Letters to the Editor: The closest thing to a coup is coming from the White House, not Democrats

To the editor: President Trump and some of his allies keep saying that impeachment is a coup. There may be a kind of coup going on, but it is by him and his followers.

Think about it. He won’t produce any information demanded by Congress. He won’t let anyone working for him talk to Congress.

More importantly, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is in a position where he could have the president acquitted almost immediately. Atty. Gen. William Barr won’t allow investigations aside from the ones that Trump wants. The judiciary is being stacked with judges who favor the president.

Our government is being turned into a rubber stamp for Trump.

Allan Gerson, Encino

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To the editor: Perhaps the strongest argument to be made for not impeaching Trump is that it would be futile and divisive since the Senate is certain to acquit. The counterargument to this is that the House has a sacred duty to declare certain actions as so beyond the realm of acceptability that they demand impeachment.

The Democratic leadership in the House undermines this by ignoring Trump’s well-documented obstruction of justice during the investigation into Russian interference and his violations of the emoluments clause.

By considering only two articles of impeachment narrowly focused on Trump’s actions regarding Ukraine, the House is declaring, loud and clear, that a president may attempt to obstruct justice and prevent an investigation by firing an FBI director, attempting to fire a special counsel, and being deceitful in written answers to the special counsel.

Randall Gellens, San Diego

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To the editor: During the House Judiciary Committee hearings debating the articles of impeachment, Republicans complained that the Democrats have wanted to remove Trump since the day he took office.

That is true, but only because many people know of his long history of questionable business practices, his campaign’s communication with the Russians and more.

When Trump threatened the national security of this country by soliciting Ukraine’s involvement in the 2020 election, Democrats realized this was a clear-cut, indisputable reason to act on impeachment. It was not, though, the first instance of his misdeeds justifying that action.

If this era’s Republicans had existed in the days of Al Capone, their response to his arrest would have been, “You have been trying to put him in prison for years, and now you are only doing it because of this witch hunt about taxes.”

Mark Reed, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Just when I thought I’d seen it all, behold, there was Trump with a halo on the front page of the Los Angeles Times.

We all know he thinks he is the anointed one, but really, a halo? I wonder how many of his devoted followers will use this shot on their Christmas cards.

Judy Reinsma, Santa Clarita