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What?You?Need?to?Know?About?ImpeachmentThe?House?of?Representatives?is?launching?an?impeachment?inquiry?against?President?Trump.?What?happens?now?OCTOBER 28, 2019?By?Joe?Bubar?and?Patricia?SmithOn?September?24,?Speaker?of?the?House?Nancy?Pelosi?announced?that?the?House?of?Representatives?will?launch?impeachment?proceedings?against?President?Trump.?Trump?will?become?the?fourth?president?in?American?history?to?face?an?impeachment?inquiry.“The?actions?taken?to?date?by?the?president?have?seriously?violated?the?Constitution,”?Pelosi?said.?Trump,?she?added, “must?be?held?accountable—no?one?is?above?the?law.”The?decision?was?prompted?by?new?allegations?that?Trump?tried?to?elicit?a?foreign?power’s?help?in?his?re-election?by?pressuring?the?president?of?Ukraine?to?open?a?corruption?investigation?of?former?Vice?President?Joe?Biden;?Biden?is?a?leading?contender?for?the?2020?Democratic?presidential?nomination.?President?Trump?has?denied?any?wrongdoing?and?called?the?impeachment?inquiry?“presidential?harassment.”The?constitutional?process?for?trying?to?remove?a?president?from?office?is?complicated.?Here’s?a?look?at?how?impeachment?works.1.?What?is?impeachment?The?Constitution?permits?Congress?to?remove?presidents?before?their?term?is?up?if?they’re?found?to?have?committed?“treason,?bribery,?or?other?high?crimes?and?misdemeanors.”?Impeachment?is?the?first?step?in?that?process.The?Framers?established?impeachment?as?a?safeguard?against?a?president?abusing?the?office.?Having?just?fought?for?independence?from?the?tyranny?of?King?George?III, they worried about presidents becoming too powerful. So they divided the federal government into three branches—executive, legislative, and judicial—that have the ability to check one another’s power, and they gave the House of Representatives “the sole power of impeachment.”2.?What?are?‘high?crimes?and?misdemeanors’?There’s?no?easy?answer,?because?the?Constitution?doesn’t?actually?say.?The?Framers?specifically?mentioned?treason?and?bribery?as?impeachable?offenses?but?didn’t?list?the?“other?high?crimes?and?misdemeanors.”However,?most?people?take?the?phrase?to?mean?a?serious?abuse?of?power?or?grave?misconduct?in?office.?It?doesn’t?necessarily?mean?that?a?law?was?broken.Constitutional?scholars?still?debate?the?vague?phrase’s?meaning.?But?they?often?look?to?Alexander?Hamilton’s?writings?for?guidance.?In?one?of?the?Federalist?Papers?in?1788,?he?described?impeachable?offenses?as?those?“which?proceed?from?the?misconduct?of?public?men,?or,?in?other?words,?from?the?abuse?or?violation?of?some?public?trust.”3.?What?is?the?process?Now?that?Pelosi?has?announced?a?formal?impeachment?inquiry,?subcommittees?that?have?been?investigating?the?president?for?other?alleged?offenses?will?look?into?the?new?allegations?as?well.?They’ll?call?on?witnesses?to?appear?before?Congress,?and?they’ll?ask?for?documents.If?the?subcommittees?determine?there’s?enough?evidence?of?wrongdoing,?they’ll?bring?formal?charges,?known?as?articles?of?impeachment,?to?the?full?House.?The?House,?which?is?currently?controlled?by?the?Democrats,?would?then?hold?a?vote?on?one?or?more?of?them.?If?at?least?one?gets?a?majority?(218?votes),?the?president?would?be?impeached.‘It’s?a?huge?deal?that?the?step?has?been?taken.’4.?What?happens?if?the?House?votes?to?impeach?The?next?step?is?a?trial?in?the?Senate?overseen?by?the?chief?justice?of?the?Supreme?Court.?A?team?of?lawmakers?from?the?House,?known?as?managers,?would?play?the?role?of?prosecutors,?presenting?the?case?against?Trump.?The?president?would?have?defense?lawyers,?and?the?senators?would?serve?as?the?jury.?If?at?least?two-thirds?of?the?senators?find?the?president?guilty,?he?is?removed?from?office,?and?the?vice?president?takes?over?as?president.That?has?never?happened.?Two?presidents?have?been?impeached?by?the?House—Andrew?Johnson?in?1868?and?Bill?Clinton?in?1998?(see?“On?Thin?Ice,”?below)—but?both?were?acquitted?by?the?Senate?and?remained?in?the?White?House?for?the?remainder?of?their?terms.?In?the?case?of?Richard?Nixon,?once?it?became?clear?that?there?was?enough?support?in?Congress?to?remove?him?from?office,?he?resigned.Because?the?Senate?is?controlled?by?Republicans,?20?Republican?senators?would?have?to?vote?to?convict?Trump,?along?with?all?47?Democrats,*?to?reach?the?67-vote?threshold?needed?to?remove?him.?Experts?say?that?seems?unlikely.5.?If?the?Senate?is?unlikely?to?convict?Trump,?why?go?through?this?That?thinking?is?exactly?what?made?Democratic?leaders?resistant?to?impeachment?for?so?long.?And?some?political?observers?believe?impeachment?proceedings?could?help?Trump?get?re-elected?next?year?by?energizing?his?most?ardent?supporters.“This?is?the?fight?that?traps?the?Democrats?into?an?increasingly?unpopular?position,”?says?Newt?Gingrich,?former?Speaker?of?the?House?and?a?Trump?supporter. “It?is?a?win-win?for?Trump,”?he?adds.But?many?Democrats?now?say?that?regardless?of?the?political?fallout,?this?has?become?a?matter?of?principle?and?they’re?obligated?to?act. “The?future?of?our?democracy?is?at?stake,”?says?Congressman?John?Lewis?of?Georgia.No?matter?how?the?inquiry?plays?out,?experts?say?it’s?a?historic?moment.“It’s?a?huge?deal?that?the?step?has?been?taken,”?says?Norman?Ornstein,?a?scholar?at?the?American?Enterprise?Institute,?a?conservative?think?tank?in?Washington,?D.C. “We’re?heading?into?something?that?is?a?rarity?in?American?life.?This?is?ratcheting?it?up?to?a?very?different?level.”*This?includes?two?Independents?who?caucus?with?the?Democrats.With?reporting?by?Nicholas?Fandos?and?Charlie?Savage?of?The?New?York?Times.On?Thin?IceOnly?three?other?U.S.?presidents?have?faced?impeachmentThe Granger CollectionAndrew?Johnson?1868Congress?impeaches?President?Lincoln’s?successor?for?violating?a?law?that’s?later?ruled?unconstitutional.?The?Senate?vote?falls?one?short?of?what’s?needed?to?remove?him?from?office.Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagesRichard?Nixon?1974Nixon?resigns?to?avoid?impeachment?after?an?investigation?into?a?burglary?at?Democratic?Party?offices?reveals?abuses?of?power?by?his?administration,?and?efforts?to?cover?them?up.Diana Walker HC/Contour by Getty ImagesBill?Clinton?1998Clinton?becomes?the?second?U.S.?president?to?be?impeached?after?lying?under?oath?about?his?relationship?with?a?22-year-old?White?House?intern.?He’s?acquitted?by?the?Senate. ................
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