President Donald Trump "never called for a violence or riot" said Democrat and The George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley, a report says.
Townhall cited Turley's tweets and blog posts that warned against claims of Trump inciting the U.S. Capitol riot last Wednesday and against the "impulse from Democrats" to impeach the president "for a second time" since it would only "encourage a barrage of snap impeachments over politics, rather than true high crimes or misdemeanors."
"While I was highly critical of the President's remarks, he never actually called for violence or a riot. Indeed, he expressly told his followers 'to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.' Such marches are common in both federal and state capitols," Turley tweeted last Saturday.
"The damage caused by the rioting was enormous, but it will pale in comparison to the damage from the new precedent of a 'snap impeachment' for speech protected under the 1st Amendment. It would do to the Constitution what the rioters did to the Capitol: Leave it in tatters," he stressed in a succeeding post.
While I was highly critical of the President's remarks, he never actually called for violence or a riot. Indeed, he expressly told his followers “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” Such marches are common in both federal and state capitols.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 9, 2021
A renowned national legal adviser who has counseled controversial cases such as the Clinton impeachment litigation, Turley is on the limelight again in the matter of Trump's second impeachment considering his series of tweets and blog posts.
"USA Today just came out in favor of a 25th Amendment removal. They are running my column as the opposing view. In order to impose this ignoble moment on Trump, the Congress would create precedent for future such removals on ill-defined mental disabilities," Turley said in Twitter last Jan. 8, which was actually his first in a series of warnings. The tweet included a link to the said Editorial article.
To which he added, "While I was critical of Trump's speech and opposed the challenge in Congress, the speech alone is not a basis for removal under the 25th Amendment, which is designed for physical or mental incapacities. There is also the obvious problem of time. There is not even time for the entire process to run its course if you include the 4 days for contested declarations and up to 21 days for congressional deliberation. Critics are seeking to use the 25th Amendment as a type of snap impeachment (without meeting either standard)."
According to Turley, "the term 'snap impeachment' is a contradiction of constitutional terms" because an "impeachment" is "meant to be deliberative, not impulsive, acts." Thus, what the Democrats are doing is a "dangerous precedent".
"Would these members and the media support a snap impeachment of President Biden in 2022?" He rhetorically asked in Twitter.
The term "snap impeachment" is a contradiction of constitutional terms. Impeachment are meant to be deliberative, not impulsive, acts. This is dangerous precedent. Would these members and the media support a snap impeachment of President Biden in 2022? https://t.co/Z7qwDc8Npu — Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 8, 2021
Turley in his tweets has been pointing out errors in the way House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have been pushing for an impeachment, as well as, the manner in which they intend to expedite it regardless of no proper hearing will be conducted on the basis of them "not having the time" to.
The USA Today Board Member also pinpointed areas in the law that the Democrats are going againsts besides naming Democrats who are against the impeachment themselves through his Twitter posts.
In his blog post dated Jan. 13 entitled "The Case For A Trump Censure", Turley details why the "snap impeachment" of the Democrats should be "considered to be a better path not taken by the House" because "if impeachment is your only tool, then every problem is treated as an impeachable offense".
"Over the last four years, Democrats have called for the impeachment of President Trump for acts ranging from his criticism of NFL kneelers to his inflammatory tweets," he cited, "After previously impeaching him, they now are pushing through a dangerous 'snap' impeachment--an impeachment that effectively would go to a vote without the deliberation or inquiries of a traditional hearing."
"There is another tool that could avoid creating the harmful precedent of a snap impeachment. It is called censure," he stressed.
He said Trump's call for peace during his Save America Rally speech is common in protests and was meant "to show support for senators backing an electoral-vote challenge and opposition to those who opposed it."
Turley also hit on Pelosi who has admitted "the current interest in impeachment is to bar Trump from running for the presidency in 2024."
"Such a move would further inflame the political divisions in our country. Trump's future should be left to history and the voters to decide--not canceled by congressional fiat," Turley admonished.
