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Has Trump Been Officially Impeached

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Impeachment Was More Of A Bipartisan Effort In The House This Time

Has Trump really been impeached?

In a stark reversal from 2019, when zero GOP lawmakers voted to impeach, some House Republicans joined Democrats to impeach Trump on Wednesday.

These Republican votes to impeach reflect a deep division among Republican lawmakers following January 6s deadly insurrection by Trump supporters, the GOP caucus has debated whether to support Trump or rebuke him.

After backing him for the last four years, some Republicans fell on the side of rebuking the president, believing his role in stoking the violent mob was too grave to ignore. Others were said to privately support impeachment, while being too afraid to do so publicly.

Several Republicans feared for their safety if they supported impeachment, Rep. David Cicilline , one of the co-authors of the impeachment article, told reporters on Wednesday, hours before the vote.


Their own personal safety from harm, and their family, Cicilline told reporters. Thats real.

Most notably, the group of Republicans who publicly supported impeachment included House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney from Wyoming . Cheney released a statement Tuesday night unequivocally condemning Trump and saying shed vote to impeach him.

There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution, Cheney said in her statement. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing.

Constitutionality Of Senate Trial Of Former President

The question of whether the Senate can hold a trial for and convict a former president is unsettled. Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution provides:

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.
Article II, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution

Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution, also states the following:


Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, of the U.S. Constitution

J. Michael Luttig, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for 25 years, said that such a trial would be unconstitutional. He interpreted the language of Section 4 to refer to an official in office.

Luttig said, “The very concept of constitutional impeachment presupposes the impeachment, conviction and removal of a president who is, at the time of his impeachment, an incumbent in the office from which he is removed. Indeed, that was the purpose of the impeachment power, to remove from office a president or other ‘civil official’ before he could further harm the nation from the office he then occupies.”

Article Of Impeachment Introduced

WikisourceArticle of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump

On January 11, 2021, U.S. Representatives David Cicilline, along with Jamie Raskin and Ted Lieu, introduced an article of impeachment against Trump, charging Trump with “incitement of insurrection” in urging his supporters to march on the Capitol building. The article contended that Trump made several statements that “encouragedand foreseeably resulted inlawless action” that interfered with Congress’ constitutional duty to certify the election. It argued that by his actions, Trump “threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government”, doing so in a way that rendered him “a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution” if he were allowed to complete his term. By the time it was introduced, 218 of the 222 House Democrats had signed on as cosponsors, assuring its passage. Trump was impeached in a vote on January 13, 2021 ten Republicans, including House Republican Conference chairwoman Liz Cheney, joined all of the Democrats in supporting the article.

The House impeachment managers formally triggered the start of the impeachment trial on January 25 by walking across the Capitol and delivered to the Senate the charge against Trump. The nine managers were led into the Senate chamber by the lead impeachment manager, who read the article of impeachment. The trial in the Senate began as scheduled on February 9.


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Conviction In The Senate Will Hinge On Republicans

At this point, there do not appear to be enough votes in the Senate to convict Trump in an impeachment trial: Sixty-seven votes, or two-thirds of the chamber, would be needed to make this happen.

That math means 17 Republicans would have to join with the 50-person Democratic caucus on a conviction vote, once newly elected Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia are seated. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly pleased Democrats are impeaching Trump, according to the New York Times, no Senate Republicans have announced that theyll vote to convict the president yet. McConnell also recently told colleagues he has yet to make a final decision.

Sans sufficient GOP support for conviction, Trump would be acquitted much like he was during the previous impeachment process last year. In the first impeachment trial, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was the only Senate Republican to vote in favor of conviction.

Whether or not more Republicans are willing to do so this time around could have major implications for Trumps political future and that of other Republicans with presidential aspirations.


Thus far, Republicans have stopped short of backing a conviction, however. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Pat Toomey have called for Trumps resignation, while Sen. Ben Sasse has said hell consider the article of impeachment when the House sends it over.

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A president can continue governing even after he or she has been impeached by the House of Representatives.

Trump continued to govern after his impeachment in December 2019, and of course, ran for reelection in 2020. After Clinton was impeached on Dec. 19, 1998, he finished out his second term, which ended in January 2001, during which time he was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial. While Clinton continued governing, and the impeachment had no legal or official impact, his legacy is marred by the proceeding.

