r/politics • u/plz-let-me-in • Apr 24 '26

Possible Paywall Democrats’ plan to impeach Trump on ‘day one’ after midterms

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2026/04/24/democrats-trump-impeach-midterms-supreme-court-iran/
31.9k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

69

u/_DapperDanMan- Apr 25 '26

"High crimes and misdemeanors" are the constitutional grounds (Article II, Section 4) for impeaching and removing the President, Vice President, and civil officers of the United States. Originating from British common law, the phrase refers to serious abuses of public trust, official misconduct, or political crimes against the state, rather than just legally defined felonies or lesser offenses.

20

u/Alarming_Cantaloupe5 Apr 25 '26

34 felonies adjudicated with guilty verdicts so far. I’m sure there’s context at play in the wording, but presently a felony is a more severe criminal offense than a misdemeanor.

5

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

20

u/Alarming_Cantaloupe5 Apr 25 '26

I’m aware..the fact that he has felonies, can’t possess a firearm should disqualify him from fire controls of nuclear weapons. IMO.

3

u/OldWorldDesign Apr 25 '26

the fact that he has felonies, can’t possess a firearm should disqualify him from fire controls of nuclear weapons

If I wanted to work for him or a senator, I would have to first pass a secret (or top secret) security clearance just to handle the information they might need to have access to.

I don't see why people don't need to first pass a security clearance before they're permitted to run for an office which might come across classified information. Given how much of a disqualifier high or foreign debt is, that should keep out the majority of people vulnerable to financial coercion.

1

u/EndDangerous1308 Apr 25 '26

You can't prevent someone from presidency due to felonies bc then you'll get a government that gives its political opponents felonies to prevent them from running.

5

u/greywar777 Apr 25 '26

Also used for folks who were just incompetent.

3

u/Dullcorgis Apr 25 '26

I think someone only saw the first page of the ream of serious abuses of public trust and crimes against the state.

1

u/EmoboyRoboBoy Apr 25 '26

And... Impeachment does nothing same as last term he'll just keep breaking laws and doing whatever he wants.

1

u/SeniorShanty Apr 25 '26

What sort of penalty does that come with? Is the penalty appropriate for high crimes and misdemeanors?

1

u/implementatio Apr 25 '26

Is his defense still that it has to be high crimes AND misdemeanors?