How To Understand Impeachment Terms
Here’s Help To Understand Terms Used When Discussing The Impeachment of Donald Trump
Let’s cut through the political jargon so we can discuss aspects of the impeachment process with accuracy. Just because the Trump side of the debate is comfortable with poor language skills and wrong definitions of legal terms. Words matter just as much as facts matter so let’s get both things on our side.
Here’s Some Help Understanding Impeachment Terms
The Mueller report takes a long time to read — and even longer to digest. To save you the heavy lifting, we’ve put together some key terms for you to read through, then share with your friends:
Obstruction of Justice
In each episode of potential obstruction of justice, the Mueller report evaluated three elements that make up this impeachable offense:
- Obstructive Act: An act that impedes or hinders an official proceeding.
- Nexus: The act in question is linked to an existing or potential official proceeding.
- Corrupt Intent: Acting “knowingly and dishonestly” to “gain an improper advantage.”
Coordination
While there is no consistent definition in federal criminal law for “Coordination,” the Mueller report understood it as “an agreement — tacit or express — between the Trump Campaign and the Russian government on election interference.” This was not established — not because it didn’t occur, but because the investigation did not obtain the necessary evidence from the players involved.
Collusion
“Collusion” describes a campaign working with a foreign source, or soliciting or encouraging improper help from one. Mueller did not investigate “Collusion” and therefore did not offer a conclusion on it because it’s “not a specific offense or theory of liability found in the U.S. Code.”
Underlying Evidence
This is what Mueller’s team compiled during their investigation to produce the report. “Underlying evidence” includes intelligence and counterintelligence information, as well as the status of other ongoing investigations.
GRU and IRA
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU) is the Russian military intelligence agency that hacked the DNC in 2016, worked with WikiLeaks to disseminate dirt on Hillary Clinton, and infiltrated voting machines in Illinois to obtain voter data. The Internet Research Agency (IRA) is a pro-Russia online propaganda machine tied to the Russian government that organized social media campaigns and rallies to benefit Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
We hope knowing these terms will help you better understand the implications of what journalists are reporting and the significance of what elected officials are saying — and not saying. Now, will you share these terms with friends and family so they can stay in the know too?
Thanks,
Need to Impeach
PO Box 538 | San Francisco, CA 94104
