Washington, D.C. — A new column from the Center for American Progress says that our nation’s founders would agree that the president should be impeached if he abuses his public office by soliciting campaign help from a foreign government.
From the earliest days of our nation, the founders were intent on ensuring that foreign entities did not influence America’s democratic system, the column says. They knew that foreign interference in U.S. elections or policymaking posed an enormous threat to the country’s sovereignty. The founders would have been horrified by President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to help dig up dirt on a potential political rival.
“One of the founders’ greatest fears was foreign interference in our political system,” said Sam Berger, vice president of Democracy and Government Reform at CAP. “They came up with a remedy for a president engaged in that sort of corrupt activity: impeachment.”
From George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, to John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, the column shows how the nation’s founders repeatedly warned about the corrupting influence of foreign powers. They bestowed the impeachment power upon Congress as a constitutionally approved method to remove presidents who abuse their power and prove disloyal to the country.
Read the column: “The Founders Would Have Impeached Trump for His Ukraine-Related Misconduct” by Michael Sozan
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected] or 202-478-6327.