Constitutional law expert and Harvard professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz harshly criticized the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump presented by the Democrats as unconstitutional and damaging to the rule of law in an op-ed in The Hill on Tuesday.
Neither of the two articles – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – presented by the Democrats “satisfies the express constitutional criteria for impeachment,” as both are not crimes or even mentioned in the Constitution.
This means that the Democrats are placing themselves above the Constitution, he wrote.
Dershowitz argued that both articles of impeachment “are so vague and open-ended that they could be applied in partisan fashion by a majority of the House against almost any president from the opposing party.”
He added this notion is exactly what the framers sought to avoid – a decision to impeach based on “the comparative strength of parties,” rather than on “innocence or guilt.”
Dershowitz stressed that the duty of legislators in the House should be “to support, defend and apply the Constitution as written, not as it can be stretched to fit the actions of an opposition or unpopular president.”
He went on to contend that if the House votes for impeachment on these articles, it should be declared “void,” because as Alexander Hamilton stated in Federalist 78, “no legislative act… contrary to the Constitution, can be valid.”
As I stated in another thread, abuse of power and "obstruction of Congress" are such vague "charges" I envision a future in which Congress turns into nothing but an obstructionist branch of government and they spend their time doing nothing but removing opposition parties from power.
This isn't a defense of Trump, this is a defense of common sense, rule of law, and the way our Republic was intended to function.
Congress is broken and I have no idea what the answer is.
Neither of the two articles – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – presented by the Democrats “satisfies the express constitutional criteria for impeachment,” as both are not crimes or even mentioned in the Constitution.
This means that the Democrats are placing themselves above the Constitution, he wrote.
Dershowitz argued that both articles of impeachment “are so vague and open-ended that they could be applied in partisan fashion by a majority of the House against almost any president from the opposing party.”
He added this notion is exactly what the framers sought to avoid – a decision to impeach based on “the comparative strength of parties,” rather than on “innocence or guilt.”
Dershowitz stressed that the duty of legislators in the House should be “to support, defend and apply the Constitution as written, not as it can be stretched to fit the actions of an opposition or unpopular president.”
He went on to contend that if the House votes for impeachment on these articles, it should be declared “void,” because as Alexander Hamilton stated in Federalist 78, “no legislative act… contrary to the Constitution, can be valid.”
As I stated in another thread, abuse of power and "obstruction of Congress" are such vague "charges" I envision a future in which Congress turns into nothing but an obstructionist branch of government and they spend their time doing nothing but removing opposition parties from power.
This isn't a defense of Trump, this is a defense of common sense, rule of law, and the way our Republic was intended to function.
Congress is broken and I have no idea what the answer is.
