“Are you not entertained?” With the country’s economy improving and other issues losing traction with the public, Democrats are increasingly turning to the one thing lacking in Washington: impeachments.
As they work to take back the House in the midterms, Democrats are again promising voters the equivalent of the Roman Games by restarting impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. For many liberal voters, impeachments are the thrilling cage matches of lawfare.
Facing a challenger on the left in New York, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., was the latest to dangle impeachment before his constituents. He insisted that Trump can be removed for his capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
The same people who introduced what I called an abusive “snap impeachment” against Trump are now suggesting that he can be impeached for an act that was previously upheld as lawful in the courts.
According to Goldman, the attack constitutes an undeclared war and is thus impeachable.
The professed shock over the attack is nothing short of comical from leaders who said nothing when Democratic presidents engaged in such attacks.
There were no widespread calls for impeachment when Clinton attacked Bosnia or Obama attacked Libya. In the latter case, I represented a few members to challenge the undeclared war in Libya. Obama (like Trump) dismissed any need to get congressional approval in attacking the capital city of a foreign nation and military sites to force regime change. Figures like then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were lionized for their tough action in Libya.
Democratic members have combined a lack of memory with an equally startling lack of knowledge. Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) declared on national television that “the Constitution does not give the President the right to initiate military action.” It is, of course, entirely untrue.
Presidents cannot declare war under the Constitution, but they can certainly order the use of military forces without such a declaration. Kaine did not appear aggrieved when Democratic presidents repeatedly and routinely attacked foreign targets without prior congressional consultation, let alone approval. That includes President Barack Obama killing an American citizen who was not charged with any crime in a drone attack under his “kill list policy.”
Moreover, House and Senate Democrats have stated that they either support or do not object to the capture.
I have long opposed undeclared wars and such unilateral actions. However, as a legal analyst, I am asked whether a president has the legal authority under governing case law to carry out such operations. Trump has that authority. We lost the Libyan case and other challenges to such unilateral action have also failed.
This includes the litigation surrounding the capture and prosecution of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. That also involved an attack on a foreign country. Indeed, it was a larger military operation that took days in the country to capture Noriega, followed by a regime change.
Noriega raised the same international and U.S. authorities being cited today by pundits and lost across the board. In appeals that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, Noriega lost on his head-of-state immunity and other claims.
If there are grounds for such claims, Maduro is even less credible in making them. Roughly 50 countries refused to recognize him as the head of Venezuela after he lost the last election and seized control of the country. While he proclaimed in court this week that “I am still president of my country,” he has about the same claim to that office as Rep. Goldman.
There are good-faith objections to such military attacks on foreign countries under international law. This is a claim that other nations, such as China or Russia, could use to justify their own actions. However, this is a matter that will be resolved under U.S. law. While Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum declared that the action violated Article 2 of the United Nations Charter, it will be Article II of the United States Constitution that will dictate the outcome of this case.
Now, back to the impeachment games.
Goldman and others are suggesting that they will impeach President Trump for a capture that is virtually identical to the one in Noriega and declared lawful by the courts. Even putting aside the criminal prosecution, they would impeach him for attacks that are legally no different from those carried out by a long list of presidents, including Democratic presidents in the last two decades.
Neither history nor the Constitution matters in the impeachment games.
In the movie Gladiator, Emperor Commodus noted to the game organizer that the recreation of the Battle of Carthage seemed to get the conclusion wrong when the barbarians won: “My history’s a little hazy Cassius, but shouldn’t the Barbarians lose the battle of Carthage?” He then said that it did not matter. After all, these are the games and “I rather enjoy surprises.”
The impulsive use of impeachment is about good entertainment, not good government. For politicians fighting to stay in power like Goldman, a flash impeachment is the same call to the mob. To paraphrase, Senator Gracchus from the movie “I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the Mob. Conjure magic for them and they’ll be distracted. … The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it’s the sand of the Colosseum. He’ll bring them [impeachments], and they will love him for it.”
