4.12: Impeachment AP U. S. GOVERNMENT

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "4.12: Impeachment AP U. S. GOVERNMENT"

Lorin Short
6 years ago
Views:

1 4.12: Impeachment AP U. S. GOVERNMENT

2 Impeachment To bring formal charges against a high ranking official Sometimes, however, a President can be censured which means that they are publicly reprimanded for inappropriate behavior no legal consequences Only Andrew Jackson has been censured (1834) for withholding documents on defunding of Bank of the U. S. this was later expunged

3 General Information

4 Impeachment Impeachment DOES NOT apply only to the President! Includes VP and Federal Judges Impeached for serious crimes

5 General Information A sitting President may be removed from office before his term expires only by impeachment process This process begins with the House of Representatives

6 Process Impeachment is the first of two stages in a specific process for a legislative body to remove a government official without that official's agreement. The second stage is conviction

7 Checks and Balances Impeachment serves as a check by the legislative branch on the executive and judicial branches

8 The Process

9 Sufficient Evidence If there is sufficient evidence, the House drafts a bill of impeachment, which must be approved by the majority of its membership Then trial in the Senate follows

10 Impeachment Proceedings House Brings charges against the President kind of serves as the lawyers and presents the evidence against the President (House Judiciary Committee) Senate serves as the Jury They vote to remove or not to remove the President

11 Process The impeachment-trial procedure is in two steps. (1)The House of Representatives must first pass "articles of impeachment" by a simple majority given to them by the House Judiciary Committee (2) The Senate tries the accused. In the case of the impeachment of a President, the Chief Justice of the United States presides over the proceedings

12 Trial In the trial, the Chief Justice of the U.S. acts as the judge and the Senators as the jury

13 Conviction In order to convict the accused, a two-thirds majority of the senators present is required. Conviction automatically removes the defendant from office. Following conviction, the Senate may vote to further punish the individual by barring them from holding future federal office

14 History

15 History Only two American presidents have ever been impeached Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton

16 Impeachment of Bill Clinton Impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998 Acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999 The charges were : perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power Arose from the Monica Lewinsky scandal

17 Investigation Kenneth Starr investigated Clinton s conduct during the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Arkansas government employee Paula Jones Starr obtained taped telephone conversation in which Lewinsky, a former White House Intern, discussed having sex with Clinton However, Clinton denied Further evidence; by seizing computer hard drive and records of Lewinsky Starr concluded that Clinton committed perjury

18 The January 1998 Press Conference After rumors of the scandal reached the news, Clinton publicly stated: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky In his deposition he swore: I have never had an affair with her Months later, Clinton admitted that his relationship with Lewinsky was wrong and not appropriate

19 To Convict or to Acquit No Democratic Senators voting for conviction Only 5 Democratic Representatives voting to impeach The Senate acquitted Bill Clinton because it failed to reach the two thirds of votes needed to convict the President

20 The Response of the Public Polls conducted during 1998 and early 1999 showed that only one third of Americans supported Clinton s impeachment or conviction Later, when it was clear that House impeachment would not lead to ouster of the President, half of Americans said that they supported impeachment and 42% disapproved of the Senate s decision to keep him in office

21 Andrew Johnson 1868 President Andrew Johnson CHARGE: Serious misconduct the most serious charge was a violation of Tenure of Office Act in which Johnson removed the Secretary of War and replaced him Johnson followed the impeachment process until Senate vote, when he was acquitted by a margin of ONE vote. He completed his term.

At the End of the Saga, A Resounding Raspberry

ABC NEWS POLL: THE IMPEACHMENT VOTE EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AFTER 11:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, 1999 At the End of the Saga, A Resounding Raspberry Average Americans are greeting the end of the Clinton impeachment