Impeachment

The hot topic of the day in the United States is the impeachment hearings in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the likely impeachment of President Trump.  On one hand you have Democrats and others saying the president has committed and impeachable offense by asking the Ukrainian government to investigate possible corruption related to Joe Biden's son.  On the other hand you have many Republicans and others saying nothing illegal happened, so there is nothing warranting impeachment.

Let's start by looking at previous presidential impeachments.

Presidential Impeachments

Andrew Johnson

After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his vice president, Andrew Johnson, became president.  Johnson was a Democrat, selected by Lincoln because he supported preserving the union and would help to unify a divided country.

However, Johnson opposed Republican plans for reconstruction in the post-war South, and he vetoed leglislation granting rights to former slaves.  He was impeached in February of 1868, and the Republicans held a 2/3 majority in the Senate.  However, Johnson was acquitted due to several Senators deciding that the office of the presidency would be tarnished, and the Senate fell one vote short of removing Johnson from office.

Richard Nixon

In August of 1974. Richard Nixon was certain to be impeached by the House. but he chose instead to resign and leave office on his own terms. He would likely have been removed from office if tried in the Senate. What started as a burglary during the 1972 presidential campaign led to a massive cover-up and eventually Nixon's resignation.

Bill Clinton

What started as a politically motivated investigation into Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct resulted in his impeachment in December 1998 on grounds of lying under oath and obstruction of justice.  Despite having clearly broken the law, Clinton was impeached on a largely party line vote and acquitted in the Senate for failing to reach a 2/3 majority on either count.

So, what is the standard for impeachment and removal from office?

The United States Constitution

To determine the standard, we must look at the law. Below are the relevant clauses in the United States Constitution relating to impeachment:

Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 :

The House of Representatives ... shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Article I, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7:

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present. 

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Article II, Section 2:

[The President] ... shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

Article II, Section 4:

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.

Treason

Is it treasonous to ask a foreign government to investigate corruption that is politically beneficial to yourself personally?  Treason is the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government.

In the eyes of many Trump's opponents, everything he does is done to undermine the interests of the United States. However. those are differences of opinion on policy.  Others may say he attempted to overthrow the government by trying to benefit himself in the next election.  However, that is a stretch, based on wishful thinking on the part of his opponents.

Bribery

Bribery is accepting gifts in exchange for favors.  Ukraine did not offer to bribe Trump. He did ask for a favor when discussing the releasing of approved funding. However, no actual bribery occurred. 

High Crimes and Misdemeanors 

To understand the historical context of this particular Constitutional provision, we need to go back to the origin of the practice in England.

The beauty of “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” from the perspective of the men of 1787 was that it provided both flexibility and some measure of guidance. Flexibility because it plainly pointed to the parliamentary practice of defining impeachable conduct on a case-by-case basis. Guidance because it incorporated, by reference, 400 years of prior practice on which one could rely in identifying the kinds and degrees of misbehavior that ought to be impeachable.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/what-does-high-crimes-and-misdemeanors-actually-mean/600343/

Hypocrisy 

In 1999, the legendary classic rock band Styx released a song called High Crimes & Misdemeanors (Hip-Hop Crazy) on their reunion album Brave New World. Recorded during the impeachment hearing for Bill Clinton, the song calls out the hypocrisy of Republicans in their pursuit of removing Bill Clinton from office.

They want you to believe
The unbelievable
They say you should accept
The unacceptable
Forget your common sense
It isn't sensible
Good times for fools and dreamers

Watch 'em all deny
The undeniable
See how they refute
The unrefutable
They're ready to defend
The indefensible
High times for lawyer schemers

They say we must forgive
The forgivable
They want us to respect
The unrespectable
The pious and the hip
So hypocritical
High crimes and misdemeanors

Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop
Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop
Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop

See how they explain
The inexplicable
Watch 'em debate
The undebatable
Apparently a lie
Is never liable
Prime time for talk show screamers

They say we constitute
The Constitutional
With justice here for all
So justifiable
I'm tryin' not to laugh
But man it's laughable
High crimes and misdemeanors

Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop
Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop
Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop
Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop
Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop

And so
Today we find
They've changed their minds
They've switched their points of view

Oh what tangled webs they weave
When their beliefs ain't really
What they believe

They're trying to divide
The indivisible
Because they think we're fools
So foolable
I'm tryin' not to laugh
But man it's laughable
Boom times for Wall Street dreamers
They want you to believe
The unbelievable
They say we should accept
The unacceptable
The pious and the hip
So hypocritical
High crimes and misdemeanors

High crimes and misdemeanors
High crimes and misdemeanors

Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop
Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop
Hip hop hip hop-cracy hip hop
Hip

The Republicans were portraying themselves as the party of family values who were leveraging a sex scandal to move for impeachment. At the same time, some Republican politicians were exposed for their own sexual indiscretions.

It is interesting to see the same hypocrisy from the Democrats in their pursuit of removing Donald Trump from office.  They are portraying themselves as concerned about self-benefitting quid pro quo in dealing with the Ukraine.  However, nearly all politicians do things because it will benefit themselves politically, such as supporting legislation that is being pushed by their biggest donors, or trading their vote for earmarks helping their districts so they can get reelected, not because it is the right thing to do.

Conclusion

The Democrats have every right to impeach Trump, and the Senate has every right to vote to acquit Trump, if they so choose.  Impeachment is a political tool that shouldn't be used often, but it has been used many times at many levels. Certainly my refusing to respond to Congressional subpoenas, the House can claim "Misdemeanors". In the end, given that Trump is in his first term, the voters will decide whether he gets a second term.