Trump legal ally tells Fox News the House impeachment push is 'regicide'
Joseph diGenova, a lawyer aligned with President Trump and reportedly one of his "off the book" envoys to Ukraine, shared some interesting thoughts on the House impeachment effort on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show Tuesday night. In explaining why he believes the White House is right to stonewall House Democrats, diGenova called their impeachment effort "regicide" — the murder of a king — and compared the whistleblower whose complaint unveiled Trump's Ukraine scandal to "suicide bombers."
"Joe diGenova calls impeachment 'regicide' as if he's really proud of the word," tweeted conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg. "He should be ashamed. Defend Trump, denounce impeachment, but we don't have kings and impeachment isn't murder."
DiGenova's main argument — that the impeachment inquiry is illegitimate because House Democrats haven't held a formal impeachment vote, thus depriving House Republicans of subpoena power — is also flawed. The Constitution gives the House "the sole power of impeachment," and there are no instructions on how to carry it out.
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.
In the impeachment investigations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, there was a House vote, and in each case "the minority party on the investigating committee was granted the power to subpoena," the Los Angeles Times explains. But "the subpoenas were still subject to a vote of the committee, giving the majority party a way to block them," and "even if she allows a vote, there is no guarantee that [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi would grant subpoena power to ranking members, allow the president's counsel to be present during depositions, or other items Republicans say they want in the resolution."
"The Founders very deliberately chose to put the impeachment power in a political branch rather the Supreme Court," Gregg Nunziata, former counsel to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), told The Associated Press. "They wanted this to be a political process and it is."
-
Tourangelle-style pork with prunes recipeThe Week Recommends This traditional, rustic dish is a French classic
-
The Epstein files: glimpses of a deeply disturbing worldIn the Spotlight Trove of released documents paint a picture of depravity and privilege in which men hold the cards, and women are powerless or peripheral
-
Jeff Bezos: cutting the legs off The Washington PostIn the Spotlight A stalwart of American journalism is a shadow of itself after swingeing cuts by its billionaire owner
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
-
US to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train armySpeed Read Trump has accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks
-
Grand jury rejects charging 6 Democrats for ‘orders’ videoSpeed Read The jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers for a video in which they urged military members to resist illegal orders
