For Politicians Scraping Bottom, a Scarce Resource: Impeachment Lawyers

Wait a minute. I am surprised that this article does not mention Clinton impeachment. Nixon's case never went as far as Clinton. If I remember right, the last time an impeachment went as far as Clinton- it was Mr. Johnson who succeeded Honest Abe. And Clinton carried on the record of no president ever impeached and convicted. Is this a case of political correctness or a rewrite or whitewashing of history?? Lets not give our POTUS another chance to lambast NYT as "failing." I would think there are many lawyers including that woman who had that Oscar envelope moment a couple of years ago - who have a fresh memory of Clinton impeachment. Come to think if it, the current Minority Leader and some other leaders in the Democrat party could provide some salient tips.

it's easy to call for impeachment of an office holder - say, the President - that you don't support or don't like,or who won office under questionable circumstances. but being revolted by someone's personality or politics is not itself an impeachable offense. federally, at least, charges must be of high crimes or misdemeanors. I don't think being an obnoxious jerk with disasterous policies and terrible appointments you don't support quite qualifies.

Another hedonist, besides the one in the WH, seems to be in denial! Not surprisingly enough, the most common factor, in this elite club of nifty neanderthals, has been an affair with the a fairer gender, other than spouse. Speaking of other epicurean tastes, one wonders what the heck is going on with Scott Pruitt. Even to a casual observer, a private telephone booth, impervious to sound, seems like a bolt from the blue. Scott Pruitt reeks of an avaricious Tom Price, but whether or not he will be forced to quit, still remains disputatious. Interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, on the other hand, ''seems to have followed the appropriate procedure in his travel expenses''. Ant that too might get on the anvil, while the news gatherers are voraciously and vociferously seeking the truth. All told, these Trump cabinet appointees, and a handful of state governors are wallowing in their statuses of their respective ''bully pulpits'' until a ''red line'' is crossed. Even so, Trump reacts in a torpid and tepid manner, in matters of inappropriate spending by these officials, and it appears he has his own ''threshold of firing''. He is showering panegyrics on these secretaries, inordinately, before the axe finally falls on the victim. Rex Tillerson and McMaster are blatant examples.

Happy days are here again for lawyers specializing in White Collar crime- so many accusations,so few lawyers with expertise in narrow,arcane areas of the law.The public must pay the legal defense for those trying to hold onto elective office.There is a caution- vote wisely or you will be on the hook for the defense of the bad behavior of your "public" servants.

Impeachment is, and perhaps should be, a polarizing and political process. Corruption must not be, or our nation will truly have abandoned what has made her great. Self-dealing, nepotism and foreign emoluments are three pungent flavors of corruption that I believe Americans of diverse textures and tastes can agree are too bitter to swallow. Rather than focusing on a partisan fight with no precedent since Reconstruction, we should focus on the ethical standards and the unethical practices of this White House. If we do not, we will surely establish a new precedent that cannot be washed away by a majority of Electors, nor removed by two thirds of the Senate.

Impeachment is not an inherently legal exercise? Well, a dirty little secret among lawyers is that lawsuits are rarely a purely legal exercise. Most trial judges (fewer at the appellate level) make a concerted effort to leave their personal and political biases outside the court room. However, it's comon knowledge that a many cases are made or broken depending upon the judge assigned to the case. Many jurisdictions give the parties to a lawsuit a right to transfer a case away from a judge for this very reason. Just one, mind you, and if the case is transferred to a worse judge? Well, too bad. Some tine ago, I forget exactly when, there was a scandal in the courts where I practiced when it was discovered that a major law firm representing a very public client had filed the same lawsuit in the same court multiple times. The law firm then quickly "non-suited" every case except the one before the judge it believed most open to their client's case. Not fast enough, however. The tactic -- highly illegal, highly unethical -- was found out and both the law firm and the client suffered for it. That they made the effort proved the point. The right judge can mean everything to a lawsuit's outcome.

Am I the only one who finds it truly sickening that Missouri Republicans stayed mostly silent while accusations of sexual assault and blackmail were being hurled about, but have now suddenly found their conscience when it comes to computer tampering? In what kind of world does the debasement of another human being rank lower than sharing a mailing list?

it's all very lofty and high-minded to talk about not overthrowing elections due to a political whim, and our constitutional system, but Eric Greitens is not thinking about protecting his public office; an excessive egomaniac even for a politician, he is only thinking about himself. If he cared about the state, and its institutions, he would have gotten out of the way at the time his covered-up affair got exposed, instead of forcing the taxpayers to help pay for his political cover instead.

Another GOP so called rising star this governor. There seems to be more GOP leaders that are morally bankrupt like Trump and the GOP congress and their dumb supporters keep turning their heads and say he can still govern. Those men need mental health care for the longterm and jail time like this abuser. I don't want them making laws for me. To the GOP supporters get out of the cloud your in and vote right or loose your privilege to vote. We don't want anymore men like the above ruining our country.

Trump can ask Legal Aid to provide a lawyer or ask for a court-appointed lawyer.

