The morning after President Trump’s impeachment, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the floor of the Senate and railed that Democrats had done something no Congress had ever done before – impeached a president who hadn’t “committed an actual crime.”
This claim of “no crime” is one of the pillars of Trump’s impeachment defense – along with “no quid pro quo” and “no due process.” These mantras were robotically reiterated by nearly every Republican during the impeachment debate.
But President Trump did commit a crime. Section 30121(a) of Title 52 of the U.S. Code states: “It shall be unlawful for … a person to solicit … a contribution … of money or other thing of value … from a foreign national … in connection with a Federal, State, or local election.”
That’s the law: 52 USC 30121. Google it. And violation of the law is punishable by up to five years in prison!
To commit a crime under this law, there is no requirement for a “quid pro quo.” Merely asking for a favor –”soliciting” – is sufficient. On July 25, President Trump solicited something of value from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in connection with the 2020 election. That’s the crime.
As for the “no due process” canard – it, too, is spurious. Due process is accorded defendants during their trial, not during the police investigation or grand jury before trial. The president gets due process in the Senate trial, not the House investigation.
Perhaps, in this dystopian era of “alternative facts,” truth no longer matters. But the fact is: Yes, President Trump did commit an actual crime.
Erwin Rupert, J.D.
Scarborough
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