Greetings Readers, we certainly are living in a complex
era and if you live in or out of the United States in the year 2020, have
access to any media outlet at all, you are quite aware that the President of
the United States of America is currently going through a part of the process
known as impeachment. Many right now are
calling this a circus and say it’s a hoax and nothing done is impeachment
worthy, some are angry that POTUS has to deal with this, some blame a specific
political parties motivations and still others, are looking to take him out of
office completely. Just the word itself sounds heinous, “Impeachment”, sounds
like the end, doesn’t it? Perhaps there is more than what we see on the surface
to this area of our government. Why
would the founders of this country place impeachment inside the Constitution anyway,
I mean, if anyone were doing terrible at any other job, they would just be
fired from it, so why then does impeachment hold a different view or sting? Let
us put on our truth glasses and find out what the law, history and critical
thought have to say.
Impeachment is defined as: (noun) 1 – the action of
calling into question the integrity or validity of something; 2 – a charge of
treason or another crime against the state; 3 – a charge of misconduct made
against the holder of a public office (Source: Oxford Dictionary). Before we bite into the realm of impeachment,
I wish to make an open statement, this article, will not feature bias to one
side or the other in the argumentative debate of Donald J. Trump’s ongoing
impeachment, if you came here looking for a spin, an angle, a rant, a hard line
opinion, stop reading. This article will
look at facts that are known, from credible sources and this author, while
having his own opinion, absolutely will not condone or condemn you the reader’s
right to their own thoughts, insights, opinions or the like. My aim is to educate, inform and hopefully
open up enough dialogue so that we can all understand just how important this
part of our country and the laws of the land established are and will be for
centuries to come.
EDUCATION
AND THE LAW
To get a better grip on exactly what a presentation of the
“Articles of Impeachment” correlates to, here’s a similar term:
Indictment. When articles of impeachment
are presented, they are literally a list of charges being brought against a
public official, for committing crimes or for official misconduct, while they
are in that office or position. Article
2, Section 4 of the United States Constitution states this: “The
President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States shall be
removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or
other high crimes and misdemeanors”
What makes this interesting is after this section, no
definitions to support what is meant by other high crimes and misdemeanors is
seen in the constitution, no specific definition for bribery, but looking at
Article 3, Section 3 we find a defined word: Treason. To which, is written: “Treason against the United
States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their
enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No
person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses
to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.”
In essence, it’s vague other than the without a doubt
items, bribery speaks for itself as does the defined “treason” per
constitution. This leaves the door open
for several items to be impeachable offenses under the high crimes and
misdemeanors. Considering we are
speaking in terms of criminal laws on the Federal level, a few examples of
these (Source: Cornell Law law.cornell.edu) would include: Importing or
Conveying False Information; Expenditures to influence Voting; Violations of
NASA regulations and yes, even Failure to Pay Child Support. These can also be
found in the US Federal Penal Code, Misdemeanor section. The listed examples
are random and picked from a variety of categories but as we can see, some seem
serious and others make us scratch our heads.
The bigger question here is, does the Presidency or is the Presidency
included in this list? The answer is yes and more - all from History. Though
our History section in this article may not mention it, historically those
shaping the document on June 2, 1787 cited adding the wording of “other”, would
be a benefit to lawmakers (Congress) and it would include all established
Federal laws, including any new ones that were ratified into the laws of the
land, constitutionally by future Congress’s. That means the President, Vice
President, Governors, really anyone holding a public office, can be impeached
due to committing a crime that is detrimental to the country or governance it
represents at any time, regardless of person holding that office. Now that we know the core of impeachment and
the seriousness of its implications, we need to see what that process
includes. We know: Impeachment and the
deliberate wording was debated and placed in our Constitution, for cases where
those who hold public office, whom may seek to defraud, injure, or commit
federal level crimes, can be removed from their seat, legally and politically
correct, of course the hardest part is defining exactly what is all inclusive
in high crimes and misdemeanors. I admit
fully, it sounds dry in theory, but US history has had several in trouble this
way, indeed, a look into the process is necessary.
THE
PROCESS
In the United States recorded history, no president has
been involuntarily removed from office, Nixon resigned and many theorize that
if he hadn’t he may have been the first, that aside, it just hasn’t
happened. In the constitution, the House
of Representatives have the sole power of bringing forward impeachment
articles. The number of votes required to formally produce them, is two thirds
of a majority vote. Because of the
wording being vague, several debates as to what exactly are high crimes and
misdemeanor goes on. For the most part,
it is what the House of Representatives consider is worthy of being indicted. Congress makes the laws of the land, they
have a heavy burden: Uphold the laws they create. Not to fret, there is also
the burden of deciding what is indictable. We will look at those cases in our
US History section in this article, not forgetting that we are speaking in
terms of criminal law.
