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Impeachable Offenses?

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

Impeachable Offenses?

Tag Archives: president

The Black Pardon

16 Thursday May 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

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Arpaio, canada, Conrad Black, Constitutional, conviction, D'Souza, donald trump, fraud, impeach, Impeachment, Mikaela Colby, Obstruction of Justice, pardon, pardon power, Paul F. Eckstein, president, trump

President Trump has pardoned Conrad Black of convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice from 2007. Black is a friend of Trump’s and a vocal supporter; he published a book entitled ‘Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other’ last year. Black spent 3 years in prison as a result of his conviction and was banned from the United States for 30 years. This is the latest in a series of politically questionable pardons; readers will recall the Arpaio and D’Souza pardons. But the questions remains: when does a non-kosher pardon become an abuse of pardon power?

Paul F. Eckstein and Mikaela Colby tackle this question in their article entitled ‘Presidential Pardon Power: Are There Limits and, if Not, Should There Be?‘ published in the Arizona Law Journal. In that article the authors examine the history of the pardon power, its constitutional limits, and what remedies may exist for its abuse. They ultimately conclude that new limitations need to be introduced.

black.jpgDarren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS

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Trump and Pardon Power

12 Friday Apr 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

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constitution, donald trump, impeach, impeachable, Impeachment, Joe Arpaio, pardon, pardon power, Pepperdine, president, Sheriff, Tyler Brown

Tyler Brown’s article, “The Court Can’t Even Handle Me Right Now: The Arpaio Pardon and Its Effect on the Scope of Presidential Pardons,” published in the Pepperdine Law Review, examines the effect the President Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio will likely have on the law and Trump’s political standing:

The Constitution grants the president the power to pardon individuals for offenses against the United States. Courts have interpreted this power broadly, and the American public has historically accepted its use, even in the face of several controversial pardons over the last five decades. However, after President Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio—a former Arizona sheriff who was held in criminal contempt of court for continuing to illegally detain suspected undocumented immigrants—scholars, activists, and political figures questioned whether this pardon was unconstitutional. This Comment discusses the Court’s interpretation of the pardoning power, controversial pardons in modern history, and the details of the Arpaio pardon and the public’s response. After comparing the Arpaio pardon to previous pardons, analyzing constitutional arguments, and laying out the legal and political impact the pardon may have on the Trump administration, this Comment ultimately concludes that the Arpaio pardon is constitutionally suspect, but the current Court is not likely to make any changes to the pardoning power’s broad interpretation.

AP19003760665159.jpgAssociated Press

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Criminal Prosecution of a President

12 Tuesday Mar 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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British, Crimes, donald trump, Founder, impeach, impeaching, Impeachment, indictment, Jurisdiction, president, prosecution, removal, sitting, W. Burlette Carter

Can a sitting president be indicted? W. Burlette Carter approaches this question from a historical perspective in her forthcoming article Can a Sitting President be Federally Prosecuted? The Founders Answer. Carter asserts that the Founder’s answer would be one based on jurisdiction:

The Founders would have recognized that, before the formal issuance of Articles of Impeachment, courts of law have the power to stay their own proceedings against a President for good cause, just as English/British common law courts with concurrent jurisdiction always could. And they would have have accepted that courts of law can, in the first instance, decide evidentiary issues such as executive privilege for matters proceeding in their fora. Again, despite Parliamentary power over impeachment, common law courts had long done so in England and Great Britain, so long as they otherwise had jurisdiction.

For an in-depth examination of the British and early American view on jurisdiction to prosecute the president, follow the link above.

190311-donald-trump-ap-773.jpgAlex Brandon/AP Photo

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House Democrats Targeting Trump’s Finances

26 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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Collusion, Deutsche Bank, donald trump, House Democrats, house financial services, house intelligence committee, House of Representatives, impeach, impeachable, Impeachment, money laundering, president, real estate, russia, trump organization

Democrats of the House of Representatives, specifically the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees, are planning to use their subpoena power to uncover President Trump’s dealings with Deutsche Bank, a German bank which has funded Trump’s real estate ventures over the years. The dealings are viewed with scrutiny because the bank previously played a role in Russian money laundering. Investigation into this area could determine whether the Trump Organization was also engaged in money laundering, and, if confirmed, strengthen the case for Russian collusion.

download (5).jpgSusan Walsh/AP Photo

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Is Mueller Almost Finished?

