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reDonald Trump’s impeachment will begin with a four-hour debate on whether the proceedings are allowed by the constitution. Nick Allen writes in Washington.
The reason for this is that the United States Constitution does not say whether a former president can be tried. As in many cases, the Founding Fathers were imprecise.
This is what it says in Article II Section 4 – “The President, Vice President, and all civil servants of the United States shall be removed from office for indictment and conviction of treason, bribery, or other serious crimes and misdemeanors.” See, there is nothing about past presidents.
Therefore, one would think that Trump and his Republican supporters in the Senate are on safe ground arguing that he is now a private citizen. But not so fast. Constitutional scholars, including conservatives, have argued that the constitution framers’ intention was for impeachment to cover actions taken during the term. As the Democrats say, there is no “January exception” in the constitution.
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