February 5, 2013 by Tim Brown

Straight Scoop on Impeachment

Many have been calling for the impeachment of Barack Hussein Obama for several years now to no avail. While citing many activities that definitely should be taken far more seriously by elected representatives in Washington, D.C., is it really necessary that the man in the Oval Office engage in Treason in order to be impeached? Not necessarily. In fact, the Constitution, in Article 2, Section 4, provides for impeachment based on “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
Publius Huldah, who has been contributing articles to Freedom Outpost, explains via her Facebook page, the ‘straight scoop on impeachment’.

1. It isn’t necessary that the president, officials in the executive branch, or federal judges commit a crime before they may be impeached & removed from office.  Alexander Hamilton points out in Federalist No. 66, 2nd para, & Federalist No. 77, last para, that the president may be impeached & removed for encroachments, i.e., usurpations of power.
Hamilton points out in Federalist No. 81 (8th para), that federal judges may be impeached & removed for usurpations.

2. Throughout the Federalist Papers, it is stated that impeachment is for “political offenses”.

3. The House has the SOLE power of impeachment (Art. I, Sec. 2, last clause). The Senate has the SOLE power to try all impeachments (Art. I, Sec. 3, next to last clause).
Is this significant? YES! It means that the decision to convict & remove from office is not reviewable by any other body. Common sense tells us what that means! It means that the House may impeach, and the Senate may convict, for any reason whatsoever; and their decision can not be overturned.

4. The language at Art. II, Sec. 4. about “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors” is far broader than one might at first glance think.
Somewhere I saw a scholarly paper showing that the “high” refers to the status of the official – it does not refer to the severity of the offense.
Now! Pay close attention: “Misdemeanor” has a much broader meaning than a lesser category of criminal offenses. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary shows the primary meaning of “misdemeanor” to be: “Ill behavior; evil conduct; fault; mismanagement.” This shows – proves – that a president, vice-president, and all civil Officers of the United States may be impeached, tried, convicted, and removed from office for “mismanagement”, etc.
And that, of course, is consistent with what the Federalist Papers tell us about Impeachment & removal. It’s for “political offenses”, usurpations of power, being an incompetent idiot, etc.

Her conclusion is, “forget about glamorous crimes such as ‘treason’. You don’t need it.”

Read more: http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/02/shooting-straight-on-impeachment/#ixzz2K54nbhk4