To the Editor:

Re “Yes, He’s Guilty. Impeachment Is a Mistake” (column, Sept. 27):

Like David Brooks, I thought an impeachment proceeding would be a mistake. As the process unfolds, I now realize that was all about calculation but not about our country’s needs in this fraught moment in our history.

Mr. Brooks says “ this will probably achieve nothing .” If achieving nothing means removing the president from office, this is probably right. The impeachment process does, however, help Congress regain its rightful place as an equal branch of government meant to provide checks and balances on an out-of-control and corrupt executive branch. Now that’s an achievement.

Mr. Brooks writes that “ this process will increase public cynicism.” What is more cynical than knowing that the president has recruited a foreign government to influence our election and doing nothing?

“ This could embed Trumpism within the G.O.P.” That ship has sailed. Who imagined a Republican Party blind to increasing debt before Mr. Trump? Since when do Republicans trample on the rights of states to set their own policies on protecting their air and water?