Constitution Daily by Scott Bomboy January 12, 2021
The expected impeachment proceedings on Wednesday against President Donald J. Trump will surface one of the Constitution’s most arcane questions: Can a federal official be removed from office if he’s already left the building?
To date, that question has not been answered fully, but it was presented to the Founders in early 1799, about 11 years after the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The House of Representatives impeached Senator William Blount and sent impeachment articles to the Senate after Blount was already expelled from office. However, Blount’s full trial was never held in the Senate. Also, the facts in the Blount case were very different than those likely presented in President Trump’s second impeachment process.
William Blount was himself a Founder. He represented North Carolina at the 1787 convention but said little at the proceedings when he was in Philadelphia. Blount was one of 39 delegates who signed the Constitution, and he also promoted its ratification in North Carolina.
By 1797, Blount acquired land west of the Mississippi on credit and was in significant debt. After France defeated Spain in the War of the Pyrenees, in order to prevent Spain from ceding France its territories and potentially depressing western land prices further, Blount became involved in a plan for Native Americans and frontiersmen to attack parts of present-day Missouri and Louisiana, which would ultimately then be transferred to Great Britain.
However, a letter incriminating Blount fell into the hands of Secretary of State Timothy Pickering. President John Adams, on receiving the letter, sent it to Congress. Blount became the first federal government official subject to the impeachment process, one of the Constitution’s critical checks-and-balances against the abuse of power.
The Constitution’s Article II, Section 4 reads that “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.†The Constitution assigns the consideration of charges to the House of Representatives, with the Senate conducting a trial if the House approves impeachment articles against a civil officer.
More:
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/can-president-trump-be-impeached-after-he-leaves-office
