Transcripts For CSPAN2 Tom Steyer On Impeachment 20171208 :

Its a national nonprofit, Nonpartisan Organization launched on the day of the Supreme Courts Citizens United ruling more than seven years ago and dedicated to defending our constitution and reclaiming our democracy. We have been co leading with route to action, a campaign to impeach donald trump now, calling for impeachment investigation of the president. Many have joined this campaign and it is backed by Legal Advisory Board of constitutional scholars across the country including two law professors on this panel today. Free speech for people is proud to be joining with the need to Impeach Campaign for this press briefing to discuss the legal case for an impeachment investigation of president donald j trump. We are releasing a white paper prepared by free speech for people and our distinguished panel will discuss the legal rounds outlined in that document. I will introduce our panelists in the order in which they will be speaking. Following their opening remarks, we will take questions from the media and we will close with the public signing of two documents, the white paper on a legal case friend pitchman investigation. Our first speaker will be catherine ross. Catherine is a constitutional law professor at George Washington University Law school. Her book lessons and centuries ship how schools in court affect First Amendment rights was named the best book on the First Amendment by concurring opinions First Amendment news and won the critics choice book award from the American Education studies association. An elected fellow of the american bar foundation, professor ross is a former chair of the Steering Committee on the unmet legal needs of children and former chair on the section of law and communitarianism of the association of the american law school. Prior to entering legal academia, professor ross was a litigator in garrison new york where he won major impact litigation on behalf of the citys homeless population. A graduate of Yale Law School and holds a phd in history from Yale University. Professor ross will discuss the history of the constitution and the meaning of high crimes and misdemeanors. Following professor ross we will hear from mr. Fine. He is the legal director of free speech for people he oversees the legal advocacy program. He previously served as assistant Regional Council in the United States Environmental Protection agency new England Office where he received epas National Gold metal for sectional service. , and Achievement Award and several other awards. He previously clerked for the United States court of appeals for the First Circuit and Douglas Woodlock for the district of massachusetts. He is a graduate of stanford law school. He will discuss the following legal grounds for an impeachment investigation. The is directing lawenforcement to pursue political targets. He is abusing the pardon power, undermining freedom of the press and threatening nuclear war. Next we will hear from jennifer, a professor at Vermont Law School. She researches and writes in the areas of corporate governance, Financial Market reform, securities regulation, and white collar crime. She has testified as an expert between the Banking Committee and the subcommittee concerning banking and financial reform related matters. Her first book, other peoples houses, how decades bailout captive regulators and bankers made Home Mortgage a thrill in business was published in ma may 2014 by Yale University press purchase also the coauthor with the late kathleen of corporate and whitecollar crime. Its published in 2017 by walters coor. In addition to the book, other peoples houses, professor has written extensively on the financial crisis. Period prior to joining academia, he was with Fidelity Investments and a graduate of harvard law school. She will address corruption and the presence businesses, discussing the president s ongoing violation of the foreign and domestic monument clauses of the u. S. Constitution. We will then hear from the chair of the board of free speech for people as well as the legal committee. He is a former federal prosecutor and a former chief Legal Counsel to the massachusetts governor. He was a Founding Partner at the boston law firm, representing persons and entities in whitecollar criminal proceedings, state and federal proceeding, complex Business Litigation and appeals and providing advice and i in government campaigns, ethics and related areas. His clients have included business professionals and them senior officials, Small Businesses and state and federal government. He previously served as the chair of the massachusetts Governors Task force on public integrity. A Bipartisan Committee that led to landmark registration overhauling the state ethics and Campaign Finance laws. He is a graduate of cornell law school. He will discuss the following legal ground for impeachment investigation. Obstruction of justice and conspiracy with a Foreign Government to commit crimes against the United States including violations to Campaign Finance laws. He will also address why impeachment hearings should begin now. Our final speaker will be tom. Mr. Stier is a progressive activist, philanthropist and environmentalist who believes we have a moral responsibility to ensure that all americans have equal access to economic opportunity, education and healthy environment. He is the president and founder of Nexgen America which asked politically to prevent climate disaster, criminal prosperity and protect the fundamental rights of every american. Earlier this year he started the need to Impeach Campaign which has garnered more than 3 million signatures on a petition calling for present trumps and impeachment. Its backed by 20 milliondollar ad by which includes two Television Advertisements and time square billboards that will run through new years eve, directing the public to sign the impeachment petition that need to impeach. Com. Mr. Stier will discuss the campaign and why americans across the country are calling for impeachment proceedings to move forward now. Our first speaker will be professor ross. Thank you john. Thank you all for coming. Impeachment is an extraordinary remedy which should always be a course of last resort. As events quickly unfold, its imperative that the citizens of this country understand the impeachment process and this significant role the founders expected to perform within the structure of our constitutional democracy. Im going to provide an overview