纽约时报编辑委员会周六发表了一篇简洁的专栏文章,支持弹劾唐纳德·特朗普总统,谴责共和党颠覆民主。
该报的舆论记者编辑委员会表示,特朗普已经把捍卫美国宪法和整个共和国的权力完全交给了众议院。
纽约时报 观点文章称众议院弹劾进展如此之快“令人遗憾”,但特朗普在即将到来的选举中作弊的确定性迫使他们出手。该委员会还表示,如果总统碰巧是他们自己政党的成员,民主党人应该考虑是否搁置自己的党派偏见。
但是最终倍董事会认为,众议院下周必须通过两项弹劾条款——滥用权力和阻挠国会——因为该国的制定者明确警告说,总统“可能会背叛对外国势力的信任”
这倍注意到特朗普拒绝与众议院弹劾调查合作,并阻挠其政府成员的证词,“违反了权力分立”特朗普宣称“国会不能容忍君主豁免权”
“宪法的制定者明白,如果总统决心通过欺骗来赢得选举,那么选举和民主就无法正常运转。”倍引用詹姆斯·麦迪逊的话写道。"特朗普自从进入椭圆形办公室以来,就一直在犯有可以被弹劾的罪行。"上周,前奥巴马白宫顾问罗伯特“鲍勃”鲍尔提出了类似的论点开国元勋们就像特朗普一样预测“煽动者”。
“唐纳德·特朗普像前总统一样阻挠,让国会别无选择,只能推进参议院审判,”文章继续说道。
但是倍董事会要求共和党人和民主党人在权衡是否弹劾总统的决定时进行一些自我反省,这是该国历史上的第三次。
“为了抵制党派偏见,共和党人和民主党人都应该问自己同样的问题:他们会容忍民主党总统这样利用白宫的权力吗?”
这篇文章还挑出参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔和南卡罗莱纳州参议员林赛·格雷厄姆公开表达对回顾事实毫无兴趣,而是发誓与白宫的愿望保持一致。但这些作者表示,他们希望特朗普最终能拿出他迄今未能提供的辩护,并要求国务卿迈克·庞贝和前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿宣誓出庭,为他在乌克兰的行为“开脱”。
'IMPEACH': NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD SAYS PRESIDENT TRUMP LEFT CONGRESS WITH NO CHOICE
The New York Times Editorial Board penned a succinct op-ed piece published Saturday backing the impeachment of President Donald Trump and condemning Republicans for subverting democracy.
The newspaper's editorial board of opinion journalists said Trump has left the defense of the U.S. Constitution, and the Republic as a whole, solely in the hands of the House of Representatives.
The New York Times opinion piece said it's "regrettable" the House moved so quickly with impeachment, but Trump's certainty to cheat in the upcoming election forced their hand. The board also said Democrats should consider if they would put aside their own partisanship if the president happened to be a member of their own party.
But ultimately, the Times board argues, the House must pass the two articles of impeachment next week -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress -- because the country's framers explicitly warned of a president who "might betray his trust to foreign powers."
The Times notes Trump's refusal to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry and his stonewalling of testimony from his members of his administration has "violated the separation of powers." Trump has claimed"monarchical immunity that Congress cannot let stand."
"The framers of the Constitution understood that elections, and thus democracy, cannot function appropriately 'if a president was determined to cheat to win,' the Times writes, citing James Madison. "Trump has been committing arguably impeachable offenses since the moment he entered the Oval Office." Last week, former Obama White House Counsel Robert "Bob" Bauer made a similar argument that the Founding Fathers predicted "demagogues" just like Trump.
"By stonewalling as no previous president has, Donald Trump has left Congress with no choice but to press ahead to a Senate trial," the piece continues.
But the Times board asks both Republicans and Democrats to do a bit of soul-searching as they weigh the decision of whether or not to impeach a president for just the third time in the country's history.
"To resist the pull of partisanship, Republicans and Democrats alike ought to ask themselves the same question: Would they put up with a Democratic president using the power of the White House this way?"
The piece also singles out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham for publicly expressing zero interest in reviewing the facts and instead vowing to keep in lock-step with the desires of the White House. But the writers said they hope Trump will finally produce the defense he has so far failed to provide and demand sworn appearances by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former national security adviser John Bolton to "exonerate" his Ukraine actions.