Two House articles of impeachment fail to meet constitutional standards
By Alan Dershowitz, opinion contributor — 12/10/19 11:00 AM EST
House Democrats have announced two grounds on which they plan to seek the impeachment of President Donald Trump — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Neither satisfies the express constitutional criteria for impeachment, which are limited to “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.†Neither are crimes or misdemeanors, high or low. Neither are mentioned in the Constitution.
Both are so vague and open-ended that they could be applied in partisan fashion by a majority of the House against almost any president from the opposing party. Both are precisely what the framers rejected at their constitutional convention. Both raise the “greatest danger†— in Hamilton’s words — that the decision to impeach will be based on “the comparative strength of parties,†rather than on “innocence or guilt.â€
That danger is now coming to pass, as House Democrats seek for the first time in history to impeach a president without having at least some bipartisan support. Nor can they find support in the words of the Constitution, or in the history of its adoption. A majority of the House is simply making it up as they go along — and thereby placing themselves not only above the law but above the Constitution.
more
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/473849-two-house-articles-of-impeachment-fail-to-meet-constitutional-standards