Portal:United States Congress

“ No principle can be better established by the authority of the supreme court, than “that the acts of an officer, to whom a public duty is assigned by his king, within the sphere of that duty, are prima facie taken to be within his power.” The principles on which it rests, are believed to be too deeply founded in law and reason, ever to be successfully assailed. He who would controvert a grant executed by the lawful authority, with all the solemnities required by law, takes on himself the burthen of showing that the officer has transcended the powers conferred upon him ”

“ In other words, a person commits treason if he uses armed force in an attempt to overthrow the government, or if he knowingly gives aid and comfort to nations (or organizations) with which the United States is in a state of declared or open war. At the very heart of "Treason" is deliberate betrayal of the nation and its security. Such betrayal would not only be unforgivable, but would also confirm that the President remains a threat if allowed to remain in office. A President who has knowingly betrayed national security is a President who will do so again. ”

“ The duty of the collector in superintending the collection of the revenue, and of making seizures for supposed violations of law, is onerous and full of perplexity. If he seizes any goods, it is at his own peril; and he is condemnable in damages and costs, if it should turn out upon the final adjudication, that there was no probably cause for the seizure. As a just reward for his diligence, and a compensation of his risks; at once to stimulate his vigilance and secure his activity, the laws of the United States have awarded to him a large share of the proceeds of the forfeiture. ”

“ Where a President abuses his power, betrays the public through foreign entanglements, or corrupts his office or elections, impeachment is our Nation's last line of defense against conduct "fatal to the Republic." ”

“ Indeed, it was highly predictable and was merely a harbinger of what is sure to happen as cults see themselves threatened by actions of an aroused populace.
This is no passing fad. It is a fact of life getting stronger. More families are being harassed. A rattlesnake in a mailbox; guns for protection; dying for the cause; and a rampant paranoia are no strangers to the families of -- and friends of cult members. ”

“ In the history of our Republic, no President has obstructed Congress like President Trump. If President Nixon's obstruction of Congress raised a slippery slope concern, we now find ourselves at the bottom of the slope, surveying the damage to our Constitution. ”

“ But when an action is brought by the United States, to recover money in the hands of a party, who has a legal claim against them for costs, it would be a very rigid principle, to deny to him the right of setting up such claim in a court of justice, and turn him round to an application to Congress. If the right of the party is fixed by the existing law, there can be no necessity for an application to Congress, except for the purpose of remedy. And no such necessity can exist, when this right can properly be set up by way of defence to a suit by the United States. ”

“ To state the obvious, a President cannot obstruct a House impeachment inquiry because he believes his conduct was proper and sees no need for his acts to be investigated. Nor can he do so by impugning the House's motives or attacking its legitimacy. Once again, the Constitution vests the House with the "sole Power of Impeachment." These are judgments for the House alone to make, guided always by the Constitution. Otherwise, in contravention of the entire Anglo-American legal tradition, Presidents would truly be the judge of their own case. ”

“ No doubt is entertained, of the power of the states to pass laws authorizing purchasers of lands from the United States, to prosecute actions of ejectment upon certificates of purchase against trespassers on the lands purchased; but it is denied that the states have any power to declare certificates of purchase, of equal dignity with a patent. Congress alone can give them such effect. ”

“ It would excite some surprise if, in a government of laws and of principle, furnished with a department whose appropriate duty is to decide questions of right, not only between individuals, but between the government and individuals, a ministerial officer might, at his discretion, issue this powerful process, and levy on the person, lands, and chattels of the debtor, any sum he might believe to be due, leaving to that debtor no remedy, no appeal to the laws of his country, if he should believe the claim to be unjust. ”

“ Impeachment is aimed at Presidents who believe they are above the law, and who believe their own interests transcend those of the country and Constitution. Of course, as President Nixon proved, Presidents who have committed impeachable offenses may seek to confuse the public through manufactured ambiguity and crafty pretexts. That does not shield their misconduct from impeachment. The principle of a plainly wrong act is not about academic technicalities; it simply focuses impeachment on conduct that any person of honor would recognize as wrong under the Constitution. ”

“ Even in cases of conquest, it is very unusual for the conqueror to do more than to displace the sovereign and assume dominion over the country. The modern usage of nations, which has become law, would be violated; that sense of justice and of right, which is acknowledged and felt by the whole civilized world, would be outraged, if private property should be generally confiscated, and private rights annulled on a change in the sovereignty of the country, by the Florida treaty. The people change their allegiance, their relation to their ancient sovereign is dissolved ”

“ In our democracy, the Framers understood that there is no place for Presidents who would abuse their power and betray the public trust through bribery.
Like "Treason," the offense of "Bribery" is thus aimed at a President who is a continuing threat to the Constitution. Someone who would willingly assist our enemies, or trade public power for personal favors, is the kind of person likely to break the rules again if they remain in office. But there is more: both "Treason" and "Bribery" are serious offenses with the capacity to corrupt constitutional governance and harm the Nation itself ”

