ABUSE OF POWER

Donald Trump is routinely accused of Abuse of Power. That is why every night on the MSM they explain why this man is so dangerous and why he must be removed from power. This is always accompanied by absurd predictions that the legal noose is closing in on the worst villain in American, if not world, history. So I thought it might be interesting to see the specific actions allegedly taken by Trump that suggest abuse of power.

Washington Post – August 28, 2017

  • Trump’s family, associates and campaign staff had numerous contacts with Russia during the campaign and post-election transition. Evidence exists that Trump’s personal attorney was seeking help from Putin as Trump was running a peculiar campaign that omitted any harsh talk about Russia.
  • Trump lied in saying no such contacts occurred. Other members of his administration omitted mention of their Russian contacts on required security applications.
  • Trump’s son and son-in-law met with Russian officials for the purpose of obtaining damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
  • Trump openly encouraged Russian hacking of his opponent and in the closing days of the campaign made dozens and dozens of references to WikiLeaks.
  • Once in office, he tried to pressure then-FBI Director James B. Comey, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers to curtail the investigation into fired national security adviser Michael Flynn.
  • After Comey refused, Trump fired him, concocted a fake reason for the firing, attempted to intimidate him before his testimony (e.g. hinting at tapes, threatening to investigate for leaking information) and publicly continued to hint at his power to remove both the attorney general and special prosecutor.

Trump has embarrassed the presidential office in innumerable ways, and members of the House and Senate are obliged to organize these incidents in their heads and get a handle on their constitutional significance. There is a wrong way and a right way to go about this task. The wrong way is to treat the launch of an impeachment inquiry as a matter of political popularity or opportunism. … The right approach is to commit to a clear-eyed and ongoing assessment of Trump’s words and actions against the obligations of the office and to trace out the effects of his misconduct on the security and welfare of the United States.

When we consider the myriad other ways in which Trump has used and misused the presidency — e.g. praising police abuses, insulting federal (“so-called”) judges, pardoning someone who defied a court order, enriching himself while in office, putting unqualified relatives in office, refusing to reveal his financial dealings or to free himself of conflicts of interest — it becomes clear that Trump is not fulfilling his oath or faithfully executing the law; he’s enriching himself, deflecting inquiry and undermining the rule of law. How could impeachment not be on the table?

Here’s more: Washington Post – September 18, 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-declassification-order-is-an-obvious-abuse-of-presidential-power/2018/09/18/a3a5af5e-bb7b-11e8-9812-a389be6690af_story.html?utm_term=.118fc71e1c6a

Contrast this with the outrageous claims by the Federalist that Saint Obama might be considered, by some delusional Tea Party radicals, to have abused power:

http://thefederalist.com/2017/01/19/10-ways-obama-violated-constitution-presidency/

Now you understand why Trump is so dangerous and why the country desperately needs another President like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Any questions?

TDM