Efforts to impeach Barack Obama

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President Obama

During the presidency of Barack Obama, Republican congressmembers have stated that Obama should be impeached and removed from office.[1] Rationales offered for impeachment have included an alleged White House cover-up after the 2012 Benghazi attack [2] and failure to execise his constitutionally mandated responsibilty to protect and defend the national borders from illegal immigration. No Congressional Representative has drawn up a list of articles of impeachment and proposed them to the Judiciary Committee, as happened in the efforts to impeach George W. Bush.

Suggestions of impeachment

In October 2010, prior to the elections in which Republicans won control of the House, Jonathan Chait published an article in The New Republic called "Scandal TBD" where he predicted that if Republicans were to win control of the House, and Barack Obama were to win re-election in 2012, the Republicans would try to impeach Obama and use any reason possible as pretext.[3]

2010: Darrell Issa

In May 2010, Republican Darrell Issa of California stated that the allegation that the White House had offered Pennsylvania Representative Joe Sestak a job to persuade Sestak to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary election against Arlen Specter "is one that everyone from Arlen Spector to Dick Morris has said is in fact a crime, and could be impeachable".[4] With the possibility of becoming chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in January 2011, Issa said in October 2010 that the committee would not seek to impeach Obama.[5]

2011: Michael C. Burgess

In August 2011, Republican Congressman Michael C. Burgess of Texas stated that the impeachment of Barack Obama "needs to happen" in order to prevent Obama from "pushing his agenda". Burgess did not mention any grounds for impeachment.[6]

2012: Jon Kyl

In June 2012, Senator Jon Kyl said on the Bill Bennett radio show that "impeachment is always a possibility" when discussing the Obama Administration policy on immigration.[7]

May 2013: James Inhofe, Benghazi attack

In May 2013, Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma stated that President Obama "could be impeached over what he alleged was a White House cover-up after last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya".[2] Inhofe said that "of all the great cover-ups in history—the Pentagon papers, Iran-Contra, Watergate, all the rest of them—this ... is going to go down as most egregious cover-up in American history".[2] Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah also stated in an interview that impeachment was "within the realm of possibilities" with regard to the September 11, 2012, attack in Benghazi, Libya, later clarifying that "it's not something I'm seeking" and that "I'm not willing to take that off the table. But that's certainly not what we're striving for."[8]

August 2013: Tom Coburn, Blake Farenthold, Kerry Bentivolio

In August 2013, Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma responded to a questioner in a town hall meeting, who had asserted that President Obama was failing to carry out his constitutional responsibilities, by saying that "you have to establish the criteria that would qualify for proceedings against the president... and that's called impeachment".[9][10] Coburn added, "I don't have the legal background to know if that rises to 'high crimes and misdemeanors', but I think you're getting perilously close".[9] Coburn did not specify what grounds he felt would support impeachment, but NBC News noted that Coburn "mentioned that he believes Department of Homeland Security officials have told career USCIS employees to 'ignore' background checks for immigrants". Coburn mentioned no evidence that substantiated his belief.[9]

At a town hall meeting with constituents, Congressman Blake Farenthold said that Obama should be impeached due to issues with Obama's birth certificate. Farenthold said that he thinks that "the House is already out of the barn on this, on the whole birth certificate issue."[11]

On August 19, 2013, Republican Congressman Kerry Bentivolio stated that if he could write articles of impeachment, "it would be a dream come true". To help in achieving that goal, he retained experts and historians.[12][13]

During the month, there was also a book published called Impeachable Offenses: The Case for Removing Barack Obama from Office which was written by Aaron Klein and Brenda Elliot.[14][15]

December 2013

On December 3, 2013, 'the House Judiciary committee held a hearing on Obama, formally titled "The President's Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws," that has been viewed as an attempt to begin justifying impeachment proceedings.[16]

June 2014: South Dakota Republican Party, Allen West

The convention of the South Dakota Republican Party voted in a 196-176 resolution to call for the impeachment of Obama based on his bypassing of congress to release five terrorists from Guantanamo Bay in order to free Bowe Bergdahl from his Taliban captors.[17][18]. Such a view is held by former member Allen West of the United States House of Representatives from Florida's 22nd congressional district who stated on his website: "Ladies and gentlemen, I submit that Barack Hussein Obama’s unilateral negotiations with terrorists and the ensuing release of their key leadership without consult — mandated by law — with the U.S. Congress represents high crimes and misdemeanors, an impeachable offense."[19]. There is also a lawsuit being imposed to sue Obama by Speaker of the House John Boehner because of his executive actions,[20][21] however, Boehner claims that he is not calling for his impeachment,[22][23] but commentators have still called it a "impeachment dress rehearsal".[24][25] Obama has recently publicly called this action a stunt.[26][27][28]

In the beginning of the month, a book was published called Faithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obama's Impeachment which is written by Andrew C. McCarthy.[29]

