Now that the House judiciary committee has approved the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, Republicans have prepared a quiz meant to test Republican lawmakers’ support for the president. Following are excerpts from the Republican quiz.
The term “high crimes and misdemeanors” in the US constitution’s impeachment clause refers to:
A. Acts grossly incompatible with the proper function of the office of the presidency such as using the power of the office for personal gain, whether or not such acts are in violation of a specific criminal statute.
B. Conduct that satisfies Answer A, but that clearly also violates a criminal statute.
C. Bill Clinton
D. Bill and/or Hillary Clinton
In creating the impeachment process, the founders meant to show:
A. No one is above the law, including the president.
B. No one is above the law, but the president should get to decide that for himself.
C. No one is above the law, but the president is the law, so where’s the problem?
D. This is a sad example of a hyper-partisan question drafted by witch-hunting haters.
President Trump’s 25 July phone conversation with President Zelenskiy was
A. Manifestly unethical.
B. Perfect.
C. Not perfect, but pretty darn good.
D. Quite problematic, but it didn’t happen.
E. Still better than his conversations with Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Boris Johnson and Justin Trudeau.
In withholding $400m in military aid to Ukraine appropriated by Congress, President Trump was:
A. Transparently trying to force the newly elected president of a fledgling democracy to participate in a corrupt act.
B. Waiting for President Zelenskiy to visit him at the White House so he could hand him the aid in person.
C. Punishing Congress for not being more generous to a faithful ally.
D. Caught completely by surprise. It was Adam Schiff who secretly held up the aid.
The theory that Ukraine and not Russia was responsible for meddling in the 2016 election is:
A. Itself a bogus conspiracy theory concocted and spread by Russian intelligence, a fact made clear in Fiona Hill’s disturbing testimony before the House intelligence committee.
B. Hard to prove but also hard to disprove. Kind of like whether the Earth is round.
C. Probably true, especially as we now know false things can be true.
D. Flatly rejected by the CIA, FBI, NSA and the National Weather Service, and therefore indisputably true.
Democrats are seeking to impeach President Trump because:
A. He has acted in a manner that any unbiased lawmaker, reviewing the case without knowledge of the party affiliation of the president, would consider a textbook example of impeachable conduct.
B. They know they can’t beat him fair and square in an election marked by the systematic suppression of minority vote and yet more Russian interference.
C. They’re witch-hunting haters.
D. The Ukrainian intelligence service told them to.
Consider the following scenario:
A mobster pays a visit to a small jewelry store in a dangerous part of town, and says to the young store owner, “Word has it you were robbed last week. That’s such a shame, a nice business like yours – robbed. So, I wanna offer you my help.”
“Gee,” says the young store owner, “that’s awfully generous of you.”
“Yeah, I’m a generous guy. So I’m gonna make sure nothing happens to you or your lovely store because there are some very bad people out there.”
“Thank you so much, how can I ever repay you?”
“Funny you should ask … It just so happens that you have a regular customer named Sleepy Joe.”
“Sure, I know Mr Joe.”
“Well, I want you to put up a little sign in your shop window that says ‘Sleepy Joe is a shoplifter’.”
“But Mr Joe has never stolen from my store!”
“Listen, my friend, just put up the sign, you hear me? This is a tough neighborhood, a very tough neighborhood.”
Can the conduct described here be analogized to the president’s conversation with the Ukrainian president?
A. Yes, because both supply classic examples of a shakedown in the form of a quid pro quo.
B. No, because even if Sleepy Joe hasn’t shoplifted in the past, he very well may in the near future.
C. No, because there are very few jewelry shops in Ukraine.
D. Yes, because both supply heart-warming examples of a leader acting altruistically to provide security while calling attention to criminal acts.
If the supreme court orders the president to release his tax returns, he should:
A. Obviously comply as that is what our system of constitutional governance requires.
B. Comply, but only if Hunter Biden provides the White House with all his Snapchat photos from the last 10 years.
C. Comply, but only if President Zelenskiy releases his tax returns.
D. Create a supremer court to which he could appeal the supreme court’s ruling.
As a GOP lawmaker, I would be prepared to support President Trump’s impeachment, should evidence prove that:
A. The president clearly and indisputably withheld desperately needed military aid from an ally simply to extract dirt on a political rival to tilt an upcoming election.
B. President Putin has turned Mr Trump into a cyborg-zombie-ventriloquist’s dummy working for Russian intelligence.
C. President Trump shot a person in cold blood on Fifth Avenue.
D. 1, 2, and 3 and Trump’s popularity among Republican voters slipped below 50%.
E. No point even asking.
Answer: 1. (C or D); 2. (B, C, or D); 3. (C, D, or E); 4. (D.); 5. (D); 6 (B or C); 7 (D); 8 (B or D); 9 (E).