Inside Politics Of US Impeachment

The United States House of Representatives voted for the impeachment of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, a precursor to his trial by the Senate. The latest development makes Trump the third president to be impeached in the history of the country. In this report, LEADERSHIP Friday presents the process of impeachment in US and its implications.

Donald Trump

At a time when President Donald Trump of the United States should be warming up for campaigns to ensure his re-election next year, a deeply divided House of Representatives on Wednesday, impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress probe.

Consequently, Trump will now face a trial at the Senate to be presided by the Chief Justice. Although the Republican-controlled Senate is likely to save him from losing the exalted office of the President.

The impeachment vote was the climax of months of investigation into allegations that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rival, former vice president Joe Biden, while withholding US security assistance and a White House meeting.

The House voted 230 to 197 to charge Trump with abuse of power and 229 to 198 to charge him with obstruction of Congress probe. The votes were largely split along party lines as the House is dominated by Democrats.

Trump’s impeachment is coming 85 days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry which she said at the time will have long-lasting ramifications across Washington and beyond. It will undoubtedly shape the legacies of the key players in the midst of it, from Pelosi and her committee chairs who led the impeachment proceedings to Trump and his staunchest defenders in Congress.

It’s a scenario that appeared unlikely just months ago for Pelosi, who had resisted the push for Trump’s impeachment from liberal advocates both inside her caucus and outside Capitol Hill. But then an anonymous whistleblower complaint changed the course of history for both Trump and his chief antagonist at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Before Wednesday’s development, there were similar events many years ago.

Bill Clinton

About two decades ago in 1998, the then president, Bill Clinton, also faced impeachment proceedings. For a long time, President Clinton dealt with a series of scandals, beginning with the ‘Whitewater’ financial investigation.

Then there was Paula Jones who sued him for sexual harassment. The president’s argument at the time was that he had presidential immunity from civil cases, but in 1997, the Supreme Court rejected his argument. So that when Jones’ case began in January 1998, Clinton denied under oath that he’d ever had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. But news of Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky got out.

In July 1998, Clinton testified over the allegations that he’d committed perjury by lying about his affair with Lewinsky. And by August, he’d admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky.

Lewinsky had also recorded conversations of her talking about the affair, and the transcripts of the conversation went public in October 1998.

On October 8, 1998, just days after the tapes were released, the House of Representatives voted for impeachment proceedings to begin against Clinton. In a report released in September by independent counsel Kenneth Starr, there were 11 grounds for impeachment. And on December 11, 1998, the House approved three articles of impeachment along party lines that Clinton had lied to a grand jury, he had committed perjury by denying his relationship with Lewinsky, and he had obstructed justice. The next day, a fourth article was approved, which accused Clinton of abusing his power.

On December 19, 1998, the House impeached Clinton for two of the articles, perjury and obstructing justice. The votes were 228-206, and 221-212, also largely along party lines. Despite being impeached, Clinton refused to step down.

Clinton was tried by the Senate and acquitted on February 12, 1999.

His perjury charge had a vote of 55 for not guilty to 45 guilty, and his obstruction of justice charge was 50 for not guilty to 50 guilty. They didn’t meet the two-thirds majority necessary to convict.

Andrew Jackson

Over a century ago in 1868, former President Andrew Johnson was the first sitting American president to ever face impeachment proceedings.

According to reports, Johnson’s woes began when he chose to remove a member of his cabinet, the secretary of war, Edward Stanton, from office in 1867. This action was seen as a breach of the country’s Tenure of Office Act. An interpretation of the law revealed that the president couldn’t terminate the appointment of any important official without first getting Senate’s permission.

The president had first suspended Stanton and replaced him, but when Congress intervened and reinstated Stanton, Johnson fired him on February 21, 1868.

Three days later, on February 24, 1868, the House of Representatives impeached him by a vote of 126-47. The House said he’d violated the law, and disgraced the United States’ Congress.

From March to May 1868, over 11 weeks, the Senate tried Johnson’s case, and finally voted to acquit him. The vote was 35 guilty to 19 not guilty. Just one more vote against him would have met the required two-thirds that was necessary for removal from office.

Interestingly both Johnson and Clinton were eventually acquitted by the Senate, and there’s effectively zero chance the Republican-controlled Senate will remove Trump from office.

But unlike Johnson and Clinton who were impeached during their second terms, Trump will face re-election less than a year after his impeachment, giving voters the opportunity to have the final say in November, 2020, a development pundits say can affect his chances negatively.

Richard Nixon

The impeachment tag is no rosette for any public official. Probably that explains why former President Richard Nixon resigned from office prior to his impeachment by the House in 1974.

Nixon served as the 37th president of the United States from 1969 until 1974 in his second tenure in office. A vigorous campaigner for Republican candidates while serving as the nation’s 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961, and as a representative and Senator from California, he became the only president to resign from the office due to his involvement in the Watergate scandal.

Nixon knew he would be impeached by the House and subsequently found guilty by the Senate hence, he threw in the towel to avoid the embarrassment.

The Impeachment Process:

There are several provisions in the United States Constitution relating to impeachment. Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 provides that the House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment while Article I, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7 provide that the Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.

When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

Judgement in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgement and punishment, according to law.

As the battle now shifts to the Senate, Trump’s trial is expected to hold in January, 2020 when the matter is expected to be put rest either in his favour or against him. In the event he is convicted by the Senate, vice president Mike Pence will take over the reign of affairs and if it goes contrary, Trump remains the president till 2020 when he is expected to re-contest a return to the Oval Office.