On Wednesday, a prominent conservative commentator revealed that the GOP is desperate to avoid the impeachment of President Donald Trump’s officials, particularly that of embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. According to American Conservative senior editor Luke Nicastro – who previously served as national security advisor to MAGA-oriented Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) – if Democrats regain power, successful impeachments could put Trump administration collaborators on the path to “the Hague.”

As Nicastro explains, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) recently adjourned the House for its recess two weeks early, breaking an earlier promise to “work all the way through September and every day that’s on the calendar.” The reason was clear to everyone. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was attempting to force a vote on Hegseth’s impeachment, and according to Nicastro, it was “obvious” that Johnson “wanted to avoid that impeachment vote. Massie’s measure had a 48-hour timer baked into it, and it was introduced on a Tuesday. Johnson sent his members home on Wednesday night, thus punting consideration of impeachment until the House gavels back in after the midterms.”

In Nicastro’s estimation, there was a good chance the impeachment would have been a success. As he writes, “Hegseth has antagonized Republican lawmakers to an unusual degree, including by summarily dismissing senior defense officials and military officers, failing to offer details on how he’ll spend the gargantuan sums for which his department is asking, and generally exhibiting what might charitably be called an indecorous manner. And more than any other administration figure — excepting only the president himself — Hegseth owns the least popular war in American history. Indeed, polling suggests a majority of Americans support Hegseth’s impeachment. It’s therefore not inconceivable this thing might have passed. And even an unsuccessful impeachment measure would be politically embarrassing, both for Johnson and the White House.”

But, notes Nicastro, there is likely another reason the GOP took such drastic action to block the vote. “Assuming a blue wave in the midterms,” he explains, “this would start next year with congressional investigations, hearings, and impeachments. If a Democrat were to win the White House in 2028, these efforts would quickly escalate to encompass the full machinery of government. Hegseth is likely to be among the highest-priority targets. His record reads like it was cooked up in a lab to enrage liberal sensibilities: He is a former Fox News host who has been accused of sexual assault, a brash and crude culture warrior who delights in what progressives call ‘punching down,’ and a combination hype man/executive agent for the president’s various military interventions. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have openly said he is guilty of war crimes.”

And Democrats aren’t alone in suggesting Hegseth’s criminality. Massie’s impeachment attempt, argues Nicastro, “could significantly bolster such a case. For his effort isn’t hastily drawn-up hackwork; it consists of eight separate articles, each of which is specific and serious. The articles accuse Hegseth of illegally using U.S. forces for hostilities not authorized by Congress in Iran, Venezuela, and Yemen; contravening the War Powers Resolution of 1973; ordering extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific; ignoring legislation requiring the minimization of civilian casualties; and using his department to retaliate against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) in violation of the latter’s First Amendment rights. And while most of the charges essentially amount to carrying out illegal orders from his commander-in-chief, two of them — ignoring responsibilities for protecting civilians and targeting Kelly — concern things that Hegseth seems to have done on his own.

”What’s more," asserts Nicastro, “Dems are unlikely to be content with bagging Hegseth; others further down in the Pentagon bureaucracy could be in legal jeopardy as well. Nor is the American justice system the only worry. One increasingly hears speculation that a liberal administration could manifest its enthusiasm for the ‘rules-based international order’ by working with the Hague on this.”

Nicastro believes that having these articles debated, memorialized in the public record, and voted upon — even if ultimately rejected — would “give substance to prospective future prosecutions, both domestic and international. The whole affair is also likely to spook those currently running the war, especially if the president at some point decides to make good on his perennial threats to ‘annihilate’ Iran.” And as Nicastro notes, such concerns would be justified given the UN’s recent finding that there are ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe the U.S. military has committed war crimes in Iran. Regardless of the GOP’s delays, Nicastro concludes, “impeachment will sooner or later be considered by the House. And these are unlikely to be the last charges lodged against Hegseth.”

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet