Newsweek: Trump’s ‘Civil War’ Quote Tweet Is Actually Grounds for Impeachment, Says Harvard Law Professor

Official portrait of US President Donald Trump

Newsweek reported the following:

Trump’s ‘Civil War’ Quote Tweet Is Actually Grounds for Impeachment, Says Harvard Law Professor

September 30, 2019

President Donald Trump’s recent tweet quoting a longtime evangelical pastor who warned of a “Civil War” if Democrats seriously pursue removing him from office could actually be grounds for impeachment, one Harvard Law professor said.

“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,” Trump tweeted on Sunday night.

The tweet was a quote from Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist pastor who gave the comment during an appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend. Trump added his own parenthetical aside to Jeffress’ quote, in which the president asserted that Congress won’t be successful in their impeachment efforts.

The president’s tweet was immediately met with backlash, and Harvard Law professor John Coates argued that the social media post itself is an “independent basis” for lawmakers to remove him from the White House.

“This tweet is itself an independent basis for impeachment – a sitting president threatening civil war if Congress exercises its constitutionally authorized power,” Coates wrote on Twitter on Monday. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-civil-war-tweet-grounds-impeachment-1462044

Here is the tweet:

This tweet is itself an independent basis for impeachment – a sitting president threatening civil war if Congress exercises its constitutionally authorized power. https://t.co/JL9XzClGXf

— John Coates⚽️ (@jciv) September 30, 2019

As regular readers of this COGwriter Church of God News page are aware, I warned that some would push for Donald Trump’s impeachment–and that first warning was before he took office (see also Donald Trump in Prophecy).

Voice of America reported the following related to impeachment of US presidents:

History Shows Impeachment Battles Risky and Unpredictable

September 30, 2019

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump made history this past week, but not the kind he had hoped for. Trump is now the fourth U.S. president to become the subject of an impeachment inquiry, the U.S. constitutional process whereby Congress may remove a president from office.

But if history is any guide, both sides should take note that the politics of impeachment are complicated and risky, and the eventual outcome and fallout are often hard to predict.

What is clear from the past several days is that Donald Trump is now fully engaged in a battle to save his presidency.

“What these guys are doing, Democrats, are doing to this country is a disgrace and it shouldn’t be allowed,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “There should be a way of stopping it. Maybe legally through the courts.” …

Ukraine call

Trump has rejected a charge from Democrats that he abused the powers of his office by seeking Ukraine’s help to find damaging information about one of his Democratic rivals, former vice president Joe Biden.

Democrats point to a whistleblower complaint that detailed Trump’s attempt to get help from Ukraine and alleged White House efforts to cover it up.

Democrat Adam Schiff chairs the House Intelligence Committee.

“And if as alleged, and if as this record of the call already indicates, the president was instead of faithfully executing his office, was using that office as leverage to obtain dirt, have another country manufacture dirt on his opponent, it is hard to imagine a more fundamental abuse of that office,” Schiff said.

For the most part, Republicans continue to back the president, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

“I think people will find this to be overreach,” he said. “I think people will believe this is just revenge.” …

Uncertain impact

The political impact of an impeachment battle during a presidential election campaign is hard to predict, especially on some of the president’s supporters.

“Are they then going to rally behind the president? That is certainly what Trump is banking on,” University of Illinois analyst William Howell told Associated Press Television. “He is going to do everything he can to elicit that kind of response by members of his own party.”

Trump did some musing about a possible impeachment during the Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller. Late last year, the president told Reuters that he was not concerned about impeachment.

“I think that the people would revolt if that happened,” he said.

Some Democratic strategists predict the impeachment battle could weaken Trump’s case for re-election, even if the effort falls short of forcing him out of office. …

Complicated history

Many Democrats are no doubt mindful of what happened with the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998.

Clinton lied about and tried to cover up his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky, which led to his impeachment by the House.

Clinton remained in office after a Senate trial in which he was acquitted.

Clinton and Andrew Johnson are the only two U.S. presidents to have been impeached. Johnson survived his own Senate trial in 1868. …

Divided public

Public opinion polls show voters remain sharply divided over whether to move ahead with an impeachment inquiry of Trump, though recent surveys have shown an uptick in support for the idea.

A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that 49 percent of those surveyed favor the impeachment inquiry, while 46 percent oppose it.

A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll found 43% in favor of starting the impeachment process, and 43% opposed. …

Senate obstacle

The biggest obstacle facing the Democratic impeachment effort of Trump is the Republican-controlled Senate.

