The time for Impeachment is long past due

Our Land Our Law Let’s get it back

 A short and informative lesson on impeachment from Freedom Outpost and Publius Huldah:

 1. It isn’t necessary that the president, officials in the executive branch, or federal judges commit a crime before they may be impeached & removed from office.

Alexander Hamilton points out in Federalist No. 66, 2nd para, & Federalist No. 77, last para, that the president may be impeached & removed for encroachments, i.e., usurpations of power.

Throughout the Federalist Papers, it is stated that impeachment is for “political offenses”.

3. The House has the SOLE power of impeachment (Art. I, Sec. 2, last clause). The Senate has the SOLE power to try all impeachments (Art. I, Sec. 3, next to last clause).

Is this significant? YES! It means that the decision to convict & remove from office is not reviewable by any other body. It means that the House may impeach, and the Senate may convict, for any reason whatsoever; and their decision cannot be overturned.

4. The language at Art. II, Sec. 4. about “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors” is far broader than one might at first glance think.  Somewhere I saw a scholarly paper showing that the “high” refers to the status of the official – it does not refer to the severity of the offense.

“Misdemeanor” has a much broader meaning than a lesser category of criminal offenses. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary shows the primary meaning of “misdemeanor” to be: “Ill behavior; evil conduct; fault; mismanagement.” This shows – proves – that a president, vice-president, and all civil Officers of the United States may be impeached, tried, convicted, and removed from office for “mismanagement”, etc.

And that, of course, is consistent with what the Federalist Papers tell us about Impeachment & removal. It’s for “political offenses”, usurpations of power, being an incompetent idiot, etc.

Publius Huldah at  http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/02/shooting-straight-on-impeachment/#ixzz2PZT44jcn