Is an official who denies the fundamental principles of the Declaration of Independence, ignores the obligation to obey constitutional limitations, violates his oath of office, ignores court decisions and uses the office for private gain, a loyal American?
The Declaration of Independence begins its explanation of the decision to separate from England with the words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Mr. Trump denies that we are created equal. He tries to destroy all institutions which take that principle seriously, a principle which is also protected by the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments – both against direct government interference and interference with the efforts of private institutions to provide equal protection to people of all kinds. But Mr. Trump ignores it all.
The Constitution prohibits picking up and punishing or taking anyone’s life, liberty or property away without due process, judge, jury, and the right to counsel, and it elaborates those obligations in numerous clauses in the original Constitution, and in the Bill of Rights. But Mr. Trump ignores them all.
The Mr. Trump has stated his intention to run for a third term, ignoring the explicit language of the 22nd Amendment.
Mr. Trump tries to deny the right of people born in the U.S. to American citizenship, explicitly protected by the plain language of the 14th Amendment.
Mr. Trump has punished law firms for offering clients legal counsel to his opponents, thus violating the First Amendment which bars the government from viewpoint discrimination and protects the right of people and private entities to advocate for or against government action free of government interference. His behavior also violates the Fifth Amendment rights to equal protection and due process because he imposed punishment without any legal process, and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel because he tried to block the right of counsel to the clients of those firms and at the same time imposed punishment on those law firms without allowing counsel any opportunity to intervene and challenge his claims. And he violated the Constitution’s prohibition of a “Bill of Attainder” because he named and punished the firms without trial. In doing that he has violated the fundamental constitutional rules for democratic government.
He undermined the Constitution by pardoning those involved in violent insurrection against the U.S. Congress. That is of course hypocritical for someone who talks about law and order for everyone but himself, but those pardons encourage violence against America.
The constitution embodies many protections against using the military on American citizens[1] but he ignores them.
He tries to turn the power to execute the laws into the power to overturn and disregard the laws – execute means to implement, not to overturn, ignore or destroy.
And he uses his office to enrich himself in violation of his constitutional obligations and by inviting efforts to bribe or entice him to ignore or sell off the public interests for private gain.
I have tried to explain in previous commentaries why each of these actions is harmful to America and dangerous for each of us. But my point here is that a president who does not take his constitutional obligations seriously is dangerous, disloyal and a threat to America.
The Constitution provides prohibitions and remedies that should be implemented and imposed to prevent him from doing further damage and/or provides a way to remove him from office. It will be up to loyal American voters when and whether to penalize those public officials who have defended and protected him or whether, to quote his own inappropriate trope in the 2020 election, he should be “locked up.”
[1] U.S. Const., Art. I, secs. 12-16; Art. II, sec. 2, par. 1; Art. IV, sec. 4.
Steve Gottlieb’s latest book is Unfit for Democracy: The Roberts Court and The Breakdown of American Politics. He is the Jay and Ruth Caplan Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Albany Law School, served on the New York Civil Liberties Union board, on the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran.
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