The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
First impeachment of Donald TrumpOutcomeAcquitted by the U.S. Senate, remained in the office of President of the United StatesChargesAbuse of power, Obstruction of CongressCauseAllegations that Trump unlawfully solicited Ukrainian authorities to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential electionCongressional votes26 more rows
The five accusations were "obstruction of justice," "violation of the foreign emoluments clause," "violation of the domestic emoluments clause," "undermining the independence of the federal judiciary" and "undermining the freedom of the press".
On January 14, 2020, Cipollone was named to the team of attorneys representing President Donald Trump in the impeachment hearing case.
If a federal official commits a crime or otherwise acts improperly, the House of Representatives may impeach—formally charge—that official. If the official subsequently is convicted in a Senate impeachment trial, he is removed from office.
The Constitution requires a two-thirds supermajority to convict a person being impeached. The Senate enters judgment on its decision, whether that be to convict or acquit, and a copy of the judgment is filed with the Secretary of State.
The House of Representatives of the 117th U.S. Congress adopted one article of impeachment against Trump of "incitement of insurrection", stating that he had incited the January 6 attack of the U.S. Capitol.
Donald Francis McGahn II (/dɒn məˈɡæn/; born June 16, 1968) is an American lawyer who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Donald Trump, from the day of Trump's inauguration through October 17, 2018, when McGahn resigned. Previously, McGahn served on the Federal Election Commission for over five years.
Although the White House counsel offers legal advice to the president and vice president, the counsel does so in the president's and vice president's official capacity, and does not serve as the president's personal attorney.
Michael Cohen (lawyer)Michael CohenCohen in 2019BornMichael Dean Cohen August 25, 1966 Lawrence, New York, U.S.EducationAmerican University (BA) Cooley Law School (JD)Political partyDemocratic (before 2002, 2004–2017, 2018–present) Republican (2002–2004, 2017–2018)10 more rows
The purpose of the Domestic Emoluments Clause is to preserve the President's independence. Under the Clause, Congress may neither increase nor decrease the President's compensation during his term, preventing the legislature from using its control over the President's salary to exert influence over him.
Trump University was incorporated in 2004 by Trump, Sexton, and Spitalny, as a New York limited liability company. Donald Trump owned 93% of the company.
In July, Trump ordered that $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine be withheld indefinitely, including $250 million in military assistance from the Department of Defense (DoD). This hold sparked concerns within DoD and other relevant agencies. These included policy concerns about the hold, but also immediate questions regarding its legality.
First, to establish a criminal campaign-finance violation, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted “knowingly and willfully” —i.e., that the defendant knew generally that his conduct was unlawful. Yes, this peculiar area of election law allows defendants to escape liability for ignorance of the law. And Mueller concluded he lacked evidence likely to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump Campaign officials acted with knowledge that their conduct was illegal.
As part of its formal impeachment inquiry, committees of the House of Representatives obtained witness testimony and documentary evidence from 17 witnesses—making crystal clear that Trump violated the campaign finance law prohibition on soliciting a contribution from a foreign national.
2. directly or indirectly, corruptly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept; 3. anything of value. 4. in return for being influenced in the performance of any official act. Let’s consider how a federal prosecutor would meet these elements when it comes to President Trump and Ukraine.
The ICA was passed in the wake of President Richard Nixon’s efforts to withhold money Congress had appropriated. Preventing the expenditure of money Congress has appropriated is known as an impoundment. Along with the Antideficiency Act (ADA), the ICA is one of the cornerstones of budgetary law. The ADA prevents agencies from spending money that Congress has not appropriated, while the ICA ensures that they spend the money that has been appropriated.
According to the official record of the July 25 phone call, early in the conversation, Zelenskyy thanked Trump and the United States for its “great support in the area of defense” and continued:
Two days later, Trump acknowledged that he had discussed Biden with the Ukrainian president. Earlier reporting from the New York Times and BuzzFeed News made clear that Trump’s July 25 phone call with President Zelenskyy was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of a months-long, back-channel campaign to pressure Ukraine’s government to investigate Biden. The effort was orchestrated by Trump and executed by his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others.
Senate Republicans met with White House counsel Pat Cipollone over lunch Wednesday to discuss strategy for an upcoming Senate impeachment trial in an effort to shore up Trump’s legal and political defenses.
Professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University Law School contradicted other the witnesses’ claims that Trump’s conduct was a “clear case” of bribery.
Republican-called witness Jonathan Turley pushed back against House Democrats for using Trump’s refusal to turn over certain information related to the impeachment inquiry as a reason to impe ach him, citing the previous impeachment investigation into former President Richard Nixon.
Stanford University professor Pamela Karlan apologized after she received backlash for mentioning Trump's 13-year-old son Barron Trump during the impeachment hearing.
Nadler included accusations of obstruction from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in his opening statement, saying that they were the primer for Trump’s contacts with the Ukrainian president.
One of the first House Democrats to call for Trump's impeachment urged his colleagues on Wednesday to include instances of Trump's actions and rhetoric inflaming racial tensions in any upcoming articles of impeachment.
Noah Feldman, a professor at Harvard Law School, said in his opening statement that Trump’s conduct “clearly constitutes” the constitutional standard for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” because Trump “was using his office to seek a personal political and electoral advantage over his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and over the Democratic Party.”
The lesson Trump learned from impeachment is he is above the law so long as he’s “president”. That’s why he’s doubling down in seeking foreign espionage to help, and why he’s abusing his powers of office so blatantly. Trump also knows congressional GOPers (except for Romney) will let him commit any crime and impeachable offense.
The real restraint is politics. Dems see themselves on a glide-path to victory and they have no reason to pull any unusual moves that could backfire and risk the election.
If we expanded national service, every American could afford to seek a bachelor’s degree—and have the support they need to get to graduation and into a career.
Article 5: Abuse of power for personal enrichment in asking the ambassador to Britain to steer the British Open golf tournament to a Trump-owned resort in Scotland . Article 6: Abuse of reprieve and pardon power in commuting the sentence of Roger Stone.
The GOP won Virginia’s governorship under the kind of easy, hassle-free voting system that Democrats love, and Trump berates.
There are probably a lot of peaches out there that would prefer Trump's hair to the fuzz that they've got.
he is above the law so long as he’s “president”.
James Comey. The FBI director responsible for launching an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which then expanded to include investigations into Trump and his advisors’ illegal involvement with Russian agents to meddle in the election.
How Sessions relates to the case: Removing people surrounding the Mueller investigation because they are viewed as disloyal, and replacing them with people intent on crippling the investigation, is an obvious sign of obstruction of justice.
What’s the evidence and what does it mean? The trail of evidence starts with Trump firing James Comey, the FBI director responsible for overseeing the investigation into Trump’s relationship with Russia during the 2016 election. When the President fires people who are investigating him in an attempt to disrupt that investigation, ...
Telling or encouraging someone to lie to Congress is a crime, called suborning perjury, and these efforts to influence Cohen as a witness were intended to lead federal investigators astray and prevent the investigation from moving forward.
Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General William Barr may have tried to clear him of obstruction, but Special Counsel Robert Mueller specifically did not exonerate him . Trump interfered in federal investigations and tried to influence their outcomes, violating federal law. That is a clear case of obstruction.
Trump made two more attempts at stopping the investigation by trying (unsuccessfully) to fire Robert Mueller, Comey’s predecessor. He has pushed out officials surrounding the investigation and sought to replace them with his loyalists. He has intimidated witnesses, and publicly dangled pardons, likely in an attempt to persuade them to change their testimony.