Hugh Hewitt: Trump skates on ‘constitutional thin ice’ if Democrats take House
Conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt said Tuesday that he thinks President Trump could face impeachment proceedings if the House of Representatives returns to Democratic control next electoral cycle. Due to various structural factors, Republicans are widely expected to hold on to the legislative chamber in the 2018 midterms.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog group, filed a lawsuit against the new president on Monday for allegedly violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. The clause dictates that public officials cannot accept payment from foreign governments. It’s meant to ensure that foreign governments do not interfere with U.S. political institutions by currying favor.
According to the watchdog, Trump’s business interests — specifically his ownership of hotels around the world — have resulted in “countless conflicts of interest” and an “unprecedented influence” by foreign governments.
In conversation with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric, Hewitt noted that former President George Washington referred to the Emoluments Clause in his inaugural address, but that constitutional scholars have been split over its meaning. Does it mean that a public servant cannot accept a salary from a foreign government? Or does it also forbid a public servant from accepting arms-length transactions, such as payment for staying in a hotel room?
An arms-length transaction is one in which the buyer and seller have no relationship so that each is acting in his or her own self-interest and not entering the agreement by some form of external coercion.
Hewitt, a lawyer, pointed out that Fred Fielding, who served as White House counsel under former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, assisted the new White House counsel, Don McGahn, in preparing the rules for Trump to follow and that the team concluded that the Emoluments Clause does not apply to arms-length transactions with hotels.
However, he pointed out, a Democratic congressman has already introduced an article of impeachment.
“So if President Trump gets wiped out in 2018 and the last chapter of the fourth ways about impeachment, Republicans have impeached a president before. Democrats never have but Republicans have. And if in fact Democrats get a majority, Republicans will not throw themselves in front of a train to stop it. So President Trump has to be aware of the constitutional thin ice on which he skates.”
But even if Hewitt were right, it would take a Democratic landslide to endanger the GOP’s grip on the House. In addition to Republican-favored gerrymandering, Democrats are packed into more urban districts, while Republican votes are spread more efficiently — at least as far as House districts are concerned — across rural and suburban areas.
Couric pressed Hewitt on whether he thinks it’s likely that Trump would actually face impeachment.
“I think that it would occur after midterms and only if the House flips to the Democrats, so the potential is there,” Hewitt said. “Yes, if you abuse power. If you do anything — you don’t have a lot of goodwill in a reservoir. He’s beginning his presidency — successfully in my view with a few very bold initiatives — but with the highest negatives of any incoming president since Gallup kept track. That says to me: ‘Thin ice, move carefully.’”
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