Fox News analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano said that the evidence presented in the impeachment proceedings against President Trump thus far is “overwhelming” and that it is sufficient “to justify about three or four articles of impeachment.”
In a Friday interview with Reason‘s Nick Gillespie, Napolitano asserted that the president could face impeachment for several violations but underscored the constitutional implications of going forward with the process.
“The Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have unearthed enough evidence, in my opinion, to justify about three or four articles of impeachment against the president,” he said. “We have to start this conversation by underscoring the fact that impeachment is not legal, it is political. Its only constitutional base is treason, bribery, or other hard crimes and misdemeanors.”
Napolitano, 69, elaborated on what violations he feels Trump could legally face impeachment for, highlighting bribery as the primary issue.
“Here’s what I think the Democrats will want … One is bribery. The allegation is the technical definition of bribery is the failure to perform an official duty until a thing of value comes your way, and they 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,” he said. “That is enough, in my opinion, to make it over the threshold of impeachable offenses. I don’t think it’s enough to convict of bribery, but it’s enough to allege it for the purpose of impeachment.”
The former New Jersey Superior Court Judge also suggested other elements of Trump’s actions that could lead to impeachment.
“The second charge will be high crimes and misdemeanors. Election law violation. The third crime will be obstruction of justice,” he said. “The fourth will be interference with the witness, and the fifth, maybe, lying under oath.”
Napolitano dismissed the idea that there is room for interpretation in Trump’s impeachable actions, saying later in the interview, “The evidence of his impeachable behavior at this point, in my view, is overwhelming.” Prior to the impeachment hearings, he also condemned the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as having “manifested both criminal and impeachable behavior” shortly after it became public.
