House Judiciary Report Accuses Trump of Bribery and Wire Fraud, Not Included in Articles of Impeachment

Dec. 17, 2019 (EIRNS)—In the 658-page report issued late on the evening of Dec. 15, the House Judiciary Committee, explaining impeachment charges against President Donald Trump, throws in the accusation that he is also guilty of bribery and wire fraud, the latter referring to use of electronic or telephonic communication to fraudulently deprive someone of their property. Nota bene: These charges are not included in the official articles of impeachment.

The House Rules Committee today is to vote on approval of the articles of impeachment, and then they will go to the full House for debate and to be voted tomorrow.

According to the Dec. 16 Washington Examiner, the report states that Trump could face decades in prison, if he’s charged and convicted for these crimes, even though a successful impeachment would only remove him from office. The report cites specific federal laws about bribery and wire fraud, and the jail sentences that could be imposed.

The only mention in the articles of impeachment of bribery comes from a specific quote from the Constitution, which states that the “president shall be removed from Office on impeachment for, and conviction of, Treason, Bribery or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Fraud isn’t mentioned at all. Nonetheless, the Democrats’ Judiciary Committee report states that “although President Trump’s actions need not rise to the level of a criminal violation to justify impeachment, his conduct here was criminal.”

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley told the Examiner that the Democrats’ dropping of the bribery, extortion, campaign financing and obstruction of justice charges from the articles of impeachment is “a curious resolution.... I testified [before the Judiciary Committee] that those crimes could not be credibly alleged on these facts to support articles of impeachment.” He added that despite Pelosi and Schiff insisting that the crime of bribery was “clear and established, the majority dropped all four articles despite testimony in favor of those articles by the three Democratic witnesses.” And, he noted, this came after telling voters that evidence of bribery was “devastating.” The House “has agreed to drop the articles, but it is still proclaiming the president to be guilty of such crimes. It is [like] avoiding a public trial while maintaining the public accusations.”

Recall that last week, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked why the bribery charge wasn’t included in the articles of impeachment, she replied “it was a group decision.”