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Impeachable Offenses?

~ Examining the Case for Removal of the 45th President of the United States

Impeachable Offenses?

Tag Archives: articles of impeachment

First Thoughts on the Articles of Impeachment

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by impeachableoffenses in Uncategorized

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articles of impeachment, House Judiciary Committee, Nixon impeachment, Trump articles of impeachment, Trump impeachment

By Frank Bowman

I read the newly announced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump from two perspectives – as a student of impeachment and as an old prosecutor.  Several things stand out immediately.

First, the choice to frame these articles as abuse of power and obstruction of Congress’s impeachment investigation is sound. Abuse of power has been one of the impeachable “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” of Anglo-American constitutional practice since the 1300s, and it has recent powerful precedent in the case of Richard Nixon. Obstruction of an impeachment investigation was not only the basis of one of the articles voted out of the Judiciary Committee against Nixon, but such behavior may strike even more deeply at the heart of constitutional order than other presidential abuses. If, as is now the case under the Justice Department’s self-imposed rule, sitting presidents may not be indicted, the only check on egregious presidential misconduct is impeachment. And when, as is now the case under the Barr Justice Department, prosecutors decline either to investigate presidential misconduct or to assist in the enforcement of congressional subpoenas, a president who misbehaves and then brazenly stonewalls congressional inquiries becomes an elected king unless Congress can impeach him for his defiance of their authority.

Second, I am very pleased that the Judiciary Committee avoided the temptation to call Trump’s behavior in relation to Ukraine “bribery.”  For a period, the term was in vogue among House members, the thought being that it is a freestanding textual basis for impeachment – “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors – and that it would be easier to explain to the average person.  But the most obvious lesson of the testimony of the four law professors at last week’s Judiciary Committee hearing was that the definition of bribery for purposes of impeachment is uncertain, and an article on that ground would open an array of technical questions that merely confuse the issue.

Third, I understand the decision not to base any individual article expressly on Trump’s dalliance with Russian election interference in 2016 or the second volume of the Mueller Report relating to obstruction of the investigation into Russian meddling.  Although the substance of Mueller’s evidentiary presentation was very strong – the report contains overwhelming evidence of presidential obstruction – the report failed as a persuasive document and Mueller failed as a persuasive witness before the Judiciary Committee. For at least half the public, it’s old news and not sufficient for impeachment. 

Moreover, one of the few points on which Judiciary Committee Republicans were correct on Monday was that Democrats are constrained by the calendar.  Given that the Senate is deeply unlikely to convict Mr. Trump regardless of the charges brought against him, the task of the House must be to make the best case they can without dragging the trial into the late spring and summer when the country’s attention should properly be on the election.  Reviving aspects of the Mueller Report as the centerpiece of a separate article of impeachment would take time – more witnesses, more constitutional explanations – time the Democrats realistically don’t have.

Fourth, considering these articles as if they were charging documents in a criminal case, the Democrats have elected for “notice pleading,” a short, simple description of the charge and underlying conduct.  The Nixon articles, by contrast, were what a white collar prosecutor would call a “speaking indictment.”  That is, they laid out a story of misconduct replete with many details and many particular bad acts.  That was appropriate in Nixon because he was impeached, not for one bad incident, but for a long-running pattern and practice of misbehavior and cover-up. The narrow scope of the case against Trump favors the simpler form.

Finally, both articles nonetheless include language framing Trump’s Ukraine misconduct as part of two larger patterns – “previous invitations of foreign interference in United States elections” and “previous efforts to undermine United States government investigations into foreign interference in United States elections.”  These phrases permit House Managers presenting the case in the Senate to bring aspects of the Mueller investigation and related matters into the conversation.  On the optimistic assumption that at least some Republican (and wavering Democratic) senators remain persuadable, placing Ukraine in the larger frame of Trump’s persistent malfeasance advances the objective of demonstrating that the Ukraine extortion was not an one-time anomaly, but an exemplar of a pattern of conduct sufficiently serious to merit conviction and removal.

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Green to Continue the Push for Impeachment

31 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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al green, articles of impeachment, Attorney General Barr, bigotry, Conspiracy, House of Representatives, impeach, impeaching, Impeachment, indictment, Mueller report, professor frank bowman, racism, Representative, Special Counsel, Summary, unfitness

Representative Al Green has expressed his intention to resubmit articles of impeachment this year. He introduced articles twice last year, citing Trump’s bigotry and racism as evidence of his lack of integrity and unfitness for office, and, forcing a vote on the floor, summoned the support of 60 democrats. He is not dissuaded by Attorney General Barr’s summary of Mueller’s report, and the lack of evidence of conspiracy between the President and the Russian government. He maintains that Trump is unfit for office because of his discriminatory decisions and statements.

