The New York Times reported today that Donald Trump tried to pressure James Comey to drop the investigation of Michael Flynn. Is this an impeachable offense?
The New York Times on Tuesday reported that President Donald Trump tried to pressure former FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia.
If true, this is a major development, as Trump pressuring Comey to drop an ongoing FBI investigation may be considered obstruction of justice, an impeachable offense. 18 U. S. Code § 1503 states that anyone who “influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be punished as provided in subsection, ” with the punishment being a fine, up to 10 years in prison, or both.
In fact, obstruction of justice was the first charge in President Richard Nixon’s articles of impeachment. The articles state that President Nixon “using the powers of his high office, engaged personally and through his subordinates and agents in a course of conduct or plan designed to delay, impede and obstruct investigations of such unlawful entry; to cover up, conceal and protect those responsible and to conceal the existence and scope of other unlawful covert activities.”
The Nixon articles of impeachment also note that if the president was found to have been “interfering or endeavoring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by the Department of Justice of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the office of Watergate Special Prosecution Force and congressional committees, ” this would be an impeachable offense.
On what became known as the “smoking gun” tape, President Richard Nixon was heard telling an aide to pressure the FBI to shut down its investigation into Watergate.
“… Call the FBI and say that we wish, for the country, don’ t go any further into this case, period, ” Nixon said on the tape.
Of course, Richard Nixon ended up resigning from office voluntarily before the impeachment process could get underway.
In response to the New York Times story, which has since been corroborated by several other news outlets, the White House has said that Donald Trump did not ask James Comey to shut down any investigation. They say that Trump simply expressed his view that Michael Flynn is a decent man who served his country well, and so their argument would be that Trump was not intending to obstruct justice at all; he was simply offering his opinion in a conversation with the FBI director.
