People’s Indictment of Donald Trump, President of the United States

by Bert Berlin

People’s Indictment of Donald Trump, President of the United States

“After more than 3 1/2 years in office, it is clear that Donald Trump has failed as president. It is equally clear that his continuance in office for another term as president would be disastrous for the United States. The American People here list Mr. Trump’s violations of public trust that disqualify him from continued service as president:

1. He has ordered that children be separated from their parents and kept in cages.

2. He has ordered armed, uniformed federal officers to attack peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights.

3. He has solicited foreign leaders to aid his reelection campaign, resulting in his being impeached by the House of Representatives.

4. He has endangered the lives of American soldiers by ignoring reports that a foreign power had offered bounties for their deaths.

5. He has threatened future generations by withdrawing from the international climate agreement.

6. He delayed – and bungled – dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in tens of thousands of avoidable American deaths.

7. He banned members of an entire major religious group – Muslims – from entering the United States.

8. He rolled back clean water and clean air standards, which will adversely affect the health of many Americans.

9. He is a chronic liar, constantly deceiving the American people.

10. He has carried out a sustained attack against the free press in this country, labeling journalists as “enemies of the people” and describing any reports critical of his actions as “fake news.”

11. He has weakened long-standing alliances of the United States by treating leaders of our allies with contempt.

12. He courts the favor of tyrannical leaders of nations that threaten the security of the United States.

13-. He has tried to affect the outcome of this year’s election by blocking funding necessary for the U.S. Postal Service to process mail voting.

14. He has used the presidency to increase his personal wealth and that of his family.

15. He has promoted division among the American people.

16. He has encouraged his supporters to boycott an American manufacturer, which threatens the jobs of that company’s employees.

17. He has stated his intention to cut Social Security and Medicare if he is reelected.

18. He failed in his personal diplomacy with Kim Jung-on, resulting in North Korea continuing its development of weapons that threaten the security of the United States.

19. He withdrew the United States from the Iran non-proliferation treaty, giving Iran justification to engage in nuclear research and increase its fissionable material.

20. He has refused to release his tax returns, even going to court to block their release.

21. He allowed coal companies to dump toxic waste in streams, thus endangering the health of Americans.

22. He fired the head of the FBI in an attempt to end the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

23. He shared classified information with Russian officials.

24. He gave verbal support to white supremacists marching at Charlottesville.

25. He opposes the removal of statues of Confederate officers and supports keeping U.S. Military bases named after them, despite the fact that they engaged in armed rebellion against the United States.

26. He ordered the end of the DACA program making those brought to the United States as children subject to deportation,

27. He withheld federal relief funding for Puerto Rico although it had suffered devastation from two hurricanes.

28. He has entered into tariff wars with China resulting in higher prices for American consumers and loss of markets for American farmers.

29. He publicly accepted Russian President Putin’s denial of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, despite the conclusion of United States intelligence agencies that Russia had, in fact, interfered.

30. He forced a costly government shutdown that lasted more than 30 days in an attempt to coerce the Congress into appropriating additional funds for his border wall.

31. He declared a national emergency along the country’s southern border to get more funding for his border wall than had been provided by the Congress.

32. He directed his subordinates not to cooperate with a lawful congressional investigation, again resulting in his impeachment.

33. He fired agency inspectors general and United States attorneys who were investigating wrongdoing by members of his Administration.

34. He has violated his constitutional mandate to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

35. He deserted Kurdish fighters who had fought on the side of the United States against ISIS.

36. He disbanded a pandemic team formed in the Obama Administration, leaving the United States unprepared to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

37. He worked to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would have deprived millions of Americans with no health insurance.

38. He refuses to reject support from White Supremacists, 

39. He has demonstrated disrespect for women, especially women of color.

40. He has failed to act on reports that foreign countries are again interfering in our national elections, thus refusing to protect American sovereignty.

41. He delayed implementing Congressionally mandated sanctions against Russia.

42. He refused to take action when a journalist working for the Washington Post was murdered at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey.

43. He perpetuates the conspiracy theory of the “deep state,” an unidentified cabal of federal officials and employees who supposedly control everything and block all his policies.

44. He has appointed people to high government posts whose only qualification was personal loyalty to him.

45. His lack of a cohesive foreign policy has resulted in the United States losing its traditional leadership role in the world.

46. He has attempted to corrupt the Civil Service, the Foreign Service and the military by insisting that its members be loyal to him rather than to the Constitution and laws of the United States.

47.  During his presidency, the national debt has risen by $6.6 trillion, although he promised during the 2016 campaign to eliminate the national debt in eight years.

48. He accused a TV commentator who disagrees with him of murder.

49. He has refused to nominate people to vacancies on the Federal Election Commission so that the election watchdog lacks a quorum to meet.

50. He has debased the level of political debate in this country through disrespect and name-calling of those he opposes.

51. He gave support to the QAnon conspiracy movement, saying “Well I don’t know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much — which I appreciate, . . . I’ve heard these are people that love our country.”

52. He has used campaign funds to enrich his businesses.

53. He pushed the passage of a tax law that cut taxes for corporations and the super wealthy at the cost of increased annual federal deficits.

54. He ordered that a tall fence be erected in front of the White House that keeps the public from seeing their executive mansion.

55. He has politicized the White House using it for the Republican National Convention.

56. His inflammatory speech and tweeting pushes people to violence.

57. He placed members of his family in high government positions in violation of anti-nepotism rules.

58. He intervened in the review process to get his son-in-law top secret security clearance over the objection of White House counsel.

We urge our fellow citizens to reject Mr. Trump’s request to be reelected to another term as president.“