia,” Pelosi said.

• Nancy Pelosi
• Reuters
• © Tom Brenner

Recall that earlier Donald Trump admitted that the provision of military assistance to Ukraine was frozen for some time.

According to Trump's opponents, in this way, he allegedly put pressure on President Vladimir Zelensky, trying to get the start of an investigation against Burisma, where the son of former vice president Joe Biden, Hunter, worked.

These allegations are supported by the testimony of some witnesses who spoke at the impeachment hearing in Congress.

On December 3, the House’s intelligence committee released a report accusing Trump of undermining “national security” for “two politically motivated investigations.” According to congressmen, Trump allegedly encouraged the intervention of Ukraine and other countries in the American elections and continues to do so until now. The document also notes that the president kept the provision of weapons to Kiev, allegedly necessary for the "struggle with Moscow." It is worth noting that in the report devoted to Ukraine, Russia is mentioned 29 times.

“It’s clear that for them this is the main resource of the campaign - to accuse Trump of somehow violating the rules adopted in Washington, and in the long term it can be said that he worked for Russia,” he said in an interview with RT expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies Vladimir Bruter. - All this is perfect nonsense. But for the Democrats this is not of fundamental importance. They will invent everything that is possible and do it on the go. No rules have been written for these people. ”

Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, also agreed with Bruther. According to the interlocutor of RT, in Congress they want to “at least carcass, even a scarecrow to draw Russia to all these matters,” since the majority of the US population has no idea about a country like Ukraine, and they have already heard about the “Russian threat”.

Impeachment Prospects

According to Rogulev, Trump’s accusations of “betrayal” are connected with the fact that supporters of the removal of the president from power have few reasons to reinforce the need for impeachment.

“An impeachment to the president can only be declared if he has committed a serious crime. In this case, betrayal or treason. They did not reveal anything that could be presented to Trump, and therefore they are trying to adjust the facts, ”the expert notes.

At the same time, he doubts that Trump’s accusations of betrayal can be proved at least somehow.

“No one has proven anything and can not prove that Trump was doing something like this,” says Vladimir Bruter, in turn. - All decisions made in this case by the House of Representatives are nothing more than words. They have no evidence to support their charge. ”

According to the expert, due to the strong polarization of society, divided into irreconcilable supporters and opponents of Trump, the impeachment procedure itself is unlikely to seriously affect its chances in the 2020 elections. And the fact that the process of removing the president from power in any case is likely to be stopped in the Senate, where the Republicans have the majority, experts have recognized more than once.

“The general background, of course, is unfavorable for Trump. He has an approval rating below 50%. But there is a positive moment for him - the Democrats do not have a candidate who would be positively treated by all their supporters and who could get all the potential votes of Trump’s opponents, ”Bruter notes.

In turn, Yuri Rogulev believes that the prospects for Trump's re-election largely depend on how the impeachment case develops.

“Much will depend on whether impeachment fails and how Biden says if he is called for interrogation in the Senate, as the Republicans promised. It is also important how things are going with the US economy. If everything is fine with the economy and the Democrats fail with this impeachment, then Trump, of course, will have very good prospects for re-election, ”the political scientist concluded.