1. So it looks like Republicans are settling on an approach to "defend" Trump on the impeachment front. I heard Rep. Mark Meadows say in substance that the president did it, but there is nothing wrong with asking foreign governments to investigate Americans.
2. Let me set out just how extraordinarily dangerous this position is. When US law enforcement agencies conduct investigations of Americans, there are lots of institutional protections of our rights: police department investigative rules/policies/procedures, laws/statutes and
3.perhaps most importantly, our Constitution. For example, if the police want to search my home, the 4th Amendment dictates that police have to present evidence to a judge in the form of a sworn affidavit establishing probable cause to believe that there is
4. evidence of crime in my home. If the judge is persuaded, she will issue a search warrant limiting the search in time, place and scope. After the search, the police have to prepare a "warrant return" informing the judge what they found. These procedures protect We The People
5. against unreasonable searches and seizures & serve as important checks on law enforcement powers. However, if foreign governments start investigating Americans - governments like Ukraine/China/Russia, for example - those governments are unconstrained by
6. the procedural, statutory & constitutional protections of our country. In fact, Russia is known to "investigate" people that Putin thinks have done him wrong by summarily declaring them guilty and . . . poisoning them. We've seen examples of this in the UK and elsewhere.
7. This is what Trump is endorsing and encouraging if he tells other countries to investigate Americans, including his political opponents. In a very real and concrete way, this is Trump putting Americans in harm's way. If, in their zeal to support Trump at all costs,
8. the Republicans take the position that this is OK, then they are putting We The People at grave risk. I urge the politicians who are determined to support the president through the impeachment proceedings to rethink this dangerous strategy.
9. You were not elected to put your constituents at the whim of investigations by foreign governments. If you want to take the position that what the president did was wrong and unacceptable but NOT impeachable, so be it - we can have a robust debate on the merits of
10. whether asking or coercing or bribing or extorting the president of another country to announce an investigation into your political rival is an offense that warrants removal from office. But please don't sell out the safety & security of We The People
11. by taking the position that it's perfectly fine for an American president to urge foreign actors to investigate the American people. It's not OK. It's not defensible. It's beyond dangerous.
