You ever get the feeling there are important life matters afoot, just kind of floating
around out there that you should probably know about?
But between that late night work session catching up with that friend that's been rescheduling
for weeks, and you know, just trying to get some sleep,
you haven't quite found time for that deep dive?
Well, don't worry because A, you're not alone.
And B, that's why you're tuning in right now for this quick break down on the one thing
everyone's talking about: impeachment.
You've just found your one stop shop for all the highlights and what it really means and
more importantly why it matters to you.
Like of the president?
Impeachment?
Umm.
I'm not quite 100 percent sure about the definition.
Impeachment is a process guaranteed by
the constitution to remove a sitting president from office.
Many people think impeachment is someone's removal from office.
Like, "Hey can someone please get this guy out of here?".
Get out of here!
But according to Merriam Webster, the definition of impeachment
is actually to charge a public
official before a competent tribunal with misconduct in office.
Much like an indictment in criminal court,
impeachment is that formal charge that initiates
a trial that can end in one of two simple ways: an acquittal or a conviction.
So, just how does impeachment,
or the "i" word as President Trump likes to call it, actually work?
Bear with me here.
The impeachment process begins in the House of Representatives
where any member can propose
impeachment resolutions against a public official.
Now, Congress can't just impeach someone for, say, an offensive hairstyle, a bad outfit,
or even repulsive politics.
Our Constitution explicitly states that a civil servant
can only be impeached due to
treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
And according to Zoe Lofgren, Democratic member
of the House Judiciary Committee, this activity
has to be threatening to the functioning of our democracy.
Then it's up to the House Judiciary Committee to
officially decide whether to open an impeachment inquiry.
Only then does the full House get to vote
on each of the charges brought against the official.
At least one of the charges has to receive a majority vote before the accused is officially
impeached and must stand trial in the Senate.
Though I can't promise impeachment trials are as juicy as the ones on Law and Order,
they are at the end of the day a trial.
The Senate acts as the judge and jury
except with presidential impeachment trials, when
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court acts as judge.
And they vote whether or not to remove the official from office and then it's adios,
sayonara, byeee!
If only it were that simple.
That said, can you guess how many public officials
the House has actually impeached?
If your answer was 19.
You would be odd.
But also a genius.
Good job.
In its entire history the House has only impeached
one senator, one cabinet member, 15 judges
and only two Presidents.
Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached in 1868.
Nixon came close in 1974,
but knowing he'd likely be removed from office, he dodged that
bullet by resigning.
In '98 Democratic President Bill Clinton became the second president to be impeached.
That is not my recollection.
His charges besides cheating on his wife, of course,
were lying under oath and obstruction
of justice.
And they stemmed from the infamous sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him.
You may remember that one.
I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
Fast forward to today.
A host of Democrats and one lone Republican, Justin Amash, that poor brave guy, are calling
for Trump to be impeached.
They've cited multiple charges.
The worst being the obstruction of justice during special counsel Mueller's investigation
of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
But Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn't sure impeachment is the right move.
Her reason, lack of public support and bipartisan support in Congress.
Just like in the Clinton days.
Back then, the public didn't support Clinton's impeachment.
And some believe it actually caused the Republicans to lose a few seats in Congress.
She's just trying to avoid that.
Another fear for Dems is that impeachment
could go horribly wrong and actually energize
Trump's base and ensure another win in 2020,
something they really, really don't want.
Well you can't impeach somebody that's doing a great job.
What does this all mean for you?
So do you think elected officials
should remove a president?
Or should we leave it up to us, the people?
I feel like elected officials,
because then I feel like it'll kind of feel like the same
thing as voting.
I feel like us as voters, because elected officials,
there's only so many of them and
we as people, there's a lot of us.
If the people can overpower the government, that's a political coup.
The entire purpose of having a representative democracy
is so we can place our trust in people
who know the government better than we do.
Even though we the people do not get a say about who
gets impeached, except for, you
know, maybe within the Twitterverse or here on Instagram
and YouTube, the most effective
way to get rid of a president is still at the ballot box.
After all, when we vote, we're guaranteed to make our voices heard.
I'm Brooke Hinton.
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