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of the forthcoming “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution” on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
N.B.: This column also appeared on Fox.com
With the coming end of Jasmine Crockett’s congressional term, I hereby nominate Rep. Dan Goldman, if re-elected, to be the official House Buffoon to replace her.
That offce can be filled by many people at once
The poor, the rabble, the great unwashed, and the hoi polloi were never intended to vote by the American Founders.
The Constitution confers freedom, not charity.
This column highlights’ the need for those that have the wherewithal to fund common sense ideas, or the individuals representing those ideas, countering the derisive path of the Democrats with swarming advertisements of common sense. Yes, I do contribute.
If the Democrats take the House this year, and if they jump into the fire and impeach Trump for the third time then that almost guarantees a major win for Vance in 28. It’s hard to deny the aunt’s crazy when she’s invited down to the dinner table.
Trump’s setting things up to ensure that the Democrats do not win in 26. His surge of ICE and aggressively pursuing welfare fraud in Minnesota combined with similar investigations of welfare fraud in states such as California guarantees a parade of headlines detailing the prevalence of welfare fraud and corruption in general under Democrat governance which also help ensure that Democrats will not take the House and therefore will be deprived of their third impeachment.
The Democrats want to be three time losers to Trump because again no way he gets convicted in the Senate. Another Democratic waste of time and money. The Democrats are trying to deflect because they have no policies, let alone even one popular policy. How are the Democrats going to fix the affordability crisis they caused? Nothing on that yet. How are Democrats going to fix the healthcare crisis they caused? Nothing on that yet. How are Democrats going to stop the billions in fraud they created? They are not.
The Democratic party is a joke. There one refrain is resist Trump who is already fixing the problems the Democrats caused.
I fail to see how with these children in positions of power Manhattan isn’t about to simply become CHAZ 2.0 Absurd. Patently absurd. This is your modern DNC, folks. You are pathetic.
Oops. Wrong article. Ignore.
Rep. Goldman is nothing less than a petty fascist, trying to overthrow a duly-elected president that disagrees with Goldman’s national socialist ideology. Shameful.
Are You Not Inspired
Talk about “warm collectivism,” please review the following recent news SPARSELY covered by MSM:
(1) Dan Goldman is losing badly in polls to Brad Lander (another Leftist, -but more palatable in appeal). Maybe that’s why Goldman in latching on to “impeachment” talk to save his reelection bid. Always consider the motive.
(2) Switzerland/Swiss banks just announced the FREEZING of assets against Maduro and 32 others to avoid transfers back to Venezuela.
(3) NPR’s parent Corporation for Public Broadcasting just announced its vote TO DISSOLVE after loss of funding.
(4) Tim Walz canceled his reelection bid.
(5) Hilton Hotels, threatened with boycott, took “immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems” after one of its Minnesota locations canceled reservations for ICE officers. https://www.newsweek.com/hilton-hotels-face-boycott-over-canceling-ice-reservations-11315621
(6) Convicted judge Hannah Dugan (for helping illegal immigrant escape ICE arrest) resigned from court Jan 4, 2026.
(7) Mark Kelly has some ‘splainin'” to do…
(8) Jimmy Kimmel continues lashing out at Trump, but….https://factually.co/fact-checks/entertainment/why-people-dont-find-jimmy-kimmel-funny-anymore-a18045
Huh? Improving economy? What? Turley has clearly gone full suck-up. Geez Luise! Things must be bad if the professor has to go to these lengths to buttress Trump’s policy failures, punishing dissent by attacking free speech, threatening countries with punishment for not adhering to his demands, etc. He’s gone full authoritarian and Turley is happily twiddling his tiny thumbs mansplaining to MAGA why they should be outraged about one democrat suggesting impeachment may be in order and how that magically correlates to all Democrats.
Professor Turley loves to rage about the “age of rage” by rage baiting his MAGA readers with these BS articles that do nothing to put any context or rationale. He’s feeding the rage of MAGA intentionally and peddling his book about the “age of rage”. It’s sadly a hilarious and frankly gross disingenuousness about Turley’s so-called principles.
X says: Turley has clearly gone full suck-up.
Gentle readers: only 359 more days of X’s abject failure while attempting to win you over by insulting our host with his daily BBBBUUUTTTT…. MUH TURLEY!!!!! I DEMAND BRIBERY BIDEN BACK IN 2028!!!
You forgot to mention X’s next really-juvenile insult, “Turley is happily twiddling his tiny thumbs..”
I, like fellow-commenter Cindy, must restrain myself from any “indelicate” response.
But I will say, this lashing-out is pure textbook “escalation” when one is losing ground….
Lin, you of all people knows Turley is fair game when it comes to criticism, even mild insults. Perhaps Turley one day would grace this blog and defend his position personally instead of relying on his fans and professional sycophants.
“Lin, you of all people knows Turley is fair game when it comes to criticism, even mild insults.”
Absolutely – as are You.
That is called free speech.
But you do not seem to understand that.
Turley is fair game for criticism
Kimmel is fair game
You are fair game
Impolite reporters are fair game
The EU is fair game
It is called free speech. .
When you lie – you get called out as a liar.
You do not go to jail.
You do not get silenced.
lin says I, like fellow-commenter Cindy, must restrain myself from any “indelicate” response.
That’s okay lin: in addition to my other posts concerning the issues of the day that have nothing to do with X’s trolling here, I will spend a few minutes doing the easy task of “indelicately” responding to X and his cohort in the exact same manner they “indelicately” insult Professor Turley and the majority of his readers here.
They set the rules for the “indelicate” sideshow they put on inside this blog – I accept their rules in that arena; game on. I can multi-task to do that.
lin, the greatest insult offered by X and his/her/zee’s isn’t the lies and other insults. The insult is their assumption that we are naive and stupid enough to to assign them credibility to believe what they post.
359 days left of X’s abject failure here in 2026…
Your rant proves that are delusional.
‘Opposite Of What Happened Under Biden’: Steve Moore Shares What He Likes Most About New Jobs Report
“Economist Steve Moore said Thursday on Fox Business that the latest employment numbers show a clear turnaround from the Biden-era trend of shrinking buying power.
“What I really liked about that jobs report, Larry, was the wage growth. I just don’t get the left’s obsession about affordability and a loss of buying power,” Moore told host Larry Kudlow.
Moore pointed to five consecutive months where wage growth ran ahead of inflation.”
https://dailycaller.com/2025/11/20/steve-moore-jobs-report/
Trump defies odds, achieves economic triple play with rate cuts, tariffs and cooling inflation
https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/trump-defies-odds-achieves-economic-hat-trick-rate-cuts-tariffs-and-cooling
“Improving economy? What? ”
Yup – with increasingly positive predictions for 2026.
Q4 2024 1.4% Growth – economy tanking with the expectations of a recession.
Q1 2025 -0.6% Growth – let lag from Biden
Q2 2025 3.0% – that is a nearly 4% recovery
Q3 2025 3.8%
Q4 2025 4.3%
Predictions for 2026 are 4,8% That is incredible growth.
The average for the 21st century has been below 2% – those are pathetic european socialst levels of growth
We have not seen sustained 3% growth since Clinton.
I am not sure there has been sustained 4% growth in my lifetime.
In contrast the EU had 1% growth in 2025 and is expoected to have 1.2% in 2026.
China’s offical figures for 2025 are 4.8% – but very few people beleive them
Chinese Tax receipts have cratered and that is not consistent with growth much less high growth.
All figures from Trading Economics.
Trump has not used FORCE aka government against anyone for their speech.
He has criticized the speech of others – something you do every day.
The first amendment allow you and the president to say whatever you want.
Calling Trump’s speech and Attack is less accurate as calling your speech and attack.
No one has been “punished” for their speech – except by more speech – exactly what the constitution expects.
Separately the US president is free to ACTUALLY punish foreign contries for restricting the free speech fo americans -in the US or elsewhere.
While the First amendment does not apply elsewhere in the world – the US President is as free to punish nations that violate the first amendment – even if those violations are only abridgement of the rights of their own people as he is to punish foreign nations for practicing slavery.
