More than 750 historians have joined in support of the hundreds of Democratic lawmakers who are preparing to impeach PresidentDonald Trumpafter he lobbied Ukraine to investigate his rivals, even as he adamantly denies wrongdoing and on Tuesday struck back at the House of Representatives in biting fashion.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historians such as Robert Caro and Ron Chernow signed the letter, while famed documentarian Ken Burns also added his name to the long list of experts who are calling on the House to impeach the president.
A successful vote on two articles of impeachment against Trump, 73, is expected this week. He is accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
“It is our considered judgment that if President Trump’s misconduct does not rise to the level of impeachment, then virtually nothing does,”the letter reads.
Investigators say Trump used the power of the presidency for his own political gain, though he has denied any wrongdoing. Democratic lawmakers in the House also say Trump obstructed their investigation.
“President Trump’s lawless obstruction of the House of Representatives, which is rightly seeking documents and witness testimony in pursuit of its constitutionally-mandated oversight role, has demonstrated brazen contempt for representative government,” the historians’ letter reads. “So have his attempts to justify that obstruction on the grounds that the executive enjoys absolute immunity, a fictitious doctrine that, if tolerated, would turn the president into an elected monarch above the law.”
Though it’s likely the Democratic House will vote to impeach President Trump this week, he’ll unlikely be removed from office through a Republican-led Senate trial that would follow in January.
Trump would become the third president in United States history to be impeached, joining President Bill Clinton and President Andrew Johnson.
President Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached for his part in the Watergate scandal.
No president has ever been removed from office through impeachment, however.
The 750-plus historians who signed Tuesday’s open letter calling for Trump’s impeachment join more than 850 legal scholars who penned their own open letter calling for the same.
“You have cheapened the importance of that very ugly word, impeachment!” he wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
source: people.com