Republicans control the Senate by a margin of 53 to 47, and that includes two independents who usually vote with Democrats. That means Democrats would have to bring over at least 20 Republican senators in any impeachment trial in order to get a conviction and remove the president from office. So far, that seems like a long shot. …

What comes next for President Trump and the country is not entirely clear, but both sides appear to be preparing for a long and divisive political battle with an uncertain outcome, just as the 2020 presidential campaign begins to heat up. https://www.voanews.com/usa/history-shows-impeachment-battles-risky-and-unpredictable

Civil unrest will hit the USA.

True and false beliefs related to Donald Trump and the numerous investigations could very well be a factor.

Notice also the following:

Civil War On

September 30, 2019

Someone in Impeachmentville is not paying attention. Of course, diverting the rubes is exactly the point of the latest CIA operation to negate the 2016 election. Has nobody noticed that there is treaty between Ukraine and the USA, signed at Kiev in 1998 and ratified by the US Senate in 2000. It’s an agreement on “Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.” …

What part of the following do Nancy Pelosi and the news media not understand?

The Treaty is self-executing. It provides for a broad range of cooperation in criminal matters. Mutual assistance available under the Treaty includes: taking of testimony or statements of persons; providing documents, records, and articles of evidence; serving documents; locating or identifying persons; transferring persons in custody for testimony or other purposes; executing requests for searches and seizures; assisting in proceedings related to restraint, confiscation, forfeiture of assets, restitution, and collection of fines; and any other form of assistance not prohibited by the laws of the requested state… ([etc].

How does this not permit Mr. Trump asking the president of Ukraine for “assistance” in criminal matters arising out of “collusion with Russia,” as specified within the scope of Robert Mueller’s special prosecutor activities? For instance, the matter of CrowdStrike. The cybersecurity firm was co-founded by Russian ex-pat Dmitri Alperovitch, who also happens to be a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, an anti-Russian think tank funded by Ukrainian billionaire, Viktor Pinchuk, who donated at least $25 million to the Clinton Foundation before the 2016 election. Crowdstrike was the company that “examined” the supposedly hacked DNC servers, while somebody in the Obama administration prevented the FBI from ever seeing them. Does this sound a little like part of the origin story of RussiaGate? Is that not exactly the potential criminal matter that the current attorney general, Mr. Barr, is officially investigating?

Perhaps, under the year 2000 treaty, Mr. Trump was within his rights to ask the new President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, for assistance on that. And also, the question of former vice-president Joe Biden’s levering US aid to Ukraine in his demand to fire the prosecutor investigating the company, Burisma Holdings, that just happened to hire his son, Hunter, to a $64,000-a-month seat on the board of directors, not long after the younger Mr. Biden was kicked out of the US Navy reserve for cocaine use — what a sterling fellow!

The foregoing ought to be self-evident. …

UkraineGate is the equivalent of Fort Sumter in Civil War 2.0. Charges have been flying and tempers flaring for three years now, much as they did between 1858 and 1861. Once again, what seems to be at stake is the integrity of the Union. As in the previous enactment, one side is dangerously deluded, and that is liable to lead to its destruction. https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/civil-war-on/

Violence against the Citizenry Is the Left’s Intent

The Left’s ultimate goal is not merely radical legal and institutional reforms, not merely the impeachment of President Trump as a big step in that direction, but the enacting of literal violence against all those who disagree with leftists.

The extreme controls and revisions envisioned by the Squad and many of the candidates for the Leftocratic presidential nomination for 2020 are actually leading not merely to vast governmental expansion, nor to a more secure future as they claim, but to vast governmental and economic collapse.  The unspoken goal is to bring about the disintegration of the USA in every sector and to use violence against those who oppose them.

Although it is tempting to characterize the hatred of the presidency of Donald J.Trump as a burgeoning expression of themes that are both fascistic and communistic, that characterization would be only partially correct.  Because of the ultimately destructive nature of the Leftocratic endgame — where centralized power in the name of the greater good leads to disruptions, misery, and ultimately collapse — it is more accurate to say the ultimate endgame of today’s Left is murderous nihilism and brainwashing as enforced groupthink. …

Thus, the endgame of this cultural assault is not a mere paradigm shift in our cultural gemeinschaft and gesellschaft — that is, not merely challenging traditional family, community, and individual norms of behavior and self-identity, although those norms are indeed being challenged.  Under the new paradigm of social organization envisioned by the Leftocrats, there would be devalued individualism in favor of statism; further restrictions on private property rights; extreme dilution of federalism as the Leftocrats seek to radically increase federal and global power and commitments at the expense of state, local, and individual rights; limitations on parental rights over their children; and a radical rejection of many of the tenets of Judeo-Christian morality by promoting abortion, the homosexual and transgender agendas, legalization of marijuana, and sexual “freedom” (really license). 09/29/19 https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/09/violence_against_the_citizenry_is_the_lefts_intent.html

An actual impeachment of Donald Trump could cause civil unrest and rioting.