Rights are rights – and there is absolutely nothing wrong about the US championing the rights not only of our own people but of those elsewhere in the world.
And no that is not authoritiarian – it is anti authoritarain.
I am personally happy if Democrats wish to make impeachment the centerpeice of their 2026 campaign
Never interfere when your enemy is making a mistake.
Please “go for it” – and let the american people decide at the polls.
The whole D brand cult is on rinse , recycle and repeat. It’s old , stale and always bias. The party cult of the one trick pony always going down the leftward spiral shedding IQ all the way down .
ROFL! Democrats? How about one democrat. One guy suggest impeachment and Turley goes wild on it like he’s on LSD. Wow. Never mind that the whole thing about Maduro was never about any high principled ideal. It was just to seize control of oil and minerals. We all know Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves. Now Trump is threatening the Venezuelan VP to not disobey Trump. Crazy stuff. We are going to select who the next Venezuelan leader will be. Not Venezuelans. Didn’t Trump promise no more nation building? No more boots on the ground on other nations? MAGA was big on that. It seems MAGA is now ok with it because…they can’t be mad a Trump. MAGA doesn’t care. MAGA is like a wind sock, they agree however Trump tells them it is agreeable. Like a cult.
X says: Turley goes wild on it like he’s on LSD. Wow.
Gentle readers: only 359 more days of X’s abject failure while attempting to win you over by insulting our host with his daily BBBBUUUTTTT…. MUH TURLEY!!!!! I DEMAND BRIBERY BIDEN BACK IN 2028!!!
” How about one democrat. One guy suggest impeachment”
It starts with one.
Regrdless do you doubt that democrats are going to engage in a stupid impeachment if they take the house ?
“the whole thing about Maduro was never about any high principled ideal.”
It was an is about many things – just as Obama going after Kadafi.
Absolutely it was about Drugs, and criminal violence and oil, and Tda, and oil and …
Many things – some of which are principles.
Regardless we went to war with Japan because we were attacked.
WE went to war with Germany – because Germany declared war on the US – though FDR was already at war with Germany.
“It was just to seize control of oil and minerals.”
That is actually false.
The US is not going to control them
It is going to release them into the free market.
“We all know Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves.”
Yes, and that was aa factor, but it is likely we would have taken Maduro regardless.
but absolutely we are going to see to it that VZ’s oil enters the free market.
Fracking has dramatically reduced the National SEcurity importance of oil – but we have absolutely gone to war over oil.
And Japan attacked perl harbor over our limiting Japan’s access to oil.
” Now Trump is threatening the Venezuelan VP to not disobey Trump.”
Of course he is.
Do you think we sent special forces for Maduro so that NOTHING would change ?
Of course the US has a list of demands.
“Didn’t Trump promise no more nation building? No more boots on the ground on other nations? ”
Actually NO.
“Prevent world war three, restore peace in europe and in the middle east, and build a great iron dome missile defense shield over our entire country — all made in america”
This is the agenda 47 Bullet point that is related.
Trump has separately promised no more “Endless wars”, “No more wars that are not in our national interests”
George Bush promised no more nation building and then did exactly that badly.
“MAGA was big on that.”
False, MAGA is not antiwar. It is janti endless war, it is antiwasting american lives for things that are not in our interests.
Significant portions of the military are MAGA.
These people expect to fight. kill and possibly die for this country.
What the oppose is doing so merely so politicians can play.
MAGA is neither isolationist, anti-war, xenophobic, nor neocon.
” It seems MAGA is now ok with it because”
There was limited risk to US soldiers, thus far there is no prospect of military presence in VZ,
VZ is in the US interests.
MAGA will without a doubt turn on Trump if this turns into Afghanistan or Iraq.
No MAGA is not beholden to Trump.
Trump is beholden to MAGA.
Thus far the support him. But they are watching.
“…they can’t be mad a Trump. MAGA doesn’t care. MAGA is like a wind sock, they agree however Trump tells them it is agreeable. Like a cult.”
Clearly not – Trump reversed himself on Epstain – because MAGA would not let go.
