Impeachment originated in the United Kingdom and refers to a criminal prosecution initiated by the legislature against government officials.
. In 1376, the English Parliament confirmed the first impeachments. Later, the United States learned from the British impeachment process when formulating the Constitution. Article 2, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution states: “The President, Vice President, and civil servants of the Government of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The process for impeaching officials in the United States generally involves the House Judiciary Committee reviewing evidence of the accusation to determine whether there is a basis for launching a formal impeachment inquiry. For example, if a resolution passes, a motion is introduced to the House of Representatives to begin a formal impeachment inquiry. After the House of Representatives approved the motion to initiate impeachment proceedings, it authorized the Judiciary Committee to conduct a formal impeachment inquiry. After the investigation is completed, if the Judiciary Committee passes formal articles of impeachment, it will be submitted to the House of Representatives for a vote, and a majority of the House of Representatives agrees to pass the impeachment; the impeached officials will be tried by the Senate. Officials who may be impeached will not be impeached if they voluntarily resign before or during impeachment. Like an ordinary citizen, his question would be heard by the ordinary courts depending on the circumstances. If the target of impeachment is the president, the Senate trial is presided over by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, with representatives as the prosecution and defense and senators as the jury. The Senate votes on the outcome of the trial: either "guilty" or "not guilty"; if "guilty" is determined, a 2/3 majority of the senators present must agree, otherwise it is "not guilty." Once the Senate finds the President guilty, he is removed from office and replaced by the Vice President.
In May 1994, Paula Corbin Jones, who served as a registrar at the Governor's Quality Control Conference in Little Rock, sued President Clinton for calling her to a home in May 1918. "Sexual harassment" in hotel room, and filed a claim of $700,000.
1998 65438 On October 23, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, a witness in Jones’ sexual harassment case, was accused of having an affair with Clinton. Clinton suggested Lewinsky wanted her to deny their relationship. At the same time, Clinton also denied having any relationship with Lewinsky when accepting "out-of-court testimony" in the Jones case. On October 28, Attorney General Janet Reno authorized independent counsel Kenneth Starr to investigate the relationship between Ms. Lewinsky and President Clinton. On April 1, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webb Wright in Little Rock, Arkansas, dismissed all of Jones' claims in a sexual harassment lawsuit but noted that Clinton was not immune because of executive officer immunity. investigation. In August 2017, Clinton gave a televised address to the nation, admitting that he had an "inappropriate" relationship with Lewinsky and saying that his relationship with Lewinsky was wrong and that he would take full responsibility for it. But he stressed that he "never asked anyone to lie, hide and destroy evidence or do anything illegal at any time." On September 9, Independent Prosecutor Starr concluded his investigation and submitted a 445-page investigation report on President Clinton and 36 boxes of attachments to Congress.
The report stated that the following 11 grounds may constitute the basis for impeaching President Clinton:
1. There is sufficient and conclusive evidence that, as the defendant in the Jones/Clinton case, President Clinton Lied under oath about his sexual relationship with Ms. Lewinsky; 2. There is sufficient and conclusive evidence that President Clinton lied under oath before the grand jury about his sexual relationship with Ms. Lewinsky. ;
3. There is ample and conclusive evidence that President Clinton lied under oath in a civil deposition, saying that he did not remember being alone with Monica Lewinsky and reducing the number of gifts they exchanged. times;
4. There is sufficient and conclusive evidence that President Clinton lied under oath in his conversation with Ms. Lewinsky about her involvement in the Jones case; 5. There is sufficient evidence There is overwhelming evidence that President Clinton worked to obstruct judicial investigations. During the judicial investigation of the Jones lawsuit, he participated in various activities and concealed his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky;
6. There is sufficient and conclusive evidence that: (1) President Clinton and Lewinsky Key reached a tacit agreement to lie under oath about their relationship in the Jones lawsuit; (2) President Clinton worked hard to obstruct judicial investigations. By suggesting that Ms. Lewinsky would provide written testimony, he prevented the court from having her testify under oath that their testimony would be contradictory. The President can avoid answering questions about Ms. Lewinsky when testifying;
7. There is sufficient corroborating evidence that Ms. Lewinsky may be used against her in the Jones lawsuit. , President Clinton tried to help Ms. Lewinsky get a job in New York to obstruct the judicial investigation;
8. There is sufficient and conclusive evidence that President Clinton described his relationship with Vernon after sworn testimony ·Jordan lied about his conversation with Ms. Lewinsky;
9. There is sufficient and conclusive evidence that President Clinton attempted to influence the testimony of Betty Curry and thereby obstruct the judicial investigation;
10. There is ample and conclusive evidence that President Clinton attempted to obstruct justice during the federal grand jury investigation. He refused to testify for seven months and lied to potential grand jury witnesses, knowing they would relay those lies to the grand jury;
11. There is ample and conclusive evidence that Clinton The actions taken by the President since October 17, 1998, regarding his relationship with Monica Lewinsky are inconsistent with the President's constitutional duty to faithfully enforce the law.
