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At least 700 legal scholars, historians, and others have published an open letter demanding the U.S House of Representatives to impeach the President of the United States, Donald Trump. They also denounced Trump’s conduct as a clear and present danger to the Constitution. The letter’s release comes 2 days before the house is expected to vote on 2 articles of impeachment. The scholars wrote in the letter, “Trump’s lawless obstruction of the House of Representatives, which is rightly seeking documents and witness testimony in pursuit of its constitutionally-mandated oversight role, has demonstrated brazen contempt for representative government”. It was published online by the nonprofit advocacy group Protect Democracy.

They also said, “So have his attempts to justify that obstruction on the grounds that the executive enjoys absolute immunity, a fictitious doctrine that, if tolerated, would turn the president into an elected monarch above the law”. Protect Democracy also released a letter at the start of this month from more than 500 law professors asserting that Trump had committed impeachable conduct. There were many notable signatories of the latest letter, including the award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, biographer Robert Caro and historians Ron Chernow, Jon Meacham, and Douglas Brinkley. The scholars criticized Trump’s numerous and flagrant abuses of power and state that his actions. They said it urgently and justly requires his impeachment.

Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist that the impeachment was designed to deal with the misconduct of public men which involves the abuse or violation of some public trust. They also wrote in the letter, “Collectively, the President’s offenses, including his dereliction in protecting the integrity of the 2020 election from Russian disinformation and renewed interference, arouse once again the Framers’ most profound fears that powerful members of government would become, in Hamilton’s words, the mercenary instruments of foreign corruption. It is our considered judgment that if Trump’s misconduct does not rise to the level of impeachment, then virtually nothing does”.