The White House has declared it won’t cooperate with the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to the political drama of the past year. Administration officials have stonewalled just about every one of the Democrats’ investigations over the past year. Why should this one be any different?
The reasoning for the president’s refusal, however, is a legal and constitutional head-scratcher. In a scathing 8-page letter to House Democrats, Trump’s counsel declared the impeachment inquiry a “highly partisan and unconstitutional effort” that attempts to “overturn the results of the 2016 election and deprive the American people of the president they have freely chosen.”
The key word being “unconstitutional.” To accuse House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the rest of mundane partisanship is understandable, if a bit banal. But unconstitutional? That claim is pretty far-fetched. Impeachment is a tool given to the Congress by the Constitution to keep the president accountable if the need arises. In itself, impeaching Trump is very obviously constitutional.
The White House’s real complaint, then, is the current impeachment process. Trump’s legal counsel, Pat Cipollone, accuses Democrats in his letter of breaking precedent by refusing to bring the impeachment inquiry to the House floor for a vote and denying Republicans and the White House investigative authority in Congress.
He’s right: The Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, and Andrew Johnson impeachments were all introduced on the House floor almost immediately, and the fact that Pelosi has “formally” launched the process without a floor vote is indeed a departure from precedent. But this precedent is not constitutionally required, and Pelosi is not breaking any rules by tossing it aside.
Courts will decide what the White House has to provide Congress and what it doesn’t. Fiercely defending one’s client is part of be a lawyer. But writing off a constitutional mechanism as unconstitutional makes the White House look as petty and partisan as the House Democrats. Impeachment is a serious business but it appears neither political party has figured that out.
