Is it really ever wrong to wait to do what’s right?
That depends on why you are waiting to do the right thing. If your wait is contingent on political calculations and false arguments, yes, it’s wrong.
We were waiting on congressional Democrats and Republicans to find their soul or a spine.
We have waited long enough.
Our newspaper calls on the congressional House Judiciary Committee to open an impeachment inquiry of President Trump.
This inquiry, after holding hearings, calling witnesses, gathering documents and debate, will determine if his actions in question rise to the level of an impeachable offense.
The panel would then vote to either recommend the full House approve one or more articles of impeachment or opt not to make any recommendations.
These proceedings against President Clinton for lying and obstruction in 1998 took three months before the House voted to impeach him.
The House can impeach a president by a simple majority vote — 218 House members. Impeachment though is simply like an indictment.
The Senate would convene a trial if the House votes to impeach the president, but two thirds — 67 senators — of that chamber would have to vote to convict to remove the president.
Our reasons for endorsing an impeachment inquiry our threefold:
The president’s vow to ignore nearly every subpoena calling for documents and witnesses by no less than six House committees is unprecedented and unlawful.
Though the Mueller Report has been soft-peddled by some, many who read it have come away with an incriminating view of a lawless president and a corrupt administration.
Not only does it highlight Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, but also the disconcerting contacts between the Trump campaign and people connected to or in the Russian government. And perhaps most egregious, the president repeatedly attempting to obstruct this investigation, altogether.
Finally, an impeachment inquiry will give the House Judiciary Committee much more clout before federal courts to break the blockade of information it is now seeking.
As special counsel Robert Mueller put it, “the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.”
Congress is obligated to fulfill that process or else disregard its duty, which could cause lasting damage not only to Congress but to our country.
An impeachment inquiry may decide not to seek the president’s ouster and if so we all should abide by that decision. But this is a necessary next step.
The debate to open this inquiry is over. Political prospects be damned, the truth is worth defending.
If we were waiting for a disaster to happen, it already has.