Some believe it will happen in the USA no matter what happens in the 2020 election:

No Matter Who Wins in 2020, There Will Be Blood

September 13, 2019

The right will never accept socialism, while the left will accept nothing less.

Trump Wins

Those on the left will not allow a Trump victory, even should he win the popular vote and the Electoral College. They are used to getting what they want and like spoiled brats, have learned that tantrums work.

Should Donald Trump prevail in his bid for a second term, the left will go insane, deploying every “insurance policy” weapon at their disposal … Antifa, the military arm of the Democratic Party, has not spent the last three years practicing and organizing merely to sit on the sidelines. They have used the interregnum to mobilize and learn tactics, while probing to find what government will allow, media will trumpet, and the public will endure. …

They will flood the streets after a Trump victory in their Antifa costumes looking to bust the heads of anyone near enough to become part of their 15 minutes of YouTube fame.

It will start in the cities — the Democrat-run cities, of course — where the political leadership will provide them a measure of protection against identification and arrest. Seattle, Portland, LA, San Francisco, NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and Baltimore, among others, will become flashpoints of unrest.

The riots will be portrayed by the media and the Democrats as a groundswell of support for deposing a racist president. They will bemoan the necessity of the violence, destruction, and loss of life, but remind Americans that “the people have spoken.

Trump Loses

The right will never believe the Democrats didn’t cheat their way to victory; … They believe they did build that and that they have not yet made enough money and are fed up with being portrayed as ignorant and evil just because of political disagreements. …

Tone-deaf to this silent majority and emboldened by victory, … the new president will start with universal background checks and a gun registry.

Eventually, the president will overreach, signing an order for gun confiscation, euphemistically called, “mandatory buybacks.” Antifa and their ilk will flood the streets in support of seizing these “weapons of war.” Media will declare, “It’s the will of the people.” … many gun owners in this country will not go “meekly into the night,” there will be “rage” against what they will see as a usurpation of their constitutional rights.

Confiscation will go well at first, with gun owners in the cities acquiescing … But in flyover country, a different scenario will play out. Most gun owners will hide their weapons and most local police departments will accept that, not wanting to jail their neighbors. …

The media will call it “white supremacy,” but a still unregulated internet will be rife with videos of an out of control government battling its own citizens.

The president will call for mobilizing the National Guard. Some governors will refuse, and army units now overseas will be sent home to deal with the growing unrest. Mistakes will be made and there will be gunfire in the streets; people will die on both sides. The president will desperately call for martial law.

Many Army, National Guard, and police will defect, or desert, or simply refuse orders.

What will happen after that is anybody’s guess. https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/09/no_matter_who_wins_in_2020_there_will_be_blood.html#ixzz5zbmuVKqd

Yes, we can expect to see violent civil unrest in the USA.

The Bible teaches:

9 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Enough, O princes of Israel! Remove violence and plundering, execute justice and righteousness (Ezekiel 45:9)

9 … You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:9-10)

Yet, groups like Antifa on the left and ‘Skinheads’ on the right bring the following scriptures to mind:

3 For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. 4 No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. 5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. 6 Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands. 7 Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8 The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. (Isaiah 59:3-8)

A major divide is occurring in the USA. This is not good.

Increasingly, the the USA is becoming more polarized.

On November 9, 2016, I posted the following:

Donald Trump has been a polarizing figure and has offended many including minorities and Muslims. Expect civil unrest and rioting. (Thiel B. How Will President-Elect Trump be Apocalyptic? Two false prophets exposed! COGwriter, November 9, 2019)

Donald Trump has remained a polarizing figure and we have seen civil unrest, and what could be called rioting, in some places. More is expected.

The purpose of this post is not to convict nor exonerate Donald Trump.

It is to point out that there is serious division in the USA and that violence can erupt. And to point out that media on the left and right have been stirring the pot.

Jesus taught:

25 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. (Matthew 12:25)

17 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. (Luke 11:17)

Partially because of that, we have seen many speakers and protests cancelled by US state and local government authorities this year.

