The time for waiting is over. The House must move on Trump impeachment articles now.
Laurence Tribe, Opinion contributor Published 3:15 a.m. ET Oct. 9, 2019 | Updated 9:11 a.m. ET Oct. 9, 2019
https://web.archive.org/web/20191009205338/https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/10/09/trump-impeachment-vote-charges-now-add-more-articles-later-column/3909558002/


Impeaching a U.S. president might not be the be-all-end-all for their career. We explain why this is the case. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
The Constitution makes clear the House can conduct its Trump impeachment inquiry however it wants. It should move fast. America has no time to spare.

The White House’s blanket stonewalling of the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump isn’t just deeply troubling or further indirect evidence of the president’s underlying abuse of public power for private gain. It signals another clear ground for his impeachment: obstruction of Congress.

Clearly impeachable conduct

This is far from the first time Trump has directed administration officials not to comply with a congressional request or subpoena. Ordinarily, he has relied on the pretext of a misapplied or nonexistent executive privilege or immunity as justification. Such an excuse would be wholly inadequate here, given the absence of any plausible legal argument for any such privilege, and the settled principle that impeachment proceedings put Congress in a position to claim that the public’s need for full information overcomes any arguably applicable evidentiary shield.

Desperate 'kangaroo court' gambit

It is not for the president to decide what makes the impeachment inquiries of the House Intelligence Committee chaired by Rep. Adam Schiff sufficiently authorized to carry the imprimatur of Congress. That, to put it bluntly, is none of the president’s business. Nor is his self-interested characterization of the Schiff inquiry as a “kangaroo court” entitled to even the slightest respect from anyone.