在《今日美国》哈佛大学法学教授劳伦斯·特里伯周六发表文章称，唐纳德·特朗普总统的弹劾调查关系到更大的利益。
“弹劾程序是关于投票权的，”他写道。“你的投票权。我们生活在自由国家的权利，管理我们自己的生活。没有比这更危险的了。”
标题是“为什么关心特朗普被弹劾？你在自由选举中的投票权岌岌可危，”部落的文章并没有从理论上说美国人将真正失去投票权。他表示，外国势力干预美国选举是对美国人选择自己领导人权利的威胁。他问特朗普的行为是否会让美国选举“暴露在非法的、通常是秘密的、被外国政府操纵的风险之下，这些外国政府根本没有考虑到我们的最佳利益。”
宪法学者部落称，他认为特朗普与乌克兰总统沃洛迪米尔·泽伦斯基的通话是一项可弹劾的罪行。他写道:“特朗普要求的利益——从技术上来说是‘被要求的’——具有明显的个人性质，这使得他的行为无论从哪个角度来看都是一种贿赂，也是对制定者最关心的滥用职权行为。”。“事实证明，特朗普只是想让乌克兰收拾残局、打击腐败的任何借口都是站不住脚的。”
援引斯坦福大学法学教授帕米拉·卡兰在弹劾听证会上的证词，部落警告外国干涉美国选举的危险。“正是布雷特·卡瓦诺法官在2011年的一项判决中写道，后来最高法院立即一致确认:‘美国有着令人信服的利益...他写道，限制外国公民参与“更不用说外国政府”美国民主自治的活动，从而防止外国对美国政治进程的影响。
部落还警告说，普通美国人没有理由在弹劾期间无动于衷，因为这是一个会影响所有美国人的问题。他表示，弹劾特朗普对于“保护宪法不受总统的侵犯是必要的，总统对此毫不含糊，更不用说一句话也不理解。”
这位学者还在专栏中写道，他与约书亚·马茨合著的书中有一段话，结束总统任期，提到由共和党律师在最近的众议院弹劾调查听证会上提出。“文章接着描述了纯粹党派性的、由个性驱动的拒绝弹劾和罢免一位明显犯有‘重罪和轻罪’的总统所带来的更大危险。”但是共和党律师忽略了这一部分。"
HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR SAYS IMPEACHMENT PROCESS IS ABOUT THE 'RIGHT TO VOTE'
In a USA Today op-ed published Saturday, Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe argued that there is a greater thing at stake associated with President Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry.
"This impeachment process is about the right to vote," he wrote. "Your right to vote. Our right to live in a free country, governing our own lives. Nothing less is at stake."
Titled "Why care about the Trump impeachment? Your right to vote in free elections is at stake," Tribe's piece does not theorize that Americans will literally lose the right to vote. He stated that foreign powers tampering with U.S. elections is a threat to Americans' right to choose their own leaders. He asked if Trump's actions leave U.S. elections "exposed to lawless, often clandestine, manipulation by foreign governments that have anything but our best interests at heart."
A constitutional scholar, Tribe stated that he believes Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is an impeachable offense. "It's the telltale personal nature of the benefit Trump demanded — technically, 'requested' — that makes his conduct a bribe by any definition and an abuse of office in the sense of greatest concern to the framers," he wrote. "Any pretense that Trump was simply seeking to get Ukraine to clean up its act and fight corruption is blown out of the water by the proven facts."
Referencing Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan's testimony during the impeachment hearings, Tribe warned of the dangers of foreign interference in U.S. election. "It was none other than Justice Brett Kavanaugh who wrote in a 2011 decision later affirmed summarily and unanimously by the Supreme Court: 'the United States has a compelling interest ... in limiting the participation of foreign citizens," much less foreign governments, 'in activities of American democratic self-government, and in thereby preventing foreign influence over the U.S. political process,'" he wrote.
Tribe also warned that there is no reason the average American should be indifferent during the impeachment, because it is an issue that will affect all Americans. He said that impeaching Trump is necessary for "protecting the Constitution from a president who doesn't give two hoots about it, much less understand a word of it."
The scholar also wrote in the op-ed that a passage from his book he co-wrote with Joshua Matz, To End a Presidency, was mentioned by the Republican counsel at the recent House impeachment inquiry hearing. "The passage continued by describing the even greater dangers posed by a purely partisan, personality-driven refusal to impeach and remove a president who has clearly committed 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' But the Republican counsel left out that part."
