To those who say Wednesday’s impeachment of President Trump is being done with somber regret, that there was no intention to remove the legitimately elected president from the beginning, please consider this Washington Post article, published just 19 minutes after Trump was sworn in:

The effort to impeach President Donald John Trump is already underway.

At the moment the new commander in chief was sworn in, a campaign to build public support for his impeachment went live at ImpeachDonaldTrumpNow.org, spearheaded by two liberal advocacy groups aiming to lay the groundwork for his eventual ejection from the White House.

The organizers behind the campaign, Free Speech for People and RootsAction, are hinging their case on Trump’s insistence on maintaining ownership of his luxury hotel and golf course business while in office. Ethics experts have warned that his financial holdings could potentially lead to constitutional violations and undermine public faith in his decision-making.

Their effort is early, strategists admit. But they insist it is not premature — even if it triggers an angry backlash from those who will argue that they are not giving the new president a chance.

“If we were to wait for all the ill effects that could come from this, too much damage to our democracy would occur,” said Ron Fein, legal director at Free Speech for People. “It will undermine faith in basic institutions. If nothing else, it’s important for Americans to trust that the president is doing what he thinks is the right thing … not that it would help jump-start a stalled casino project in another country.”Michael Moore: ‘Donald Trump will not last these four years’Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore spoke at a protest at McPherson Square in Washington, D.C., following President Trump’s inauguration. (The Washington Post)

The impeachment drive comes as Democrats and liberal activists are mounting broad opposition to stymie Trump’s agenda. Among the groups organizing challenges to the Trump administration is the American Civil Liberties Union, which plans to wield public-records requests and lawsuits as part of an aggressive action plan aimed at protecting immigrants and pushing for government transparency, among other issues.

“We think that President Trump will be in violation of the Constitution and federal statutes on day one, and we plan a vigorous offense to ensure the worst of the constitutional violations do not occur,” said Anthony D. Romero, the ACLU’s executive director.

“We may have a new president, but we have the same old system of checks and balances,” he added.

Strategists behind the campaign for impeachment said they are confident that other groups will soon join their cause. They argue that Trump will immediately be in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which prohibits a president from accepting a gift or benefit from a foreign leader or government.