Declarations of war are irrelevant if presidents can wage wars without them.
Jonathan Turley says “I have long opposed undeclared wars and such unilateral actions.”
Which leaves the glaring question Professor Turley and his fellow Democrats opposing Trump will not answer as they didn’t last summer when Trump bombed Iran’s nuclear weapons facility:
Tell Trump what YOU want him to do instead? Be a purist in the Oval Office, watching Iran finish building their first nuke while pleading, “Please stop doing that”?
Tell Trump what YOU would do that has a reasonable chance of succeeding. Rather than whining and snivelling that you’re opposed to his actions while acknowledging it has been ruled to be legal?
A party running on impeachment is the proper way to have politicians br accountable to the voters. This shows how much Turley is down the MAGA hole.
So why didnt they impeach Obama?
Why don’t you hop into a time machine and go back and find out.
For those of us looking at the immediate future Obama is not included.
Good one anon. BTW he’s a pig farmer. What did you expect.
Hear hear!
Well said!
And yet, I am smarter than you.
BTW, I only raise hogs when I need them for personal consumption. I do have small, medium and large livestock and I plant various different crops.
Spot on.
Look into the immediate future. Economy improving, respect for America returning, violent crime down ( in red cities ) and one party doing its level best to tell us that isnt so and oppose anything done to achieve those results. If DJT instituted measures that found a cure for cancer dems would move to impeach him.
Go ask Republicans. Probably because Republicans like it when America kills people.
Probably because Republicans like it when America kills people.
Early in the morning for the Democrat movie theater to have their first show of the day…
Projection:
Channeling one’s actions onto others typically refers to the psychological concept of projection, where a deeply emotionally disturbed individual unconsciously or deliberately attributes their own thoughts, feelings, and anti-social or criminal behaviors onto someone else.
This is an internal defense mechanism which allows mentally ill people to avoid confronting their own behavior and guilt by seeing it instead as as the thoughts and actions of another person who they despise and hate.
CO Rep Jason Crow, was on fnc yesterday being interviewed by Martha mccallum on the Venezuela situation. Crow a seasoned multi-tour combat veteran had to be wondering why the heck he took this interview as Martha ate him up…. His body language and nearly senseless comments told everything…. And you could tell he knew he wasn’t making any sense…. But he also knew he could fall back on his leftist Colorado constituents to have his back.
He was an idiot for going on Fox. They care only about pushing the MAGA cause.
He was an idiot for going on Fox. He and his handlers had to know what we Democrats here know: that CNN, MSNBC and every other media entity in the Democrat-Mainstream Media Propaganda Complex are 90% of the power of our communist Democrat cause.
All he had to do is watch how they spoon feed Bernie The Commie and his protege and our upcoming leader, Another Outrageous Communist. But the idiot instead agreed to go on Fox.
He was aaaaaan idiot for going any where he would have to face tough questions.
90% of the comments on this blog are now posted by paid left-wing trolls. Yesterday, 90% of the comments were defending communism. That’s how you know they’re paid by some dark money communist organization. Today is no different.
Name the “dark money communist organizations”. It seems you’ve been reading or watching too many trashy spy novels.
Chinese propagandists promote Maduro arrest protests organized by CCP-linked network
https://justthenews.com/government/security/chinese-propaganda-outlets-promote-maduro-arrest-protests-organized-ccp-linked
Network Of Left-Wing Nonprofits Raced To Counter Trump’s Narrative Of Maduro Raid
https://www.thebureau.news/p/in-the-fog-of-war-how-a-network-of?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1444443&post_id=183536808&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=6d95av&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
That’s not dark money. The Chinese are rather up front about such things.
Here’s an interesting twist. Trump wants control of the Western Hemisphere. Why not the Northern Hemisphere? When controlling any hemisphere is there any reason to limit it?
Trump should say “The American continents”, but he doesn’t have a grip on geography.
No grip? Knows where Venezuela lies. Greenland too. And good ole Cuba.
Most of the time MAGAs make up 99% of the comments on this blog because Turley deletes opposing views. His censor must be away for the day.
