archives.gov
the impeachment of a president has only happened 4 times in the lifetime of our country
the impeachment of a president has happened 3 times in my lifetime
here is what the constitution says
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.
wikepedia.com
impeachment just means they were charged with something they did that met these criteria
andrew johnsons probably did not really meet those criteria but he got impeached anyway
remember being impeached doesnt mean you get convicted
its like us regular folks getting charged with a crime
we would go to trial and get convicted
or not
the vote on andrew johnson was 35 to 19 one vote shy of conviction
or not seems to be what usually happens with the impeachment trial of the president
in nixons case he just did a lot of illegal things after they hired folks to break into the democratic office
remember they didnt have emails back then
it was all the lying and cheating and corruption he did afterwards that got him impeached
if he had gone to trial in the senate he would most likely have been convicted and removed from office
he like his vice president did before him resigned before the process could go forward to the senate
if nixon would have just admitted the breakin in the beginning and stopped there he might have made it through his term
but
he didnt
he resigned instead
then there was bill clinton who lied about having sexual encounters with an intern
if he just would have said yes i did it and ended there then so would have the whole investigation and process stopped
remember this was a spinoff of the whitewater investigation that showed no corruption or crimes by clinton just that he lied about the affair
rule one
dont lie to congress or the police or the fbi or to a grand jury
clinton his actions were not a crime until he lied
now was it a reason to impeach him in the house and convict him in the senate
no
the senate didnt think so
on article one the vote was 55 to 45 not guilty
on aricle two the vote was 50 to 50 not guilty
remember you need 67 to convict
now here we are today
i am not going to get political here
or
take a side
so the house has the right to investigate what the majority a simple majority decides could be a impeachable offence
above is what the constitution says
so the house can investigate doing either a special prosecutor like in the nixon or clinton case
or do their own investigation like they are now
thats whats called an impeachment inquiry
like a grand jury except in this case we get to watch it all
if potential crimes are found then the house votes to impeach
a simple majority is all thats needed
if he is impeached then the trial happens in the senate
the judge will be chief justice john roberts
who has the reputation of doing whats right legally
the case will be presented again
the senators will vote
then
this is where the writers of the constitution our forefathers did a good job
2/3 of the senators have to vote to convict him
if he is convicted he is removed from office
the vice president then becomes president
now
most of us know that in our present political climate that the president unless something else pops up is not going to be convicted
most of us agree that he pressured a foreign countrys president to dig up dirt on one of his opponents
thats all there in the open in that transcript for us all to read in black and white
most of us agree as do a lot of the republicans that what he did was wrong
but
does it meet the criteria for removal of office established under the constitution
well
only 67 people in the united states can make that decision
and
they are all senators
so
the president will be impeached probalby on more than one article ie crimes like with clinton
eg
withholding aid to urkraine for poltical reasons ie bribery
obstruction of justice
intimidation of witnesses
he will be tried
he is unlikely to be convicted
the real jury and real trial though will be on tuesday november 3 2020
you and i will make that final decision
as it should be
may this never happen to us again
the organicgreen doctor
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