DEMOCRATS NEED TO GET THE RIGHT I

Investigate not Impeach

Democrats in the final five campaign weeks and when in the majority in the House next year should prioritize the right “I” word.

That is investigation, not impeachment.

The stunning corruption in this Administration, starting with the president and his family -- using the office for personal enrichment, taking pay to play to new levels and utilizing a Justice Department that serves as a partisan hatchet man for the president -- provides endless investigative and oversight opportunities. The test is to run serious, factual investigations, and avoid cheap headlines.

By contrast impeachment is a diversion that Republicans welcome so that they can charge that the Democrats are all about getting Trump.

Do I think Trump has committed impeachable offenses? How to count the ways?

But it won’t ultimately succeed and will involve an enormous expenditure of time, energy and attention.

Instead an emphasis on affordability -- health care, gas prices and grocery costs -- along with holding Trump world accountable should be the priorities.

House Democrats already are mapping plans for investigations next year. Hakeem Jeffries, the likely next Speaker, has enlisted Congressmen Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the Judiciary panel and Robert Garcia, senior Democrat on the Oversight panel to spearhead a “structural approach” to investigations.

If Democrats win the Senate, Sheldon Whitehouse, as chair of the Judiciary committee, effectively will take the lead.

In the House there is talk of involving multiple subcommittees as well as committees. Inclusivity helps internally but serious investigations are difficult.

There are other investigative-savvy Democrats like Jared Huffman on the Natural Resources Committee, who has zeroed in on promising targets such as the Venezuelan oil scam and the garish Trump White House ballroom. Jim Himes is a heavyweight on the Intelligence Committee.

But a number of other Democrats would not be ready for prime time.

Too often the inexperienced focus on headlines and getting on cable news. That was the Republicans during the Benghazi hearings a decade ago and the case in these past two sessions, when chairmen Jim Jordan and James Comer ran comical hearings before the bipartisan push on the Epstein files.

There are obvious targets: the President’s crypto scam where he has made billions at the expense of others; Donald Trump, Jr.’s investment funds that get favorable treatment in government contracts; glaring intelligence failures.

Raskin has a report on presidential pardons -- an issue featured in an excellent CBS 60 minutes segment -- where those convicted or just indicted pay influencers, close to Trump world, to get them a pardon.

Pardons have been issued to some really onerous crooks like former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison for sending massive amounts of cocaine to the United States.

He was supported by Trump confidant Roger Stone and disgraced ex congressman Matt Gaetz. Both deny receiving any compensation as hard as that is to believe. It’s also hard to believe Trump didn’t somehow get a cut.

Hopefully Raskin, and Garcia, will investigate the entire Justice Department. Critics of the president have been criminally indicted based on politics with little evidence which is why most have been thrown out. And Trump friendly crooks are let loose on what’s been called a “clemency for cash racket.”

New York City mayor Eric Adams’ indictments for bribery and payouts from a foreign entity, was dismissed on the orders of the top Justice Department officials after a deal was cut to help Trump.

It was so sleazy that the conservative U.S. Attorney resigned in protest.

There was Gautam Adani, the Indian billionaire, indicted for bribery and deceiving investors; the charges were dropped after he met with Donald Trump, Jr. and pledged to make major investments in the U.S.

Many of these investigations will rely on outside sources or participants, as Trump will stonewall every step of the way. Most effective will be if lawmakers can tie corruption to affordability, how Trump and the insiders got rich at the expense of average folks.

With some of these investigations moving slowly and little prospect for big legislative achievements, with a Republican president, the clamor for impeachment will rise.

Already there are dozens of House and Senate Democrats who have raised the issue. Most senior Democrats, including Jeffries, discourage this. South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn cautions Democrats have to convince voters they’re working to make their lives more affordable: “Impeaching the president will not do that.”

That likely won’t resonate with the small group of radical socialists elected in deep blue urban areas in primaries this year. Philadelphia’s Chris Rabb’s website declares that defending democracy requires “Impeachment and Removal of President Trump.”

A middle ground measure some advocate is to impeach cabinet members, starting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Again, there’s a good case but ultimate success is unlikely. Do they also then try to impeach Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick?

If impeachment convictions are off the table, there is a troubling question: with the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision giving Trump immunity from any official actions how will he be held accountable?

The best answer is not a futile impeachment but serious in-depth, conclusive investigations into what resembles a criminal syndicate. Then the judgment of history will be easy.