Trump is talking about seizing Greenland from another NATO country. So this isn’t just about Maduro’s capture. If that was the ‘only’ issue, impeachment talk would barely resonate.
Trump did not start the recent talk about Greenland – somone else did and the press started asking Trump questions.
The US position regarding Greenland has been the same for over a century
Denmark should sell it to us.
Myriads of US presidents have had policies seeking to buy Greenland.
Trump is only unique in that it has become a public focus.
“Trump is talking about seizing Greenland . . .”
Since when did buying (like the Alaska purchase) become the same as “seizing?”
Didn’t Pam Bondi miss the deadline to release the remaining Epstein files?
Wag the dog!
Does anything embarrass Trump at this point?
So what if there is a picture of Bill Clinton giving Trump a facial?
She also missed the deadline to explain why they weren’t released, January 3. This was to cover any materials that were withheld from release to explain why they were withheld. No doubt they will issue a single sentence “Withheld for non-disclosable reasons.”
You are beginning to sound like James Carville, “EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN and any other bullschiif I can think of!” It’s almost amusing that you are “Johnny One note”. It’s all you have when we counter your other “arguments.”
Imagine that! Bondi couldn’t review over two million files in just a few weeks to ensure all redactions allowed by the judge were put in place! Meanwhile… on the off-topic subject of files: not the slightest post of Democrat concern over Pelosi/Hakeem Jeffries’ missing Pelosi Democrat J6 Committee files.
RELEASE THE PELOSI FILES!!!!
Yes it was an impossible deadline, and the release is likely unconstitutional.
Left Clears Lane for Brad Lander’s Challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman
In a video announcement, Lander accused the incumbent of “doing AIPAC’s bidding.”
By: Gwynne Hogan ~ Dec. 10, 2025
READ: https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/10/brad-lander-daniel-goldman-congress-10th-district/
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has launched his bid for Congress Wednesday morning, seeking the Democratic nomination in the upcoming June primary against incumbent Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th District. (Chuck Schumer’s old district circa 1983-1993)
The left wing of the party quickly fell in line behind Lander in an attempt to unify against incumbent Goldman. Lander’s announcement was quickly followed by the endorsement of the Working Families Party, and Brooklyn City Council member Alexa Avilés, another potential progressive Goldman challenger, swiftly pulled her candidacy. Senator Bernie Sanders, a national progressive heavyweight, also gave Lander his support.
“The challenges we face can’t be solved with strongly worded letters or high dollar fundraisers, and not by doing AIPAC’s bidding,”
A Dan Goldman loss free’s him up for a VP run with his San Francisco buddy Gavin Newsom in the 2028 Presidential Election.
– Elect Newsom ✮ Goldman 2028 – Wonder what the Polymarket thinks of that?
Mamdani ally to challenge Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman for House seat
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., will face a primary challenge from New York City comptroller Brad Lander, who has been endorsed by New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and others.
By: Mike Heuer – UPI ~ December 10, 2025
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/mamdani-ally-challenge-democrat-rep-201851286.html
“Little” Timmy Kane is a moron. I am deeply ashamed of my state for electing either one of these cretins as our senators. Between Timmy and Marxist Warner they don’t have the IQ of a gnat. Traitor, both of them.
Read an article yesterday with quotes and links to videos of Democrats like Chuck Schumer calling for the outster of Maduro, criticizing Trump in his first term for his lack of leadership taking on Maduro, Biden upping the bounty on Maduro to some $25M. Then how many idiots really think Maduro was the legit president and he did not lose the election is hysterical.
Just goes to show, Democrats have nothing else to run on other than, well, nothing. The funny thing is we all know it. They know it, but they are going to run with it anyways.
Chuck Schumer can buy his own oyster.
He doesn’t need Maduro’s.
The funny thing is we all know it. …. who is we? Who is they?
According to the constitutional scholar, it is such a sacred document that two wrongs of the Constutition make a right.
Exactly! And three wrongs or more by our constitutional professor in the White House make it even more right! (Are we still on for our date tonight?)