Law professor tells Congress if Trump's actions aren't impeachable, 'then nothing is impeachable'
Professor Michael Gerhardt argued during Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing that if President Trump's actions aren't impeachable, then "nothing is impeachable."
Gerhardt, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, was one of the witnesses called by Democrats for Wednesday's hearing in the impeachment inquiry, which is focusing on whether Trump abused the power of the presidency by pushing Ukraine to announce investigations that might help him politically. Gerhardt testified that Trump committed impeachable offenses and that there's "more than enough" evidence that he obstructed justice.
"If what we're talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable," he said. "This is precisely the misconduct that the framers created a Constitution, including impeachment, to protect against."
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Gerhardt went on to say that if Congress gives Trump a "pass," then "every other president will say, 'okay, then I can do the same thing,' and the boundaries will just evaporate ... and that is a danger to all of us." Brendan Morrow
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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