Former Bush Ethics Chief: Trump ‘Will Conform With The Constitution Or We Will Remove Him’ (VIDEO)

Richard Painter is the former chief ethics attorney for George W. Bush and currently a law professor at the University of Minnesota. On Monday, Painter said that if Donald Trump continues to try and skirt the Constitution, he will be impeached.

Speaking to Australia’s ABC News, Painter said he had hoped Trump would divest himself of his business holdings before he took office, but since he hasn’t, it could indeed lead to a Constitutional crisis in the near future:

“He did what he needed to do to be a successful businessman, he figured that out and he now has to figure out how to be a successful president.  But he is going to need to sell his business interests, he’s going to need to stop giving inflammatory speeches and not try to politicize our intelligence services.”

Professor Painter noted that Trump seems determined to pursue a path that could be self-destructive:

“We want a president to be an effective president within the bounds set forth by the Constitution. A president who cannot do that will be impeached. But I don’t think Donald Trump is going to choose that route.”

In particular, Painter cited the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution, but he also touched on other controversial proposals Trump has made:

“That also means the provisions of the constitution that protect Americans from discrimination based on their religious faith. We are not going to be keeping a registry of Muslims, we are not going to be deporting Muslims, we’re not going to be barring people from coming into our country because of their religion.”

“He is going to need to comply with the Constitution in order to be a good president, in order to remain as president. We will remove a president who cannot comply with the Constitution.”

It would be nice to think that Trump will heed the warnings of Professor Painter, but ask yourself one question: Has Donald Trump ever truly listened to anyone other than the voices in his head?

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org

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