Impeachment : what everyone needs to know / Michael J. Gerhardt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gerhardt, Michael J., 1956- author.

Contributor:

Class of 1924 Book Fund.

Series:

What everyone needs to know

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States.

Impeachments--United States.

Impeachments.

Presidents--United States.

Presidents.

Physical Description:

xiii, 249 pages ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018]

Contents:

1 The Basic Terms p. 6

What does the term "impeachment" mean? p. 6

What does the Constitution explicitly say about the impeachment process? p. 7

What does the Constitution implicitly say about impeachment? p. 8

What are the emoluments clauses? p. 10

What are the origins of impeachment? p. 11

What were the specific controversies regarding official misconduct that the Constitutional Convention addressed? p. 12

What were the plans that the framers debated before settling on the version of the impeachment process set forth in the Constitution? p. 13

What happened next? p. 14

What do the basic terms in the impeachment clauses mean? p. 18

Is impeachment a legal or political issue? p. 20

How useful is impeachment? p. 22

Is impeachment the only mechanism for addressing the serious misconduct of the president, the vice president, and other officials subject to impeachment? p. 22

2 The History of the Federal impeachment Process p. 24

How many people have been impeached, and why? p. 24

How many of the nineteen people whom the House impeached did the Senate convict and remove from office? p. 25

How many times has the Senate imposed the sanction of disqualification? p. 26

What exactly is disqualification? p. 26

How many officials has the Senate acquitted or found not guilty and therefore not convicted and removed from office? p. 26

How many officials were impeached but avoided conviction and removal because they resigned from office before their impeachment trials commenced? p. 26

Were there any other officials who were impeached but somehow avoided having the Senate hold an impeachment trial or convict them for impeachable misconduct? p. 28

Was Andrew Johnson the first president to be threatened with impeachment? p. 29

How many presidents have been impeached? p. 31

Why was Andrew Johnson impeached? p. 31

Why didn't the Senate convict Andrew Johnson and remove him from office? p. 32

Would Richard Nixon have been impeached had he not resigned? p. 34

Why was Bill Clinton impeached? p. 34

Why did the Senate not convict President Clinton? p. 36

Why wasn't George W. Bush impeached? p. 38

Why wasn't Barack Obama impeached? p. 39

3 Which Federal Officials Are Impeachable p. 41

Who is subject to impeachment? p. 41

Are members of Congress subject to impeachment? p. 42

For purposes of impeachment, to whom does the phrase "all civil officers of the United States" refer? p. 43

If there is not universal consensus on the meaning of "all civil officers of the United States," who disagrees with that interpretation of the Constitution and why? p. 45

So, who is right about the meaning of "all civil officers of the United States"? p. 47

Are Article III judges subject to impeachment? p. 52

To what extent are officials subject to impeachment for misconduct before their election or appointment to impeachable offices? p. 55

To what extent are officials subject to impeachment for misconduct after they have left office? p. 57

4 Defining Impeachable Offenses p. 59

What do the study of the origins of the Constitution and our experiences with impeachment teach us about the meaning of the terms "other high crimes or misdemeanors"? p. 59

In impeachment proceedings, how have the members of Congress understood the meaning of "other high crimes and misdemeanors"? p. 62

Is the Congress bound by its prior practices or could it deviate from, or even abandon, those practices in the future? p. 64

Must an impeachable offense have a connection to an official's office or duties? p. 65

May someone be impeached for gross incompetence? p. 67

So, how are we supposed to determine what qualifies as "serious offenses" against the Republic or breaches of the public trust? p. 69

What is an example of an abuse of power that is impeachable? p. 70

Who is Joe Isenberg, and why do his writings come up in some discussions of the scope of impeachable offenses? p. 70

5 Explaining the Procedures in Impeachment p. 73

How does an impeachment begin? p. 73

What is the House's role? p. 74

Does the House have a constitutional obligation to do any fact-finding? p. 76

What is the Senate's role in the impeachment process? p. 78

What does it mean for the Senate to have the power "to try an impeachment?" Must it hold an actual trial for the impeached official? p. 79

Is it possible to appeal an impeachment conviction to the Supreme Court? p. 83

What role does the chief justice of the United States have in the impeachment process? p. 85

What if the chief justice himself is the subject of an impeachment process? p. 86

Who presides over a vice president's impeachment trial, given that the Constitution makes the vice president the presiding officer of the Senate? p. 87

What difference, if any, does the Fifth Amendment make to impeachment proceedings? p. 87

Is there a burden of proof required in impeachment proceedings? p. 90

Are any rules of evidence required in impeachment proceedings? p. 91

Does double jeopardy apply to an impeachment? p. 91

May an impeachment come before civil or criminal proceedings? p. 92

Have any courts addressed the question of whether impeachment may precede or must folio w a criminal indictment? p. 94

What about high-ranking executive branch officials other than the president? Are they immune to criminal prosecution while they are in office? p. 98

Is it permissible for a sitting president to be subject to civil lawsuits for damages, or to be criminally indicted and prosecuted? Or must a president be impeached and removed from office beforehand? p. 100

Does a prior conviction or judgment from a court carry any weight in an impeachment proceeding? p. 102

Do any special privileges apply in impeachment proceedings? p. 103

Are there any other privileges that might apply in impeachment proceedings? p. 105

