Letter to the editor: Constitution & impeachment

It slays me to listen to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders refer to the Constitution in regards to these clownish impeachment hearings. Pelosi has characterized any defense by President Trump or his administration as “obstruction of justice.” Invoking attorney-client or executive privilege is not obstruction. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone refuses to answer congressional subpoenas until the entire House votes for an impeachment inquiry. It is incredible that Pelosi considers even this obstruction.

Republican Rep. Henry Hyde insisted that the House have a vote of inquiry before initiating impeachment hearings against President Clinton. In his letter, Cipollone quotes the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, before the 1998 impeachment hearings as saying that the serious charge of impeachment could not be a partisan, politically motivated event brought by one party to dethrone a legitimately elected president. By voting for an inquiry, the minority party has a right to call its own witnesses and present a defense.

A tenet of our laws is the right to confront your accuser. The whistleblowers are anonymous, and to think their mere accusations could be evidence for impeachment. Rudy Giuliani stated that even under old English law, the Salem witches had the right to face their accusers, which often led to their release. If this is a witch hunt, even witches had more rights than our current president.

Before Democrats invoke our Constitution, perhaps they should refer to due process and the Rule of Law, key ingredients of our Constitution.

Michael Contes

New Kensington