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If Convicted Removal From Office Possible Disqualification From Government Service

If a president is acquitted by the Senate, the impeachment trial is over. But if he or she is found guilty, the Senate trial moves to the sentencing or punishment phase. The Constitution allows for two types of punishments for a president found guilty of an impeachable offense: Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.

The first punishment, removal from office, is automatically enforced following a two-thirds guilty vote. But the second punishment, disqualification from holding any future government position, requires a separate Senate vote. In this case, only a simple majority is required to ban the impeached president from any future government office for life. That second vote has never been held since no president has been found guilty in the Senate trial.

President Donald Trump Has Officially Been Impeached

It’s official: The House of Representatives has impeached President Donald Trump. Following a weeks-long investigation into the president’s dealings in Ukraine, in which Trump allegedly pressured the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rivals, the House officially voted Wednesday evening in favor of two articles of impeachment, making Trump the third president in U.S. history to be officially impeached. As widely expected, the vote was largely divided along party lines, with a vote of 230-197 on the first article of impeachment, abuse of power, and a vote of 229-198 on the second article, obstruction of Congress. December 18, a great day for the Constitution. A sad one for America, that the President’s reckless activities necessitated our having to introduce articles of impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a press conference following the vote. I view this day, this vote, as something that we did to honor the vision of our founders to establish a republic, the sacrifice of the men and women in uniform to defend our democracy and that republic, and the aspirations of our children that they will always live in a democracy.


Vanity Fair

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How Many Us Presidents Have Faced Impeachment

  • Original: Oct 21, 2019

Library of Congress/Getty Images , Diana Walker//The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images , Pete Marovich/Getty Images

The framers of the Constitution intentionally made it difficult to remove a sitting president from office.


Only three U.S. presidents have been formally impeached by CongressAndrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. One of those presidents, Donald Trump, was impeached twice during his single term. No U.S. president has ever been removed from office through impeachment.

In addition to Johnson, Clinton and Trump, only one other U.S. president has faced formal impeachment inquiries in the House of Representatives: Richard Nixon. Many other presidents have been threatened with impeachment by political foes without gaining any real traction in Congress.

The framers of the Constitution intentionally made it difficult for Congress to remove a sitting president. The impeachment process starts in the House of Representatives with a formal impeachment inquiry. If the House Judiciary Committee finds sufficient grounds, its members write and pass articles of impeachment, which then go to the full House for a vote.

A simple majority in the House is all thats needed to formally impeach a president. But that doesnt mean he or she is out of a job. The final stage is the Senate impeachment trial. Only if two-thirds of the Senate find the president guilty of the crimes laid out in the articles of impeachment is the POTUS removed from office.

Who Has Been Impeached

Trump becomes 1st president impeached twice, Senate trial up next | WNT

Congress has impeached 15 judges, three presidents, one secretary of war, and, as mentioned, Senator Blount, whose charges were dismissed. President Trump is the only person to have been impeached twice.


In 11 out of the 21 impeachments, the official left office either through resignation or conviction, but none of them were presidents. Presidents Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump were all acquitted. President Richard Nixon resigned before the House concluded its impeachment proceedings and so is not counted.

Of the judges, 13 were from district courts, one was from the US Commerce Court, and one was an associate justice of the Supreme Court. The charges range from intoxication on the bench to waging war against the US government for which West Hughes Humphreys, a district judge from Tennessee, lost his office after supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Eight of the 21 cases took place in the past 35 years, indicating that impeachment continues to be an active tool of US government.

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Can President Trump Be Impeached After He Leaves Office

The expected impeachment proceedings on Wednesday against President Donald J. Trump will surface one of the Constitutions most arcane questions: Can a federal official be removed from office if hes already left the building?


To date, that question has not been answered fully, but it was presented to the Founders in early 1799, about 11 years after the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The House of Representatives impeached Senator William Blount and sent impeachment articles to the Senate after Blount was already expelled from office. However, Blounts full trial was never held in the Senate. Also, the facts in the Blount case were very different than those likely presented in President Trumps second impeachment process.

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William Blount was himself a Founder. He represented North Carolina at the 1787 convention but said little at the proceedings when he was in Philadelphia. Blount was one of 39 delegates who signed the Constitution, and he also promoted its ratification in North Carolina.

