Trump Twitter Threats Of Civil War Another Grounds For Impeachment, Harvard Professors Say

Facing an impeachment inquiry over the Ukraine scandal, president Donald Trump gave Congressional investigators more rope to hang him by retweeting a statement the United States will suffer “a Civil War-like fracture” if he were impeached. This Trump tweet amounts to another ground for impeachment, argues a Harvard Law professor.

On Sunday, Trump posted a series of tweets quoting a long statement originally made by Southern Baptist (Evangelical) pastor Robert Jeffress Jr., a long-time Trump supporter and a Fox News contributor.

Trump and Jeffress' political relationship goes way back to June 2016 when candidate Trump named Jeffress a member of his Evangelical Advisory Board and White House Faith Initiative. On January 20, 2017, Trump's inauguration day, Jeffress preached a sermon at a private service at St. John’s Episcopal Church attended by president-elect Trump. Jeffress is an opponent of same-sex marriage.

Jeffress said on Fox News that if Trump were removed from office, the United States will suffer “a Civil War-like fracture” that it will “never heal” from. His controversial comment on Fox News tweeted by Trump states in full:

"I have never seen the Evangelical Christians more angry over any issue than this attempt to illegitimately remove this President from office, overturn the 2016 election, and negate the votes of millions of Evangelicals in the process," said Jeffress.

"They know the only impeachable offense that President Trump has committed was beating Hillary Clinton in 2016. That’s the unpardonable sin for which the Democrats will never forgive him.

"If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office, it will cause a Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which our country will never heal."

Jeffress' comments were innocuous in itself but not when used by a president of the United States.

Trump's retweet of Jeffress' comment, "....If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal," could be further grounds for impeachment, contends Harvard Law professor John Coates.

"This tweet is itself an independent basis for impeachment - a sitting president threatening civil war if Congress exercises its constitutionally authorized power," argues Coates.

Trump's tweeted statement seem to indicate that a sitting president is threatening civil war if Congress exercises its constitutionally authorized power to investigate alleged wrongdoings on his part.

Coates' viewpoint is supported in theory by another Harvard Law faculty member Laurence Tribe. Tribe, however, believes impeachment on this ground might not be practical.

"I agree with @jciv here, though this is far from the strongest ground for impeachment because it’s much too easy to dismiss as typical Trumpian bloviating, not to be taken seriously OR literally."