Amid mounting bipartisan concerns, debate over Trump's mental health takes off [View all]

[KelleyKramer]

Amid mounting bipartisan concerns, debate over Trump's mental health takes off

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/08/23/amid-mounting-concerns-presidents-mental-health-more-complicated-than-citing-narcissism-erraticism/490096001/

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Then James Clapper, who served in top intelligence jobs under former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Wednesday morning questioned Trump's "fitness to be in this office" and said he was worried about the president's access to the nuclear codes. Clapper, who had a long military career, is a close friend and longtime colleague of Trump's Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, a former Marine Corps general.

"If in a fit of pique he decides to do something about Kim Jong Un, there's actually very little to stop him," Clapper, former head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said on CNN. "The whole system is built to ensure rapid response if necessary. So there's very little in the way of controls over exercising a nuclear option, which is pretty damn scary."

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Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a former constitutional law professor at American University, sponsored legislation in April that would set up an independent commission to determine if any president no longer has the physical or mental capacity to perform the duties of the office. The 25th Amendment to the constitution was ratified 50 years ago and calls for such a body but it was never set up.

The bill now has 28 co-sponsors and while more can't be added until Congress goes back into session Sept. 5, Raskin says there's been "a sudden spike after every acute episode" involving Trump's behavior. "We need every tool in the constitutional tool kit to be able to deal with the unfolding and accelerating crisis of presidential power in America today," says Raskin.


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