Democrats Debate Whether Trump Has Been Impeached

by Alan M. Dershowitz  •  December 24, 2019 at 5:00 am

     

• Under Laurence Tribe's scenario, the House Democrats get to "obstruct" the Senate and "abuse" their power (to borrow terms from the articles of impeachment).

• I believe that the Senate need not wait for articles of impeachment to be transmitted. Senators are empowered by the constitution to begin a trial now — with or without further action by the House. Just as the House has the "sole power of impeachment," so too the Senate has the "sole power to try all impeachments."

• Tribe and the Democratic House majority, led by Speaker Pelosi, want to have their constitutional cake and eat it too: they want Trump impeached but not acquitted. Sorry, but the Constitution does not permit that partisan, result-oriented ploy. Either Trump has been impeached and is entitled to a Senate trial; or he has not been impeached and is entitled to a clean slate.

• So there are only two constitutionally viable alternatives: either Pelosi must announce that Trump has not been impeached; or the Senate must initiate a trial. Preserving the status quo indefinitely — Trump remaining impeached without having a trial — is unconstitutional and should not be tolerated by the American people.

Pictured: Speaker Nancy Pelosi presides over the House of Representatives vote on the second article of impeachment of President Donald Trump, on December 18. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Speaker Pelosi's unconstitutional decision to delay transmission of the articles of impeachment to the Senate in order to gain partisan advantage raises the following question: has President Trump been impeached, or did the House vote merely represent an authorization or intention to impeach — which becomes an actual impeachment only when the articles are transmitted?

This highly technical constitutional issue is being debated by two of my former Harvard Law School colleagues — Professors Laurence Tribe and Noah Feldman — both liberal Democrats who support President Trump's impeachment.

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Palestinians: 'Foreigners' in an Arab Country

by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  December 24, 2019 at 4:30 am

     

• Instead of helping the Palestinians who are being arrested and killed and tortured in Iraq, the UN, EU and "pro-Palestinian" groups are busy spouting hate against Israel.

• The number of Palestinians in Iraq has dropped from more than 40,000 before 2003 to fewer than 6,000 today. Many Palestinians have been killed, injured and arrested by Iraqi authorities and various militias. Thousands of Palestinians fled to neighboring countries, including Syria and Jordan.

• The United Nations, European Union and various human rights organizations pay attention to the Palestinians only when they find a way to hold Israel responsible for their "suffering."

• More than 4,000 Palestinians have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the civil war there in 2011. Palestinians in Lebanon are banned from working in about 70 professions, such as medicine, law and engineering, or joining any professional association.... Palestinians are victims not only of their Arab brothers, but also of the double standards of the international community, which continues to be obsessed only with Israel.

Last year, then Iraqi President Fuad Masum approved Law No. 76 of 2017, which stripped Palestinians living in Iraq of their rights and classified them as "foreigners." (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Palestinians living in Iraq were recently stripped of the equal-rights status they had enjoyed under Saddam Hussein. Now, the Palestinians are complaining that they are being targeted by the Iraqi authorities and various militias.

Their complaints, however, seem to have been ignored by the international community, including Western activists and human rights organizations that describe themselves as "pro-Palestinian."

No one in the international community cares about Palestinians when they are targeted by their Arab brothers.

The United Nations, European Union and various human rights organizations pay attention to the Palestinians only when they find a way to hold Israel responsible for their "suffering."

Instead of helping the Palestinians who are being arrested and killed and tortured in Iraq, the UN, EU and "pro-Palestinian" groups are busy spouting hate against Israel.

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Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Most Joyous New Year!

December 24, 2019 at 4:00 am

     

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