Thread by @DanaScottlo

1. “[I]mpeachment is best regarded as a process,not an outcome. It’s the constitutional mechanism for investigating [if] an executive-branch officer is fit to serve. It requires his accusers to lay out their evidence in public...”@YAppelbaum
#NeedToImpeach

2. “Mueller has now delivered 10 credible allegations of obstructive behavior...The public deserves a chance to examine the evidence...& his supporters & opponents alike deserve the clarity that only convening impeachment hearings can now provide.”

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

3. This article from January by @YAppelbaum makes a compelling case & addresses many of the arguments against initiating impeachment.

theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

4. Impeachment won’t backfire for DEMs. “The question that determines whether an act is impeachable, though, is whether it endangers American democracy...That is the situation impeachment was devised to address.”

5. “The question of whether impeachment is justified should not be confused with the question of whether it is likely to succeed in removing a president from office. The country will benefit greatly regardless of how the Senate ultimately votes.”

#NeedToImpeach

6. The process of impeachment “safeguard[s] the constitutional order from a president who seeks to undermine it.”

✅ Once the inquiry begins, Trump will no longer be able to control the narrative.

✅ The process would also help stop “the undemocratic elements of his agenda.”

7. Benefits of impeachment, con’t:

✅ Easier to tell the difference between conspiracy theories, spins, etc., when it’s literally laid out in the court of public opinion.

✅ Hosting the impeachment debate defuses the potential for an explosion of political violence.

8. Benefits of impeachment, con’t:

✅ The inquiry will hurt Trump politically just as it did for his predecessors. “If Congress [impeaches] Trump, whatever short-term surge he might enjoy as supporters rallied to his defense, his long-term political fate would likely be sealed.”

9. In summary, the impeachment process has succeeded in the past in these 5 ways, each of which would be especially beneficial to American democracy during the Trump era.

#NeedToImpeach

10. Trump is unfit for office. His attacks on our democracy and the rule of law should be enough to necessitate impeachment, but the #MuellerReport raises several questions of criminal & corrupt conduct.

It’s our only choice if we want to stop the authoritarianization of 🇺🇸.