CNN: Chronicling Trump's 10 worst abuses of power

As the Senate gets set to try Trump's 2nd impeachment, CNN is highlighting the stakes if Trump is ever again allowed to hold federal office by compiling his 10 worst abuses of power.

The worst of the worst? Subverting the 2020 election and inciting an insurrection.

Join thousands who have signed the Senate petition to CONVICT Trump and disqualify him from ever again holding federal office.

And, chip in to help build pressure in Congress to convict Trump and to hold Republican traitors accountable who voted to overturn our democratic election -- including our new ad campaign we're preparing to launch in Texas and Missouri, right in Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley's backyards.

To put together the list, CNN conducted interviews with a group of 16 "politically diverse constitutional scholars, presidential historians, and experts on democratic institutions." WARNING -- reading this may be like remembering a nightmare!

#1: Subverting the 2020 election

"Nothing remotely compares to this. His actions since the election have threatened the very existence of our constitutional democracy. This looms large in the history of not just this administration, but the history of America. This is what history will remember most harshly."

"Trump has put more pressure on the integrity of the election process than any individual in modern American history. There has never been anything on this scale."

#2: Inciting an insurrection

"This in and of itself puts Trump in the lowest circle of hell among America's presidents."

#3: Abusing the bully pulpit

"Trump abused the bully pulpit to intimidate witnesses, literally bully people and spread disinformation. It's never been done on the scale that he did it."

"The amount of lies that came out of this presidency was corrosive to our political culture. In theory, you could pass new laws to address many of the norm violations we saw under Trump. But earning back people's trust is much harder to do."

#4: Politicizing the Justice Department

"It's extremely important for the integrity of American democracy that the president cannot manipulate law enforcement for partisan, political, self-interested preferences. Trump constantly agitated to eliminate the boundaries between a President and the DOJ."

Join thousands who have signed the Senate petition to convict Trump and disqualify him from federal office forever.

And, chip in toward our pressure campaign on Congress to hold Trump and others accountable.

#5: Obstructing the Mueller investigation

"The offenses in the Mueller report make a powerful and overwhelming case for obstruction of justice and political corruption...Mueller couldn't get to the full scope because of the obstruction."

#6: Abusing the pardon power

"He used the pardon as a tool to entrench himself in power and to subvert the legal system."

"To abuse the pardon power like Trump has, while not unconstitutional, it is surely impeachable and deserves condemnation."

#7: The Ukraine affair and cover-up

"The problem is the misuse of that power for personal political gain, and it's clear that's what Trump did. That is impeachable, and this is the big one that got away."

SIGN THE PETITION: CONVICT Trump and disqualify him from ever again holding federal office.

And, help hold Trump, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and the other Republican traitors accountable.

#8: Loyalty oaths and personalizing government

"Trump's demand that government actors pledge loyalty to him, as opposed to the law or to the constitution, is a corruption of the rule of law, and it's a corruption of government institutions."

"To the extent that a president tries to use his own authority to pressure executive branch officials to be loyal to him rather than to the law, that undermines the government on a fundamental level."

#9: Firing whistleblowers and truth-tellers

"These are actions that are within the president's constitutional powers. But it's still an abuse to use those powers for corrupt personal purposes."

"The President can fire an ambassador, but Trump fired Gordon Sondland because Sondland was a whistleblower against him -- and that's an abuse of power. If you punish someone for exercising their rights, you are violating those rights."

#10: Profiting off the presidency

"The autocrats that I study, like Orban in Hungry, Erdogan in Turkey and Bolsonaro in Brazil, they all do this -- they operate in this space where no law actually prohibits, but soft norms govern. And because there is no law, it's hard to hold them to account. That's how democracies collapse."

The only way to ensure Trump never again holds office is for the Senate to convict. Join thousands who have signed the Senate petition to "CONVICT Trump and disqualify him from ever again holding federal office."

And, chip in to help build pressure in Congress to convict Trump and to expel Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and the other Republican traitors who voted to overturn our democratic election for him.

Thanks for being a bold progressive.

-- The PCCC Elections Team (@BoldProgressive)

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