21 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

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28 CFR 600, attorney general, Bill Barr, Collusion, confidential, Congress, discretion, donald trump, impeach, impeachable, Impeachment, investigation, Obstruction of Justice, president, privelege, report, Robert Mueller, russia, Special Counsel, subpoena, trump, William Barr

CNN Reported today that Special Counsel Robert Mueller may conclude his investigation as early as next week. Their information apparently came from sources familiar with Attorney General Bill Barr’s plan to announce the completion. But! Don’t get too excited. Though Mueller’s report may be finished soon, that doesn’t mean the public or Congress will get to see it.

The regulations which govern Special Counsels are contained in part 600 of title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 28 CFR 600.8 says that when Mueller gets done, he needs to send his final product off to the Attorney General, Bill Barr. 28 CFR 600.9 says that Barr only has to tell Congress 1) that Mueller is done; and 2) if he disagreed with any of Mueller’s suggested actions because they were “inappropriate and unwarranted,” and an explanation of that conclusion. So what we’ll find out is, for the most part, at Barr’s discretion. However, Barr told Congress during his confirmation hearing that he intends to release his own summary of the report, and will be as transparent as possible within the confines of the law (for a thorough analysis of Barr’s statements, click here). If Barr releases less than what Congress would like, their remedy is a subpoena.

william-barr-nomination-hearing.jpgKevin Lamarque/Reuters

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The National Emergency; He’s Done It

16 Saturday Feb 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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abuse, border wall, Congress, constitutionality, Democrats, Frank Bowman, immigration, impeach, impeachability, Impeachment, invasion, national emergency, national emergency act, power, president, president donald trump, Republicans, senators

President Trump has declared a national emergency to help fund the construction of his border-wall between the United States and Mexico. The move could potentially increase funds from the $1.35 billion authorized by Congress to $8 billion, in part borrowed from Defense spending. Trump has simultaneously categorized the emergency as necessitated by the “invasion” from the south and admitted that he just wants to get the job done faster. Mixed signals such as these, as well as the general nature of what has been dubbed the President’s “vanity project,” have caused many to label Trump’s action as an abuse of his authority.

Professor Frank Bowman previously considered and wrote about the impeachability of Trump in light of such a flagrant declaration of national emergency. His post should be read in full and can be found here. However, to borrow from his conclusion, he wrote that whether such an action is impeachable depends in part on signals of its unconstitutionality. These signals can come in two forms: 1)  a majority vote in both houses of Congress to undermine Trump’s declaration; and 2) a decision by the Supreme Court that Trump’s action is unconstitutional.

Though both high hurdles, neither signal is impossible. It should be noted that several Republican Senators and Representatives have already spoken out against Trump’s declaration. Additionally, the first suit to challenge the constitutionality of the decision has already been filed by Public Citizen.

donald-trump-ap-01-jpo-190215_hpMain_16x9_992.jpgSusan Walsh/AP

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President Trump and International Consequences

12 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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arms control, climate, diplomacy, donald trump, Foreign policy, Frank Bowman, G7, human rights, impeach, impeachable, Impeachment, international conferences, international law, International Law and Institution in the Trump Era, investment, Jack Goldsmith, NAFTA, NATO, president, russia, saudi arabia, Shannon Togawa, trade, war, WTO

Many of the positions President Trump has taken on important foreign policy issues and agreements have been unorthodox, even radical, and have caused public concern. Professor Bowman has argued they may even be impeachable. In fact, Trump’s foreign policy decisions have been so varied and strange, they can be difficult to account for.

