White House lawyers have begun researching impeachment in the unlikely event that Donald Trump is forced to go through proceedings aimed at removing him from office, according to CNN.
From CNN:
White House counsel’s office have consulted experts in impeachment during the past week and have begun collecting information on how such proceedings would work, a person briefed on the matter told CNN.
One outside attorney close to the office of White House counsel Don McGahn cast doubt on impeachment preparations, saying it wouldn’t be something McGahn would authorize.
The legal discussions are part of a broader internal effort to bolster the president’s legal defense, which has become more complicated with the Justice Department’s appointment of a special counsel to pursue the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
It is highly unlikely that Trump will be removed from office. His collusion with Russia was known before the 2016 presidential election, though not to the extent that it has been revealed.
From institutional anti-Muslim violence and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ escalation of the drug war; to a continued oil-slickened bond with Saudi Arabia and a reckless foreign policy; to a war on women and regressive, punitive, anti-black policies meant to “make America great again,” Trump was who he was before he got here.
Some in Democratic leadership, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have already begun to veer harder right, just as predicted, to appeal to Trump voters and Dixiecrats. Be clear: Actions are speaking a lot louder than words. Also, it’s important to note that even if articles of impeachment are brought against a president, that doesn’t mean the president will be removed from office.
Again, No. 45 is what happens when a country lies to itself about the depth of its character, and the U.S.—with its flag-waving and whitewashed mutations of freedom—can’t run from that forever.
In the meantime, the political theater in Washington, D.C.—complete with the FBI, an agency responsible for COINTELPRO, reshaping itself into a hero of the resistance—continues.