Impeachment Partisanship

Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion
--Eurythmics

Alan Dershowitz discusses the Constitutional basis of impeachment and the debates of our founding ancestors about the issue. To be impeached, a president must commit a crime, and the commission of that crime must also constitute an abuse of office. Abuse of office by itself may be wrong, but it is not an impeachable offense.

The basis for impeachment was debated at the Constitutional Convention. When simply 'maladminstration' was proposed as grounds for impeachment, James Madison objected, arguing that the criterion was so vague and open-ended that the president would serve at the will of Congress and turn the federal government into a parliamentary democracy where the president could be removed with a vote of no confidence.

Instead, the framers adopted strict requirements for impeachment. Bribery, treason, or other high crimes and misdemeanors must be evident. A 2/3 super-majority vote in the Senate is required for removal.

In Federalist 65, Alexander Hamilton wrote of the dangers of a partisan approach to impeachment. Dershowitz suggests that the recent House impeachment circus demonstrates the partisan approach well. He suggests that impeachment partisanship further divides the nation and threatens to weaken the Constitution.

Perhaps, but the framers might also suggest that a partisan approach to impeachment is also likely to boomerang the party that goes on a unilateral witch hunt for all to see.