Experts in the News | Miller Center

To impeach or not to impeach? That may be the wrong question.

Whether there’s potential for a modern-day John Dean to step forward is another question. Historian Ken Hughes has his doubts. Mr. Dean had agreed to become a key witness in exchange for a lighter sentence, stemming from his involvement in the Watergate scandal. But “it’s not clear now that the Democrats in the House have that kind of leverage over any current members of the Trump administration,” says Mr. Hughes, a research specialist and expert on Watergate at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Ken Hughes

House Judiciary Committee sets hearing on Mueller report with Nixon White House counsel John Dean

Dean’s selection shows that House Democrats are “taking a long-term view” as they broach the question of whether to impeach Trump, said Ken Hughes, an expert on Watergate at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. “They’re not trying to rush to any conclusion, they want to put this into historical perspective for the vast majority of the American people.”

Ken Hughes

Can Trump Still Sue His Way Out of Trouble?

“This is another case where President Trump’s behavior is norm-busting,” added Russell Riley, a presidential historian at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia.

Russell Riley

Republicans want to change US census to shore up white vote

A newly discovered cache of documents reveals that Thomas Hofeller, the activist behind the citizenship question, pushed for its addition precisely because it “would be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites.” That discovery is one more piece of evidence of the Republican Party’s core political strategy: to secure power by shifting the country away from democratic governance.

Nicole Hemmer

Xi Jinping’s Taiwan Policy and Its Impact on Cross-Strait Relations

Since 2012, Xi Jinping has crafted a Taiwan policy that features two somewhat contradictory elements. On the one hand, it contains stronger measures aimed at deterring any steps toward independence, including a reduction of Taiwan’s international space, a continued military build-up, and frequent demonstrations of military force and economic coercion. On the other hand, Xi has also employed positive economic incentives, aimed largely at young people and the working class in Taiwan, to secure their support for eventual political unification with China.

Syaru Shirley Lin

Robert Mueller's Legacy Will Haunt Donald Trump

These investigations can be both good news and bad news for the President, says Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. “The good news is that he very much enjoys being able to pivot off it and counterpoint off it because it boosts his base,” Perry told TIME. But the bad news, she says, is the best comparison for Trump’s presidency is now to Warren Harding’s administration and the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s. “When people think of Harding they think of corruption,” Perry says. “This kind of report and this kind of cloud hanging over the 2016 election will haunt this person and this presidency forever.”

Barbara Perry