Countering Trump’s Attempt to Impede Impeachment

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/opinion/letters/trump-impeachment.html

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To the Editor:

“Dealing With Mr. Trump’s Stonewall” (editorial, Oct. 10) admonishes the House leadership to honor “basic fairness” by granting White House requests for “procedural protections” like those granted a defendant in a criminal trial.

Basic fairness does not require giving President Trump more tools to slow down and obstruct the House impeachment inquiry. The Senate, not the House, has the responsibility to try cases of impeachment. The House leadership needs to explain to the public that Mr. Trump will have opportunities to challenge evidence when the Senate conducts a trial, should the House decide to impeach.

The House committees’ obligation to gather evidence quickly enough to limit further damage to our national security and our institutions precludes giving another forum to a president who does not accept the legitimacy of the Constitution and the mechanism it creates for defending the constitutional order from an authoritarian president.

David M. DriesenFayetteville, N.Y.The writer is a professor at Syracuse University College of Law.

To the Editor:

Re “And Now We’re in a Constitutional Crisis” (Op-Ed, Oct. 10):

Noah Feldman is right: We are facing a constitutional crisis because of President Trump’s refusal to cooperate with the House inquiry. And I agree that the resolution may come from the Supreme Court.

If so, we will see whether the justices appointed by Republican presidents really care about the Constitution. We will see whether, as many suppose, the chief justice cares a great deal about how history will look back upon the Roberts court.

This may be the John Roberts moment. His character and abilities are about to be tested. Let us hope that our chief justice is up to the task. Let us hope that not only will Justice Roberts cast his vote on the basis of principle and in defense of the rule of law, but also that he will lead his court into a unanimous statement that the president of the United States is not above the law, that the United States is a democracy not a dictatorship, that the president is not a king.

Richard NochimsonBronx

To the Editor:

Re “A Ukraine Team on a Hunt for Influence, Dirt and Money” (front page, Oct. 11) and “Barr Meets With Murdoch as Trump Lashes Out at Fox” (news article, Oct. 11):

Between your report about Rudolph Giuliani’s exploits in Ukraine with two associates and the news of the attorney general meeting privately at Rupert Murdoch’s home, this seems more film noir than governance of the country.

And what writer could top your report that the company of one of Mr. Giuliani’s arrested associates is called Fraud Guarantee?

Charles MerrillNew York