Impeachment lacks common fairness and due process

To The Daily Sun,

Professor Cracraft’s latest letter of 11/19/19, lecturing us on separation of powers and the Constitutional remedy of impeachment, is shallow and misleading. The problem with the latest impeachment efforts led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Shiff is that the entire process has ignored precedent and Constitutional safeguards of due process.

Focusing on the most recent examples, both the Nixon and Clinton proceedings had bipartisan open hearings, with the right of the accused to confront witnesses, issue subpoenas, call witnesses, and other safeguards. The current process featured Democrat-only secret meetings, complete control of public hearings by Chairman Schiff in limiting questioning by the opposition with no ability of the Republicans to call witnesses, issue subpoenas, and confront the latest accuser, the so-called whistleblower in the Ukraine matter.

Furthermore, the public hearings have been nothing more than multiple instances of hearsay that would be inadmissible as evidence under Federal Rules of Procedure.

The Democrats have ignored the written release of the July 25 transcript of President Trump’s telephone conversation with the new Ukraine president (and his denial of any “pressure” from President Trump), focusing instead on the accusation of a so-called whistleblower to prove “quid pro quo” or bribery on the part of Mr. Trump as an impeachable offense.

Common fairness and due process require that the whistleblower openly testify, be subject to cross-examination and evaluation of his/her veracity and any possible biases. And yet, Mr. Schiff and the Democrats refuse to allow this.

Professor Cracraft can rant about the “probability that Trump indeed did commit bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors” as wishful thinking without evidence. Regardless of one’s opinion of Mr. Trump as a person, he is entitled to due process and fairness, which seem to be lacking in a neverending effort by Democrats from 2016 Election Day forward through three years of the Mueller investigation, Stormy Daniels, and the Ukraine incident to find a crime sufficient to justify impeachment.

Last time I checked, the country still had domestic and foreign issues to be addressed, which have unfortunately been overshadowed by this endless political theatre.

Richard R. Gerken

Meredith