Greater than 250,000 have signed a petition to assist an impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump, who was twice impeached throughout his first time period. The Impeach Trump Once more marketing campaign is being led by the advocacy group Free Speech for Individuals. “This president has already dedicated a number of abuses of energy since assuming the presidency, and the framers designed the Structure to make sure that we might not have a monarch or a tyrant govern this nation,” says the group’s president, John Bonifaz. “Once we see these abuses of energy, we now have to invoke this impeachment clause.”
TRANSCRIPT
It is a rush transcript. Copy will not be in its last type.
AMY GOODMAN: That is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Conflict and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
Greater than 1 / 4 of 1,000,000 individuals have signed a petition to assist an impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump, who was twice impeached throughout his first time period. The Impeach Trump Once more marketing campaign is being led by the group Free Speech for Individuals.
This comes as Texas Democratic Congressmember Al Inexperienced has threatened to quickly introduce new articles of impeachment in opposition to Trump. Final week, Congressmember Inexperienced was faraway from the Home ground for protesting Donald Trump’s congressional handle. He was then censured by the Home. Inexperienced spoke on Democracy Now! on Friday.
REP. AL GREEN: Impeachment is a treatment for a runaway president who believes that there are not any guardrails, who believes that the Supreme Courtroom has positioned him above the regulation, and who’s now very shut to some extent the place he won’t honor courtroom orders. When he does that, Ms. Goodman, he at that time will grow to be a dictator. We’re this shut. When he goes over that line, that second, that scintilla of a second, he’ll grow to be a dictator, and we can be beneath a dictatorship. I refuse to attend till that occurs earlier than I act, so I’ll act in protection of the Structure and for the individuals of this nation.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now by John Bonifaz, president of Free Speech for Individuals, organizing the Impeach Trump Once more marketing campaign. Throughout Trump’s first time period, he co-authored the e book The Structure Calls for It: The Case for the Impeachment of Donald Trump.
So, he was impeached twice through the first time period. We’re not even speaking a couple of hundred days into his second time period. Why, John?
JOHN BONIFAZ: Thanks, Amy, for having me.
We’re launching this marketing campaign as a result of we imagine it’s crucial that we invoke this impeachment clause of the Structure at this second in historical past. This president has already dedicated a number of abuses of energy since assuming the presidency. And the framers designed the Structure to make sure that we might not have a monarch or a tyrant govern this nation. They arrange three coequal branches of presidency: the Congress, the chief department, the judiciary. However additionally they put on this further guardrail, the impeachment clause, and it’s designed to take care of that lawless president who abuses the ability of the workplace.
And people a number of abuses of energy maintain piling up day-after-day. We’ve documented at ImpeachTrumpAgain.org many of those abuses, together with his abuse of the pardon energy, the place he, on day one, successfully pardoned 1,500 of his fellow insurrectionists who had attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to attempt to cease the peaceable switch of energy.
We’ve got additionally documented the way in which by which he issued an govt order to finish birthright citizenship. We all know that it is a constitutional proper. You can’t erase part of the Structure with an govt order. Two separate federal courts have discovered this to be unconstitutional. Nevertheless it’s additionally an abuse of energy.
He has usurped the ability of Congress by freezing funds which have been duly appropriated by Congress. Solely Congress has the ability to applicable funds. And he’s gone forward and frozen these funds. And now courts have demanded that he launch these funds, and he’s defying these courtroom orders — an assault on the judiciary, an assault on the Congress.
The record goes on. And the purpose of impeachment energy is to make sure that we don’t have this sort of lawlessness popping out of the Oval Workplace, and that’s why we launched this marketing campaign.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: However, John, how do you — how would you reply to critics who, despite the fact that they could agree with you on the violations by Trump, say that within the final two impeachments, even when Democrats had a majority in Congress, they may not transfer ahead in opposition to Trump; now with Republicans accountable for each homes, this may just about go nowhere?
