If a president seeking to overturn the legitimate results of an election is not an impeachable offense, the Founders might not have written the impeachment clause into the Constitution.
James Rosen
If Donald Trump’s bid to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to reject the 2020 election outcome was not the kind of “high crime” the Founders feared, then their clear intention to create an ultimate check on a president’s power is meaningless.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to understand the Founders’ intention when he said on the Senate floor on Feb. 13, 2021, that Trump had “fed wild falsehoods” to his followers about the 2020 election. McConnell directly blamed Trump for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. “Former President Trump’s actions that preceded the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty,” McConnell said. He added: “There’s no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
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Yet McConnell voted against convicting Trump of inciting an insurrection on the ground that the Constitution’s impeachment clause could not be used against a former president. Trump had been replaced by President Joe Biden just 24 days earlier.
