A Brief History of Impeachment.
Democrats facing the sobering decision of whether to seek an early end to a lawless presidency are looking to history for guidance.
They see a cautionary tale in the impeachment of Bill Clinton for his cover-up of a cloakroom affair with a White House intern. As the nation watched Republican congressmen debate in painful detail the DNA stain on a certain blue dress, lying to protect the young woman’s honor began to sound almost noble — even if it was the act of a scoundrel.
Clinton’s presidency survived. The impeachment proceedings only elevated his approval rating.
Richard Nixon’s experience was different. In the wake of the Mueller Report, those favoring a quick move to impeach remind us it was only after impeachment hearings began that the “smoking gun” tape incriminating Nixon came to light.
In the end Nixon was still governed by some sense of honor and service to his country. Faced with a strong case for impeachment, he did the right thing and retreated to a quiet exile in San Clemente.
It’s not easy to picture that happening with Donald Trump. For one thing, the Mueller report and the testimony of Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen detail the extent to which he operates with a crime boss’s instinct for making himself invisible to incriminating evidence, leaving the messy business…
