21 Republican attorneys general have signed a new letter denouncing impeachment as an offense to the Constitution. The letter is premised on a clear error of fact. jonathanchait writes
Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Consolidated News Photos/Bloomberg via Getty Images Of the 51 state attorneys general, 26 are Republican. And of those, 21 have signed a new letter denouncing impeachment as an offense to the Constitution. President Trump has tweeted excitedly in all-caps about the letter , and the Wall Street Journal editorial page lavishes the note with favorable attention.
Proceeding from its debunked claim, the Republican letter argues that, since Trump’s actions were supposedly legal, the only basis for impeaching him is his allegedly corrupt motives. And motives are nothing more than thoughts! “Article I is based upon a constitutionally-flawed theory that the President can be impeached for exercising concededly lawful constitutional authority ‘motivated’ by thoughts a House majority unilaterally deems ‘corrupt,’” it reasons.
Politicians regularly act in an official capacity in ways that are or may have political benefit. This is especially true of Presidents in their role as the nation’s chief diplomat. In a 1987 speech in Berlin, for example, President Reagan beseeched, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” In 2008, President Bush made multiple personal appeals to then-Saudi King Abdullah to increase oil production in an effort to bring down U.S. gas prices.
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