Less than a month since Donald Trump took office, a former Republican judge is calling for the US president to be hastily impeached.
Writing for Cincinnati.com, Mark P Painter, a former Ohio Court of Appeals Judge, has offered to help his congressman Representative Steve Chabot draft the articles for impeachment.
"In any time except our post-factual era, no office holder, much less the president, could get away with any one of the dozens of dazzlingly illegal things Trump has already done. They would forfeit office immediately," Mr Painter wrote.
He added: "Who knows what happens next. Each new day is a new nightmare.
"We are still trying to digest one breathtaking assault on America when another is signed, issued, or Tweeted. All this amid constant lies. Constant. Lies."
Mr Painter, who notes he voted for every Republican presidential candidate from 1968 to 2004, said: "It’s tough, but we must end this dangerous presidency.
"Trump must be impeached and removed with all haste. But only Congress can initiate the process."
In his column, he goes on to write: "After the election, many hoped that Trump would 'grow up' into the job — that he couldn’t possibly be as bad as some thought.
"Well, it’s gone the other way. The bully has become a more entitled bully. Anyone disagreeing is attacked. Policy is announced in illiterate tweets.
"Basic American values — free speech, the rule of law, separation of powers, even common decency — are unknown in this White House. We now have a president who has no concept of separation of powers, or why we have three branches of government.
"If he knew anything about the Constitution, he would know the framers envisioned just the situation we have now — a would-be dictator. They provided checks and balances — such as an independent judiciary to protect us from presidential tyranny."
He concludes: "All the above bothers me and should appall all Americans. We must admit we have elected a president who has immediately proved himself to be a grifter, a pathological liar, a mean-spirited bully and dangerous to American values.
"This not-ready-for-prime-time show is too dangerous to continue. America is at stake."
