How long to impeachment proceedings take?

[Xenotime]

6 months? 1 year? 2 years? What happens if *'s term is up and the proceedings are still going on? Do they cease? Does it turn into a criminal trial then?

Just some questions I had.

[HereSince1628]

1. Nixon's seemed to drag on and on, but that's partly because

the investigation into the Watergate break-in took a long time to develop.

It's not happened often enough to a President to really be able to say.

[longship]

2. Nixon's started in earnest February, 1973

*** 1973 ***
Feb 7 -- Senate votes to create Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities.

May 18 -- The Senate Watergate Committee begins public hearings.

Oct 20 -- Saturday Night Massacre.

*** 1974 ***

January -- There are now ongoing calls for Nixon to resign and the Congress begins to seriously consider impeachment.

Feb 6 -- The House of Representatives votes to authorize the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether grounds exist for the impeachment of President Nixon.

July 27 -- The House Judiciary Committee adopts the first Article of Impeachment by a vote of 27-11, with 6 Republicans voting with the Democrats. The Article charges Nixon with obstruction of the investigation of the Watergate break-in.

July 29 -- The House Judiciary Committee adopts the second Article of Impeachment that charges Nixon with misuse of power and violation of his oath of office.

July 30 -- The House Judiciary Committee adopts the third Article of Impeachment, charging Nixon with failure to comply with the House subpoenas.

August 7 -- Three senior Republican congressmen meet with Nixon, advising him that his chances of avoiding impeachment by the House and removal from office by the Senate are "gloomy".

Around the country, calls mount for Nixon's resignation, and speculation builds about Nixon's intentions.

August 8 -- In a televised address to the nation at 9pm, Nixon announces that he will resign.

It took 17 months from beginning of Congressional investigation until Nixon resigned. Note that the House didn't start proceedings on impeachment until there was a huge outcry from the public for it.

[Xenotime]

3. Here's my Outcry! IMPEACH!

[longship]

5. It'll come to that.

But it might not be in time to do any good. The American people will move slow and deliberately on this issue. This is precisely why Dem Reps have to be quiet about it until the people are behind them.

BTW, I'm behind you screeching, "Impeach!", too.

[porphyrian]

4. I think it depends on the crimes and the evidence available...

...as well as the support for it. Probably faster than a DUI gets through court from the arrest, but maybe not.

[Igel]

6. Impeachment can probably take less than a week.

Of course, that would be political suicide for dems. They have to at least appear to not be motivated by partisan concerns, and give a few days for hearings--and let the press report the facts and both sides' spin. Then they have to have a couple of days for debate. Then they have to have a vote, and get enough votes.

If *'s term ends before he's impeached, proceedings stop. It has nothing to do with any criminal act as such, and impeachment carries no legal weight beyond what a Grand Jury indictment carries.

The notice of impeachment goes to the other side of Congress, and they have to do their own investigation, hearings, debate, and vote on removal from office. The maximum punishment: Removal from office.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. 0 time. No point in starting. No chance of conviction in the Senate.

Nancy Pelosi is too smart for that.

Investigate, investigate, and then investigate some more. There is no shortage of corruption to uncover.

If a rotting corpse falls out of Bush's closet during a House/Senate hearing, then maybe enough Republicans in the Senate would switch to convict, but until then don't waste time and political capital on impeachment proceedings.