Andrew C. McCarthy has written an interesting article in the National Review about the possibility of impeaching Hillary Clinton before the November elections. McCarthy points out that impeachment isn’t just for current office holders. It can also be used to disqualify a candidate and prevent them from serving in the future. This could be done by impeaching her on her stint as Secretary of State. The constitution lists the following as grounds for impeachment. “Treason, Bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”
Of course, Hillary could be impeached by the House, where a simple majority vote is all that is needed, but has scant chances of passing through the Senate, where you need 67 votes, at least 13 of them would have to be democrats. There are compelling reasons to try. First of all, Clinton would be “impeached” by a simple majority in the House. Impeachment is not removal from office but rather a vote by the House affirming that the candidate did appear to commit crimes. The trial in the Senate would determine removal from office or disqualifying a candidate for office. By holding a vote, democratic Senators would have to go on record supporting or condemning Clinton.
From The Conservative Tribune:
Article I, Section 3, Clause 7 of the Constitution stipulated that the punishment resulting from impeachment may include “disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.”
Citing Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist No. 65, McCarthy explained that the Founders understood “high crimes and misdemeanors” to involve (in Hamilton’s words), “the abuse or violation of some public trust,” offenses that “relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.”
Citing Clinton’s email scandal, her destruction of thousands of government records after Congress demanded to see them, her careless handling of classified documents, her repeated lies to Congress and the public, the shady doings of the Clinton Foundation and — summing it all up — “a legacy void of accomplishment but rich in the abuse of power,” McCarthy argued for impeachment as a judgment on Clinton’s record as secretary of state and as a means of keeping her out of office permanently.
What do you think?