Jack Goldsmith and Shannon Togawa Mercer have compiled an account of President Trump’s attack on international law in their forthcoming article International Law and Institutions in the Trump Era. They examine Trump’s decisions on trade, investment, climate, arms control, diplomacy, war, human rights, and his performance at international conferences, and write about their likely effect. Here is an excerpt:

President Trump has altered the United States stance toward international law and institutions in the first two years of his presidency in the following ways: He has verbally assaulted or threatened many of the major international institutions to which the United States belongs (most notably, the UN and several of its agencies, NATO, the WTO, NAFTA, and the G7); he has withdrawn from, or begun the process of withdrawing from, at least six international treaty regimes, including the Paris Agreement, the Iran Deal, and the INF Treaty; he has ceased negotiations for, or announced an intention not to conclude, at least two important trade agreements; he has begun a global trade war in possible violation of WTO rules; he twice attacked the Assad regime in probable violation of the Charter of the UN (UN Charter); and he sharply redirected United States human rights law policy along several dimensions and might have violated United States treaty commitments with his immigration policies.

For a comprehensive and academic review of Trump’s (possibly impeachable) foreign policy, check out the link above.

david-butow-donald-trump-china-oval-office.jpgTime

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The House is Coming Down

08 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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Adam Schiff, bill pascrell, business interests, Collusion, donald trump, fraud, High Crimes and Misdemeanors, House of Representatives, Impeachment, investigation, nancy pelosi, president, Representative, russia, saudi arabia, speaker, tax evasion, tax returns, trump

The Democrat controlled House is beginning to pursue investigation of President Trump independent of Robert Mueller. Adam Schiff, House Intelligence Chairman, plans to expand the scope of his inquiry to determine whether Trump’s business interests are influencing his foreign policy decision in nations other than Russia. Additionally, the Ways and Means Committee, for whom Rep. Bill Pascrell has been speaking, has announced its intention to collect and examine President Trump’s tax returns. Notably, other House Democrats, such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have urged patience on that front.

ap_19038604315746_wide-33f85eab3122accc557ea08aa6be66a38793af9d-s1600-c85.jpgJ. Scott Applewhite/AP

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Rosenstein Assures Trump he is Not a Target of the Mueller Investigation — The News Cycle Repeats Itself

01 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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bowman, deputy attorney general, donald trump, impeach, impeachable, Impeachment, investigation, Mueller, new york times, president, professor frank bowman, Robert Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, Special Counsel, subject, target, target v. subject, trump, united states

Trump said yesterday, during an interview with the New York Times, that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein informed him that he is not a target of the Mueller investigation. Trump also added that he is not a “subject” of the investigation, but it is unclear whether that is a word Rosenstein used or a descriptor Trump added. He seemed to use the words interchangeably saying first “he told the attorneys that I’m not a subject, I’m not a target,” and then added  “[t]he lawyers ask him. They say, ‘He’s not a target of the investigation.’”

Readers will recall that Trump already received the news that he is not a target of the Mueller investigation from Mueller himself in April of 2018. As Professor Bowman wrote then, what that could mean, according to the definition of “target” in the United States Attorneys Manual, is that DOJ policy prevents Trump from becoming an indicted defendant and therefore a target. However, if that is not what Rosenstein meant and Trump could be a target, then it is significant that he has not, in the past 10 or so months, become one. What is more significant is if Trump is indeed not a subject of Mueller’s investigation. That could mean that there is not enough evidence to continue investigating Trump or enough evidence to have exonerated Trump.  That, however, seems unlikely.

rosen.jpegAndrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

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Roger Stone Arrested and Indicted

25 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by crosbysamuel in Articles, Uncategorized

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arrested, Collusion, Conspiracy, cooperation, DNC, donald trump, Emails, hillary clinton, indicted, investigation, president, Putin, Randy Credico, Robert Mueller, roger stone, russia, russian hackers, Special Counsel, wikileak

Roger Stone was arrested and received a seven count indictment this morning which included charges of misleading lawmakers about his communications with Wikileaks, the organization that released the emails which scandalized Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and intimidating fellow witness Randy Credico, who was also in contact with Wikileaks. Credico ultimately pleaded the 5th at Stone’s urging.

The emails released by Wikileaks were stolen by Russian hackers, and Stone is a long time friend and supporter of President Trump. If Stone chooses to cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller, he could provide the evidence need to finally establish collusion between Russia and the Trump Campaign. However, if Stone’s past comments are to be believed, he will not be cooperating. Much is yet to be seen.

stone.jpgAlex Wong/Getty Images

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Frank O. Bowman, III


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

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