As the so called impeachment trial begins this week in the Senate, I have a suggestion for leader Mitch McConnell. Without getting into the weeds about the impeachment as a whole, the calls for and against witnesses, love or hatred for President Trump, or the famous phone call, one thing is clear. The second article of impeachment has no legal or constitutional basis. It can and should be dismissed at the outset.

The second article claims that President Trump “obstructed Congress.” This charge is beyond a stretch. It is ridiculous. The claim of executive privilege by a president is in no way outside the law or an obstruction of Congress. The House subpoenaed witnesses and executive privilege was claimed as has been done in some form or another by nearly every president since, well, Washington. If the House felt those claims were illegitimate they could have gone to court to get a court order. If the president had then defied a court order the charge of obstruction might have had some legitimacy. I suspect that they did not go to court because they did not feel they could win but that is just an opinion. This boils down to the legislative branch demanding something and the executive branch telling them they are overstepping their bounds. The Constitution is a beautiful thing…….separation of powers. President Trump had, and still has, a perfect right to claim executive privilege.

By scheduling an early vote to separately dismiss the second article leader McConnell could accomplish two things. First, he would shorten the process which is in everyone’s interest (except, maybe, the media’s). Second, as a tactical move, it would demonstrate the weakness of the impeachment as a whole and the political nature of the charges without being a total dismissal. The message to the House would be “We’ll give you your day in court but this part of your case has no place in any court.”

Remove a zero. Save time and money. Strengthen your position. Just an idea Mitch.