Does the pardon power extend to impeachment proceedings? p. 106

6 Explaining What Punishments the Senate May Impose p. 107

What punishments may be imposed in an impeachment proceeding? p. 107

What happens when the Senate acquits someone? p. 107

What happens when someone is convicted? p. 108

What is disqualification? p. 109

Does the Constitution require that the sanctions of removal and disqualification be imposed at the same time, or may (or must) they be imposed separately? p. 109

How many times has the Senate disqualified an official it convicted? p. 110

Why is disqualification rarely imposed? p. 111

Does disqualification require at least two-thirds approval in the Senate, as removal does, or may it be done by a majority vote? p. 111

Who is Alcee Hastings and why is he relevant? p. 112

What is censure? p. 113

Is presidential censure constitutional? p. 114

What is a bill of attainder? p. 116

Is censure a bill of attainder? p. 116

Is it permissible for the Senate to issue or approve findings of fact? p. 116

Are there any other sanctions failing short of removal and disqualification that Congress may impose on public officials for their misconduct in office? p. 118

What about the Bribery Act of 1790? Is that relevant, and was it constitutional? p. 119

Are there any other alternatives to impeachment worth knowing about? p. 124

7 Impeachment in the States and around the World p. 125

What were the models for the federal impeachment process? p. 125

How common is impeachment in the states? p. 125

What are some examples of the different grounds that states provide as the bases for impeachment? p. 128

Do states use other or additional means than impeachment for addressing the misconduct of public officials? p. 129

Have there been any impeachments in states that are of particular significance? p. 130

Have there been any notable impeachment attempts in the states that failed? p. 132

What are some notable instances of states' using mechanisms other than impeachment to address officials' misconduct? p. 135

How popular is the impeachment process around the world? p. 140

What world leaders outside of the United States have been impeached in recent history? p. 141

Have there been notable failed impeachment attempts outside of the United States in recent history? p. 143

8 Will Donald Trump Be Impeached? p. 145

Will Donald Trump be impeached? p. 145

What are the most serious charges made against the president? p. 146

How many lawsuits were filed against Donald Trump prior to his election as president? p. 148

What is the relevance of any of the lawsuits pending against the president at the time of his inauguration or filed against him since then? p. 149

Which constitutional clauses pertaining to emoluments might have relevance to the question whether President Trump has possibly committed any impeachable offense? p. 150

Would violating either the foreign emoluments or the compensation clause be an impeachable offense? p. 151

What if the payment, gift, or benefit given to the president came from a source other than a foreign power? p. 153

Is it a problem that the president has never disclosed his tax returns or the sources of his income and the degree of his indebtedness? p. 155

How do we know where to draw the line on what is impeachable or what is not when it comes to a president's receipt of foreign or other financial gifts? p. 157

What about Hillary Clinton's emails? Didn't she break the law, and should she face criminal liability and perhaps impeachment because of her misconduct? p. 157

President Trump's lawyer has said that the president is immune in the civil cases that have been filed against him. Is the president's lawyer right? p. 159

What is collusion? p. 160

Why do people keep talking about "collusion" if the term has no meaning in the law? p. 160

Who is Robert Mueller, and what is his role in investigating President Trump? p. 160

If Mueller is not looking at collusion, what exactly is he investigating? p. 161

Who is James Comey, and why is he relevant to Mueller's investigation? p. 161

Are any of the things Mueller is investigating impeachable offenses? p. 163

Does the president have the power to fire the special counsel, Robert Mueller? p. 164

Richard Nixon fired the special prosecutor who was investigating Watergate, Archibald Cox. Why wasn't he impeached for that? p. 165

Is firing the special counsel an impeachable offense? p. 166

President Trump's lawyer has said the president cannot obstruct justice. Is he right? p. 168

Why is sexual harassment an impeachable offense? p. 171

Could President Trump be impeached for doing any of the things he claimed in an Access Hollywood interview that was aired during the presidential campaign? p. 172

How is the case of Alex Kozinski relevant to our understanding of whether sexual harassment may constitute an impeachable offense? p. 174

Would Kozinski's misconduct have been a legitimate basis for impeachment? p. 175

How might the Kozinski case help us better understand impeachment? p. 176

May the president use his pardon power to stop the Congress from attempting to impeach him or anyone else close to him? p. 176

Was President Trump's pardon of Sheriff Joe an abuse of power? p. 177

May the president pardon himself and, if he does, is that an abuse of power and therefore an impeachable offense? p. 178

What if members of Congress and the public cannot agree on the severity of the misconduct or the damage that the misconduct caused? p. 180

What are norms, and why are they relevant to this discussion? p. 181

If President Trump is incompetent, may he be impeached for that? p. 182

How does the Twenty-fifth Amendment work? p. 184

Could President Trump have a problem with the Twenty-fifth Amendment? p. 185

Would it be wrong to take into account the fact that Mike Pence would become president if President Trump were either removed or resigned from office? p. 188

Are the president's tweets in any way impeachable offenses? p. 188

What about-? p. 192.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1924 Book Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Gerhardt, Michael J., 1956- Impeachment.

ISBN:

9780190903657

0190903651

9780190903664

019090366X

OCLC:

1029072847