Consider also the following from the prophet Amos:

9 ‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; See great tumults in her midst, And the oppressed within her. 10 For they do not know to do right, ‘Says the Lord, ‘Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.’” (Amos 3:9-10)

The reference to Samaria is pointing to the USA (see also Spiritual Samaritans: Old and New). The above is consistent with both civil unrest and terrorism. Expect more to hit the USA. Many of the right and left feel oppressed, they do not know how to do right, and they have stored up violence, and in ‘protests’ can display violence and robbery.

Violence, itself, often begets violence. So, sadly, we seem to be seeing more and more protests and terror.

The Bible warns:

25 … There shall be terror within (Deuteronomy 32:25)

There is violence in the USA. We are seeing increased civil unrest in the USA, by groups like Antifa. We will see riots in the USA.

National repentance is the only way to prevent it, and that does not look likely.

Personal repentance, however, is still possible. If you are an American, your personal future can still be much brighter than that of your country.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Donald Trump in Prophecy Prophecy, Donald Trump? Are there prophecies that Donald Trump may fulfill? Are there any prophecies that he has already helped fulfill? Is a Donald Trump presidency proving to be apocalyptic? Two related videos are available: Donald: ‘Trump of God’ or Apocalyptic? and Donald Trump’s Prophetic Presidency.
Trump Presidency Magic 8 Ball or Bible Prophecy? BBC reported that one might as well use a ‘Magic Eight-Ball’ to try to predict what will happen in the remaining time of Donald Trump’s presidency. What is a ‘Magic Eight-Ball’? Dr. Thiel not only explains that, but also briefly goes over 10 biblically-based warnings he wrote would happen if Donald Trump were elected that have already began to come to pass. He also goes over something he wrote back in 2008 that the Trump presidency is also helping lead to fulfillment. Should you trust Bible prophecy or not? Dr. Thiel says that Bible prophecy can be trusted, despite the view of skeptics and others that either overlook or despise the Bible. This is a video.
God’s Grace is For All Is being Jewish a hindrance to salvation? What about not being a descendant of Israel? What does the Bible really teach? Here is a link to a related sermon titled Race and Grace; Do you view race as God does?
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is a link to a related sermon: Could God be Calling You? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? A related sermon is also available titled: Real Christian Repentance.
Just What Do You Mean — Repentance? Do you know what repentance is? Have you truly repented? Repented of what? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
Sorry state of the 2020 presidential campaign Various politicians have announced their intentions to run for the office of the President of the United States in 2020. ‘Politico’ ran an article about the ‘sorry state’ of various candidates. Some candidates have felt the need to apologize for previous statements in support of biblical marriage and the need to endorse items of the LGBTQ agenda. Many also support abortion and other anti-biblical actions. Are these ‘American values’? Should the English language be changed to eliminate male/female and singular pronouns? Does the Bible warn about female leaders? Does the Bible warn about leaders that lead people to err? What about condoning sexual immortality? Do the presidential contenders fit prophecies warned about in 2 Timothy 3:1-5? These are some of the subjects that Dr. Thiel addresses.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future. A sermon of related interest is also available: Canada in Prophecy.
Australia and New Zealand in Prophecy Do biblical prophecies help explain the wealth blessings for Australia and New Zealand? Might cursings from disobedience come in the 21st century? Here is a link to a related sermon: Australia and New Zealand: Origins and Prophecy.
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to three related sermons: The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2019, 2020, or 2021? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2018 o 2019? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon videos: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives and Can the Great Tribulation begin before 2020? A shorter and newer video is: Might the Great Tribulation start in 2019?
The Times of the Gentiles Has there been more than one time of the Gentiles? Are we in it now or in the time of Anglo-America? What will the final time of the Gentiles be like? A related sermon is available and is titled: The Times of the Gentiles.
Armageddon Who is involved and when will this gathering happen? Here is also a video from Dr. Thiel, from Tel Megiddo in Israel: Armageddon. Other videos include: Armageddon Will it come on Trump’s watch?, Iraq, Armageddon, & Prophecy, Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome, Is China paving roads to Armageddon?, and Jordan, Petra, and Armageddon.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Should a Christian Vote? This article gives some of the Biblical rationale on this subject. Would Jesus vote for president/prime minister? Is voting in the Bible? This is a subject Christians need to understand. A video of related interest is available titled: Should Christians Vote? Another video is Sorry state of the 2020 presidential campaign.
Crime can be stopped…here’s how! This was a booklet that was edited with some updates by Dr. Thiel. Here is a link to a related sermon: Crime and How it Will be Stopped!