David Corn brings up a critical point, which Adam Schiff also addressed yesterday...

[Miles Archer]

David Corn
@DavidCornDC

If a president tries to block a legitimate investigation of whether he committed treason and gave aid and comfort to an enemy that in and of itself could be considered an impeachable act...Nixon was impeached for attempting to thwart an investigation of his criminal activity.

9:09 AM · Sep 28, 2019·Twitter for iPhone

Link to tweet

[onetexan]

1. K&R

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Nixon wasn't impeached

He resigned before a vote was taken. Otherwise, good points.

[Newest Reality]

3. I have the impression

that impeachment does not necessarily require a crime, in effect, since it is about the sanctity of the office itself and not the person sitting in it.

Now, there is a difference as to what would actually motivate politicians to actually begin the process and follow through, (incentive seems to be more of the deciding factor) but there are alternate inducements one could speculate on, concerning decorum and behavior, that could apply, it is just that they most likely wouldn't illicit the same kind of reaction.

[unblock]

7. yes, "high crime and misdemeanor" really means misusing the office

abusing or neglecting the powers of and duties of office.


the process of impeachment and removal is actually more like the process for firing someone from a job, not so much punishing them for committing a crime.

so even though there's a trial in the senate involved, there doesn't have to be a crime in the sense of violation of any particular statute.

on the other hand, mere violations of "decorum or behavior" wouldn't be enough.

it's meant to include such things as using the office for personal gain or refusing to show up to work at all. things that might not violate a law but are nevertheless the sort of thing that should get you fired from your job.


violating the criminal code in a way that has absolutely nothing to do with the office is arguably *not* a high crime and misdemeanor. that said, congress might impeach someone anyway, say if a judge were to murder someone, not during working hours, not in court, who had nothing to do with any court case he was involved with.

really, they just made it confusing by including the word "crime" in this section.

[BootinUp]

9. Well put.

[duforsure]

4. Trumps desperately trying to hide

Behind executive privilege and highly classified (falsely) materials to hide his crimes now, as will be fully exposed by this investigation. One can imagine how bad his talks with his thug and corrupt dictator friends went. This is a huge nation security threat now knowing everything that was said by this criminal in office. The American people also have a right to know, is the president working for other governments, all corrupt ones?

[triron]

5. Yes, TREASON!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

8. Imprison The Treasonous MF

[Bayard]

6. Is tRump going to get away with claiming executive privilege over whistleblower testimony?

He's saying now that he won't, "let him" testify to Congress.

[triron]

10. If democrats let him. No one else will stop him.

[world wide wally]

11. How can he stop someone from testifying if he doesn't know who they are?

[Grammy23]

12. tRump has been trying to use his office as President as a shield against all the

things (criminal or immoral) he has done. All along he has pushed back against the norms and conventional thinking on what a president can and cannot do. He has been moving along the line until now he has begun insisting that a president can do “whatever he wants”. Of course, that is absurd but he has subtly and not so subtly suggested that to his followers. Many do not have the first bit of critical thinking skills. They were spoon fed what he wants them to think and BELIEVE.

He really does believe that this will save him from justice. He thinks his followers will storm DC and insist that he be untouched for his crimes. We need to stand our ground and remind them (over and over) that no one is above the law. No one. If even one of us is above the law, our whole system of justice is a sham. If they cannot understand that, they are unreachable. Thank goodness there are more of us than there are of them.

[the_sly_pig]

13. What is the punishment if convicted for treason?

Hanging? Firing squad?