President Donald J. Trump has had a long history of controversial behavior and conflicts with various organizations. Some of the highly publicized issues surrounding him have involved accusations of interference by foreign powers, which could be devastating for his presidency if proven true. Mr. Trump has been the target of a probe that tried to check the claim that his presidential campaign collaborated with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election until the middle of 2019.
However, the investigation produced no decisive results that could confirm the relationship, effectively exonerating Mr. Trump via the presumption of innocence. However, in November 2019, a story surrounding Russia’s neighboring country, Ukraine, emerged and ultimately led to an impeachment inquiry against the President. This paper will describe the contents of the accusations and present the arguments of both sides.
The Events in Ukraine
Hunter Biden, the son of 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden, worked in Ukraine as a non-executive director of a natural gas company named Burisma Holdings between 2014 and 2015. During that time, he may have earned a high salary, disproportionate to his age and experience, which led local authorities to investigate the company’s conduct and the reason for the hire.
According to Ivanova, Tsvetkova, Zhegulev, and Baker (2019), Joe Biden called for the removal of the prosecutor who was heading the case, which ultimately occurred, and the man’s replacement dropped the case. When President Trump learned of the incident in 2019, he publicly voiced his suspicions of corruption. The statements he made called both Hunter Biden’s employment and his father’s actions into question. He asserted that the then Vice-President of the United States used his influence to pressure Ukraine into ignoring his son’s misconduct.
Such behavior is not unusual for Donald J. Trump, who is known for his presidential campaign promise to put his opponent, Hillary Clinton, in jail. However, as Ivanova et al. (2019) mention, the Ukrainian government responded to the claim by reviewing prior investigations into Burisma’s owner. A White House whistleblower then emerged, claiming that the President cooperated with his lawyer to pressure the nation into indirectly attacking his political rival.
Ivanova et al. (2019) highlight the claim that he withheld military assistance until the inquiry was restarted, which would qualify as a quid quo pro. If the claim is true, Mr. Trump has committed an impeachable offense and should be removed from office. As such, the Democratic party has started an inquiry into the matter, trying to obtain concrete evidence of wrongdoing.
The Pro-Impeachment Argument
Trump’s alleged actions regarding Ukraine are the primary focus of the impeachment inquiry. The proponents of the action claim that he abused his power as the President of the United States, putting the personal goal of reelection before the needs of the country. An attack on Hunter Biden is an indirect attack on his father, whose involvement can severely tarnish his reputation. Moreover, Joe Biden is among the most popular Democratic candidates at the moment, making it likely that he will receive the party’s nomination.
As such, by ruining his opponent’s reputation and providing examples of wrongdoing while in a position of power, even if unproven, Mr. Trump could sway a significant portion of the voter base. As such, the core of the inquiry is that he abused his position to force Ukraine into bringing up the case, hoping that no one would learn of the action.
Mr. Trump’s overall behavior is a secondary clause that will likely be used in the articles of impeachment. Bade, DeBonis, Viebeck, and Olorunnipa (2019) note the committee’s claim that the President used his powers to block inquiries into the Ukraine matter by Congress. Impeachment supporters say that these alleged actions highlight his unsuitability for the Presidency. They further support his history of antagonizing his political opponents and many media organizations.
They assert that Mr. Trump’s actions damage the prestige and dignity of the Presidential office and set a dangerous precedent for the interference of the executive branch with the legislative one. With this view in mind, one can assert that the Ukraine affair is the culmination of years-long misconduct by the President. As such, his removal is overdue, and the Ukraine affair is a pretext that provides a specific and strong reason for it.
The Anti-Impeachment Argument
The primary argument against impeachment is that the event that serves as its most significant cause did not occur. As Kan (2019) notes, the whistleblower’s information centers on a phone call between Mr. Trump and the President of Ukraine, which the administration proceeded to release and which did not contain any indications of a threat. The United States is among the most important partners for Ukraine, which is the target of frequent power struggles between world powers.
As such, it may have complied with requests by the nation’s top officials without any additional leverage. This assertion also reinforces Mr. Trump’s assertion that Joe Biden used his influence to protect his son from the inquiry by Ukrainian law enforcement officials. The public call to remove the prosecutor would have served as a sufficient indication for Petro Poroshenko, who was Ukraine’s President at the time, to take action.
The second argument against impeachment tries to frame Mr. Trump’s history of confrontations in a different light. As Kan (2019) notes, the impeachment inquiry is being conducted by Democrats behind closed doors, with minimal or no transparency. As a result, the proceedings are highly partisan and have little to no Republican support. Impeachment, in its current state, will likely never pass through the conservative-controlled Senate, which makes it meaningless for its constitutional purpose.
As such, one can argue that the proceedings are another event in a series of Democratic attacks on Mr. Trump and people associated with him. The party, along with various left-wing media aligned with it, has been accused of attacking him whenever he does anything, a phenomenon that led to the popularization of the term ‘fake news.’ As such, impeachment’s opponents claim that, along with the other controversies involving Mr. Trump, the inquiry is an attempt to damage the President’s popularity before the 2020 election.
Conclusion
Both sides of the impeachment argument essentially agree that it is the result of long-standing animosity between President Trump and the Democratic party. Supporters of the act claim that the conflicts that emerge are proof of his dangerous character. Its opponents respond that Democrats and the media have been escalating these issues on purpose. The current President of the United States is a divisive and adversarial figure, but his presidency is associated with significant positive achievements.
With regards to the information surrounding impeachment, there appears to be no confirmed factual evidence of wrongdoing by the President, while the matter that attracted his interest warrants further investigation. As such, the procedure is essentially based on subjective perceptions of Mr. Trump’s behavior and may not be intended to remove him but rather to serve as a political attack.
References
Bade, R., DeBonis, Viebeck, E., & Olorunnipa, T. (2019). Democrats expected to unveil articles of impeachment against Trump, focusing on abuse of power, obstruction of Congress. The Washington Post. Web.
Ivanova, P., Tsvetkova, M., Zhegulev, I., & Baker, L. (2019). What Hunter Biden did on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Reuters. Web.
Kan, J. (2019). Impeachment inquiry may result in unreliable conclusions without due process: Legal analyst. The Epoch Times. Web.