Did you know that the Senate impeached President Richard Nixon at least partly for lying to the American people?  They saw that as malfeasance in office. I didn’t remember that.

Lying is dishonorable for most of us, but it isn’t always a crime.  In 1974, though, Congress felt differently about the President’s words.  Part of the reason they were removing him from office was because he was “…Making or causing to be made false or misleading public statements for the purpose of deceiving the people of the United States….” It was explicitly included in the Articles of Impeachment, right there with his high crimes and misdemeanors.  They felt his lies were a critical part of how he had abused his office and broken his vows to protect the constitution and the nation.

I agree.  Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States, and vowed to faithfully execute the office of the President.  Trump was elected, making him the American’s representative in the Executive Office.  “…Faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States…” has to include telling the people who elected him the truth about the facts of the work he was elected to do, and that we pay him for.

Yes, this is politics, so spinning and dodging are allowed.  Letter of the law.  He can lie about his tiny hands, his intelligence, his utter uniqueness, his magnificence, and all that non-office stuff until the cows come back to Manhattan.  He can say the stock market rose from optimism about his election.  ‘Re-interpret’ the weather, or crowd sizes if he likes.  He can claim credit for the sun rising, for all I care.  He’s still be a doofus, but that’s just noise.

But when President of the United States lies to the American people about what he’s doing with the office of the Presidency, that’s breaking his oath of office.

And we know it’s an impeachable offense.