Trump committed impeachable crimes, Congress told

WASHINGTON: Three constitutional experts on Wednesday bolstered Democrats’ efforts to impeach Donald Trump by saying the president’s actions seeking foreign interference in US elections are grounds for removal, as the inquiry kicked into a new phase in Congress.

But reflecting the Washington political divide, a fourth expert strongly dissented, saying there was “woefully inadequate” evidence that Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors necessary for impeachment.

Democrats have made a forceful case that Trump should be removed from office for abusing his powers by pressuring Ukraine for dirt on an election rival, arguing that the Founding Fathers had a remedy -- impeachment -- for such wrongdoing.

In a theatrical, contentious hearing of the House Judiciary Committee -- now tasked with weighing impeachment charges against the president -- lawmakers listened to damning testimony from constitutional law professors who said Trump’s conduct rises to that level.

“We three are unanimous,” jurisprudence professor Michael Gerhart of the University of North Carolina stated, referring to fellow witnesses Pamela Karlan, a Stanford Law School professor, and professor Noah Feldman of Harvard Law School.

One of the scholars told Wednesday’s hearing Trump had perpetrated one of the gravest political transgressions in US history.

“The president’s serious misconduct, including bribery, soliciting a personal favor from a foreign leader in exchange for his exercise of power, and obstructing justice and Congress are worse than the misconduct of any prior president,” said Gerhart.