Noah Feldman, Columnist

Trump’s Quid Pro Quo Is Unconstitutional

An emerging White House argument against the impeachment inquiry should be refuted before it gets off the ground.

October 20, 2019 at 1:00 PM UTC

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

Trying out a new defense against impeachment.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney admitted Thursday that President Donald Trump conditioned U.S. aid to Ukraine on a politically motivated investigation into the origins of the allegation that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee. Then he attempted to reverse himself.

Regardless of whether the reversal succeeds, Mulvaney’s initial admission signals what looks to become a new direction for defending the president: Admit there was a quid pro quo with Ukraine, but claim the president has the constitutional authority to do such deals with foreign countries.