Trump’s Second Impeachment

From The New Yorker’s archive: a selection of pieces about the significance of impeachment. View in browser | Update your preferences Trump’s Second Impeachment In 1973, Jonathan Schell published a piece in The New Yorker about the repercussions of the Watergate scandal. The illegal break-in, and the subsequent investigation, posed a challenge to the country’s political system. In America, Schell wrote, we are not allowed the luxury of seeking out the truth about high crimes and misdemeanors and then simply ignoring what is discovered. “In a democracy,” he observed, “certain forms of truth do more than compel our minds’ assent; they compel us to act.” This week, the Senate begins deliberations in Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial—and the resulting verdict will tell us much about the direction of our country. There have been only a few other moments of such political consequence in American history. Today, we’re bringing you a selection of pieces about the significance of impeachment. In “Among the Insurrectionists,” Luke Mogelson offers an in-depth look at the January 6th Capitol riot and the far-right extremist rhetoric that fuelled it. (“Trump supporters had Tasers, baseball bats, and truncheons. I saw one man holding a coiled noose. ‘Hang Mike Pence,’ people yelled.”) In a special video segment, the magazine offers exclusive footage of the chaotic siege. In “The Invention—and Reinvention—of Impeachment,” Jill Lepore chronicles the complex history of the process. Finally, in “Trump’s Impeachment and the Degrading of Presidential Accountability,” published last February, Amy Davidson Sorkin offers a prescient warning about the consequences of a failure to convict in the impeachment trial of 2020: “Trump, for his part, will undoubtedly see an acquittal as license for further abuse.” As Schell put it, nearly fifty years ago, at certain key moments we are compelled not only to confirm the truth in our own minds but to move forward with certitude and act upon those convictions. —David Remnick From The New Yorker’s Archive Comment Blowing the Whistle on Watergate In a democracy, we are not free to ignore the truth. By Jonathan Schell | May 5, 1973 A Reporter at Large Among the Insurrectionists The Capitol was breached by Trump supporters who had been declaring, at rally after rally, that they would go to violent lengths to keep the President in power. A chronicle of an attack foretold. By Luke Mogelson | January 25, 2021 Comment Trump’s Impeachment and the Degrading of Presidential Accountability The President will see an acquittal as license for further abuse. By Amy Davidson Sorkin | February 10, 2020 Video Dept. A Reporter’s Footage from Inside the Capitol Siege Luke Mogelson followed Trump supporters as they forced their way into the Senate chamber, using his phone’s camera as a reporter’s notebook. By The New Yorker | January 17, 2021 American Chronicles The Invention—and Reinvention—of Impeachment It’s the ultimate political weapon. But we’ve never agreed on what it’s for. By Jill Lepore | October 28, 2019 You're receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.