What is impeachment and how does it work?
What is impeachment and how does it work?
Donald Trump's presidency is in its most perilous state so far following the convictions of two of his inner circle, his former lawyer Michael Cohen, and his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
This latest scandal has raised questions about the future of his presidency and whether it could be the first step towards impeachment.
But how does impeachmentwork - and is it really a possibility for Mr Trump?
- What is impeachment?
As sitting presidents cannot be indicted, impeachment is a final check on the president's power.
It is a process where they are removed from their position - following a trial - and potentially barred from public office in future.
It can be used against presidents, vice presidents and senior civil officials such as judges.
- What crimes can lead to impeachment?
Impeachment proceedings are a rare occurrence in the US - something of a last resort.
The US constitution states the president can be impeached and removed from office for "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors".
This definition, and the behaviours that are deemed to have reached that threshold are therefore open to interpretation.
- How does it work?
First, the House of Representatives - the lower chamber of Congress - must pass an Article of Impeachment by majority vote.
Once this passes, there is a trial in the Senate - the upper chamber of Congress - with the Chief Justice presiding in presidential cases.
For the president to be removed there needs to be a 'super-majority' (two thirds) of Senators voting in favour.
- Who's been impeached before?
Only two sitting presidents have actually had the Article of Impeachment passed in the House of Representatives.
In 1868, Andrew Johnson was impeached after he illegally removed his Secretary of War, sending rising political tensions over boiling point.
The Senate needed 36 votes for guilty to get the super-majority. Johnson escaped by the skin of his teeth with 35 finding him guilty.
More recently, Bill Clinton was impeached in 1999 following the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
He faced two charges, one for perjury and one for obstruction of justice.
The super-majority requirement was 67 but he was acquitted, with the charges only getting 45 and 50 guilty votes respectively.
In fact, no president has ever been removed from office by the actual process of impeachment.
The one who probably came closest to that fate was Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 before impeachment proceedings could begin, and would have most likely removed him from office.
- Could Trump actually be impeached?
As our Washington correspondent Robert Moore explains, a lot of people in the US are "hyperventilating" over the latest scandal, but they should "take a deep breath".
There have been calls for Trump's impeachment before this latest scandal.
Former CIA director John O Brennan called Trump's performance during his summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin "nothing short of treasonous", saying it "exceeds the threshold of high crimes and misdemeanours".
Sol Wisenberg, who conducted grand jury questioning of Bill Clinton during the Whitewater investigation, said: “The stuff on Stormy Daniels is not good for Trump.
“I’m assuming he’s not going to be indicted because he’s a sitting president. But it leads him closer to ultimate impeachment proceedings, particularly if the Democrats take back the House.”
Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon had previously warned Democrats could pursue impeachment proceedings if they won the midterm elections.
Currently the Senate is 51% Republican, and the House of Representatives is 55% Republican.
This means as long as the majority of Republicans continue to back Trump as President, the chances of impeachment as things stand appear slim.
There are however midterm elections, which will be held in early November of this year. Should the makeup of Congress change significantly following these elections, it is possible impeachment could become more likely.
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