Contradicting Constitution, Trump vows impeachment fight in court
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to fight all the way to the Supreme Court against any effort by congressional Democrats to impeach him, even though the US Constitution gives Congress complete authority over the impeachment process.
Mr Trump's threat, made in a morning tweet, came as the White House launched a fierce legal battle to fight subpoenas from Democrats in the House of Representatives for documents and testimony from his administration.
Democrats remain divided on whether to proceed with Mr Trump's impeachment after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia inquiry.
Mr Trump defiantly proclaimed on Twitter that the investigation "didn't lay a glove on me."
"If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court," the Republican president, who is seeking re-election next year, said without offering details about what legal action he envisioned.
The Constitution gives the sole power of impeachment and removing a president from office to the House and the Senate, not the judiciary, as part of the founding document's separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have remained cautious over launching impeachment proceedings against Mr Trump, although they have left the door open to such action. Others in the party's more liberal wing have demanded impeachment proceedings.
Mr Mueller's findings, released in a redacted report last week, detailed about a dozen episodes of potential obstruction of justice by Mr Trump in trying to impede the inquiry, but stopped short of concluding he had committed a crime.
The report said Congress could address whether the president violated the law.
House Democrats have stepped up their oversight of the Trump administration since taking control of the chamber in January, from Mr Trump's tax returns to the investigation into Russian interference in US politics.
Mr Trump has ordered officials not to comply with subpoenas and has filed a lawsuit to prevent material from being turned over to lawmakers. - REUTERS
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