JOHN BONIFAZ: Effectively, Juan, the essential level right here is to start out constructing the case for why this president have to be impeached and faraway from public workplace. The actual fact is that after we see these abuses of energy, we now have to invoke this impeachment clause. You realize, we all know the votes are usually not going to be there right now to start out impeachment proceedings. However the level is that we, as a individuals, should demand that our members of Congress arise and defend our Structure at this crucial second in historical past. We commend Congressman Al Inexperienced for standing up and demanding that impeachment proceedings start in opposition to this president. And we imagine all members of Congress who nonetheless imagine within the Structure and our democracy should stand with him.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And by way of what could be the following steps — let’s say you retain constructing this petition — what could be the — I do know Congressman Inexperienced has mentioned he would introduce articles of impeachment, however what could be your sense of whether or not you’re having some progress on this challenge?
JOHN BONIFAZ: Effectively, first, we see the progress with the 250,000-plus individuals who’ve already joined this marketing campaign in lower than two months, signing up at ImpeachTrumpAgain.org. And we wish these numbers to proceed to develop, and we imagine they are going to.
However Congressman Inexperienced has pledged that he’ll introduce articles of impeachment, and we’re working with him and his workplace on that. And when he does so, they could be a privileged decision requiring a ground vote, as he did in 2017. He was the primary member of Congress to face up within the final Trump administration. And we are going to see these numbers develop, as nicely. Members of Congress must be placed on report with a ground vote on articles of impeachment as to the place they stand. Do they stand on the facet of the Structure and their oath to guard the Structure and our democracy, or do they stand on the sidelines within the face of this lawlessness from the Oval Workplace?
AMY GOODMAN: Earlier than you go, John, you’re additionally engaged on different points, like abolishing tremendous PACs. I believe that Elon Musk has promised to boost one thing like — or, he’s making an attempt to boost — $100 million for 3 pro-Trump tremendous PACs. After all, he may simply give that himself, because the world’s richest man.
JOHN BONIFAZ: Sure. It’s essential to keep in mind that tremendous PACs didn’t get created by the Supreme Courtroom. Individuals suppose it obtained created out of Residents United, and that’s not true. Tremendous PACs have been created by a federal appeals courtroom ruling out of the D.C. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals, which wrongly held that as a result of, of their view, unbiased expenditures can not corrupt, that limitless donations to political motion committees can not corrupt. That’s patently unfaithful, as we now know. Fifteen years after that call, we see the historical past of how limitless donations to tremendous PACs, from the Elon Musks and others, have dominated our elections and corrupted the political course of.
So, we’re engaged, with others, in working to abolish tremendous PACs. And the state of Maine lately handed a poll initiative — 74% of the voters enacted it — to abolish tremendous PACs of their state elections. Professor Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Regulation College was a catalyst for this initiative, alongside along with his group Equal Residents. And we’re working with him and the state Lawyer Common’s Workplace to assist defend that crucial regulation and create a brand new take a look at case for the chance to abolish tremendous PACs nationwide.
AMY GOODMAN: Axios is reporting Elon Musk has informed the White Home he plans to present $100 million to President Trump’s political operation.
JOHN BONIFAZ: It’s rampant corruption. It’s completely an obscene state of affairs that we now have now, the place billionaires have this chance to dominate our authorities and our politics. And we now have to place an finish to it. And abolishing tremendous PACs is one essential step ahead. And we imagine there can be congressional laws, quickly to be launched, that may take care of that, as nicely.
AMY GOODMAN: And the position of Hawaii, what they’re doing as a mannequin, as you see it?
JOHN BONIFAZ: So, in Hawaii, the state Senate simply unanimously and with bipartisan assist handed our mannequin laws to finish multinational company spending. That is one other complete drawback with our system of cash in politics, which permits foreign-influenced firms to now dominate our politics and ship, by the company type, international funding into our politics. So, Hawaii has handed this mannequin laws that we’ve been advancing throughout the nation by the state Senate, and now it’s on to the White Home. And we hope Hawaii will grow to be the following state to cross this regulation.
AMY GOODMAN: John Bonifaz, we need to thanks for being with us, president of Free Speech for Individuals. The group’s petition to Impeach Trump Once more has gathered 250,000-plus signatures.
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