House Democrats ‘Have Unearthed Enough Evidence’ For Multiple Articles Of Impeachment, Says Fox News Analyst
In an interview broadcast on Friday, Fox News‘ legal analyst Andrew Napolitano said that Democrats in the House of Representatives “have unearthed enough evidence” for multiple articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, Mediaite reports.
According to Napolitano, Democrats have gathered enough evidence for as much as five impeachment articles.
Napolitano explained that impeachment is a political and not a legal process, stating that the United States Constitution recognizes “treason, bribery, or other hard crimes and misdemeanors” as impeachable offenses.
According to the legal expert, Democrats can impeach Trump over bribery, election law violations, obstruction of justice, witness intimidation, and possibly for making false statements under oath.
Napolitano suggested that House Democrats’ case is the strongest when it comes to bribery, opining that they are likely to argue that Trump’s alleged decision to freeze military aid to Ukraine until his political opponents are investigated constitutes the crime.
According to the legal analyst, Democrats will “argue that the president’s failure to disperse funds that the Congress ordered be dispersed until the recipient of the funds agreed to investigate a potential political opponent is an act of bribery.”
“The second charge will be high crimes and misdemeanors. Election law violation,” Napolitano said, adding that the third article of impeachment could focus on obstruction of justice by the president.
“The fourth will be interference with the witness, and the fifth, maybe, lying under oath,” the analyst added, concluding that Democrats have a strong case against Trump.
“The evidence of his impeachable behavior at this point, in my view, is overwhelming.”
According to reports, Napolitano is on the right track.
House Democrats are reportedly drafting four different articles of impeachment and looking to accuse Trump of bribery, obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and obstruction of the United States Congress.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has confirmed that his panel is working on the impeachment report, leaving the door open to call more witnesses.
Furthermore, according to reports, Democrats want to hold a formal vote to impeach the president before Christmas.
In case the House votes to impeach Trump, the GOP-controlled Senate will have the choice of outright dismissing articles of impeachment — or holding a trial.
Republicans reportedly want to hold a trial, partially because the process would effectively force Democratic senators running for president to stay in Washington, and off the campaign trail. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar would all have to take time off and participate in the proceedings.
According to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, the Senate will most likely hold a trial.
