Six Democratic congressmen moved to impeach President Trump Wednesday as they accused him of a litany of offenses that included obstruction of justice.
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was among the lawmakers who pushed to impeach the president. Green – although the rest of his party has largely stayed away from this effort – has led the push to impeach the Republican president. He has encouraged his colleagues to vote on impeachment by Christmas.
The five articles introduced by the congressmen hits Trump on the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. They accuse him of obstructing justice and undermining the independence of the federal judiciary among other offenses.
What does impeachment mean?
Congress has the ability to remove a sitting president from office before his term is finished – an authority granted by the Constitution.
Along with the president and vice president, all civil officers in the U.S. can be removed from office if they are impeached and convicted of bribery, treason or other high crimes and misdemeanors, according to the Constitution.
How does impeachment work?
Article One of the Constitution grants the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment; the Senate has the sole authority to try all impeachments. If the president is being tried, the Chief Justice should preside over the trial.
The House must vote, requiring a simple majority, to adopt the articles of impeachment. Before a vote, the House Judiciary Committee – or another special committee – may investigate the articles.
Six Democratic congressmen introduced five articles of impeachment of President Trump Wednesday, accusing him — among other things — of obstructing justice.
(Reuters/Aaron P. Bernstein)
The House is able to vote to impeach even if the committee does not recommend doing so.
Should that vote be reached, then the House will appoint members – called managers – to act as “prosecutors” as the proceedings will then go to trial in the Senate. The president is able to have defense attorneys.
The Senate would need a two-thirds majority in order to find the president guilty. Should that happen, the president would be removed from office and the vice president would take the presidents place.
Have other presidents been impeached?
Only two U.S. presidents have been impeached – and neither were removed from office.
Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998.
While an impeachment proceeding began against former President Richard Nixon, he was not actually impeached. Nixon was the only president to resign from office.
What do the Democrats have to say?
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has publicly opposed impeachment calls. Most Democratic lawmakers have also stayed away from Green’s efforts.
But six Democrats came together on Nov. 15 to introduce five articles of impeachment against Trump. Aside from Green, they are: Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Adriano Espaillat of New York, Marcia Fudge of Ohio, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and John Yarmuth of Kentucky.
Reps. Luis Gutierrez, Al Green, Steve Cohen and Adriano Espaillat speak at a press conference announcing articles of impeachment being filed against President Trump.
(Reuters/Aaron P. Bernstein)
“We have taken this action because of great concerns for the country and our Constitution and our national security and our democracy,” Cohen said.
Cohen also said he understood the unlikeliness that the cohort’s efforts will be successful but said they would nonetheless hold briefings on the impeachment articles.
Aside from obstruction of justice, the congressmen allege that Trump accepted emoluments from foreign states and from the U.S. government without congressional approval. They also say he has undermined the federal judiciary as well as the freedom of the press.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
