This Is a Trial of the Constitution Itself
To condone the president’s behavior is to shift power further into the executive and break the protections the Framers created.
This story was updated on January 27, 2020 at 11:00am.
The Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump is under way. Senators now face the monumental question of whether to remove the president from office—and yet, something bigger is at stake here. The Constitution’s fundamental design is on trial too.
This is clear from the articles of impeachment themselves. Start with the first article, which charges that the president abused his power by holding support for an ally foreign government hostage to better his chances at reelection, rather than advancing the interests of the United States.
But President Trump, with the support of his attorneys at the
