To the Editor,
Who is the president accountable to or who is the United States President answerable to? In the
Constitution, the system of government they devised was the concept that the president must be accountable
to the people. Written in the Constitutions, Article II, which establishes the presidency, includes a provision
by which the Congress can remove a president from office “on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason,
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The President lawyers Giuliani and Barr have told Trump he is above the law. Bill Barr wrote on June 8,
2018, a memo to then-Deputy AG Rosenstein “Mueller’s ‘Obstruction’ Theory” on whether President Trump
illegally obstructed justice. The DOJ also has the authority to interpret the Emoluments Clause of the U.S.
Constitution, which is the subject of one of the new lawsuits against Trump. It prohibits federal officeholders,
including the president, from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments. In the Senate, there are
several lawyers. Also, they were sworn in to uphold the Constitution. Maybe some Senators should read the
Constitution.
“The Justice Department is the one agency with the power to investigate and prosecute potential criminal
violations by all public officials, including the president. The Public Integrity Section often receives referrals
on conflicts of interest,” says Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University and a former federal
criminal prosecutor. Most Americans believe that there’s an agreed process for holding a president
accountable. The question is, will Legislators act? What if in the current political context this remedy doesn’t
work?
Elie Mystal, The Nation wrote; “Nobody stops them. Yes, the Republican Party has shown itself to be a
collection of cowardly hypocrites, so utterly debased from wallowing around in Trump’s filth that they
can’t even remember what decency smells. But if you’ve been paying attention, Republicans have
always been like this. Our system shouldn’t be so weak that the perverse noise makings of Mitch
McConnell and Lindsey Graham can scuttle the very concept of the rule of law.” When the President
makes an erroneous statement like; “that Article II of the Constitution me the to do whatever I want as
president.’ The context was a little ambiguous. Does he think the Constitution gives him “the right to do
whatever” he wants in general, or specifically with regards to the federal investigation into him and his
operation? The Constitution states; that he before entering office, shall take the following oath or
affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the
United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States.”
The first responsibility of the president of the United States is to keep our country safe, but it has
become clear that our president has placed his interests above the national security of our nation. R.
Schlesinger, U.S. News wrote: “Without precedent in U.S. history we have a president who sees profit
as the natural and immediate spoils of office. Not only have Trump’s predecessors ordinarily divested
and disclosed, but the Founding Fathers wrote protections into the Constitution in the form of
emoluments clauses making it illegal for the president to receive gifts from foreign governments or,
domestically, from the federal and state governments. Trump faces several lawsuits arguing that he is
violating these clauses through his businesses. One was thrown out in December, but others endure
and may be gaining traction.”
None of this is normal for us.
Norman Halls
