Abuse of Power Is a Dangerous Standard for Democrats to Play With
Republicans are surely learning a lesson: An impeachable offense is what you say it is.
Almost the minute after the White House released its 110-page brief for the Senate impeachment trial, careful observers noticed a contradiction between the White House counsel’s view and Attorney General William Barr’s. The White House brief argues that there can be no impeachable “abuse of power” without a violation of established law. Meanwhile, in a memorandum to senior Justice Department lawyers written while he was still a private citizen in 2018, Barr argued that abuse of power can indeed be impeachable even if there is no crime.
As a purely legal matter, the position of the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, is incorrect. But that doesn’t
