Efforts by Democrats in the US Congress to impeach President Donald Trump are entirely driven by politics, and are unrelated to achieving justice, according to an author and political commentator in Chicago.
“When impeachment is brought by political figures, it's for political reasons and nothing else; so it really has no legitimacy,” Stephen Lendman told Press TV in a phone interview on Tuesday.
“All of this stuff going on, 100%, is for political reasons, not for justice,” Lendman said.
The Republican president’s alleged crimes should be investigated by the US judicial system, not Democrats in Congress, he added.
Lendman also said impeachment efforts by the Democratic-led House of Representatives “is a waste of time” because the Republican-majority Senate will exonerate Trump if he is impeached.
Only two American presidents have been impeached by the House: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999. Neither was convicted by the Senate.
The first impeachment hearing held by Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee quickly turned hostile on Tuesday as their sole witness, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, stonewalled many of their questions and declared they were “focusing on petty and personal politics.”
Lewandowski, a devoted friend and former aide to Trump, repeatedly refused to answer questions about conversations with the president and repeatedly pointed to White House claims of executive privilege — even though he never worked in the White House.
Lewandowski followed White House orders not to discuss conversations with Trump beyond what was already public in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
The hearing underscores what has been a central dilemma for the House Judiciary Committee all year as they investigate, and potentially try to impeach Trump.
Many of Democratic and independent voters want lawmakers to move quickly to try to remove Trump from office. But the Trump administration has blocked nearly all of their oversight requests, declining to provide new documents or allow aides and associates to testify.
Lewandowski was the first impeachment witness to appear before the committee since Mueller briefed the committee about his inquiry.
Mueller’s investigation was focused on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and Trump's potential obstruction of justice.