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However, a letter incriminating Blount fell into the hands of Secretary of State Timothy Pickering. President John Adams, on receiving the letter, sent it to Congress. Blount became the first federal government official subject to the impeachment process, one of the Constitutions critical checks-and-balances against the abuse of power.

In Closing Arguments Prosecutors Say Trump Knew Of Tax Fraud At His Company

Prosecutors in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial said in their closing arguments Friday that the former president sanctioned what became a sweeping 15-year scheme to compensate top company executives off the books.

The prosecution’s attention on Donald Trump shortly before the jury is handed the case marked a notable shift in a weekslong trial that has largely focused on other top executives at the family business. Trump has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Donald Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud. Thats what this document shows, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told jurors in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday. This whole narrative that Donald Trump is blissfully ignorant is just not real.

Attorneys for the defense objected to the late-trial move by the prosecution, which also mentioned Trump at the beginning of closing arguments on Thursday.

Michael van der Veen, who represents the Trump Payroll Corporation in the case, asked the judge for a mistrial.

We picked a jury … based on the peoples representations that Donald Trump was not on trial, he said Friday, adding that the prosecution has now made him a co-conspirator.

Van der Veen said raising Trumps name in association with the crime in this case was wrong. It is wholly improper, it is a bias that he put on the jury that cant be undone.

Steinglass responded, saying, We have religiously avoided politics.

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House Impeaches Trump For Second Time Senate Must Now Weigh Conviction

WASHINGTON The House impeached President Donald Trump on Wednesday for a second time, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the violent riot by a pro-Trump mob in the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead and terrorized lawmakers as they sought to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

The vote to impeach passed the Democratic-controlled House by 232-197, with 10 Republicans voting against Trump. It was the most bipartisan vote on a presidential impeachment in history, doubling the five Democrats who voted to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998.

The House is expected to immediately send the article of impeachment to the Senate, requiring it to begin the process of holding a trial to determine whether to convict Trump and potentially bar him from ever running for any federal office again.

What The Trial Could Look Like

âTRUMP IMPEACHEDâ? 12/19/2019 Page Print

Wednesdays impeachment vote will complicate the opening days of the Biden administration, both in his efforts to reach out to Republicans and because the Senate is likely to be tied up with a trial just as Biden is taking office.

In a statement Wednesday evening, the President-elect noted that it was a bipartisan vote cast by members who followed the Constitution and their conscience, before turning to the pandemic.

This nation also remains in the grip of a deadly virus and a reeling economy, Biden said. I hope that the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation.

Biden is still awaiting word on whether the Senate will be able to do an impeachment trial alongside Cabinet confirmation hearings and Covid-19 relief legislation. Aides say Biden and his team are working behind the scenes with Senate Democrats and House impeachment managers to keep the impeachment trial as swift as possible, although the length remains an open question.

Both Biden and Schumer have argued that the Senate will try to divide its days, so the Senate can confirm Bidens nominees and consider Covid-19 stimulus legislation while also carrying out the impeachment trial.

House impeachment managers are just starting to lay out their strategy for the case they plan to bring and are wary about stepping on the first days of Bidens presidency.

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Listen To The Daily: The Impeachment Of President Donald J Trump

michael barbaro

Thats it for The Daily. Im Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.

Despite years of speculation, Mr. Trumps impeachment did not, in the end, grow out of the two-year investigation into Russian election meddling by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, or the seemingly endless series of other accusations of corruption and misconduct that have plagued this White House: tax evasion, profiting from the presidency, payoffs to a pornographic film actress and fraudulent activities by his charitable foundation.

Instead, the existential threat to Mr. Trumps presidency centered around a half-hour phone call in July. On it, he pressured Ukraines president to announce investigations into former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other Democrats at the same time he was withholding nearly $400 million in vital military assistance for the country and a White House meeting.

Congress learned about the call after an anonymous C.I.A. official lodged a whistle-blower complaint in August pulling a string that helped unravel an effort by the president and his allies to pressure a foreign government for help in smearing a political rival. Over a period of weeks this fall, a parade of diplomats and other administration officials confirmed and expanded on those revelations.

And Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a Democratic presidential contender who has built her reputation as a maverick in her party, voted present on both articles.

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