I confess that I still don't get what exactly is going to be the particular offense for which President Trump is going to be impeached.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all in favor of impeaching Trump and removing him from office, but only for grave crimes, such as waging war illegally (i.e., without the constitutionally required congressional declaration of war), wreaking death, suffering, and destruction in those wars, committing countless assassinations, and violating provisions in the Bill of Rights with respect to indefinite detention, torture, denial of speedy trial, and denial of due process of law.

But impeaching Trump for a telephone conversation? To me, that has the feel of desperation attached to it, a desperation born out of an increasing realization that none of the Democratic presidential candidates is capable of defeating Trump in an election. Trump's impeachment seems like it might be the political equivalent of a Hail Mary pass in football — almost impossible to complete but would at least give the Democrats a long-shot, short-cut way to the presidency.

There are three possible offenses that would form the basis of an impeachment. Let's examine and analyze each one.

Offense One

Trump's request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to initiate a criminal investigation of former Vice-President and current Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden on possible corruption charges in Ukraine.

Is it really a criminal offense for a president to request that a criminal investigation be launched against someone, including a political opponent?

Let's first consider the case of an American citizen, John Doe, who is not running for office. The president calls the attorney general and says, "Would you initiate a criminal investigation against John Doe?" Would that really be a crime under U.S. law? What if Doe is a suspected terrorist? Or a suspected bank robber? Where in the law is the president prohibited from requesting the attorney general from initiating an investigation (and possible criminal prosecution) of Doe?

Now, let's change the scenario. Let's say that Trump calls a state attorney general and makes the same request. Is that against the law? I don't see how it can be. Again, what if the person really does need to be investigated? What if he's committed fraud, both on the federal and state level? Where in the law does it say that the president is legally prohibited from asking a state attorney general to initiate an investigation?

Let's change the scenario again. Let's say that Trump calls the president of a foreign country and makes the same request. Let's say that the person he's targeting is running an international child-trafficking operation that is based in that country but also operating within the United States. Would it really be illegal under U.S. law for the president to request that foreign president to initiate an investigation into such person? I don't see how it would be.

Now, let's change the scenario to one where Trump makes the same requests with respect to someone who is running against him for president. Would that be illegal? If it's not illegal to make the request with respect to a non-candidate, then I don't see how it would be illegal to make the same request with respect to an opposing candidate.

Yes, the request might be a malevolent, vicious, improper, and unethical thing to do, but if we are going to impeach presidents for doing those types of things in political races, no president would last more than a few days in office. Every one of them engages in malevolent, vicious, improper, and unethical conduct in his or her insatiable quest for political power.

What if the opposing candidate really has engaged in criminal wrongdoing, either here in the United States or in a foreign country or both? Does the law really say that when a person announces for public office, he is automatically immune from investigation and prosecution for any crimes he has committed? I am certain the law doesn't say that. Otherwise, every murderer, robber, and rapist would be running for office perpetually.