The founders did provide for a definition of these crimes
in the constitution, Article 3, Section 2 of the Constitution, mentions the
trial of all crimes except impeachment shall be by jury and that’s the Senate’s
job. According to procedure
(litigation.findlaw.com) both the House and Senate have the right to make their
own rules regarding any impeachment governing, regardless, the starting point
belongs in the hands of the judiciary committee of the House of Representatives;
that means a formal investigation into the facts surrounding the charges. Included in their duties, they hold hearings,
gather evidence, and listen to testimony of witnesses regarding the accusations;
they also subpoena relevant information, a literal gathering of the facts, just
like what happens before a prosecutor is presented a case to bring before a
grand jury. Witnesses are then
interviewed by the committee counsel and each of the members of the House
Judiciary Committee. That same committee then formulates the Articles of
Impeachment, which may contain multiple charges; again, using our prosecutor
example as before, this is where formal criminal charges are presented. The
committee then votes on those articles and presents them to the house as a
whole. Then, the entire House gets to debate, change and vote upon acceptance
of those articles and then presents them to the Senate. Here, we have a body of
people where everyone in the room hears what has been discovered or thought,
they ask what everyone thinks is it worthy or not of formal charges, 67 out of
every 100 have to say yes, in order for the next step, having a “trial” in the
Senate, to take place. Note: This way, not a single representative can deny
knowing what the President or office holder has allegedly done.
The trial in the Senate is handled by “Managers” from the
House of Representatives, being assisted by attorneys employed by the
prosecution of the impeachment case. The
Senate sits as a jury, just like the trials by a grand jury in our criminal
justice system, where fair and impartial is the rule of thumb in considering
the evidence. The Senate debates the
matter and votes either to convict or acquit, if more than two thirds of the
Senate votes to convict, the President is removed from office. If a simple
majority votes to convict, but is not the required two thirds, he cannot lose
his seat. Note: No President has ever been involuntarily removed by a Senate
Impeachment vote to convict, PERIOD. Along the way, there may be items that also
require a vote, but in essence, the prosecution speaks, the defense speaks,
witnesses may be called or documents procured or even request certain persons
to testify again, anything is possible but has to be done according to the
rules of the trial, which is laid out by the Senate Majority Leader, then the
Senate must decide whether the charges and evidence add up to enough to remove
the office holder.
Let’s take a look at a scenario, hypothetically
speaking. President Gen Eric commits a
crime which catches the attention of the House of Representatives. The committee
is formed; all the procedures are followed to the letter of the law, and a
single Article of Impeachment comes out and is presented to the Senate. The Senate decides on the rules of the trial,
hears all testimony and evidence, decides to convict based on overwhelming
facts and according to the rules, the President must vacate immediately, the
Vice President is sworn in, does this mean the end of the President’s chances
as though the doors are locked and they are outta here? No, it doesn’t, and in
order to change that, only one avenue exists: The Courts. While there are no
cases on file for a President appealing things to the Supreme Court, the
Supreme Court has had to rule on items relating to impeached persons. The case I refer to is, Walter Nixon vs.
United States 506 U.S. 224 in 1993. The outcome: The justices ruled that they
should not review judicial impeachments avoiding the issue, using political
doctrine as their reasoning; in English, no one wanted to say that an
impeachment, since it is by trial, could be appealed to the Supreme Court….I
guess that door remains unchecked to see if it’s open or closed, only History
and Time will denote when that happens, for now, nothing.
US
HISTORY (TO IMPEACH OR NOT TO IMPEACH)
As we can see, to impeach a person who holds an
impeachable seat, takes quite a bit of effort, all of which really has no time
line of how long an investigation may last, how long or short the debates will
be or the trial (without set rules) and that really no sitting US President has
been involuntarily removed and yes, that does include William Jefferson Clinton
and that whole fiasco, which we will be reviewing shortly. Just for review: House of Representatives,
Judiciary Committee investigates and presents, House reviews, makes changes,
then votes, once 2/3’s say “Aye”, Articles (containing multiple charges if
necessary) are presented to the Senate. Managers (People from the House) work
with prosecutors, presenting their case to the Senate, in a trial where all 100
Senators are to be the jury and decide the rules of the trial; hearing the
defense (person accused side) as well as the prosecutor’s, then vote to convict
or acquit and if convicted by 2/3, then removed. As is recorded in US History, no President
has been involuntarily removed; however, 3 have been impeached.
Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) the United States 17th
President was the first President to face this part of the US Constitution. When Johnson became President, was during the
civil war era of our history, from the get go, he vetoed several bills from
Congress citing they were too harsh upon the south though he himself was a pro
union democrat. Among the items he vetoed, was the Freedmen’s Bureau Acts,
which provided displaced southerners and African Americans with food, shelter
medical aid and land. The impeachment
articles didn’t come until after he replaced the Secretary of War, then Edwin
Stanton. This move, netted President
Johnson 11 (eleven) articles of impeachment, which stated that he violated the
Tenure of Office Act (a law limiting presidential power on removing persons
from office) and replaced Mr. Stanton, without consulting with the Senate.
