- Jonathan Martinez ’21
In my opinion, President Trump should be impeached. He abused his power, blocking aid to a foreign country that was already approved by Congress. He said that the only way he would send that $400 million worth of military aid was if Ukraine dug up dirt on Joe Biden’s son; he was extorting them. Both himself and the transcript have confirmed that Trump asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden’s son. He asked a foreign country to meddle in an election for potentially the second time. He’s used his political power for his own gain.
These are just the basic facts of the situation. The Huffington Post reported that Trump has asked Ukraine to find dirt on Joe Biden’s son and his connection to a Ukrianian oil company in exchange for $400 million worth of military aid; a quid pro quo. Take note that this aid would be given to Ukraine in the midst of their war against Russia, which is one of the U.S. most potent adversaries.
I feel like people look more into the fact that he was trying to dig up dirt on his political rather than the fact that he blocked military aid to a country. I may be wrong, but people overlook the fact that he refused to give military aid which was already approved by Congress. The president just doesn’t have the power to do this. However, people are correct in mentioning the fact that he asked Ukraine for dirt on the Bidens, which is a clear use of the presidency for personal gain. A president should use the powers granted by the office for the benefit of the country and its people. However, he is using his authority as president for his own benefit, which goes against the rules and values of American democracy.
Furthermore, how could you say that the president did not commit a quid pro quo? A quid pro quo is when you ask someone for something in exchange for something else. The president asked for dirt on a political rival in exchange of military aid which was approved by Congress already. He asked for something in exchange for something else. In fact, Trump himself has confirmed that he asked Ukriainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for information on Biden’s. However, he does not think that the actions he committed are a quid pro quo and are therefore not impeachable. The thing is, this was clearly quid pro quo and thus is impeachable.
Time and time again, we have seen Trump hurt the reputation of the country through his actions. He has made the United States the laughing stock of the whole world. I’m not saying that he should be impeached based on the fact that he doesn’t represent American values, but I am saying that the American president should be a representative of American values. When the founding fathers were recreating the government and included the idea of a chief executive, they were very cautious to create an impeachment process that could act against offenses such as abuse of power and the serving of oneself as opposed to the national interest. They did not want to live under a tyranny like they had been under England. During Watergate, just like Trump, Nixon was also trying to conceal and obstruct the investigation. Nixon did his best to hide the tapes of his conversations with other White House official until Congress forced him to turn the tapes in.
Similar to Nixon, Trump has been telling people to not testify; they both had the desire to conceal and cover up so no one could see. The attempt to conceal and obstruct any investigation is an impeachable offense in itself. Although Trump eventually released the transcript, he initially didn’t want it to be released. At the end of the of the day, impeachment does not mean removal from office but rather an investigation and a trial. Plus, we have only started an impeachment inquiry. Even if he deserves to be impeached or not, we still have a long process to go through.
Photo from NBC News
