What he exactly did was violate the Constitution. And in a way that threatens our very democracy.
Here is why:
The genius of our political system is that we have checks and balances. Three branches, equal with coequal powers and checks over each other.
The executive names judges with consent of the Senate. The Senate approves Cabinet nominations as well, along with ambassadors and others.
The House makes bills and allocates funds, which the Senate has to approve before the President can spend it.
In this way, not one branch of government can have total power. If the executive or a judge steps out of line and violates their oath of office the House can initiate impeachment, which the Senate can then either approve or disapprove of.
Checks and balances.
The House approved, on a bipartisan basis, money for Ukraine. The Senate approved it and the President signed it. That money is locked in stone unless the executive, who spends the money, can relay to congress whether a deferral or recision is in order. If the House approves the executive delays payment.
Deferrals can be because perhaps congress allocated too much money and the President finished the job for less. No need for the rest of the money. All well and good.
Recision, when none of the money is spent, can be for a war that has been averted. No need for the money, all well and good.
But in any case the Congress must be notified before the money is held. What Trump did was hold money without doing that, and doing it covertly, hiding the fact that it was done until the whistleblower complaint emerged. The reason for doing it changed over time, but that isnât the point, he should have never done it in the first place without the consent of Congress.
When the HoR asked for witnesses and documents he then defied subpoenas. Again, not his right to do so. If he is allowed to spend the money as he likes and to defy any level of oversight you have ostensibly nullified the power of the HoR and thrown the whole system of checks and balances aside.
What you have, instead, is a King. The Unitary Executive. A ruler. He already has the Senate under his thumb and has placed friendly folks in the courts because of this.
He is a fat, 70 something man with sleep issues and a raging temper. On the day he passes, that balance will not be restored. Power is never ceded once obtained. Imagine a Democratic President with this level of power, the power to pack the courts and spend money wherever he or she wanted to without any oversight from Congress.
No one wants that, not even a Democrat.
That is exactly what he did and why he needed to be impeached.