“ The government has no authority, under its existing laws, to release the collector’s share, as such, and yet to retain to itself the other part of the forfeiture. Ibid.
In point of law, no duties, as such, can legally accrue upon the importation of prohibited goods. They are not entitled to entry at the custom-house, or to be bonded. They are, ipso facto, forfeited by the mere act of importation. Ibid.
The Secretary of the Treasury may remit not only the interest of the United States, but of individuals, in penalties and forfeitures in certain cases, after suit brought, and before judgment. ”

“ To the Framers, corruption was fundamentally about the misuse of a position of public trust for any improper private benefit. It thus went to the heart of their conception of public service. As a leading historian recounts, "a corrupt political actor would either purposely ignore or forget the public good as he used the reins of power." [26] Because men and women are not angels, corruption could not be fully eradicated, even in virtuous officials, but "its power can be subdued with the right combination of culture and political rules." ”

“ Power, though, is a double-edged sword. "The power to do good meant also the power to do harm, the power to serve the republic also meant the power to demean and defile it." [24] The President would be vested with breathtaking authority. If corrupt motives took root in his mind, displacing civic virtue and love of country, he could sabotage the Constitution. That was clear to the Framers, who saw corruption as "the great force that had undermined republics throughout history." [25] Obsessed with the fall of Rome, they knew that corruption marked a leader's path to abuse and betrayal. ”

“ The Nation is not required to cross its fingers and hope White House staff will persist in ignoring or sidelining a President who orders them to execute "high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Nor can a President escape impeachment just because his corrupt plan to abuse power or manipulate elections was discovered and abandoned. It is inconceivable that our Framers authorized the removal of Presidents who engage in treason or bribery, but disallowed the removal of Presidents who attempt such offenses and are caught before they succeed. ”

“ To the contrary, when the President wields power entrusted to him by the people of this Nation, he must honor and serve that public trust. Where a President betrays that obligation by corrupting his office, he is subject to impeachment. ”

“ If President Nixon's impeachment proceedings are the "gold standard" for presidential impeachment inquiries, these proceedings, in stark contrast, will go down in history as the quintessential example of how such proceedings should not be conducted. The Majority Report and attendant documents will be viewed only as maps to the lowest depths of partisanship that no future Congress should follow. The quicker the Majority Report and the Majority's actions are forgotten, the better. ”

“ Viewed in their totality, President Trump's positions amount to an insistence that he is above the law; that there is no governmental entity in the United States outside his direct control that can investigate him for official misconduct and hold him accountable for any wrongdoing. Even the House, wielding one of the mightiest powers in the Constitution—a power that exists specifically to address a rogue President—has no authority at all to investigate his official acts if he decides otherwise. ”

“ Where the President illegally seeks to obstruct such an inquiry, the House is free to infer that evidence blocked from its view is harmful to the President's position. It is also free to rely on other relevant, reliable evidence that illuminates the ultimate factual issues. The President has no right to defy an impeachment inquiry and then demand that the House turn back because it lacks the very evidence he unlawfully concealed. If anything, such conduct confirms that the President sees himself as above the law and may therefore bear on the question of impeachment. ”

“ To make a demand that benefits him personally, while endangering the rights of a United States citizen and political opponent is a bright red flag that supports only one conclusion—that the President was putting his own personal and political interests over the Nation's foreign policy interests. There is no dispute that President Trump's requested investigations were not part of any U.S. policy objectives relating to Ukraine, including its anti-corruption policies. ”

“ They knew that freedom demands constant protection from leaders whose taste of power sparks a voracious need for more. So even as they created a powerful Presidency, they authorized Congress to impeach and remove Presidents whose persistence in office threatened the Constitution. As they designed this impeachment power, they turned repeatedly to three risks: corrupt abuse of power; betrayal of the nation through foreign entanglements; and corruption of free and fair elections.
President Trump has realized the Framers' worst nightmare. ”

“ It is occasionally suggested that a President cannot be impeached for the use (or abuse) of powers vested in him by the Constitution. As the Framers made clear, and as President Nixon's case proves, that interpretation is plainly incorrect and, moreover, would eviscerate our system of checks and balances. The fact that a President is vested with powers does not mean he can exercise them with impunity. Nor does it mean he is free to set his own personal gain as the de facto policy of the United States. ”

“ But an accusation of abuse of power must be based on a higher and more concrete standard than conduct that "ignored and injured the interests of the Nation." [25] The people, through elections, decide what constitutes the "interests of the nation." For an abuse of power charge, although "criminality is not required...clarity is necessary." [26]
Unfortunately, such clarity is utterly lacking in the Majority's articles. This is the first presidential impeachment in American history without the allegation of a crime, let alone a high crime or high misdemeanor. ”

“ Offenses against the Constitution are different than offenses against the criminal code. Some crimes, like jaywalking, are not impeachable. And some forms of misconduct may offend both the Constitution and the criminal law. Impeachment and criminality must therefore be assessed separately—even though the President's commission of indictable crimes may further support a case for impeachment and removal. Ultimately, the House must judge whether a President's conduct offends and endangers the Constitution itself. ”

“ By deciding to pursue impeachment first and build a case second, the Majority has created a challenge for itself. In the face of new information that exculpates or exonerates the President, the Majority must choose: either accept that the impeachment inquiry's findings do not merit impeachment and face the political consequences or, alternatively, ignore those facts. ”