Trump's Impeachment: Law-Breaking Or Political Game?

Former US President Donald Trump was impeached twice during his single term in office. The first impeachment trial was sparked by a phone call between Trump and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which Trump asked Zelenskyy to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. Trump was also accused of withholding military aid to Ukraine as a bargaining chip. The second impeachment occurred in the final days of Trump's presidency, following the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters.

Trump was acquitted on all charges by the Senate in both impeachment trials. However, the question of whether Trump broke the law during his presidency remains a subject of debate. While some argue that his actions constituted high crimes and misdemeanors, others claim that impeachment is a political process rather than a criminal one and that Trump's actions did not break any clear laws.

Violating the Impoundment Control Act

On the day House managers transmitted two articles of impeachment to the Senate, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that President Trump violated the Impoundment Control Act by unilaterally withholding $214 million in Defense Department aid for Ukraine. The Impoundment Control Act, a Watergate-era bill, was passed in 1974 to prevent a rogue president from withholding lawfully appropriated funds.

Trump blocked the military aid under direct orders from the president, and knowingly failed to file a report with Congress. The White House readout of his congratulatory call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that Trump "expressed his commitment" to work with Zelensky to "root out corruption." However, the call transcript shows that Trump never once raised the issue of Ukrainian corruption. Instead, in the context of discussing American military aid, he asked Zelensky to investigate political rival Joe Biden.

Trump disputed the GAO's conclusion, saying that he acted lawfully under his authority to carry out American foreign policy. However, evidence shows that his claims are pretextual. The Impoundment Control Act mandates that presidents spend funds appropriated by Congress, and for decades, courts have ruled that presidents cannot ignore Congress's power in this area. Trump's violation of the Impoundment Control Act was not a minor technicality, and it triggered his first impeachment.

Obstructing justice

The first impeachment of Donald Trump centred on a phone call between Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump was accused of improperly seeking help from Ukraine to boost his chances of re-election. Specifically, he urged Zelensky to investigate one of the frontrunners to take him on in the 2020 presidential election: former US Vice-President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. This was significant because, as a leading rival for the presidency, Trump's actions opened him up to claims that he was working with a foreign power to influence the election—which is against the law.

Trump also blocked the release of military aid to Ukraine, and a senior official later testified that the release of this aid was conditional on Biden being investigated. Trump and his supporters alleged that Biden abused his power to pressure Ukraine to back away from a criminal investigation that could implicate his son, who worked for a Ukrainian energy company. However, these allegations were widely discredited. There is no evidence that Biden took any action to intentionally benefit his son, nor is there any evidence of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden.

The Democrats launched a formal inquiry into the Ukraine affair, and a number of officials were called to testify. The acting ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, told the inquiry that Trump had made the release of the military aid conditional on Ukraine opening an investigation into the Bidens' dealings. The president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was subpoenaed for documents relating to Ukraine, and Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, told Congress that he was working at the "express direction" of the president when pressure was put on Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.

In December 2019, the Democrat-held House of Representatives impeached Trump on two charges: abuse of power and the obstruction of Congress. However, he was later cleared on both charges by a majority of senators at his trial.

Trump's alleged obstruction of justice was not limited to the Ukraine affair. Robert Mueller's investigation revealed multiple instances where there was "very substantial" evidence that Trump had committed obstruction of justice. For example, Trump attempted to get James Comey, the FBI director responsible for overseeing the investigation into Trump’s relationship with Russia during the 2016 election, to drop an investigation into National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. When Comey refused, Trump fired him. Trump also tried to fire Mueller, and then ordered White House Counsel Don McGahn to create a false record indicating that no such attempts had taken place—McGahn refused.

Trump has also repeatedly attempted to intimidate or influence witnesses in proceedings against him.

Profiting from the presidency

The Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause prohibits the president from accepting personal benefits from any foreign government or official. However, Donald Trump retained ownership interests in his family business while in office. This meant that every time a foreign official stayed at a Trump hotel, or a foreign government approved a new Trump Organization project or granted a trademark, Trump was in violation of the Constitution.

Trump repeatedly pushed his properties as avenues to secure his favour, and multiple foreign officials stayed at his properties while lobbying his administration. For example, Saudi officials and an Iraqi sheik stayed at his hotel while lobbying for their interests. China approved multiple trademarks for his family's brands while negotiating trade policies.

Trump also promoted his club in Doral, Florida, for the 2020 G-7 Conference, and the White House subsequently announced the multi-million-dollar contract had been awarded to Trump's own resort. This contract was ultimately cancelled.

Every time Trump golfed at a Trump property, he funnelled taxpayer money into his family business, violating the Domestic Emoluments Clause. In total, Trump has spent over $100 million of taxpayer money to golf and vacation at his own properties.

Trump's refusal to divest from his businesses led to unprecedented conflicts of interest. For example, while campaigning in 2015, Trump bragged about his longstanding business ties with the Saudis, saying, "They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much." In office, Trump continued to benefit from Saudi business and faced criticism for his apparent desire to shield Saudi leaders from scrutiny over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump also used the US foreign policy apparatus to direct business to his properties. For example, Trump's Ambassador to the United Kingdom reportedly told embassy staff that Trump pushed him to get the British Open to be held at one of his Scottish golf resorts. During a trip to Europe, Trump insisted on staying at his remote Irish resort in Doonbeg, claiming it was "convenient," while the Trump Organization promoted his visit.

Trump's tax returns revealed that he made up to $160 million from international business dealings while in office.

Soliciting foreign interference in US elections

Donald Trump was impeached over allegations that he improperly sought help from Ukraine to boost his chances of re-election. In July 2019, he urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, one of the frontrunners to take him on in the 2020 presidential election. This was significant because Biden was a leading rival for the presidency, and it is illegal to ask foreign entities for help in winning a US election.

