A sense of justice, responsibility, and most importantly a steadfast understanding and support of the rule of law has made the Republican Party the second oldest political party in America. To be sure, respect for private-property rights, low taxes, and limited government are the pillars of the GOP, but the foundations all rest on respect for the rule of law.

The Grand Old Party though is suffering through a culture shock that is difficult to comprehend.

In 1984, I cast my first vote as an 18-year-old for Ronald Reagan. I attended every Republican caucus for over three decades. I was the elected neighborhood GOP precinct leader for most of those 30 years. I had the privilege to swear to uphold the Constitution for two terms as an elected Republican Arapahoe County commissioner. Later, I swore to uphold the Constitution again as an elected City of Centennial charter commissioner who was one of 21 to write the City’s Charter after being a founder of the city. All those years, I had been a loyal Republican voter, believing that the party was doing its best for the long-term success of our constitutional republic. I’m now unaffiliated.

Our founders dedicated most of the federal government’s power to Congress and it’s legislative powers in Article I of the Constitution. Article II contains the executive powers vested in the president and is much shorter. When conflicts arise between the two branches of government there are several methods to resolve the disputes that are specifically written into the Constitution. Impeachment is the strongest.

What makes our entire system of governance unique is that every elected official and public servant is sworn to uphold and protect the Constitution. Public servants do not pledge allegiance to a man, or group of people, an organization, a political party or even government itself. They swear to uphold the written rule of law. It makes our constitutional republic beholden to the citizens of the United States not to an authoritarian power of any stripe.

For all with an understanding of our republic, the Ukraine matter is untenable. Soliciting personal political help from an ally under threat of withholding constitutionally allocated — and taxpayer-funded — aid as leverage must be unacceptable to every American, regardless of party affiliation. It’s impossible to ignore the sworn, under penalty of perjury, testimony of distinguished diplomats.

The person who occupies the highest office in our nation has shown us unequivocally who he is, and that he has no intention of changing even the smallest bit of his behavior to align with the rule of law.

Now it is up to the United States Senate in a trial of the president to understand completely what happened, and then to fully explain it to the American people. It is clear the House of Representatives discovered impeachable evidence to refer to Senate for a trial. The charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress demand that a full and fair trial be held.

If defenses are available, under-oath testimony is the proper means to counter the impeachment in the Senate. Yes, a trial will be political, but yet again our founders were wise. The ultimate determination will likely be when 435 representatives in Congress, a third of the U.S. Senate members and the president receive the verdict from registered voters next November.

As our president sidesteps the laws of our land, our nation has never needed constitutional defenders more than it does now. A grounded moral compass will be critical to the remainder of the investigation into the president’s conduct. Members like Sen. Cory Gardner can and must serve as such defenders of the Constitution during the Senate trial.

I remain optimistic that there are still conservatives and constitutionalists in Colorado and in Congress who take their constitutional oaths of office and Senate impeachment oaths seriously.

John Brackney is a Colorado native, former elected official, military officer and passionate constitutionalist.

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