Abuse of power: Impeachment case strong if Trump proven guilty, say law experts

WASHINGTON: Democratic lawmakers have a strong case for impeaching US President Donald Trump if they can prove he abused his power when he asked Ukraine’s president to “look into” an American political rival, several legal experts said. The legal experts said the central question in an impeachment inquiry is whether Trump put his interest above those of the nation by leveraging aid to Ukraine in return for incriminating information. Evidence of a cover-up could strengthen the impeachment case, they said.

“The US has a national security interest in Ukraine and it does appear that what the president was doing was putting that national security interest at risk in exchange for political benefits,” said Louis Michael Seidman, a professor at Georgetown Law. “If that is what happened, that is the core of what impeachment is about.”

Legal experts said Trump’s call with Zelenskiy, who was seeking US missiles, may run afoul of the bribery statute or violate campaign finance law, which makes it a crime to solicit a benefit to the campaign from a foreign national. “Whether it is a crime or not makes no difference for purposes of impeachment. Asking a foreign country to provide campaign dirt in exchange for weapons is an abuse of power and precisely what the Framers (of the US Constitution) believed would justify impeachment,” said former federal prosecutor Harry Sandick.

Legal experts said the House will likely seek testimony from those who are familiar with Trump’s discussions with world leaders, as well as communications from advisers leading up to and following the Ukraine call. Not all experts agreed there was an impeachment case against Trump. David Rivkin, a constitutional litigator and a former Justice Department lawyer, said there was nothing inappropriate about asking a foreign country to investigate a US citizen who may have violated the laws of that country.

But other experts said the whistleblower’s claims that White House officials intervened to “lock down” records of the July call suggested a cover-up that could bolster the impeachment case against Trump.