{"id":4919,"date":"2020-01-26T22:57:11","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T03:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/?p=4919"},"modified":"2020-02-08T12:45:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-08T17:45:46","slug":"the-impeachment-process-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/4919","title":{"rendered":"The Impeachment process for beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The<\/figure>
\n

As I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard, there\u2019s an impeachment trial in progress.\u00a0 This impeachment is for our current president, Donald Trump.\u00a0 Now, Lord knows I\u2019m not his biggest fan, however, with all the hog wash being spewed, it\u2019s hard to know who to believe, so I figured I try and figure this mess out myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My intent is not to go over the details of why he is undergoing impeachment, but to understand the impeachment process. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My first question: What does it mean to impeach someone.\u00a0 To impeach someone is to make formal charges against the impeached<\/em>.\u00a0 Being impeached does not make you guilty of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors (which are the bar for removal from office).\u00a0 Only the Senate can find the accused guilty, and that has only happened eight times in our nations history to date, and they were all judges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My second question is who can be impeached?  As it turns out, the President, Vice\nPresident, and “all civil Officers of the United States”\u2014which\nincludes judges\u2014can be impeached.  Members\nof Congress (both houses) can be expelled by their own respective bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My third question is who is responsible for what in the\nprocess?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House of Representatives:<\/strong> The House of\nRepresentatives has the responsibility and authority to determine whether to\nimpeach an individual.  Individual\nmembers of the House of Representatives can introduce an impeachment\nresolution, or it can be initiated by passing a resolution authorizing an\ninquiry by the Judiciary Committee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Judiciary Committee usually has jurisdiction over\nimpeachments, and decides whether to pursue articles of impeachment against an\nindividual, or not.  The committee holds\nhearings, takes evidence, and hears testimony of witnesses concerning\nmatters relevant to the inquiry.<\/em> If the committee pursues impeachment,\nand the articles of impeachment are approved by the full House of\nRepresentatives (by a simple majority), then the House elects\u2019 \u201cmanagers\u201d who\nwill take the articles of impeachment to the Senate and act as Prosecutors\nduring the trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun Fact:<\/em> The House of Representatives has initiated\nimpeachment proceedings over 60 times in its history, but less than a third have\nled to full impeachments.  Of these, 15\nhave been federal judges, three presidents, one cabinet secretary, and one\nSenator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate:<\/strong> Impeachment proceedings in the Senate\nare governed by the Rules of Procedure and Practice in the Senate when Sitting\non Impeachment Trials.  Pre-trail activities\ninclude issuing a summons to the respondent (accused), telling him, or her, the\ndate they should appear before the Senate.  The respondent may choose not to appear, in which\ncase a \u201cnot guilty\u201d plea is entered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trail procedures.  Once\nthe date is set for a trial, they Senate will order the House of\nRepresentatives to supply them with information regarding witnesses who are to\nbe subpoenaed.  The trail is presided\nover by the Chief Justice in presidential impeachment trials. In the Senate,\nthe Presiding Officer has authority to rule on all evidentiary (questions relating\nto evidence) questions. However, any Senator may request that a formal vote be\ntaken on a particular question. In the 1930s, the senate amended the rules to\ninclude \u201cRule XI\u201d which allowed the Senate to set up trial committee to call\nfurther witnesses and gather evidence. \nThis is a trial Afterall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impeachment trial opens with the House of Representatives\u2019\nmanagers presenting their first argument for impeachment, followed by counsel\nfor the respondent.  The House of Representatives\nmanagers also have the final, closing arguments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the \u201ccase\u201d is presented, the Senate votes.  A two-thirds vote is required for\nconviction.  If the respondent is convicted\non one or more of the articles against him, or her, the Presiding Officer announces\nthe judgement and the respondent is removed from office.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no vote for removal.  Conviction equals removal.   Once removed from office, the Senate may hold\nan additional vote to bar the respondent from holding an office of public trust\nin the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun Fact:<\/em> \nThe Senate has not adopted standard rules of evidence to be used during\nan impeachment trial. Another fun fact, the Senate does not have to vote on\nevery article of impeachment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Supreme Court:<\/strong> The Supreme Court has decided\nit doesn\u2019t want to review judicial impeachments, but the Lead Justice of the\nSupreme Court Presides over Presidential impeachment trials conducted in the Senate.\nThe US Supreme Court would also be responsible for ensuring the standard of indictable\ncrime was met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My fourth question is what constitutes treason, bribery, or\nother high crimes and misdemeanors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treason:<\/em> Whoever, owing allegiance to the United\nStates, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid\nand comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bribery:<\/em> Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or\ntransfer of value in exchange for official action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High Crimes and Misdemeanors:<\/em> This is where\nthe wicket gets sticky.  This phrase is\nnot defined in the US Constitution, the phrase was adopted from the English\npractice of parliamentary impeachments, which appears to have been directed\nagainst individuals accused of crimes against the state and encompassed\noffenses beyond traditional criminal law. \nGenerally speaking, this phrase encompasses three broad grounds for\nimpeachment (which are not fully exhaustive, nor binding):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Exceeding or Abusing the Powers of the Office<\/li>
  2. Behavior Incompatible with the Function and Purpose of the Office<\/li>
  3. Misuse of Office for Improper Purpose or for Personal Gain<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    My references used include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Senate links to impeachment: https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/reference\/Index\/Impeachment.htm<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    House links to impeachment: https:\/\/history.house.gov\/Institution\/Origins-Development\/Impeachment\/<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Heritage Guide to the Constitution: https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/constitution\/#!\/articles\/1\/essays\/11\/impeachment<\/a>\nhttps:\/\/www.heritage.org\/constitution\/#!\/articles\/1\/essays\/17\/trial-of-impeachment<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Impeachment and the Constitution: https:\/\/crsreports.congress.gov\/product\/pdf\/R\/R46013<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Impeachment and Removal: https:\/\/crsreports.congress.gov\/product\/pdf\/R\/R44260<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Good articles on impeachment: https:\/\/litigation.findlaw.com\/legal-system\/presidential-impeachment-the-legal-standard-and-procedure.html<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    https:\/\/<\/a> www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/impeachment<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Definition of Treason: https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/18\/2381<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Definition of Bribery: https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/bribery<\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard, there\u2019s an impeachment trial in progress.\u00a0 This impeachment is for our current president, Donald Trump.\u00a0 Now, Lord knows I\u2019m not his biggest fan, however, with all the hog wash being spewed, it\u2019s hard to know … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,4],"tags":[50,80,91,82,59],"class_list":["post-4919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-politics","tag-america","tag-duty","tag-responsibilities","tag-rights","tag-security"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15061,"url":"https:\/\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/archives\/15061","url_meta":{"origin":4919,"position":0},"title":"In-Decision 2024 \u2013 Presidential Election 2024","author":"DR D","date":"October 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, my cat was telling me to start writing again.\u00a0 So, to shut him up; I\u2019m stealing the name of a segment from the \u201cDaily Show,\u201d as I\u2019m sure you\u2019re aware, it sums up this year\u2019s election cycle quite nicely. 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