The controversy centred around a phone call between the two leaders, during which Trump asked Zelensky to "do us a favour" and investigate Biden and his son, Hunter. This call came shortly after Trump blocked the release of $391 million in military aid to Ukraine. A senior official later testified that the release of this aid was conditional on Biden being investigated, although the White House denies this.

Trump and his supporters alleged that Biden abused his power as Vice President to pressure Ukraine to back away from a criminal investigation that could implicate his son, who worked for a Ukrainian energy company. However, these allegations were widely discredited, and there is no evidence that Biden took any action to intentionally benefit his son or that Hunter Biden engaged in any wrongdoing.

Congressional Democrats said the phone call was proof that Trump broke the law by seeking foreign help to try to smear Biden. They impeached him on two charges: abuse of power and the obstruction of Congress. However, Trump was ultimately acquitted by the Senate, with his own Republican Party failing to turn against him.

This was not the only instance of Trump soliciting foreign interference in US elections. In July 2016, he publicly called on Russia to find Hillary Clinton's "missing" emails. Five hours later, Russian hackers attacked Clinton's personal office for the first time. Trump also tried to cover up his campaign's contacts with a Russian national, which constituted a violation of federal law.

During the 2016 election, Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., was invited to meet with a Russian national regarding "information that would incriminate Hillary and...would be very useful to" Trump. Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort took the meeting. Manafort and Rick Gates also met with Konstantin Kilimnik, likely a Russian spy, multiple times to provide him with internal campaign polling data.

Trump also asked China to investigate the Bidens, saying that "if they [China] do what we want, we have tremendous power" in ongoing trade negotiations. After this, a Trump aide claimed that the Chinese had given him information on Hunter Biden's business dealings in the country.

Attacking the free press

Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked the concept of an independent press. He has called critical coverage "fake news" and journalists "the enemy of the American people", made threats to change libel laws and revoke broadcast licenses, and interfered in the AT&T/Time Warner merger due to his issues with CNN.

His administration has also repeatedly and baselessly revoked press credentials for critical coverage. He has dismissed the murder of a critical journalist, citing the economic partnership the US has with the offending nation.

During the eight weeks leading up to the 2024 election, Trump insulted, attacked, or threatened the media at least 108 times in public speeches or remarks. This figure does not include social media posts or remarks from others connected to his campaign.

Trump's running mate, Senator JD Vance, has developed his own unique formula for stoking conflict between supporters and reporters on the campaign trail. Vance often holds press conferences among his supporters as they loudly boo any reporter asking him a question.

Trump has also made at least 15 calls for television stations to have their broadcast licenses revoked—a power the president does not possess. After Democratic nominee Kamala Harris's interview with CBS's "60 Minutes", Trump accused the show of manipulating her responses to appear more flattering and posted on Truth Social that "CBS should lose its license".

Trump's attacks on the media are a contributing factor to a broader crisis of public distrust in the media. According to the Pew Research Center, trust in the media among Republicans has steadily declined since Trump won the 2016 presidential election. In 2024, only 40% of Republicans said they had a lot of or some trust in the information that comes from national news organizations. This is roughly equal to the share of Republicans who said they had the same level of trust in information from social media sites, despite the well-publicized epidemic of misinformation on these networks.

A lack of trust in the media, a growing sense of insecurity among journalists, and outright hostility from politicians like Trump are all factors contributing to the United States' slide to 55th out of 180 countries on RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index.

Trump will almost certainly repeal protections against federal surveillance of journalists in his second term. He may even take advantage of the opening created by the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange—which he started and the Biden administration finished—to prosecute journalists directly for publishing classified information.

At the local level, Trump's anti-press rhetoric has already emboldened everyone from governors to county-level politicians to retaliate against the media. With their leader back in the White House, Trump wannabes nationwide will feel even more empowered to harass the press.

Trump supporters regularly boo the media at his rallies, and reporters named in his tweets have been repeatedly harassed online. There have also been credible threats of violence against news organizations, with CNN frequently targeted.

Trump's attacks have had the most success in eroding the credibility of the American press among his many millions of supporters. A major Pew Research Center study in late 2019 showed that a plurality of Republicans consistently distrusted most of the news media (except for Trump-supporting media like Fox News), while pluralities of Democrats tended to trust them. In a Pew survey conducted in mid-March 2020, 62% of respondents said the news media had exaggerated the risks from the COVID-19 virus.

Some expert observers fear an existential threat to American freedom of the press. "Trump disrespects the press as a core democratic institution," said University of Utah media law professor RonNell Anderson Jones. She said that American news media is dependent on citizens' acceptance of its First Amendment role. If that erodes, she warned, "freedom of the press is in peril."

"President Trump's attacks on the press are an assault on the validity of the enterprise itself," said Frank Sesno, a former CNN cable news anchor who directs George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs. "It is an Orwellian barrage of dehumanizing language about the purpose of the job, people who do the job, and the organizations that employ them. It is a continuing assault on a free press and on the public's right to know and the public's understanding of the role of the press in a democracy."

Trump's attacks also appear to have empowered autocratic foreign leaders to discredit and restrict the press in their own countries. "When the president calls the press the enemy of the people, he encourages every autocrat, every dictator who wants to shut down freedom of the press, "they're validated," said Sesno, who works with news media in Eastern European countries. "It reverberates around the world."

In conclusion, Donald Trump's repeated attacks on the free press, encouragement of audience participation in said attacks, and threats to weaponize the government against the media constitute a serious threat to press freedom in the United States. His actions have contributed to a broader crisis of public distrust in the media and emboldened his supporters to harass and target journalists. Trump's attacks on the press have also empowered autocratic leaders worldwide to restrict media freedom in their own countries.

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