President Donald Trump drew some attention on Monday when he tweeted his disappointment that two Republican congressmen were hit with criminal charges so soon before November’s mid-term elections … and directing that disappointment towards Attorney General Jeff Sessions for not letting the representatives slide. Some, like Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) spoke out against Trump by reminding him that the United States does not decide whom to charge based on their party, but CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin went so far as to say the tweet could be enough for impeachment.
“This tweet alone may be an impeachable offense,” Toobin said Tuesday morning, calling it a ‘disgrace’ that could have had harsh consequences if made by someone in a lower position.
“I used to be a lowly Assistant U.S. Attorney,” Toobin said. “If I went to my supervisor and said ‘you know, we shouldn’t indict or investigate a member of the president’s party because he’s part of the president’s party,’ I probably would have been suspended, if not fired.”
Of course, Toobin’s hypothetical is a totally different situation, mainly since Trump wasn’t recommending that Sessions or anyone else in the Justice Department cease what they’re currently doing. He was really just complaining about things that had already been done, unlike when Trump allegedly asked James Comey to drop what was an ongoing FBI investigation of Michael Flynn.
It would be a stretch to say that complaining about charges after the fact is the same as impeding or obstructing those cases. If the charges end up being dropped as a result of Trump’s tweet, then Toobin would have a stronger argument. On its own, however, Trump’s tweet doesn’t seem to put him in any danger of losing his job.
[Image via CNN screengrab]