Impeaching Trump is now being openly discussed as a real possibility


A growing handful of Democratic lawmakers have been suggesting it may be time to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump, especially after he appears to have at least tiptoed up to obstructing justice by allegedly ordering FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn, a day after he fired Flynn as national security adviser. Lawyers don't agree if Trump's purported comments to Comey amount to obstruction of justice, the main charge in both the Nixon and Clinton impeachment cases. But they do agree that impeachment is the only punishment Trump would face.
Impeachment proceedings are still a long shot, not least because they would have to start with House Republicans, and no Republican in Congress is explicitly using the i-word yet. But they are starting to talk subpoenas and making Watergate comparisons, and people who aren't congressional Democrats are beginning to talk impeaching Trump — an idea the public is apparently warming up to. On Tuesday evening, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin reacted to the report that Trump asked Comey to stand down with "three words: obstruction of justice."
David Gergen, a veteran presidential adviser, went a step further. "I was in the Nixon administration, as you know," he said on CNN, "and I thought after watching the Clinton impeachment, I thought I'd never see another one. But I think we're in impeachment territory now for the first time."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, told Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday that if the Comey memos are "true and confirmed I think you're getting very close to the legal definition of obstruction of justice." When Blitzer asked if we're "getting closer to the possibility of yet another impeachment process," King said, "reluctantly, Wolf, I have to say yes, simply because obstruction of justice is such a serious offense."
King was clear that impeachment would have to be for "high crimes and misdemeanors," because "we don't want to get into the situation where we're charging our president based on any kind of political considerations." And Republicans have to turn on Trump for him to be in any real danger. But as a senior official in the Trump administration and campaign said to The Daily Beast, after the last week, "I don't see how Trump isn't completely f—ed."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants