It didn’t take long after President Trump’s successful strike in Venezuela, which led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro, for Democrats to lose their collective minds. Like clockwork, they attacked Trump for not seeking congressional authorization first and accused him of starting an illegal war. I’ve been joking ever since the Democrats were likely drawing up articles of impeachment against Trump, and it certainly looks like I was right.
According to a report from Newsweek, Trump is “facing impeachment calls from Democrats after his administration launched strikes against Venezuela and captured its President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend.”
For Our VIPs: Why Hasn’t Joe Biden Spoken About Maduro Yet?
Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois called the action “illegal” and “dangerous,” claiming that it violated both U.S. and international law. “Trump and his Administration are out of control because they believe they are untouchable. But they are not. There are mechanisms in place to protect Americans from despots, warmongers, and authoritarians. Congress must use them. We must pass Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s War Powers Resolution that asserts our authorities, and Trump must be impeached,” she said.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) also indicated that he viewed Maduro’s ouster as “an impeachable offense.”
Naturally, Newsweek found so-called experts to support the idea that the strike and capture were, in fact, impeachable offenses.
Brian Kalt, a law professor at Michigan State University, told Newsweek on Monday there is a legal basis for impeachment as, “one could interpret any violation of the constitutional restraints on the presidency as an impeachable offense.” Still, he said it's unlikely that he will be impeached over this.
“Because the Republicans have the majority in the House, there would need to be some Republicans on board with this. I do not think there are enough Republicans who would be interested in taking so drastic a step, even if they might not agree with the president's action,” he said, adding that there is also a “zero chance” the Senate will convict.
Kalt said political polarization has made it “easier to impeach, but harder to convict” a president, and that there has been a rise in “futile impeachments.”
You think? Democrats impeached Trump twice.
Kalt also predicted that if Democrats win back the House this year, he would "not be surprised to see them try to impeach the president or members of his administration, even when it is abundantly clear that they do not have the votes in the Senate to convict.”
You think? We’ve been predicting that Democrats would impeach Trump if they win the majority long before the Maduro strike.
The only other expert that Newsweek quoted was Robert Y. Shapiro, a professor of political science at Columbia University. And, as I’m sure you already guessed, he clearly supports the idea of impeaching.
“The benefits are that Congress will be attempting to reassert its power as at least a coequal branch of government,” he said. However, he also noted that the drawback to impeachment is that it is “an uphill battle and will show the Democrats' and Congress's weakness once again, and Trump will claim being a victim as a way of trying to rally support.”
No articles of impeachment have been filed yet. But I think it’s obvious that they’re being drafted. However, Democrats risk being made to look even more ridiculous than they already do if they attempt another impeachment. For one thing, it’s been well established that presidents have the legal authority to order limited strikes, and both Barack Obama and Joe Biden did exactly that when it suited them without calls for impeachment. And then there’s the inconvenient fact that many Democrats are on record supporting the ouster of Maduro.
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