In an article in The Nation, John Nichols discusses support for impeachment investigations by Republican leaders. Citing recent pieces by Representative Jason Villalba and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman, Nichols points out that Democrats aren’t alone in their call to hold Donald Trump accountable for his many constitutional violations, despite common expectations of party loyalties.

Whitman described Trump as “clearly unfit to remain in office,” while Villalba titled his op-ed, “It’s Time to Impeach the President.” Whitman didn’t directly call for impeachment investigations in her piece, but she did make a plea to her fellow Republican leaders: “We must put aside the GOP label, as hard as that may be, and demonstrate the leadership our country needs by calling on the president to step down.”

Whitman goes on her op-ed to say, “Only bold leadership can put the United States back on a path that values freedom and democracy, and truly puts America first.”

Nichols echoes this sentiment, drawing from history and the Nixon administration to emphasize his point:

Republicans have put America first before, most notably during the Watergate crisis, when a number of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee supported articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon. Nixon quit after top Republicans—including conservatives such as former Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona—told him that if he remained in office he would be held to account. Nixon was a bad player, to be sure. But Trump is worse, and a new generation of Republicans is called to check and balance him with the remedy that the founders outlined in the Constitution.

Most Republicans will continue to resist the constitutional remedy, for now. But the fact that the discussion of impeachment is beginning to cross partisan and ideological lines represents a slim ray of hope for the republic.

John Nichols and members of the Republican leadership speaking out for impeachment proceedings are right. The nation must come together, regardless of party, to end this constitutional crisis and to begin an impeachment investigation of Donald Trump.

In an interview with Audie Cornish of Buzzfeed News, Tom Steyer discussed the grounds for impeaching Donald Trump. Steyer focused on Trump’s corruption, citing his numerous violations of the emoluments clauses of the Constitution.

“If you step back for one second and think about this president, the most corrupt president in American history — [he’s] somebody who is breaking the law on a daily basis, somebody who is reckless and dangerous and lawless.

In the Constitution, it says that the president cannot take any payment whatsoever from a foreign government — for obvious reasons. I mean, you can’t have the president taking money from a foreign government, which would mean that he might … do what’s right for them instead of what’s right for the American people. He does that on a daily basis.

We don’t need Mr. Mueller to tell us that.”

Steyer emphasized that we have more than enough evidence to call for an impeachment investigation, and that we do not need to wait for the full findings from the Mueller investigation to proceed. Steyer highlighted this point by citing the results of a recent poll conducted by his organization, Need to Impeach:

…Steyer said ‘corruption’ — rather than the Russia investigation or any policy move — provided the strongest rationale for impeachment, according to a previously undisclosed survey of 200,000 people on his expansive Need to Impeach database. The survey found that 30% of respondents said the president should be impeached for corruption, he said.

Tom Steyer is right – Trump’s ongoing corruption and constitutional violations constitute enough evidence to call on Congress to launch an impeachment investigation. We must act now to impeach Donald Trump. Learn more about how you can get involved here.

Read the article from Buzzfeed News here.

The Washington Post reports that the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan experienced an uptick in revenue in the first part of 2018, as a result of a last-minute visit to New York by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. While the royal family did not stay at the hotel, the general manager reports that they “were able to accommodate many of the accompanying travelers.”

Other Trump-owned properties have benefited similarly from business by foreign officials. For example, the Embassy of Kuwait held its National Day celebration twice at Trump’s hotel in downtown Washington, and this year the Embassy of the Philippines held its Philippine independence day party in the Trump hotel’s ballroom.

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