A censure compromise is the GOP’s best option – but Trump is making it impossible: conservative columnist

In an op-ed for the conservative outlet The Bulwark, Benjamin Parker argues that when it comes to censure as a "compromise" to impeachment, that potential compromise is a model that President Trump himself has taken off the table.

Just like during the Bill Clinton era, party members leading the impeachment effort know that they won't get the Senate votes to convict. "The censure compromise was an effort by the president’s defenders to end the impeachment process early. It failed in 1998 because Republicans were determined to demonstrate their fidelity to the rule of law and to enforce a high standard of conduct for public officials," Parker writes, adding that Democrats today find themselves in a similar position. "At this point, Trump’s defenders should be suggesting a censure measure as a possible compromise just as Democrats did in 1998. ... Even if a compromise on censure appears unreachable, the Republicans should make the offer on the off chance that it works."

But according to Parker, Republicans aren't pushing for censure because President Trump himself has made that impossible. He cites a recent Trump tweet where the president reiterates the claim that his infamous July 25 phone call with Ukraine's president was "PERFECT." Additionally, Trump has reportedly told friends that he's "eager to see Senate Republicans aggressively argue that he did nothing wrong."

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"Censuring the president would, of course, require admitting that he did something wrong," Parker writes. "In fact, that’s pretty much the entire point."

Read his full piece over at The Bulwark.