1998 October 5: After a full day of heated debate, the House Judiciary Committee passed the resolution proposed by the CCP by 21 to 16, approving a formal impeachment investigation against Clinton, with no time or scope restrictions. and raised grounds to suspect the president had violated federal regulations at least 15 times. The charges are as follows:
1. Conspired with Lewinsky and others to obstruct justice and the proper administration of justice.
2. Aided, abetted, suggested, and encouraged Lewinsky to make false written statements in the Jones sexual harassment case.
3. Aiding, abetting, advising and urging Lewinsky to obstruct justice when she was instructed to make a false written statement with the intent to influence, obstruct or obstruct justice.
4. The felony of covering up Lewinsky’s submission of a false written statement.
5, 1998 65438 October 17 Jones case, perjury under oath. Clinton insisted his testimony was "legally correct."
6, August 17, 1998, perjured himself under oath to the grand jury.
7. Committed perjury in the Jones case when he said he did not remember being alone with Lewinsky.
8. Perjured under oath about speaking with Lewinsky about her role in the Jones case.
9. Attempts to obstruct judicial investigations through a series of activities aimed at covering up evidence.
10, attempted to obstruct judicial investigation by colluding with Lewinsky to cover up their relationship.
11, attempted to obstruct judicial investigations by helping Lewinsky find a job in New York.
12. In the Jones case, he committed perjury after declaring under oath a conversation he had with his friend Vernon Jordan about Lewinsky.
13, attempted to obstruct judicial investigation and exert influence on witnesses, trying to manipulate or influence his secretary Curry to testify.
14. Attempted to influence potential witnesses by manipulating them into telling them highly detailed false statements about his relationship with Lewinsky so that the witnesses would repeat those statements when they testified before a grand jury.
15. Under oath before a federal grand jury, he perjured himself about Lewinsky’s written statement and what his attorney said before him.
On October 8, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a formal impeachment inquiry against President Clinton. On October 19, 2019, the House Judiciary Committee held its first formal impeachment hearing and decided to expand the scope of the investigation to investigate former White House volunteer Katherine Wiley's accusations against Clinton and other issues. 12 On the 12th, the Judiciary Committee, dominated by the U.S. government and party members, passed four articles of impeachment against Clinton, despite strong opposition from Democratic congressmen, and rejected a motion by Democratic congressmen to rebuke Clinton and impeach him instead. * * * On the 9th, the Republican Party proposed a draft article of impeachment on two counts of perjury, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of abuse of power in the Lewinsky case. On June 9, 2009, the House of Representatives held a plenary meeting and passed a simple majority to impeach President Clinton on two grounds - "perjury" and "obstruction of justice" in the related scandal. Clinton became the second president in U.S. history to be impeached. Two other grounds for impeachment raised by the House Judiciary Committee - another of "perjury" and "abuse of power" - were dismissed. On October 7, the Senate began the impeachment trial of Clinton. In February 2012, in the final vote in President Clinton's impeachment case, the Senate voted 45 in favor and 55 against to reject the first article of impeachment against Clinton, which charged him with "perjury" in the scandal. The second impeachment article of "obstruction of justice" was rejected by a vote of 50 in favor and 50 against. Both votes fell short of the constitutionally required votes to convict and remove Clinton. At this point, the Senate's hearings on Clinton's impeachment case have come to an end.