[guest post by Dana]

Quick update: As anticipated, Justin Amash is going to be facing a primary challenge. He has also pushed back against his critics after asserting that the President had engaged in “impeachable conduct”:

People who say there were no underlying crimes and therefore the president could not have intended to illegally obstruct the investigation—and therefore cannot be impeached—are resting their argument on several falsehoods:

1. They say there were no underlying crimes.

In fact, there were many crimes revealed by the investigation, some of which were charged, and some of which were not but are nonetheless described in Mueller’s report.

2. They say obstruction of justice requires an underlying crime.

In fact, obstruction of justice does not require the prosecution of an underlying crime, and there is a logical reason for that. Prosecutors might not charge a crime precisely *because* obstruction of justice denied them timely access to evidence that could lead to a prosecution.

If an underlying crime were required, then prosecutors could charge obstruction of justice only if it were unsuccessful in completely obstructing the investigation. This would make no sense.

3. They imply the president should be permitted to use any means to end what he claims to be a frivolous investigation, no matter how unreasonable his claim.

In fact, the president could not have known whether every single person Mueller investigated did or did not commit any crimes.
4. They imply “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” requires charges of a statutory crime or misdemeanor.

In fact, “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” is not defined in the Constitution and does not require corresponding statutory charges. The context implies conduct that violates the public trust—and that view is echoed by the Framers of the Constitution and early American scholars.

P.S. From Justin Amash’s challenger Michigan State Rep. Jim Lower’s campaign website. Note what he leads with:

I am a Pro-Trump, Pro-Life, Pro-Jobs, Pro-2nd Amendment, Pro-Family Values Republican. Congressman Justin Amash’s tweets calling for President Trump’s impeachment show how out of touch he is with the truth and how out of touch he is with people he represents. Amash has not only failed to support President Trump as the President works to make the United States stronger and safer, he has now united with radical liberals like Democratic Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) to try and bring down our President. He must be replaced and I am going to do it.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

I realize it’s Monday morning and that’s a time for hard news posting, but when gracious generosity takes center stage, it’s a good reminder that in the midst of a hurly-burly world, the act of helping others is still very much in play:

Morehouse College seniors got a surprise Sunday when billionaire investor Robert F. Smith announced during his commencement speech that he would pay off the student loan debt for the historically black college’s graduating class.

“On behalf of the eight generations of my family who have been in this country, we’re going to put a little fuel in your bus,” he told the newly minted graduates in Atlanta before saying his family was creating a grant to eliminate their student loans.
The announcement was met with a standing ovation and chants of “MVP!”

“Now, I know my class will make sure they pay this forward,” he continued. “I want my class to look at these (alumni) — these beautiful Morehouse brothers — and let’s make sure every class has the same opportunity going forward because we are enough to take care of our own community. We are enough to ensure we have all the opportunities of the American dream.”

The gift involves 396 students’ loans and is expected to cost approximately $40 million.

Student reaction was about as you would expect:

“We’re looking at each other like, ‘Is he being serious?’ That’s a lot of money,” salutatorian Robert James, 21, said.

Jonathan Epps, 22, said Sunday afternoon he still hadn’t fully grasped the magnitude of the “tremendous blessing,” which he called the kindest, most generous thing he’d ever witnessed.

“It’ll sink in as the years go on. I know that for a fact,” he said. “I still don’t really have words. … It makes a great day just that much better.”

Epps said he has about $35,000 in student loan debt that his parents in Pleasanton, California, had pledged to help him pay off. He couldn’t wait to break the news to them, he said.

A classmate, Elijah Nesly Dormeus, is the first of nine kids to graduate college. His mother made many sacrifices working minimum-wage jobs to provide for him and his eight siblings after Dormeus’ father died when he was 5. In addition to the 22-year-old New Yorker’s own $90,000 debt, he said his mother took out a loan to help get him through school.”All her serving, all her giving was not in vain,” Dormeus said when asked what Smith’s gift meant to his family.

Art major Charles Releford III also has numerous siblings, and his mother, Tonga, wants them all to be part of the “Spelhouse family,” meaning they hope to attend Morehouse or the nearby all-women’s Spelman College.

“For me, the parent of four, it opened up so many opportunities for the younger siblings of the Releford family,” she said.
Charles Releford said he’d accumulated about $70,000 in loan debt during his time at Morehouse, and though the aspiring illustrator doesn’t have a job lined up, he was already thinking about how he would pay back the money.

After Smith’s announcement, though, “I’m really excited to see where my life can go now because all different avenues are open now so I’m not held down. There’s no burden, student loans — I’m debt-free,” Releford said.

Here is some background on Smith:

Smith is the founder, chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, an investment firm with offices in several cities including San Francisco, New York City and Austin. According to its website, Vista has $46 billion in capital committed to companies specializing in data, software and technology. According to Forbes, Vista is one of the best-performing private equity firms, with annualized returns of 22% since it was founded.

Prior to founding Vista, Smith worked in tech investment banking with Goldman Sachs…

He is worth $5 billion… 355th on Forbes’ Billionaires 2019 list…the nation’s wealthiest African American.

In 2016, Smith pledged $50 million to his alma mater Cornell University toward the school’s college of engineering.

Smith is also the only African American to sign the Giving Pledge, an initiative created by billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett aimed at urging the world’s billionaires to donate their wealth toward charitable causes.

Smith’s mission:

I will never forget that my path was paved by my parents, grandparents and generations of African-Americans whose names I will never know. Their struggles, their courage, and their progress allowed me to strive and achieve. My story would only be possible in America, and it is incumbent on all of us to pay this inheritance forward.

(Note: I personally chose to focus on the generosity of one individual in this post rather than examine the ramifications of an art major accumulating $70,000 in student debt and the problem of student loan debt in general. Please feel free to discuss any aspect of the report.)

–Dana