and invited Russian interference in the election.[1]
Rather than aid the Special Counsel's investigation into Russian interference, President Trump sought to thwart it—and used the powers of his office as part of that scheme.[2] Most notably, after learning that he was himself under investigation, President Trump among other things ordered the firing of the Special Counsel,[3] sought to curtail the Special Counsel's investigation in a manner exempting his own prior conduct,[4] instructed the White House Counsel to create a false record and make false public statements,[5] and tampered with at least two key witnesses in the Special Counsel's investigation.[6] Based on the Special Counsel's report, these acts were obstructive in nature, and there is evidence strongly supporting that President Trump acted with the improper (and criminal) purpose of avoiding potential liability and concealing information that he viewed as personally and politically damaging. [7]
The pattern is as unmistakable as it is unnerving. There, President Trump welcomed and invited a foreign nation to interfere in a United States Presidential election to his advantage; here, President Trump solicited and pressured a foreign nation to do so. There, Executive Branch law enforcement investigated; here, the House impeachment inquiry investigated. There, President Trump used the powers of his office to obstruct and seek to fire the Special Counsel; here, President Trump used the powers of his office to obstruct and embargo the House impeachment inquiry. There, while obstructing investigators, the President stated that he remained free to invite foreign interference in our elections; here, while obstructing investigators, President Trump in fact invited additional foreign interference. Indeed, President Trump placed his fateful July 25 call to President Zelensky just one day after the Special Counsel testified in Congress about his findings.
Viewed in this frame, it is apparent that President Trump sees no barrier to inviting (or inducing) foreign interference in our elections, using the powers of his office to obstruct anyone who dares to investigate such misconduct, and engaging in the same conduct with impunity all over again. Although the Second Article of Impeachment focuses on President Trump's categorical and indiscriminate obstruction of the House impeachment inquiry, the consistency of this obstruction with his broader pattern of misconduct is relevant and striking.[8]
- ↑ See generally Mueller Report Vol. II.
- ↑ See id.
- ↑ See id. at 77-90.
- ↑ See id. at 90-98.
- ↑ See id. at 113-20.
- ↑ See id. at 120-56.
- ↑ See id. at 87-90, 97-98, 118-20, 131-33, 153-56.
- ↑ The same point applies to President Trump's unjustified and improper obstruction of this Committee's efforts to investigate the evidence bearing on the question of whether President Trump committed obstruction of justice in his efforts to undermine the Special Counsel's investigation. See, e.g., Nadler Statement on White House Obstruction of Dearborn, Porter & Lewandowski Testimony, House Committee on the Judicary, Sept. 16, 2019 (addressing White House obstruction of witness testimony on grounds of "absolute immunity"). Of course, several matters relating to that issue are
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