Green’s position is similar, if more narrow, to that which has been put forth by Professor Bowman who presents  “a view of impeachment as an essential tool in the case of a president who consistently violates legal and behavioral norms essential to the preservation of American constitutional order.”

green.jpgDrew Angerer/Getty Images

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Recall-est, recall-est, the 21st of August

22 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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admitted, articles of impeachment, bank, campaign manager, cohen, Collusion, dark, foreign account, fraud, guilty, Impeachment, invesitgation, Lawyer, Manafort, manhattan, Mueller, plea, tax, trump, tuesday

Of campaign finance law violations and plot! “Tuesday was one of the darkest days of Trump’s year and a half in office.”  That’s a quote from a Politico article describing the beating Trump’s presidency took today from Paul Manafort’s and Michael Cohen’s respective guilty verdict and plea.

Manafort has been convicted on 8 counts of tax fraud, bank fraud, and hiding foreign bank accounts. This is exciting news, but has been largely overshadowed by the accusations which accompanied the guilty plea of Michael Cohen, which came only hours before. When Cohen stepped into the New York federal district courtroom to plead guilty to breaking campaign finance laws, he also admitted that the payments he made to the adult film stars were issued at the bequest of President Donald Trump.

If this it true, it is groundbreaking news. Though Trump has brushed it off, stating that it has “nothing to do with Russian collusion,” it still (shockingly) warrants consideration. First off all, the payments very well may have something to do with Russian collusion. The money used to pay Stormy Daniels (one of the actresses) could have come from Russian officials (a full post about that subject can be found here). Additionally, regardless of whether the payments were related to collusion, Trump could still be considered a conspirator to Cohen’s crimes. This is almost certain to result in an article of impeachment, and perhaps someday indictment. And lastly, the simultaneous plea and verdict are bound to light a fire under Mueller’s investigation as each conviction adds to its credibility. If there is treason and plot, Mueller will find it.

michael-cohen-court-1-ap-thg-180821_hpMain_2_16x9_992.jpgABC News

 

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Pres. Trump Hiding his Health

03 Thursday May 2018

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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25, amendment, articles of impeachment, dishonesty, doctor, fitness, hair loss, harold bornstien, impeach, lie, mental, pervasive, president, raid, removal, remove, trump, unfitness

Trump’s former doctor, Harold Bornstein, claims that a 2015 statement about the  President’s health, which was then attributed to Bornstein, was in fact written by Trump himself. For those who don’t recall, a passage from the “Doctor’s letter” which received special attention went as follows: “[h]is physical strength and stamina are extraordinary. If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” Bornstein went on to say that, after he let it slip that Trump took a hair-loss medication, three men from Trump’s office, a group which included Alan Garten, a lawyer, and Keith Schiller, former director of Oval Office  operations, came to his office and took Trump’s medical records in a “raid”-like fashion.

Trump’s actions have been described as totalitarian, and one opinion summarizes his concern over the news as follows: “[d]oes he have a condition or problem that will shorten his life or impair his ability to do the job?” The problem with Trump’s attempts to hide his medical history can be divided into two issues: 1) his fitness to serve, and 2) a trend of dishonesty.

There has been some speculation about the use of the 25th amendment to remove Trump for mental or physical unfitness.  One might argue that if Trump is trying to hide some serious health issues, that might increase the likelihood of his removal; however, Trump is hardly the first president to have and hide health issues. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt  concealed the true extent of his polio-caused paralysis throughout his political career, and kept his increasing heart problems carefully under wraps during his third and fourth terms. President Wilson suffered from a severe stroke while in office which his wife and doctor hid from the public, and President Kennedy, though “famous for having a bad back,” successfully hid “other illnesses, including persistent digestive problems and Addison’s disease, a life-threatening lack of adrenal function.”

What may distinguish Mr. Trump’s blatant falsification of his medical history from the concealment practiced by some of his predecessors is the degree to which this incident is part of a larger pattern of lying.

The topic of President Trump’s pervasive falsehoods has been explored thoroughly on this blog. Should congress choose to pursue impeachment on that basis, Trump’s efforts to hide his health may constitute another avenue of inquiry.

