Comparing Impeachments - Nixon, Clinton, Trump

Those of my generation have now witnessed three Presidential impeachment proceedings in our lifetime.  Presidents Nixon, Clinton and Trump.

Republicans are now trying to deflect calls for witness testimony in the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump by arguing no witnesses were called by the Senate in the Impeachment of Bill Clinton.  Is that a legitimate comparison?  

First, the alleged crimes:

Nixon and Trump both were accused of actions that undermine the democratic process.  The Nixon administration authorized a burglary of the Democratic National Committee offices to try to gain a political advantage, and worked desperately to cover it up.  President Trump sought to withhold military aide Ukraine needed to counter the military threat to their democracy from Russia.  Witnesses in the House impeachment trial from within the Trump administration understood the goal was simply to pressure Ukraine to investigate the alleged activities in Ukraine of the son of Joe Biden in the hope the investigation would harm Biden politically.

Bill Clinton was subject to an evolving series of investigations by House Republicans.  First they investigated alleged improprieties in a land deal in Arkansas (Whitewater) prior to his election.  That investigation was expanded to cover a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Arkansas state employee (Paula Jones) against Clinton.  Later allegations of a sexual act with a consenting adult (Monica Lewinsky) in the White House were included in the investigation.  

Although the Whitewater matter was investigated for over a decade by State and Federal authorities and no prosecuting authority ever found evidence of legal improprieties by the Clinton's sufficient to support charges.  The Paula Jones lawsuit was dismissed as without merit, then after an appeal settled by the parties.  But during the Jones lawsuit Clinton had testified in a deposition he did not have sex with Monica Lewinsky, which became a perjury issue when Clinton later admitted to a "sexual relationship" with Lewinsky.  Clinton claimed he did not have intercourse with Lewinsky therefore his testimony was not perjury.

House Republicans impeached Clinton for lying under oath and obstruction of justice, both charges rooted in the recorded deposition testimony in the sexual harassment lawsuit in which he attempted to hide sexual activities with a woman not his wife.  The charges were pertinent to his character but not related to illegal political activities.

Second, the Judges:

Nixon faced a Democratic House and Senate, so he resigned when it became clear he would be impeached, in part because the House public hearings had demonstrated to the public that the burglary was authorized at the highest levels, and that the administration went to great lengths to cover up the crime.

Clinton, a Democratic President, faced a Republican House and Senate.  After the hearings leading to impeachment in the Republican House, the Republican Senate did not call witnesses and Clinton was acquitted on both counts by a bi-partisan vote (the Senate consisted of 55 Republicans and 45 Democrats at that time). 

Trump has been impeached by a Democratic House after extensive testimony alleging he was trying to use the military aide package as leverage to gain a personal political advantage.  The House also subpoenaed many members of the administration who could have provided testimony to clarify what happened but the Trump White House ordered the potential witnesses to not obey subpoena's - arguably obstructing justice.

Now President Trump is be judged by the Senate.  Mitch McConnell says there will be no witnesses, citing the Clinton impeachment as precedent.  But the Clinton impeachment was based on testimony in a lawsuit that was already on public record.  There was no point in having other witnesses, there was nothing they could add.  

Quite different from the impeachment of President Trump.  His alleged conduct goes to matters central to his duties as President, and what happened is peculiarly within the knowledge of the folks in the White House, many of whom the President would not allow to testify in the House proceeding.

If the Senate hears all the witnesses and the votes on a party line vote to exonerate President Trump, I will not complain.  The public will have had access to all the facts and can decide for themselves at the next election what they think.  

But by all appearances the Senate Republicans are ready to act as soon as possible to exonerate President Trump to avoid harm to the Republican parties chances in the coming election.  To me that would be corruption of the sort I have always identified with the fake democracies around the world, not with the supposed beacon of democracy in which we live.  

If you want to help preserve our rule of law based democracy, don't just like this post, share it with others.  Voter outrage is the only thing that will push Mitch McConnell to proceed with a real examination of President Trump's conduct so he can be legitimately impeached, or exonerated.