Robert S. Levine is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Maryland. This interview is based on his new book, The Failed Promise: Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass, and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson (W. W. Norton & Company, 2021). JF:...
impeachment
How is Pennsylvania senator Pat Toomey faring after voting to convict Trump?
Many of my fellow Pennsylvanians are not happy with Pat Toomey. Here is The Philadelphia Inquirer: Republican state party chairman Lawrence Tabas has advised committee members that he will soon call a meeting to “address and consider actions related to...
What is Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson thinking?
Yesterday, in commenting on the January 6, 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, Johnson said, “This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me.” Here is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Two days after members of the U.S. Senate acquitted former...
Mitch McConnell clarifies his vote to acquit Trump in a *Wall Street Journal* op-ed.
Mitch McConnell is a weasel. He is also a very crafty politician. In his mind, moral conviction always takes a back seat to his quest for political power. This was on display Saturday when he voted to acquit Donald Trump...
The *Kansas City Star* publishes a scathing editorial on Sen. Josh Hawley’s vote to acquit Trump
Here is the stinger: Hawley’s mind is permanently closed, open only in the service of his ambition. He will say or do anything to further his prospects, whether it’s the White House or a bottle of wine from the top shelf. The...
SNL’s Colin Jost and Michael Che on the absurdity of the Trump impeachment trial
Funny and true:...
Let’s check out what the 43 Republicans who voted to acquit Trump are saying tonight:
Marsha Blackburn (TN): Roy Blunt (MO): “I said before this trial started that I believe the constitutional purpose for presidential impeachment is to remove a president from office, not to punish a person after they have left office. None of...
Milbank: “Trump left them to die. 43 Senate Republicans still licked his boots”
Dana Milbank of The Washington Post gives it to us straight: Trump’s lawyers, in their slashing, largely fictitious defense, claimed that Trump was “horrified” by the violence, hadn’t known that Vice President Mike Pence was in danger and took “immediate steps” to...
Iowa senator Joni Ernst explains her pro-Trump vote today
Here she is: Ernst, like many other GOP Senators, is hiding behind a contested interpretation of Article I, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, an interpretation that the Senate rejected four days ago. Mitch McConnell did the same thing today....
What did Mitch McConnell just say?
As I just posted, the U.S. Senate just acquitted Donald Trump by a vote of 57-43. Watch Mitch McConnell: A few things: McConnell believes that Donald Trump is guilty of inciting the riot on the United States Capitol. He believes...
Trump is acquitted by a vote of 57-43 in the United States Senate
Fifty-seven U.S. Senators voted to convict Donald Trump in his impeachment trial. But it was not enough. Sixty-seven voters were needed to convict. Here are the GOP members who broke with their party and voted to convict Donald Trump in...
Trump’s team made its defense today. Fox News journalist Chris Wallace responds.
Trump’s defense included a lot whataboutism. His lawyers showed a video with Democrats saying the word “fight” over and over again. Watch: My favorite response comes from Fox News journalist Chris Wallace:...
How did Trump respond to Wednesday’s arguments in his impeachment trial?
I don’t think there has ever been a more open and shut impeachment case in American history. Even Richard Nixon did not incite a riot on the U.S. Capitol. Of course most GOP Senators do not agree with me. Nor...
Trump’s evangelicals have a few things to say about impeachment
This afternoon the House impeachment manager showed these videos: And these: Here are some tweets worth considering: Why doesn’t it surprise me that Fox News cut away from the trial: Some of Trump’s favorite evangelicals are also weighing-in: The response...
The names of the GOP senators who voted against the constitutionality of the second Trump impeachment trial
Today the Senate debated the constitutionality of the second Trump impeachment trial. (Is it constitutional to convict a former president in an impeachment trial?) The Senate voted to move forward with the trial by a vote of 56-44. Six Republicans...
Evangelical law professor and former federal judge Michael McConnell argues that the Senate can try Trump because he was impeached while still in office
Michael McConnell teaches law at Stanford. In 2002, George W. Bush nominated him to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Senate approved his nomination unanimously. Bush also had him on his short list for a Supreme Court nomination....
Putting the January 6, 2021 insurrection in historical context
Catherine Halley of JSTOR Daily offers some great resources. Here is a taste of her January 7 piece: Yesterday our friends who teach sixth grade were asking: how do I talk to my students about the insurrection that just happened...
David Barton: If someone calls you a homophobe, just call them “a heterophobe.” (And other news from the world of evangelical Trumpism)
Yesterday the Senate voted 55-45 to move forward with Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. The vote put an end to Kentucky senator Rand Paul’s constitutional objection to the trial. Most GOP senators supported Rand’s motion to kill the trial, but...
When one member of the House of Representatives tried to impeach Thomas Jefferson
I’ll bet you didn’t know that in 1809 Josiah Quincy (MA), the only Federalist in Congress, tried to impeach Thomas Jefferson. His attempt failed by a vote of 117 to 1. Andrew Fagal, associate editor of the Papers of Thomas...
Get up to speed on impeachment. What happens next?
CNN’s Zachary Wolf offers a very helpful summary here. The piece explains why the Senate might hold an impeachment trial after Trump leaves office. Here is a taste: What’s the point of holding an impeachment trial for a former President?...