LogFAQs > #931207485

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/05/opinions/turley-impeachment-flip-flop-avlon/index.html

I like how in order to be politically correct, he has to call it a "flip flop" instead of the more accurate "blatant, outrageous hypocrisy driven by sheer partisan urgings"

He was careful to make it clear that he did not vote for President Donald Trump. Instead, he framed himself as a devotee of James Madison in a time of "intense rancor and rage."
But it's important to understand that Professor Turley was a strenuous advocate for the impeachment of former President Clinton while he now opposes the impeachment of President Trump, saying this:
"I am concerned about lowering impeachment standards ... This impeachment would stand out among modern impeachments as the shortest proceeding, with the thinnest evidentiary record and the narrowest grounds ever used to impeach a president."

Nonetheless, Jonathan Turley argued in 1998 column titled "Why The President Must Be Impeached" that "impeachment serves a purpose beyond removal ... the House does not convict but merely accuses. Thus, the House plays an important role in deterring presidential misconduct."

In 1998, Turley was concerned about the impact of not impeaching the president, saying, "If you decide that certain acts do not rise to impeachable offenses, you will expand the space for executive conduct."
It's reasonable to think that Turley simply changed his mind over time.
But in a 2014 op-ed in the Washington Post, Turley wrote that "While there's a high bar for what constitutes grounds for impeachment, an offense does not have to be indictable. Serious misconduct or a violation of public trust is enough."