Last week, the House of Representatives' Democratic impeachment managers concluded their opening arguments-21 hours of weary repetition over three days.
The Senate impeachment trial, entering its second week, is focused on the House's charge of "Abuse of power." Its second charge-"Obstruction of Congress"-is, at best, a boot-strapping makeweight: impeaching a president for failing to cooperate with an impeachment inquiry.
Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist 65, explained that the Senate, rather than the Supreme Court, was the best venue for impeachment trials because, upon a successful conviction, it was likely that the removed official would then be subject to criminal trial in federal court "In the ordinary course of law." It wouldn't be proper, according to Hamilton, for the federal judiciary to preside over two trials of the same officer "For the same offense."
An early test of the sort of vague charges at issue in the Trump case surfaced in the 1804 impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase, which arose from Jeffersonian opposition to the staunch Federalist.
Given the potential for political manipulation, the Framers sought to avoid a "Vague and fluid" definition of impeachable offenses, as law professor-and frequent Trump critic-Jonathan Turley explained in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, an early version of the impeachment clause included "Maladministration" as an impeachable offense.
In the Trump impeachment, the House managers argue that abuse of power is an impeachable offense, largely on the strength of broad statements made by the Framers, such as Hamilton's observation that impeachment arises from "Those offenses which proceed from ... the abuse or violation of some public trust." But here Hamilton is clearly saying that the various "Offenses" that may give rise to impeachment fall into a broader category of "Abuse ... of some public trust." The House willfully misreads Hamilton to suggest that the broader category of "Abuse" is itself an impeachable offense.
https://www.city-journal.org/democrats-underwhelming-case-for-impeachment
The Senate impeachment trial, entering its second week, is focused on the House's charge of "Abuse of power." Its second charge-"Obstruction of Congress"-is, at best, a boot-strapping makeweight: impeaching a president for failing to cooperate with an impeachment inquiry.
Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist 65, explained that the Senate, rather than the Supreme Court, was the best venue for impeachment trials because, upon a successful conviction, it was likely that the removed official would then be subject to criminal trial in federal court "In the ordinary course of law." It wouldn't be proper, according to Hamilton, for the federal judiciary to preside over two trials of the same officer "For the same offense."
An early test of the sort of vague charges at issue in the Trump case surfaced in the 1804 impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase, which arose from Jeffersonian opposition to the staunch Federalist.
Given the potential for political manipulation, the Framers sought to avoid a "Vague and fluid" definition of impeachable offenses, as law professor-and frequent Trump critic-Jonathan Turley explained in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, an early version of the impeachment clause included "Maladministration" as an impeachable offense.
In the Trump impeachment, the House managers argue that abuse of power is an impeachable offense, largely on the strength of broad statements made by the Framers, such as Hamilton's observation that impeachment arises from "Those offenses which proceed from ... the abuse or violation of some public trust." But here Hamilton is clearly saying that the various "Offenses" that may give rise to impeachment fall into a broader category of "Abuse ... of some public trust." The House willfully misreads Hamilton to suggest that the broader category of "Abuse" is itself an impeachable offense.
https://www.city-journal.org/democrats-underwhelming-case-for-impeachment
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