Let’s be clear, using the impeachment process to remove Trump from office is not likely to result in his being removed from office.
If Donald Trump were to rip out Lindsay Graham’s heart and throw him into a pit of lava during the state of the union address, you would still have Susan Collins saying that while troubling, she has reassurances from Donald Trump.
Also, Mike “Handmaidens Tale” Pence.
So, if impeachment is not going to remove Trump from office, why would you initiate proceedings.
The answer is something called the Unitary executive theory.
The sort version of this, if you are a Federalist Society right wing judge or justice, is that if you are President and (let’s be honest) if you are a Republican, then you have essentially unlimited executive power to do whatever you want, and no one can do anything about this.
It means, among other things, that even the most specious claims of executive privilege (Mueller Report) are to be accepted, because the Congress has no right to that information, with one exception.
That exception is impeachment.
Time and time again, in furtherance of the power of (let’s be honest) Republican Presidents, the Federalist Society types have said, “If you don’t like it, impeach.”
Quoting the Fratboy rapist on the court:
A second possible concern is that the country needs a check against a bad-behaving or law-breaking resident. But the Constitution already provides that check. If the President does something dastardly, the impeachment process is available. No single prosecutor, judge, or jury should be able to accomplish what the Constitution assigns to the Congress. Moreover, an impeached and removed President is still subject to criminal prosecution afterwards. In short, the Constitution establishes a clear mechanism to deter executive malfeasance; we should not burden a sitting President with civil suits, criminal investigations, or criminal prosecutions. The President’s job is difficult enough as is. And the country loses when the President’s focus is distracted by the burdens of civil litigation or criminal investigation and possible prosecution.
It’s clear that their justification for the unitary executive hinges completely on the remedy of impeachment.
It therefore MUST follow that Congress must have available to them ALL the investigative tools in order to execute this crucial check on otherwise unfettered power.
Start the hearings, and subpoena the damn Mueller Report.