Dear John,

I have always been cautious on the topic of impeachment. I’ve understood the argument for impeachment, of course, but my position has been tempered by political realities. The Republicans are in charge of the Senate, so they wouldn’t remove him from office even if the House impeached him. We have an election coming up next year and the president could play this in such a way as to make himself look like a victim.

All those things have kept me from getting on board with impeachment. Until now.

My main concern has never been collusion, though collusion seems obviously to have taken place. What has always been Trump’s most impeachable offense, to me, has been what in any other context would be called kidnapping—forcibly removing children from their parents’ arms—as a way of dissuading others from seeking to immigrate here. Such cruelty has no place in American public policy.

But what the president has done now is more than cruel, and more than a danger to our values. It could be a danger to our country. When a president has no qualms withholding aid from another country unless its government agrees to help him get dirt on his political opponents, America has a serious problem. Our president has apparently no respect for the demands, the responsibilities, or the limits to his power. American foreign policy is not a toy for the president to use for either his pleasure or his profit.

Because of that, I have decided impeachment is the only responsible way that we, as citizens, can take a stand against the president’s egregious overreach and careless use of the powers of the presidency. The Founders established the power of impeachment to protect our democracy at such a time as this. They did their part. It is time for us to do ours. Each of us is responsible, in our own way, for protecting the Constitution. 

It is with no pleasure that I support an impeachment inquiry into the president. It is, however, with a deep belief that it is the right thing to do.

With all best wishes, for you and for our country…

Marianne Williamson