The call of Rep Justin Amash (R-MI) to begin the impeachment process against President Trump has been joined by another GOP member, retired Rep Tom Coleman (R-MO). This is a fragment of an editorial he published in the Kansas City Star:
Because DOJ regulations put a president above the law while in office, I believe the only viable option available is for the House of Representatives, under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, to open its own investigation, hold public hearings and then determine if they should pursue removal of the president through impeachment. There is a trove of evidence in the Mueller report indicating Trump has committed multiple impeachable offenses, including abuse of power and lying to the American public. Both were part of the articles of impeachment brought against President Richard Nixon. This process would allow a full public review of wrongdoing, while providing Americans an opportunity to obtain a better understanding of the consequences to our national security and the lingering threat to our democracy.
If this process leads to impeaching Trump in the House of Representatives and also results in convicting him in the Senate, his illegitimacy would survive through Vice President Mike Pence’s succession to the presidency. Because the misdeeds were conducted to assure the entire Trump-Pence ticket was elected, both former candidates — Pence as well as Trump — have been disgraced and discredited. To hand the presidency to an illegitimate vice president would be to approve and reward the wrongdoing while the lingering stench of corruption would trail any Pence administration, guaranteeing an untenable presidency. If Trump is impeached, then Pence should not be allowed to become president. The vice president should resign or be impeached as well if for no other reason that he has been the chief enabler for this illegitimate president.
Representative Coleman served in Congress 1976-1993, so he’s not part of the recent, last 20 years, surge to the right by the GOP. But he serves as yet another spotlight from that recent and authoritative past upon the corruption of the current GOP.
But he also goes further in that he calls for the impeachment of not only the President, but the Vice-President as well, in a weird echo of a long-ago (and perhaps overly dramatic, if I’m honest) post of mine.
Again, this is not a huge crack in the GOP. Rep Amash will now be facing a primary challenger for the next election. Most of the other Republicans who’ve disapproved of Trump have, understandably, left the party that they felt unwelcome in. So far, Coleman is a single dissenter, an admirable voice who examined the evidence and came to an unpopular conclusion.
And he’s worth noting for it.
