Retired Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz explains the danger of moving forward with impeachment. His perspective; partisanship has been the sole motivator of the Democrat’s actions. That is something which is dangerous to the Constitution and the future of our country.
Beth Baumann at Townhall.com covers the professor’s comments.
The Leftist standard for impeachment
Congresswoman Maxine Waters illustrates his point. She said: ‘Impeachment is whatever Congress says it is. There is no law.‘ To which Dershowitz responds this way, “… this lawless view would place Congress above the law. It would place Congress above the Constitution. For Congress to ignore the specific words of the Constitution itself and substitutes its own judgments would be for Congress to do what it’s accusing the president of doing.”
Dershowitz said the following presidents would have been impeachable under the House Impeachment Managers’ definition of impeachment:
George Washington for refusing to turn over documents related to the Jade Treaty. John Adams for signing the Alien and Sedition Acts. Thomas Jefferson for purchasing Louisiana without Congressional approval. John Quincy Adams. Martin Van Buren. John Tyler for arbitrary disposal of the veto power. James Polk. Abraham Lincoln for suspending Habeas Corpus during the Civil War. Ulysses Grant. Grover Cleveland. William McKinley. Theodore Roosevelt. William Taft. Woodrow Wilson. Franklin Roosevelt. Harry Truman. Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan. George H.W. Bush.
Impeachment for policy differences
“That’s how abuse of power should be used, as campaign rhetoric… It should be in statements issued by one political party against the other. That’s the nature of the term. ‘Abuse of power’ is a political weapon and it should be leveled against political opponents… It’s impossible to know in advance if a given action or subsequently be deemed to be on one side of the line or the other… The same action with the same state of mind cam be deemed abusive or obstructive when done by one person but not when done by another. That is the essence of what the rule of law is not, when you have the criteria that could be applied to one person one way and another person another way and they both fit within the terms ‘abuse of power.” Dershowitz said.
The main point Dershowitz wants the Senate to walk away with? Terms like “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” are “standard-less.” They are subjective and rely solely on partisan interpretation. Applying these kinds of partisan terms in impeachment sets a dangerous precedent. It that really the road we want to go down? Especially when there’s a divided government, like what we have now which is what is the case more often than not.