Opinion: Why Trump shouldn’t be so sure Republicans will protect him from impeachment

To the editor: Harry Litman’s fine discussion of the scenarios surrounding President Trump’s possible dismissal of special counsel Robert Mueller may underestimate the chances for rallying 67 Senate votes for impeachment. (“Trump will fire Robert Mueller eventually. What will happen next?” Opinion, Sept. 21)

Some of the most devastating critiques of Trump’s presidency have come not from Democrats, but from well-known conservatives such as David Brooks and George Will. Republican officeholders sharing their view of Trump’s performance might well vote for impeachment in order to return to stable executive function under a President Mike Pence.

Certainly, those facing reelection battles in 2020 would prefer sharing the ticket with Pence rather than an erratic incumbent likely to motivate every Democrat to vote.

The pro-impeachment bedfellows may not be as strange as Litman predicts.

Daniel Stone, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Litman’s op-ed article seems to confirm Trump’s contention that Mueller is indeed using Russian meddling in our election as a pretext for conducting a witch hunt to find something, anything, that incriminates the president.

According to Litman, Trump is guilty of something, and Mueller’s job is to find out what that is.

Instead of Mueller and his lawyers pursuing the president and his associates, wouldn’t the taxpayers’ money be better spent showing evidence that Russia actually interfered in the presidential election? I don’t think beating Hillary Clinton is evidence or even a smoking gun.

Litman also mentions Trump’s lack of comment recently on the Mueller investigation. Could it be that the president is merely giving Mueller enough rope with which to hang himself?

Jim Rivett, Santa Clarita

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To the editor: Because Trump probably understands that firing FBI Director James Comey was a very bad mistake, he probably will not seek to oust Mueller. I believe Trump will let Mueller finish this investigation and that the president will be accused of having committed an impeachable offense.

I also believe the GOP majorities in Congress will not care, and no action will be taken until the 2020 election allows voters to replace Trump. But I hope the voters care and turn out in greater numbers in 2018 and 2020, and we are able to institute some serious reforms.

Now is a good time to abolish the electoral college; instead, let’s have a one-person, one-vote democracy. Also, we need a national movement to review gerrymandering in which each state establishes a bipartisan committee to review these practices.

Lastly, the president should not be above any of our laws. Our legal framework should be reworked to express this clearly.

Barbara Snider, Huntington Beach

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