The Caligula Impeachment Congress

No wonder Democrat House Members have started to defect.

In two prior articles on this subject, “The Caligula-esque Impeachment Congress,” and “Son of Caligula Impeachment Congress,” I recounted how Sir William Blackstone, in his 1765 "Commentaries on the Laws of England," explained the essential properties of all man-made law (as opposed to Divine Law and Natural Law), and in this context Sir William Blackstone also explained how any government must promulgate its laws in the “most perspicuous manner” available, “not like [Emperor] Caligula, who . . . wrote his laws in very small character, and hung them up upon high pillars, the more effectually to ensnare the people.”

In the two “articles of impeachment” approved by the House Judiciary Committee on December 13, 2019, Chairman Jerrold Nadler essentially “wrote his laws in very small character, and hung them up upon high pillars, the more effectually to ensnare the [President].”

Nowhere in the so-called “articles of impeachment” is there mention of any specific “high crimes” or “misdemeanors,” the sine qua non of impeachment under the U.S. Constitution, which every Member of the House of Representative takes an oath to support and defend. Article II, Section 4 of that Constitution provides that, “The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

It has now been four months since the August 12, 2019, “whistleblower” complaint accusing President Donald Trump of “a serious or flagrant problem, abuse, or violation of law or Executive Order,” quoting not any criminal statute but quoting instead the federal statute that established the office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, 50 U.S.C. § 3033.

The pending two articles of impeachment likewise cite no criminal statute.

Article One alleges that, “Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election. He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage....”

Article Two alleges that, “Donald J. Trump has directed the unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its ‘sole Power of Impeachment’,” without mentioning that the subpoenas are subject to judicial review.

By failing to cite any alleged criminal law violation, the ongoing House “impeachment proceedings” are an unconstitutional abuse of power by House Democrats designed to impeach the President of the United States for essentially doing what he said he would do if elected.

It does not get more Caligula-esque than this.

House Members who vote to remove from office the author of “The Art of the Deal” for engaging in deal-making — on behalf of “We the People” — and for seeking judicial review of House subpoenas should expect “We the People” to hold them accountable at the ballot box.

Joseph E. Schmitz served as a foreign policy and national security advisor to Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. The opinions expressed in this article are his personal opinions. Schmitz served as Inspector General of the Department of Defense from 2002-2005 and is now Chief Legal Officer of Pacem Solutions International. He graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy, earned his J.D. degree from Stanford Law School, and is author of "The Inspector General Handbook: Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Other Constitutional ‘Enemies, Foreign and Domestic.’" Read more reports from Joseph E. Schmitz — Click Here Now.