A Case for the American People by Norman Eisen

Author:Norman Eisen [Eisen, Norman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crown
Published: 2020-07-28T00:00:00+00:00

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ON OCTOBER 17, the impeachment investigation also got some help from an unlikely source: the president’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney. At a White House press conference he declared that of course an investigation into the 2016 election interference was one of the reasons why aid to Ukraine was held up. “Did he also mention to me in passing the corruption related to the D.N.C. server?” Mr. Mulvaney said, referring to Mr. Trump. “Absolutely. No question about that.” He added, “That’s why we held up the money.” When a reporter pointed out to him that what he had described was the very definition of a quid pro quo, Mulvaney told him, “We do that all the time with foreign policy…Get over it. There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy.” After the press conference he tried to walk it back, claiming “the media has decided to misconstrue my comments,” but the confession was right there on video for the world to see.

The press conference riveted our attention in Judiciary for a second reason: Mulvaney also announced that the president would be holding the 2020 G7, a gathering of the leaders of the world’s top economies, at his Doral property in Florida. This would be the mother of all emoluments, with millions flowing into Trump’s business, and so into his own pockets, from the United States and six other governments as they paid for lodging, meals, golf carts, everything down to individual-serving-size water bottles emblazoned with the Trump Doral logo. When Trump first floated the idea in August, Judiciary had immediately thrown down the gauntlet to the administration, launching an investigation and declaring that the proposal was grossly unconstitutional.

Mulvaney’s announcement set off a firestorm that temporarily equaled the Ukraine scandal. If Trump had followed through, it might well have resuscitated our dormant secret sixth article of impeachment for emoluments violations. But all good things must come to an end, and so too with bad ones. The heat became too intense even for Trump. Two days after Mulvaney’s press conference, the Doral proposal was off. The G7 would be held elsewhere. It was another one of those wins for the Constitution that have also characterized the era of Trump—albeit one that was soon forgotten.

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