WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2019) There is already plenty of evidence available in the public domain to launch impeachment proceedings against US President Donald Trump especially considering he is implicated in three Federal investigations, former National Lawyers Guild President Marjorie Cohn told Sputnik.
Democrats last week again raised the prospect of impeaching the president after BuzzFeed reported that Trump allegedly directed his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress regarding talks to build a Trump Tower in Moscow - although Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office refuted the story.
"There is abundant evidence that Trump has committed crimes. Trump is apparently implicated in at least three federal criminal investigations, including violation of finance laws in connection with Trump Tower Moscow," Cohn, an emerita professor of law at the Thomas Jefferson school of Law, San Diego, California said. "The House doesn't need Mueller's report to initiate impeachment proceedings, as there is already evidence of Trump's law breaking in the public arena."
Moreover, Cohn added, impeachment is a political process that does not even require the commission of a crime, so House Democrats do not need to wait around for a pretext to begin the process.
The other investigations include campaign finance violations for hush money paid to Trump's alleged paramours in order to influence the presidential election and the receipt of illegal payments for presidential access and policy influence, she added.
However, Cohn explained, even if the Democratic majority in the House impeached Trump conviction and removal require a two-thirds majority of the Republican-controlled Senate. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was not likely to even bring the matter to the floor, Cohn said. Then again, Senate Republicans would be forced to explain themselves.
"By impeaching Trump and shining a light on his crimes and malfeasance, the House would toss the ball to the Senate to justify to the American public why they refuse to act on Trump's notorious law breaking," she said.
Cohn also downplayed rumors that House Democrats might bargain with Trump over impeachment.
"There is some speculation that once it becomes clear that Trump and his family are in serious legal jeopardy, he may make a deal to resign from the presidency if prosecutors refrain from bringing criminal charges," she said.
On Wednesday, Cohen's attorney said his client postponed testifying before Congress due to threats against his family made by Trump.
As a result of November's mid-term elections the Democratic Party seized control of the House away from the Republicans. When the new Congress convened in early January some lawmakers immediately vowed to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, has said that although impeachment was on the table, lawmakers should wait to see the result of Mueller's probe into alleged collusion between Trump and Russia, charges both parties have repeatedly denied.
The National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest progressive bar association in the United States, according to the organization's website.