Convicted on 2/3’s majority in the House of Representatives, all things seemed
in order. President Johnson held his seat by a single vote, his defense was
that he himself did not appoint Mr. Stanton in the first place and that
removing him wasn’t a violation of the Tenure Act. This impeachment set a few
benchmarks for the ones in the future, one of which stands firm: A president
cannot be impeached for political reasons; they must be a criminal indictment
which upholds the Constitutional requirements of “other high crimes and
misdemeanors”.
William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001) the United States
42nd President was the second President to face impeachment and just
like Johnson, he clashed several times with Congress throughout his
Presidency. After his affair with former
White House intern Monica Lewinski became public in 1998, the investigations
into them concluded that President Clinton obstructed justice by encouraging
White House staffers to deny the affair and that he perjured himself by denying
the relationship with Lewinski when questioned by investigators. The outcome of Clinton’s trial again
reinforced the principle of not for political reasons. During the trial,
Senators agreed that his behavior was terrible, but that what he did actually
did not rise to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors”; ultimately, he was
acquitted and even though this left many shaking their heads, in the eyes of
those who set the rules, nothing he did rose to that level.
Donald J. Trump (2016-
) the United States 45th President was the third President to face Impeachment. Impeached in 2019, President Trump in the
House of Representatives was impeached on 2 charges: Obstruction of Congress
and Abuse of Power. The charges stemmed
from a whistle blower’s concern about the President allegedly using his office
to have a potential political opponent’s son, investigated by a foreign
government, all in relation to a phone call that took place in July, the
suspicion grew, because around that same time, it appeared that the military
aid promised by the US, was withheld. The
House Judiciary Committee concluded that President Trump abused his power, by
asking a foreign government to corrupt an upcoming election as well as Trump
interfering with an ongoing impeach inquiry by telling Executive branch
officials to not comply with Congressional Subpoena’s. According to those Articles of Impeachment,
officials claimed this fell into the category of (yep, you guessed it) “other
high crimes and misdemeanor’s because it isn’t politically motivated”. On February 5, 2020, President Trump was
acquitted, just like his predecessors before him.
With all of these things being tested on the Presidents
who actually had Articles pressed against them, one would think Nixon would have
had them considering how heinous that scandal was, but Nixon opted to resign
long before the Articles were actually imposed, and yes there were
congressional inquiries all over Nixon, don’t be surprised, historically, a few
president’s have felt the heat of a pending impeachment vote. As is recorded in
History, those presidents include: George Washington, John Tyler, Herbert
Hoover, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and yes, Barak
Obama. Each one, had a piece of their
Presidency reviewed by a House judiciary committee, the closest that actually
came to a vote: George W. Bush for war crimes; fun fact, under this Bush
administration, GWB would place one Nancy Pelosi as “Madam Speaker”, the first
female to host such a seat, who when those articles came forward against then
President Bush, she stated directly, “Impeachment is off the table, it won’t be
heard”.
CONCLUSION
The founders and original document creators of the
Constitution of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
inserted wording, that would insure that anyone, who was convicted of wrong
doings while serving in offices that hold particular authority, can be removed;
that is so long as the entire Congress, through procedure and proper
methodologies, agree, in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, to
convict after being charged, which nearly included our very first elected President. The US Constitution, isn’t a perfect document
(though a few believe it to be), in its core wording, it gloats racism (if not
white and a land owner, you don’t vote), however, it also touts a bit of
fairness, at least in theory, but in truth, the only time, in any impeachment
proceedings that a fair and just outcome can be done, is with bi-partisan
thought and attendance, for so long as the Senate or House’s political
demographic is in sync with the President, the chances of impeachment are
nearly 0, unless of course you were Nixon and rather than decide to resign,
stick around, then the history would look something like this: Impeachments 4,
Convictions 1.
In all of these items, this author must ask the following
questions: Will the US ever involuntarily remove a sitting president and if so,
what will it take to uphold the statement, “other high crimes and misdemeanors”
to a Presidential Level? The average
citizen, if they were to become criminally indicted, would be subject to the
rule of law, including penalties for not adhering to court procedures; for
example, wonder what would have happened if say Ted Bundy refused to adhere to
any subpoena’s or say a DUI refused a court ordered mandate for DNA in a death.
In our Constitutional views, none of
that seems to apply when it comes to indicting the President or a high office
in our government, which in this author’s opinion is highly interesting considering
that we employ the very House of Representatives and Senators, through voting
into a Congress, who makes the laws of the land and rarely seems to grasp the actual
procedures desperately needed to uphold our democracy, why? Because not one single person, president, Supreme
Court justice or congress has dared to define, ‘other high crimes and
misdemeanors’ and no one knows if a sitting official can appeal this style of
judicial hearing.
One last question for you the reader: Given the known
parameters of each of the mentioned impeached Presidents, if you were a Senator
during each of those trials, how would you vote? This author would have
convicted 2, I will leave it up to you to guess which it would be and hope that
while you consider those items, you use critical thought and careful wisdom
against known laws (then and now), just like each of the Senator’s who heard
those three cases had to do, over the last 250 or so years, thank you and God
Bless the United States of America.
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