twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/866041487473213440
Joy ReidVerified account
@JoyAnnReid
Important fundamentals here. The Justice Dept. does NOT initiate impeachment. The House Judiciary Committee does after reviewing evidence.
Joy ReidVerified account @JoyAnnReid May 20
In Trump's case, we're not even *close to that point yet. The special counsel, Bob Meuller, hasn't even taken office yet.
Mueller is about to *start his investigation. The Justice Department is nowhere near doing anything at this point, esp under Mr. Rosenstein.
It's fine that we're all speculating about the probability/possibility or appropriateness of impeachment -- we did it today on #AMJoy
But anyone who tells you that articles of impeachment have already been filed against Trump are way, way off, and very premature.
Moreover, the Supreme Court has no role in impeachment. The constitution conspicuously excludes the courts and leaves it to congress.
The Bill Clinton legal team tested that question in 1998, and it was affirmed: the SCOTUS has no impeachment role:
Courts not likely to become involved in impeachment Supreme Court has ruled Congress is responsible for deciding the matter
articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-12-22/news/1998356104_1_impeachment-process-supreme-court-senate-rules
All the SCOTUS could do is rule via a specific case that the president has violated the "take care" clause, making impeachment likely.
... as this unfortunately-titled post pointed out in 2006:
The Supreme Court And Presidential Impeachment
www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-holtzman/the-supreme-court-and-pre_b_10595736.html
At issue at the time was GOP-led states challenges to DACA, claiming it=the president failing to "take care to faithfully execute the laws":
So in short, with no case ruled on by the SCOTUS that even brings up the "take care" clause, the court somehow initiating impeachment is a NO.
Also, the House Judiciary Committee is run by Republicans. Here's their chairman: Bob Goodlatte:
Meet the Virginia congressman who tried to gut the House ethics office
www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/meet-the-virginia-congressman-who-tried-to-gut-the-house-ethics-office/2017/01/04/ac848ea8-d205-11e6-945a-76f69a399dd5_story.html?utm_term=.695e2acfea14
And here he is saying there's no need to get all fussy about Russiagate:
Republicans vote down attempt to advance debate on Trump-Russia allegations
www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/28/republicans-vote-down-attempt-to-force-debate-on-trump-russia-allegations/?utm_term=.6568a9264ab6
So in short: no, articles of impeachment have not been advanced against Trump. Republicans are highly unlikely to ever do so, either...
... barring some unforeseen circumstance that literally forces them to separate from Trump.
Even Democrats are like "cool your jets" on impeachment.
Pelosi says she won’t stop impeachment talk
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/19/nancy-pelosi-says-she-wont-stop-impeachment-talk/
That's not to say a Trump impeachment can't happen -- and personally I'd never bet against Auntie Maxine...
Rep. Maxine Waters takes impeachment campaign to the Washington suburbs
www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/rep-maxine-waters-takes-impeachment-campaign-to-the-washington-suburbs/2017/05/19/3994c83e-3cb0-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.d4bbfba86d77
And of course there's always the possibility that a certain somebody is plotting "another way" into the Oval...
Replace Trump with Pence under the 25th Amendment? Don’t hold your breath.
www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/may/18/replace-trump-with-pence-under-the-25th-amendment-/
...or that Trump could get so tired of having an actual job he goes back to playing golf and watching Fox all day. Wait, he does that now...
...or, that Trump finally does something so outrageous, even our unstatesmanlike friends in the GOP finally say "enough."
But if you are one who believes Trump has earned impeachment there IS a way to ensure accountability: change who's running the House.