Understanding Impeachment: President's Rights During the Impeachment Process

Impeachment Process: Definition and Guidelines

Task:

On September 24, 2019, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced the opening of an impeachment inquiry into allegations that President Donald Trump pressured the government of Ukraine to investigate Democratic Presidential candidate Joseph Biden, a political rival (Voytko).  The citation goes here because this is where the source material ends.  To date, President Trump and several members of his administration have refused to cooperate, claiming that the inquiry “violates fundamental fairness and constitutionally mandated due process."  In a letter to Congressional leaders, President Trump’s personal lawyer, Pat Cipollone, claimed "You have denied the President the right to cross-examine witnesses, to call witnesses, to receive transcripts of testimony, to have access to evidence, to have counsel present, and many other basic rights guaranteed to all Americans" (qtd. in Greenberg). Used when quoting one source that is cited in another source—Greenberg (author of the source) quoted Trump’s lawyer  Many legal scholars have dismissed this argument, pointing out that an inquiry is not a trial and that the Constitution does not guarantee such rights to a President during the impeachment process (Greenberg; Bauer; Ainsley). Three sources that support this claim.

For many Americans, the argument over the President’s rights is a confusing one because the impeachment process itself is confusing.  Many people do not know exactly what the term means or how the process works.  Understanding the President’s rights means first understanding impeachment itself. Transitioning to body of paper; establishes topic.
Impeachment is a process in which the legislature brings charges of criminal behavior against a public official.  In the United States, this process can be used to charge the President as well as some other public officials, such as federal judges (Williams).

Under the Constitution, a President can be impeached for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The terms “high crimes and misdemeanors” are not defined, but historically have been interpreted to mean corruption of some kind.  The Constitution does not require that a specific law be broken; it is left to the House of Representatives to determine the definition of an impeachable offense (Williams). This source is used for two paragraphs, but must be cited after each.  A citation is good for one paragraph, no more.

The impeachment process is not defined in the Constitution.  Historically, impeachment inquiries have begun with a complaint to the House Judiciary Committee.  The complaint can be made by anyone—citizens, members of Congress, or the President.  The complaint is then referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, which investigates the complaint.  If the complaint is found to have merit, the subcommittee prepares Articles of Impeachment defining the charges.  The complaint is then sent to the Judiciary Committee for a vote; if the Judiciary Committee votes to proceed, the Articles of Impeachment are then presented to the entire House of Representatives for a vote.  If the House votes to impeach, the Articles of Impeachment are then delivered to the Senate for a trial in which the Senate serves as the jury (“Impeachment”).  Sources without authors are cited by titles, using the first major word or two from the title.  Article titles are indicated by quotation marks; container titles are indicated by italics.

Although impeachment is not technically a criminal process, the course of impeachment is generally similar that of a criminal trial according to appellate lawyer Larry Lang: Signal phrase introducing quotation [I]ndictment  If you change a word or add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the changes to indicate that they are not part of the original text  and impeachment are analogous processes of formal legal accusation. Indictments come from a grand jury and initiate a trial in criminal court (or a guilty plea). Impeachments come from the House of Representatives and initiate a trial in the Senate (or prompt resignation, as with Nixon, who realized impeachment was imminent and conviction probable).

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