Impeachment 2.0

1. Facts
The articles of impeachment alleged abuse of power by Trump regarding Ukraine and obstruction of Congress regarding Ukraine.

In the impeachment, the Democrats were adamant that the evidence they put forth presented an overwhelming case that Trump wrongly abused his power regarding Ukraine and wrongly obstructed the Congress by covering up and preventing Congress from getting witnesses and documents that would further establish Trump's abuse of power regarding Ukraine.

Trump adamantly contended before he was acquitted that he did nothing wrong regarding Ukraine. Following his acquittal Trump has continued to contend adamantly that he did no wrong regarding Ukraine.

Some GOP Senators have said that Trump did wrong. Some GOP Senators say Trump did no wrong.

The GOP Senators voted to acquit Trump on various grounds, including that (i) Trump was denied due process, (ii) the impeachment was an impermissible partisan use of the impeachment power by the House, (iii) the House did not sufficiently prove its case and it was not the job of the Senate to do the House's job, (iv) Trump did no wrong, and (v) any wrong done by Trump did not rise to the level of an impeachable offense.

The Democrats believe that there were other impeachable offenses committed by Trump that were not in the articles of impeachment, such as acts of obstruction of justice that the Mueller investigation revealed.

The Democrats probably believe that the retaliations that Trump has embarked on following his acquittal are impeachable offenses.

2. The law
I contend, if there is a threat to the Republic, and the President and the Congress disagree about how to protect the Republic against the threat, the effect of the impeachment power is that the Congress ultimately trumps the President about what should be done to protect the Republic against the threat.

Further, if the Congress acts, through the impeachment power, to prevent the President from deciding how the Republic shall be defended against the threat, the people have the ultimate power to determine how the threat to the Republic shall be responded to by voting out of office the members of Congress who impeached and removed the President.

I discuss this contention in the blog entry Who abused their power.

In the aftermath of the acquittal of Trump, it is likely that a lot of discussion will occur about whether the GOP Senators properly fulfilled their oath to do impartial justice in the trial.

3. Impeachment 2.0
In the aftermath of the acquittal, there is much reason to think that the House Democrats will initiate a second round of impeachment proceedings against Trump.