Trump's 'Civil War' Tweet May Be Grounds For Impeachment: Harvard Law Professor

The president posted tweets Sunday quoting pastor Robert Jeffress, who said the nation would suffer “a Civil War-like fracture" if Trump were removed from office.
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Donald Trump may have given Congress another reason to impeach him and, fittingly, it’s in a tweet.

On Sunday, the president posted a series of tweets quoting evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress who said on Fox News that if Trump were removed from office, the nation would suffer “a Civil War-like fracture” that it would “never heal” from.

....If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.” Pastor Robert Jeffress, @FoxNews

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2019

The tweet was condemned by many Democratic politicians as well as Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who said it was “beyond repugnant.”

It could also be grounds for impeachment, according to Harvard Law professor John Coates, who responded to the president’s tweet with a little bit of constitutional law.

This tweet is itself an independent basis for impeachment - a sitting president threatening civil war if Congress exercises its constitutionally authorized power. https://t.co/JL9XzClGXf

— John Coates⚽️ (@jciv) September 30, 2019

So far, no congressional lawmakers have commented publicly over whether Coates’ legal opinion is a path worth pursuing.

But fellow Harvard Law faculty member Laurence Tribe did support the idea in theory ― though he suggested it may not be practical.

I agree with @jciv here, though this is far from the strongest ground for impeachment because it’s much too easy to dismiss as typical Trumpian bloviating, not to be taken seriously OR literally. https://t.co/eyewzgBqL8

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) September 30, 2019

Currently, the House of Representatives is conducting an impeachment inquiry over whether the president withheld approved military aid to Ukraine unless the country’s president investigated Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

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