To the editor:
President Trump once said, “Article II allows me to do whatever I want.” This statement about the powers granted to him by the Constitution is not true, of course, yet the president repeatedly asserts dictatorial authority. (“How autocracy takes hold in Trump’s America,” Opinion, Jan. 15)
Article I of our Constitution created a legislature and defined its powers and duties. It contains an impeachment clause, anticipating the damage that could be done to our democracy by a power-hungry president. Article I makes very clear that the legislature has the duty to oversee the executive branch.
Article II created and defined the powers of the presidency. It says nothing about “executive privilege” as a prerogative of the president to withhold vital information from Congress.
Trump publicly misrepresenting Article II, claiming he has the power to do anything that he wants, subverts the very essence of our Constitution, which is the balance of power between the three branches of government. If people accept Trump’s falsehood that the president has primacy over the Congress and the judiciary, then the Constitution will have been shredded once and for all and an imperial presidency proclaimed.
This is how democracies die. We cannot let this stand.
Don Rowland, Camarillo
Note from KBJ: Here's what President Trump said, in context:
"Look, Article II [of the Constitution], I would be allowed to fire Robert Mueller," he asserted. "Assuming I did all the things… Number one, I didn't. He wasn't fired … But more importantly, Article II allows me to do whatever I want. Article II would have allowed me to fire him," Trump claimed.
It's obvious that President Trump was talking about his power to fire a special counsel, so you're either ignorant or dishonest, Don. Which is it?
