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To: CodeToad
You cannot impeach a prior president.

Of course you can. To "impeach" is to make an accusation. The power of the House to do this is not limited by Article II, section 4 which says, "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."

Obviously, this does not limit the power of the House, it simply specifies the consequences for "The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States".

Article I, section 4 says, "The House of Representatives...shall have the sole power of impeachment". Period.

Impeachment in England was not limited to civil officers, and in fact was often used to PREVENT the appointment of persons to high offices.

42 posted on 01/10/2021 10:43:16 AM PST by Jim Noble (Lo there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning)
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To: Jim Noble

“To “impeach” is to make an accusation. “

They can only impeach the President, and anyone not the President is not impeachable. I am surprised I have to say this, but, Trump is no longer the president after he leaves office and the House cannot impeach private citizens.


59 posted on 01/10/2021 11:16:10 AM PST by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
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To: Jim Noble

“Of course you can.”

Correct. They can and they will impeach Trump again.

The Senate would not be able to remove him from office because he will already be out of office. But they could sanction him and vote to permanently disqualify Trump from holding office in the United States.

There is also precedent. In 1876 War Secretary William Belknap had resigned but they impeached him anyway.

“The Senate convened its trial in early April, with Belknap present, after agreeing that it retained impeachment jurisdiction over former government officials. During May, the Senate heard more than 40 witnesses, as House managers argued that Belknap should not be allowed to escape from justice simply by resigning his office.

On August 1, 1876, the Senate rendered a majority vote against Belknap on all five articles. As each vote fell short of the necessary two-thirds, however, he won acquittal. Belknap was not prosecuted further; he died in 1890.”


93 posted on 01/10/2021 6:26:28 PM PST by plain talk
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