Republicans were willing to impeach Clinton for lying about an affair. The lie was the crime--it was obstruction. Will they be willing to impeach Trump for obstruction? Trump's actions are far worse than Clinton's. Which has the greater impact on the country: a president lying about a dalliance with an intern, or a president who tried to stop an investigation into his campaign engaging in a conspiracy with a foreign adversary to affect our elections? It's not even close.

The U.S. Constitution states in plain American English that Presidents can be impeached for committing acts of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, which is simply another way of saying that an impeachable offense is anything that Congress makes it out to be. All this twaddle about Trump’s tweets and his staff's interactions with Russians is dangerous as it will likely lead to endless trials and few convictions with Trump remaining in office. So what should we do now? I would have Mueller and Democrats leave off from the question of “High Crimes” and seriously examine the question of “Misdemeanors.” Misdemeanors for the purpose of impeaching Trump are anything Congress makes them out to be. They could include uncontrolled lying to the American people, present or former violations of the Mann Act, insulting Gold Star mothers, draft dodging, unpaid parking tickets, formerly operating a bogus university, tax cheating, acts of disrespect to slain CIA officers, anything at all including wearing a bad hairpiece that brings the Presidency into a condition of disgrace. Jack Johnson and Chuck Berry were convicted under the Mann Act, albeit selectively and unfairly. Al Capone was finally gotten rid of for tax evasion. I don’t care which charges Mueller chooses to pursue, as long as it’s done speedily.

Missouri rid yourselves of Eric Greitens the fake family man.

Hmm. I'm curious why Alan Blinder seems to have dropped the Clinton impeachment proceedings down the memory hole. If, as Blinder writes, "just about every impeachment lawyer these days . . . is likely to look to history, where the proceedings against President Richard M. Nixon remain especially important for lawyers working in state capitols," how is it that Clinton doesn't even rate a mention in this op-ed? Unlike most of the lawyers who had significant roles in the Nixon proceedings and are now long-retired, many of the lawyers involved in the Clinton proceedings still practice law. Frankly, I'd be surprised if there's EVER been a time in US history when the country had MORE experienced impeachment lawyers than it has had since 1999.

Dear Missouri Republican Party, You do not owe Eric Greitens anything because of Tom Schweich. It's time to quit pretending that Greitens can continue holding office. He cannot govern. Plus, we're keeping track of those of you who wanted to wait for the investigative report to come out before taking a stand. It been out for weeks, and now you want to hide behind the criminal complaint? Get over yourselves and get rid of Greitens.

One thing that Trump has done for us is make us aware of the swamp and the need to drain it and it starts at the White House.

Impeachment, eh? Shades of Watergate! But the first impeachment I every heard of was launched by the Duke of Buckingham against a political rival. (Can't remember the name.) This around four hundred years ago. The Duke was a young favorite of King James I, whose permission he sought before trying to impeach the guy in Parliament. King James could refuse nothing to this handsome, dissolute man. But a warning come along with: "Before God, Steenie (the beloved Duke's nickname), thou art a fool. Thou art whittling a rod for thine own back." James perceived (more quickly than his young favorite) what a two-edged weapon impeachment could be. The Duke's popularity was short-lived--before long, Parliament was calling for HIS scalp as well. Eventually, he was assassinated. So much for that. Our Constitution expressly declares--impeachment is ONLY a political maneuver. There are per se NO legal consequences to being impeached and removed from office. Of course--the very malfeasance that PRODUCED your impeachment in the first place. . .. . . .might bring legal consequences as well. But that's another matter. 'Cause right now--all eyes are fixed on the White House. What on earth DID that wretched man do? And what's gonna HAPPEN to him? Stay tuned.

Impeachment is a rare thing, so not many experts exist. We have had only 2 instances of presidents being impeached, or in the process, in the 20th century, and of those only one was for actual high crimes and misdemeanors. However, given the current state of the Republican party it is becoming decidedly less rare as an option.

No governor, or for that matter, no president, should ever get to the point where they need a lawyer specializing in impeachment. The ones who resign before it ever gets to that point are doing everyone a favor. These guys that consider putting their states through the expense and anguish of an impeachment prove by doing so that they are unfit to serve. As the evidence against them mounts, these guys think they'll preserve some kind of dignity by fighting. But, it certainly did Bill Clinton no good. Anything good he ever accomplished is forgotten and his entire career has been eclipsed by his impeachment. He will never escape it, and neither will Greitens (or Trump, if it comes to that).

It would appear that Governor Greitens should be tried in a Civil Court for the blackmail case. And have the Election Commission review the question on illegally using a Charity List for raising campaign funds. Then maybe the impeachment process if he his found guilty of either or both of these crimes. Am I missing something here?

Greitens and Al Franken illustrate a critical difference between modern Democrats and Republicans. Democrat Franken resigned immediately over allegations of inappropriate sexual advances and some silly picture from years ago, and in response to pressure from fellow Democrats. Republican Greitens, facing multiple actual criminal charges in his own state, is fighting tooth and nail and signaling that he's not going anywhere. Republicans fight like cornered badgers while Democrats roll over.