NYC Bar Association details Trump’s ‘gross abuses of power’—but Congress, including top Democrats, shamelessly refuses to act
In a bombshell 33-page document that legal scholars are calling the most damning indictment of a sitting president since Watergate, the New York City Bar Association (City Bar) has delivered a blistering audit of President Donald J. Trump’s conduct—documenting six specific articles of gross abuse of power, public corruption, and a systematic dismantling of constitutional order.
Three months later, the panel released a 19-page follow-up that urged government officials to take action.
“In the less than three months since our December Report, President Trump and his principal agents have accelerated their abuse of power and violation of public trust in at least five of the areas described above and, by so doing, have inflicted grave damage on the Constitutional rights, safety, well-being, and security of Americans,” said the document released in March. “The question is no longer if, but when: Congress must act immediately to curb these abuses—including the illegal acts of aggression and unauthorized war against Iran launched on February 28, 2026—and hold those responsible to account.”
In an act of stunning political cowardice, Congress is doing absolutely nothing about it.
Worse, the most powerful Democrats in the nation, both representing the very state where the Bar Association sits—House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, both of New York—have explicitly refused to launch a third impeachment, effectively giving the president a pass to continue ruling by what the bar calls “fear and fiat.”
In its comprehensive “December Report,” released on December 18, 2025, the New York City Bar Association—one of the oldest and most respected legal organizations in the nation—laid out a devastating case for removal, detailing how Trump has abused nearly every core responsibility of the presidency. The report cites six principal categories of constitutional malfeasance:
- Usurpation of Military Authority: Trump deployed federal troops and federalized National Guard units into American cities without lawful justification, defying court orders and local objections.
- Attack on Fundamental Rights: The administration systematically undermined constitutional rights, including stripping citizenship away from American-born individuals and suppressing free speech.
- Sabotage of Judicial Independence: Trump and his team systematically attacked federal judges, ignored court orders, and attempted to intimidate law firms representing his opponents.
- Usurpation of Congressional Power: The White House sought to dismantle mandated agencies and unilaterally launched military strikes abroad without Congressional authorization.
- Compromised National Security: The administration engaged in unlawful uses of force, including a deadly, unauthorized war against Iran that the Bar Association described as an “illegal act of aggression”.
- Direct Self-Enrichment: Trump leveraged the Oval Office for personal enrichment—allegedly selling presidential pardons, accepting gifts from Qatar, peddling “Meme coins” linked to exclusive White House visits, and appointing family members to key roles.
“The question is no longer if, but when: Congress must act immediately to curb these abuses,” the Bar Association wrote in a subsequent update issued less than three months later. “These abuses reach virtually every core responsibility of the presidency—from commanding the armed forces to safeguarding the health, safety, and welfare of the American people”.
The Silence of the Lambs
A majority of majority of American voters polled want him impeached. Congressional leaders remain silent.
Despite the damning nature of the report—and despite the fact that the City Bar explicitly called on the House to use its constitutional power to pursue impeachment and removal—Democratic leaders have refused to lift a finger to hold the president accountable.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose New York district sits just miles from the Bar Association’s headquarters, has refused to endorse impeachment efforts and explicitly declined to launch proceedings.
Asked about impeachment as recently as May 2025, the New York Democrat deferred, stating he had “nothing further for me to add” on the matter. Jeffries has done little to quash reports that Democratic leadership is “not willing to undertake” the impeachment exercise, with aides describing the effort as a tactical “distraction” from the upcoming midterms.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer—the spineless senior senator from New York, a state that has produced generations of anti-corruption crusaders—has also refused to lead a charge to convict a president his own state’s legal establishment described as a threat to democracy.
While Schumer recently warned of a “constitutional crisis,” he has stopped short of demanding the upper chamber act, effectively signaling that his party lacks the backbone to prosecute the case.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, still a powerful eminence grise, went even further, openly insisting that Democrats do not intend to seek a third impeachment.
“Put simply, Jeffries and Schumer have given Trump a get-out-of-jail-free card,” said constitutional law professor and frequent legal commentator Brent Holworthy. “The judges are ringing the fire alarm, citing explicit high crimes and misdemeanors. But the fire department refuses to show up because it’s afraid of a political hassle.”
‘A Pre-Designed System to Prevent Despotism is Now Cracking’
The City Bar’s December report pulls no punches in its condemnation. It warns Congress that the entire architecture of constitutional checks and balances has been hijacked and that a failure to act is not just a political choice but a direct invitation to dictatorship.
“Our tripartite government—with its separation of powers and its checks and balances—was carefully designed to prevent despotism and rule by fear and fiat,” the report warns. “Congress must reclaim its role and power as a co-equal branch of government.”
Yet in the current climate, with Republicans holding a razor-thin majority in the House, Democrats appear paralyzed. Instead of treating impeachment as a constitutional remedy for a lawless executive, party leaders seem to view the “I word” as a liability—something that might hurt fundraising or energize Trump voters.
“We’ve already impeached him twice. I don’t think anybody thinks that’s going to be the utopian solution to our problems,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told NBC News last year, offering a peek behind the curtain of Democratic defeatism.
But critics argue that such logic is dangerously flawed. Impeachments have historically failed due to partisan politics, but the evidence this time around is far more extensive, with the nation’s premier bar association acting as a fact-finder.
“Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy, the rule of law, and the safety and security of our nation and the world,” said Town Hall USA senior editor Mark Jacob, reacting to the explosive report. “We now have an overwhelming, 33-page detailed report from the authoritative legal body here in New York. To ignore it is professional malpractice and political cowardice.”
What Comes Next?
With impeachment off the table for the foreseeable future, legal analysts warn that Trump’s power may expand exponentially. The Bar Association’s recent update note from March 2026 ominously highlights that the administration has only accelerated its abuse of power since the original report dropped.
“The accelerating nature of these abuses must be met with immediate force by Congress,” the Bar Association insists.
But with the highest ranking Democrats refusing to even consider the constitutional remedy sitting in front of them, the question is going to fall to the American people.
One thing is certain: As the 2026 midterms approach, Jeffries and Schumer have made a calculation. They are betting that ignoring a constitutional crisis is safer than causing one.
The New York City Bar Association begs to differ.
“Congress must act now,” the report states.
So far, however, the men holding the gavels are covering their ears.
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