 

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Cohen Files Articles of Impeachment

15 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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articles of impeachment, cohen, Green, politcs of impeachment, Politics, The House of Representatives

Articles of Impeach, sponsored by Representative Steven Cohen, were filed in the House today. Five other House Democrats joined Cohen in endorsing the articles: Luis Gutierrez, Al Green, Marcia Fudge, John Yarmuth, and Adriano Espaillat. The articles charge President Trump with obstruction of justice, violation of the foreign emoluments clause, and undermining American institutions, specifically the courts and press.

The text of the resolution can be found here.

1060x600-6302511f2bd35a6c8f50c7aee99d32da.jpgWashington Examiner

 

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Gutiérrez Joins the Impeachment Effort

03 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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al green, articles of impeachment, Luis Gutiérrez, nancy pelosi, Politics, politics of impeachment, steve cohen, The House of Representatives

According to this article from the Hill, Representative Luis Gutiérrez is supporting a group of Democrats who intend to file new articles of impeachment against President Trump this month. This action comes at the exasperation of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a critique of the premature focus on impeachment; however, Rep. Gutiérrez claims that in light of the recent indictments (talked about here) the time is right. Representative Green, who has read his own article of impeachment to the House floor, agrees that it is not necessary to wait for the results of the Mueller investigation, because “impeachment is political” not criminal.

Whether Reps. Green and Gutiérrez are correct about the timing of impeachment remains to be seen, but it seems very unlikely that talks of impeachment will be quelled anytime soon. Things in the House are hot and getting hotter.

o-LUIS-GUTIERREZ-facebook.jpg

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Sherman’s Articles of Impeachment

23 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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articles of impeachment, Obstruction of Justice, Politics, politics of impeachment, representatives, sherman, The House of Representatives

Here you can find the text of Representative Sherman’s resolution to impeach President Trump for obstruction of justice. The resolution reads like a criminal indictment: it is short, focused, and clearly establishes the President’s mental state at the time of the firing of  James Comey.

Sherman was the first representative to offer articles of impeachment in the House, and their success may depend on the pending investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

RTSPVFU-e1497296257644.jpgREUTERS/Joshua Roberts

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Cohen’s Objection to Trump

22 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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articles of impeachment, cohen, house of representative, objecting to conduct, Politics, politics of impeachment, resolution

Here you can find the text of Rep. Cohen’s resolution which objected to the conduct of President Trump. Amongst the complaints listed in the resolution are Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns, potentially unfair international dealings relating to the Trump brand, communications with Russia, the firing of James Comey, his allegations of wiring tapping, his travel ban, feuding with the media, and other flagrant international communications.

Rep. Cohen has also expressed his intention to introduce articles of impeachment in the next upcoming months. An article summarizing Cohen’s position on impeachment can be found here.

1060x600-4574142ef6512a969da27342a8079ec7.jpg

 

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Things are Heating up in the House

13 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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articles of impeachment, cohen, Green, impeachment resoluton, Politics, politics of impeachment, sherman, The House of Representatives

Matters of impeachment are gaining momentum in the House after Representative Green read his articles of impeachment on Wednesday. Rep. Cohen intends to introduce his own articles of impeachment in the next couple of weeks. Here is an article summarizing the recent politics surrounding impeachment in Congress.

Though these resolutions lack the votes needed to pass through the House, they represent a growing support for the idea of impeachment.

merlin-to-scoop-128668370-990905-master768.jpgSmialowski/Getty Images

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Rep. Cohen Introduces Articles of Impeachment

17 Thursday Aug 2017

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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Tags

articles of impeachment, charlottesville, cohen

Representative Steve Cohen has stated that he intends to file his own articles of impeachment in response to President Trump’s comments following the riot in Charlottesville. Click here to read the details.

steve-cohen-trump-impeachment.jpgGetty Images

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Blog Owner

Frank O. Bowman, III


Floyd R. Gibson Missouri Endowed Professor of Law
University of Missouri School of Law

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Professor Bowman on Impeachment »

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Posts by Topic

  • The Case for Impeachment
  • Defining Impeachable Conduct
  • Impeachment on Foreign Policy Grounds
  • Impeachment for Unfitness
  • Obstruction of Justice
  • Abuse of Criminal Investigative Authority
  • Election Law Violations
  • Foreign Emoluments
  • Conspiracy to Defraud the   United States
  • Politics of Impeachment
  • Lying as an Impeachable Offense
  • Abuse of Pardon Power
  • Electoral College
  • House Impeachment Resolutions
  • The Logan Act
  • The Mueller Investigation
  • Impeachment of Missouri Governor Greitens
  • Historical Precedent for Impeachment
  • Messages from Professor Bowman

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