July 2014: Sarah Palin

On July 8th, 2014 the former Governor of Alaska and the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 Presidential election Sarah Palin publicly called for Obama's impeachment.[30] In a full statement, she has said: “It’s time to impeach; and on behalf of American workers and legal immigrants of all backgrounds, we should vehemently oppose any politician on the left or right who would hesitate in voting for articles of impeachment.”[31] This public statement comes after concerns over illegal immigration and Obama's extensive use of 'executive actions'.[32] She first expressed her views on the blogsite Breitbart[33] and she has also appeared in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity on his newshow Hannity [34]

See also

References

  1. ^ Seitz-Wald, Alex (May 10, 2013). "Impeach Obama! Again!". Salon.
  2. ^ a b c Jeremy Herb, "GOP Sen. Inhofe: Obama could be impeached over Benghazi 'cover-up'", The Hill (May 10, 2013).
  3. ^ Chait, Jonathan (Oct 6, 2010). "Scandal TBD". The New Republic.
  4. ^ Congressman: White House Job Offer to Sestak May Be an 'Impeachable' Offense, Fox News (May 25, 2010).
  5. ^ Montopoli, Brian (October 22, 2010). "GOP's Darrell Issa: 'Not a Chance' We'll Impeach Obama". CBS News. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  6. ^ Reid J. Epstein, "Impeach Obama, says Michael Burgess", Politico (August 9, 2011).
  7. ^ Volsky, Igor (June 26, 2012). "Top Republican Senator Suggests Impeaching Obama Over Immigration Policies". Thinkprogress.
  8. ^ "Rep. Jason Chaffetz doesn't rule out impeachment for Obama over Benghazi", ABC News. May 15, 2013.
  9. ^ a b c Carrie Dann, "Coburn raises possibility of impeachment at town hall", NBC News (August 22, 2013).
  10. ^ Walsh, Joan (August 23, 2013). "No, you're not impeaching anyone". Salon. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  11. ^ Tam, Ruth (August 12, 2013). "Rep. Farenthold says House could impeach Obama". The Washington Post.
  12. ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (Aug 24, 2013). "Ignoring Qualms, Some Republicans Nurture Dreams of Impeaching Obama". New York Times.
  13. ^ Kopan, Tal (August 21, 2013). "Kerry Bentivolio: Impeachment 'a dream'". Politico.
  14. ^ "Impeachable Offenses: The case for removing Barack Obama from office". Watchdogwire.com. 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  15. ^ Nfiltraitor. "Impeachable Offenses: The Case For Removing Barack Obama From Office | Tea Party". Beforeitsnews.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  16. ^ "Enough with impeachment blatherings - San Antonio Express-News". Mysanantonio.com. 2013-12-06. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  17. ^ Posted: 06/21/2014 4:01 pm EDT (2014-06-21). "South Dakota Republican Party Passes Resolution Calling For Obama's Impeachment". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ on June 22, 2014 at 1:27 pm (2014-06-22). "South Dakota GOP Wants To Impeach Obama For Freeing Bowe Bergdahl". ThinkProgress. Retrieved 2014-07-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ West, Allen (2014-06-03). "The case for impeachment of Barack Hussein Obama". AllenWest.com. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
  20. ^ "Boehner to sue Obama in executive authority dispute". Usatoday.com. 2014-06-25. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  21. ^ Teresa Welsh (2014-06-26). "John Boehner to Sue President Obama Over Executive Action". US News. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  22. ^ Posted: 06/25/2014 12:49 pm EDT (2014-06-25). "John Boehner Says His Plan To Sue Obama Is 'Not About Impeachment'". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ http://nytimes.com/2014/06/26/us/politics/boehner-to-seek-bill-to-sue-obama-over-executive-actions.html
  24. ^ Capehart, Jonathan. "Speaker Boehner's Obama impeachment dress rehearsal". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  25. ^ "Impeach Obama? John Boehner's Lawsuit Called A 'Dress Rehearsal' for President's Impeachment". Inquisitr.com. 2014-06-27. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  26. ^ David Jackson, USA TODAY (2014-06-27). "Obama: Republican lawsuit 'a stunt'". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  27. ^ "President Obama: Speaker Boehner's Lawsuit a 'Stunt' | Video - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 2014-06-27. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  28. ^ Posted: 06/27/2014 9:26 am EDT (2014-06-27). "Obama Dismisses Boehner Lawsuit As Nothing More Than A 'Stunt'". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ Blahous, Charles (2014-06-17). "Andy McCarthy's 'Faithless Execution' about building a case to impeach Obama". WashingtonExaminer.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  30. ^ Reilly, Mollie (2014-07-08). "Sarah Palin Calls For Obama's Impeachment". HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  31. ^ Howard, Kurtz (2014-07-09). "Sarah Palin seizes the media spotlight by playing the impeachment card". FoxNews.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  32. ^ France-Presse, Agence (2014-07-09). "Sarah Palin: 'It's time to impeach' Obama for making up his own laws". RawStory.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  33. ^ Palin, Sarah (2014-07-08). "Exclusive—Sarah Palin: 'It's Time to Impeach' President Obama". Retrieved 2014-07-09.
  34. ^ "'Hannity' Exclusive: Palin Explains Her Call for Impeachment of Obama". FoxNewsInsider.com. 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2014-07-09.

External links

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