Many of us fantasize that Special Counsel Mueller will soon wrap up his investigation and produce a wide-ranging and scathing report that will result in Trump's ignominious demise.  I suppose that's possible.  But it is far more likely that Mueller will accede to Justice Department policy not to indict a sitting president and will ultimately submit a narrowly-focused, restrained report that will encompass only some of Trump's misdeeds.  We can expect the administration to aggressively attempt to quash wide swaths of the report with broad claims of executive privilege that will have to be adjudicated in court, perhaps before Trump-appointed judges.  And there is also the question of whether the soon-to-be-appointed Attorney General, to whom the report will be submitted, will release it to the public and to Congress, or, as his confirmation testimony suggests, will disclose only a distilled and abbreviated version.

This means that the Democrat-controlled House cannot simply wait for Mueller to save the day.  Nor should it leave the task of investigating Trump's myriad scandals to a scattershot investigation by its various committees and subcommittees.  As Yoni Appelbaum thoughtfully and, to my mind, quite persuasively argues in his must read article in The Atlantic, Congress must impeach Trump now:  "It must immediately open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump, and bring the debate out of the court of public opinion and into Congress, where it belongs."  Indeed, "only by authorizing a dedicated impeachment inquiry can the House begin to assemble disparate allegations into a coherent picture, forcing lawmakers to consider both whether specific charges are true and whether the president’s abuses of his power justify his removal." Impeachment proceedings will reframe and refocus the narrative and make it harder for Trump to change the subject as he is so adept at doing. 

Along with many well-meaning folks, I initially thought it was premature and politically unwise to push for impeachment.  It seemed to make more sense to let Congress methodically exhaust all investigative avenues to establish Trump's malfeasance first.  But as Trump hastens to destroy the country, I don't think it makes sense to wait anymore.  After all, there is already probable cause to legitimately pursue impeachable offenses.  From just what is in the public record, there is ample basis to open an inquiry into Trump's self-enrichment, collusion with foreign powers, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power, all of which are harming national security and undermining our democratic institutions.  Impeachment hearings are the proper vehicle to investigate these issues further.  As Appelbaum helpfully reminds us, Nixon's impeachment hearings began before discovery of the so-called smoking gun tape recording of Nixon authorizing the CIA to shut down the FBI investigation -- damning evidence against Nixon that led to his resignation was developed in the course of those hearings.

Here's how it works.  Once an impeachment inquiry is launched, a committee will subpoena documents, call witnesses and weigh the evidence before proposing specific articles of impeachment to be considered by the House. If the House votes to impeach, then the proceedings would move to the Senate where, after a trial, it would take two-thirds of the Senate to remove him.  While it is virtually impossible at this point to envision the Senate Republicans putting country over party, they should be compelled to stand up in the face of what is sure to be overwhelming evidence and explain to the American people why they continue to support this palpably unfit miscreant.  And even if the Senate fails to convict, Appelbaum convincingly argues that the process itself will impede Trump's ability to pursue his destructive agenda as well as cause him deep and lasting political damage.

The mid-term election has given Democrats an opportunity to safeguard the country.  They need to seize it.