Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment [pdf] for Pete Hegseth, and he did a good job. It hits the big points:
Ignoring the War Powers Act and prosecuting the Iran War (Articles 1-3).
Ignoring laws to minimize civilian casualties, including those at the school in Iran. (Article 4)
Extrajudicial killings of the fishermen in the Caribbean. (Article 5)
Suppressing free speech, specifically of Senator Mark Kelly. (Article 6)
Kidnapping Maduro. (Article 7)
Pursuing an unlawful war in Yemen. (Article 8)
One could argue that Trump ordered all of this, and I’m sure Hegseth will do that if there’s a trial in the Senate. Or, Hegseth might just not show up, or be non-responsive and argumentative if he does. Everything he does will be bad for him and the Trump administration, politically.
But let’s get back to Trump directly ordering or indirectly tolerating this. Jon Gruber at Daring Fireball, who’s basically a Mac fanboy, has been following the story of Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, getting played in a Chinese honeytrap. He points out this part of a NYT story:
Despite his status as an A.I. pioneer and head of one of the world’s most valuable companies, Mr. Huang was initially left off the list of major business and tech executives invited to join Mr. Trump in China. It is unclear whether the exclusion was connected to the memo. By that point, a number of people inside the administration were concerned about Mr. Huang’s influence on the president’s policy of only lightly regulating A.I., people briefed on the matter said.
After Mr. Trump saw media coverage about Mr. Huang being absent from the delegation, the president asked him to join the trip by meeting Air Force One during a layover in Alaska. The president drafted a social media post saying that it was an honor to have “the Great Jensen Huang,” and other business leaders “journeying to the Great Country of China where I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic.”
Trump is a fool who can be easily played. Jensen Huang played him, and he was, in turn, played by a Chinese spy who transferred Nvidia chips to China.
Democrats have two years where they can pass legislation that Trump will veto, but also bring Trump’s cabinet to justice. It’s going to be a bridge too far to impeach Trump. But impeaching Hegseth and (dios mediante) RFK Jr are definitely not a bridge too far.
What Democrats need to do is to show that Trump endangered the security of our nation by appointing a completely unqualified Secretary of Defense. “The markets” will deal with Jensen Huang, I hope. What’s important is to pick issues that will demonstrate that Trump’s gross incompetence, and the incompetence of his cabinet, endangered our country and killed innocents. Hegeseth’s impeachment is a start, and whatever you think of Thomas Massie, he’s kicked it off competently.
If you don’t think you’re mad enough about Pete Hegseth, watch this:
