Trump's attacks could leave him
friendless if impeachment comes
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[August 18, 2017]
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald
Trump has stepped up his attacks on Republican senators, an approach he
may regret if he is someday impeached and the Senate has to weigh
charges against him stemming from an investigation into Russian meddling
in the 2016 U.S. election.
More than half of the 11 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee,
which would be central to any proceeding to remove Trump from office,
have tangled with the Republican president, including on Thursday when
he fired off early-morning tweets.
In one Twitter series, Trump called Senator Lindsey Graham "publicity
seeking" and said he "just can't forget his election trouncing" in the
2016 presidential race. Trump also assailed Senator Jeff Flake, another
Republican critic, as "a non-factor in the Senate," adding, "He's
toxic."
Flake and Graham are members of the Judiciary Committee, whose Chairman
Chuck Grassley has urged Trump to tone it down.
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"He should be 100 percent sticking to ideas and forget about
personalities," Grassley said on Friday when pressed on whether Trump
might find himself without the friends in Congress he would need to
defend himself in an impeachment proceeding.
For his part, Grassley said his views would not be colored by past
presidential sniping.
"Let's say the House of Representatives impeached the president of the
United States. Then I'm a juror," Grassley said. "The Senate is the jury
that decides whether he should be impeached. The jury is supposed to be
impartial."
LITTLE TRACTION
There is little serious talk being heard in Congress about removing
Trump from office.
Two House Democrats have introduced an article of impeachment alleging
obstruction of justice by the president in connection with an ongoing
investigation of possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Moscow.
But Republicans control the House, as well as the Senate, and the
article of impeachment has gained little traction.
Under the U.S. Constitution, the House of Representatives can vote to
approve an impeachment measure. If that happens, it goes to the Senate,
which acts as a jury and weighs the charges in the House measure. A
two-thirds Senate vote is needed for conviction. Approval leads to
removal from office.
Two presidents have been impeached by the House: Andrew Johnson in 1868
and Bill Clinton in 1998. Neither was convicted by the Senate. President
Richard Nixon, facing almost certain impeachment over the Watergate
scandal, resigned in 1974.
In the Clinton impeachment fight, the committee was a resource for the
full Senate and could play a similar role in any future trial.
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![](../images/081817pics/news_e9.jpg)
President Donald Trump departs to travel to New York from the White
House in Washington, U.S. August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
'TRUMP NEEDS FRIENDS'
Having friends would help any president facing impeachment, said
Charles Brain, a White House liaison to Congress during Clinton's
impeachment.
Without such friendships, Brain said, lawmakers "can just be quiet,"
refusing to share information with the White House and letting
attacks on the president gain momentum.
Besides Flake and Graham, Trump has had run-ins over various issues
before and after his election with Republican Senator Ted Cruz, and
other Judiciary Committee members, including Grassley, John Cornyn,
Orrin Hatch, Thom Tillis and Ben Sasse.
The president has also at times attacked Republican senators not on
the committee, including Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Marco Rubio,
Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski.
Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump's
campaign colluded with Russia to influence the election. Grassley's
committee also is looking into the matter, as are other
congressional panels.
The Kremlin denies any election interference. Trump has dismissed
the Mueller probe as a "witch hunt" and denies any collusion. In the
end, Mueller could end up clearing Trump and his aides of any
wrongdoing.
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If not, at least two questions will loom large in a possible
impeachment inquiry, said senior fellow Elaine Kamarck of the
liberal-leaning Brookings Institution think tank.
One would be about the severity of any possible charges. Another,
she said, would be "do you have friends, do you have people who
believe in you and want to save your presidency?"
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Oatis in New York; Editing by
Kevin Drawbaugh and Howard Goller)
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