How likely is a Donald Trump impeachment, what does it mean and what would happen?
Calls for President Donald Trump to be impeached have intensified over the past few days (Picture: Getty)
He’s not been the most popular of Presidents so far and it seems Donald Trump is
only getting more and more unpopular by the day.
Last week, Mr Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, raising questions about the independence of the FBI’s investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia in last year’s presidential election.
Then it emerged that Mr Trump had asked the former FBI director to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.The POTUS was accused of obstruction of justice and people began calling for his impeachment.
And just last night, it was revealed that Trump had divulged highly classified material to Russian officials in a recent Oval Office meeting.
When you’re President, you kind of know that’s a no-no and that’s now led to dozens in Washington (mainly Democrats) calling for Donald Trump to be impeached.
What is Impeachment?
Here’s everything you need to know about impeachment:
Impeachment is enshrined in the US constitution and allows formal charges to be brought against a civil officer of government for crimes alleged to have been committed.
The law states: ‘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.’
Though considered the first step towards removal from office, it doesn’t necessarily mean the president will be kicked out.
Who has the power to impeach?
The House of Representatives has the sole power of impeaching, while the United States Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments.
To start impeachment proceedings against a president, you need a majority vote in the House of Representatives.
When the case is tried by the Senate, a vote of at least 2/3 of those present is needed to convict and remove the president from office.
Which presidents have been impeached before?
Only two presidents have been impeached by the House of Representatives: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. But both were later acquitted by the Senate.
Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998, charged with lying under oath to a federal grand jury, witness-tampering, abuse of power and obstructing justice over his relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky.
The House formally impeached Johnson for bringing into ‘disgrace, ridicule, hatred, contempt and reproach the Congress of the United States.’ He escaped being removed from office by the Senate by just one vote. Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached in 1868 after he broke the Tenure of Office Act, put in place to ensure that the president didn’t dismiss important government officials without the permission of the Senate, by dismissing Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
Articles of impeachment were passed against Richard Nixon in 1974 but he resigned the presidency before they could be considered by the full house.
What is the process?
Impeachment proceedings can be brought by a member of the House of Representatives either by presenting a list of the charges under oath or by asking for referral to the appropriate committee.
The process begins with an independent investigation, either from the Department of Justice, Congress or from an appointed council. It can also be brought by non-members such as a special prosecutor, state or territorial legislature, grand jury or by petition.
The evidence is then handed over to the House Judiciary Committee which reviews evidence.
After debate in the House of Representatives, a vote will be cast on the Articles of Impeachment.
Then what happens?
Following a vote, the Articles of Impeachment are sent over to the Senate, which prepares for a trial.
During the proceedings, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court acts as the judge, the Senate acts as the jury and the House judiciary Committee acts as the prosecution.
If two thirds in the Senate votes against the President, they will be removed.
So why do people want Mr Trump to be impeached?
Calls for impeachment have been floating around for a while, ever since it emerged there may have been potential links between the Trump campaign and Russia’s efforts to influence the presidential campaign last year.
But the fact that it has emerged the president may have passed on highly classified information to Russian officials makes calls for Mr Trump’s impeachment only stronger.
Mr Trump’s decision to discuss classified information with Russian officials is technically within the law.
Writing last night on Twitter, defending his decision to do so, Mr Trump said: ‘As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining.’
But the worrying factor here is that he may have inadvertently put American lives at risk or risk intelligence sharing relationships with other countries and violated his oath of office by doing so.
Also, the fact that he reportedly urged James Comey to drop the investigation into national security adviser Michael Flynn, has led to many seeing that as an obstruction of justice.
‘For the president to tell the FBI to end a potential criminal investigation, that’s obstruction of justice.’ Erwin Chereminsky, a constitutional law professor and dean of University of California, Irvine School of Law said: ‘This is what caused President Nixon to resign from office.
So can he be impeached for violating his oath of office?
Yes, and it has been done before.
President Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton all faced alleged oath violations in their Articles of Impeachment.
Though it is speculative and entirely dependent on each case, previous impeachments have taken around three to four months. How long will it take if he was impeached?
Andrew Johnson was fired in February 1868. One week later, the House adopted eleven articles of impeachment against the President.
The trial began on March 13, 1868 and the final vote for acquittal was on May 26, 1868.
But for Bill Clinton, his was relatively quick in comparison. The process started on December 19, 1998 and he was acquitted on February 12, 1999.
Is it likely?
Not really – the fact that only two presidents have ever faced impeachment and neither of them were successfully convicted shows it is not very likely.
Also the fact that the President is working with a Republican-controlled Congress means he has more people on his ‘side’.
But who knows? With Trump’s track record so far, it now doesn’t seem impossible.
No comments:
Post a Comment