of impeachment, its role and the grounds that have historically been understood to justify it. First, what is impeachment, and how does it work . The term impeachment is often misunderstood and misused. Impeachment occurs when the house of representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachmen impeachment, a resolution that spells out allegations of wrongdoing by a public official. Before that, the house would have directed one of its committees to investigate the allegation if the committee, after investigation recommends that the full house consider articles of impeachment, only a simple majority is needed to adopt the articles at which point the official has been impeached. After the house impeaches, it designates some of its members to preven present full case. When a president has been impeached, the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial and at the conclusion of the trial, the senators vote on whether to convict. The senate requires a two thirds vote to convict in impeachment proceedings and if they convict, removal from office is automatic and immediate. The second question that comes up is what purpose is impeachment designed to serve . The constitution largely modeled impeachment on tradition in the British Parliament as well as several state constitutions, both of which have Founding Fathers explained, regarded impeachment as a bridle that the legislature can use to rein in an executive who overreaches. During the debates of the Constitutional Convention, madison argued that it was indispensable that some provisions should be made for defending the community against the incapacity, negligence, of the chief magistrate. In modern language, the president. Joseph story, in his classic interpretation of the constitution elaborated. In england, he said, the constitutional maxim is that the king can do no wrong. In sharp contrast, the story wrote, the impeachment provision of our constitution acts as a check upon arbitrary power and compels the chief magistrate as well as the humblest citizen to bend to the majesty of the laws. In other words, we are a nation ruled by law. Impeachment offered an important reassurance to those who drafted and adopted the constitution. A reassurance that the American People who had just fought to overthrow the british king would not find themselves at the house of another desperate, to use the terms of the declaration of independence. Madison explained, the two provisions of the constitution, in particular, protect against despotism. First that the president s term is limited to a certain number of years, and second that the president is impeachable at any time during his term of office. Some scholars go so far as to say that the constitution would never have been adopted if it had not included provisions for impeachment. Importantly, impeachment is not intended to punish the offending official, but rather to protect the body of politics by removing a lawless official in order to prevent further harm to the country. Finally, what are the grounds on which a president may be impeached . The constitution states that the grounds for impeachment are treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Treason and bribery have clear meanings, but what are high crimes and misdemeanors . Again, trump commonly misunderstood. The phrase is a term of art that the framers understood from english history. High crimes refer to offenses committed against the state of Public Officials. High crimes and misdemeanors may, for example, threaten our constitutional order, or they may involve corruption that violates the public trust. Impeachment and conviction by the senate do not need to be based on criminal acts. Congress itself explained in 1989 that it has repeatedly defined other high crimes and misdemeanors to be serious violations of the public trust, not necessarily indictable offenses under criminal law. Indeed, less than one third of the impeachment by the house of representatives to date specifically involved a criminal statute or even use the word crime. Federalist 65, written by madison again, explains that impeachment extends to the abuse or violation of some public trust. Such violations may be political as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. It is generally agreed that he didnt mean political in the sense in which that word is used today. Impeachment is not based on just anything that congress decides as gerald ford so famously and wrongly suggested. The renowned early 19th century commentator and Supreme Court Justice Joseph story similarly summarized Impeachable Offenses as those committed by public men in violation of their public trust and duty. through very broad and comprehensive principles of Public Policy and duty. That brings us to more contemporary readings. In 2015, the Nonpartisan Congressional Research Service concluded that congress has historically used its impeachment power to reach a broad variety of conduct that is both serious and incompatible with the duties of office or it the grounds, the crs summed up, generally but not always fall into two groups abuse of power, behavior incompatible with the function and purpose of the office, and misusing the office for personal gain. Finally the report explained that grounds for impeachment include abuse of a particular powers of government office. Conduct that the Congressional Research service emphasized is unlikely to be barred by any criminal statute. Only impeachment proceedings have the power to constrain such bad behavior by Public Officials who have not violated criminal law but are abusing their office in ways that damage the state. In concluding i note that every member of Congress Today swore an oath to support and descend the constitution. We, the people, who formed the republic should hold our representatives to that of. Impeachment was designed as a safety valve for reigning in the violation of the public trust. Indeed, its the failsafe at the heart of our constitutional structure and expressly designed to be used when a president threatens constitutional norms the institutions on which democracy rests or the rule of law. Thank you. Thank you, professor ross. Our next speaker will be the legal director of free speech for people. Thanks. I will begin with five categories of abuse of power that constitute grounds for an impeachment investigation and as professor ross noted not all Impeachable Offenses are ordinary crimes. These are not ordinary crimes but these five are serious abuses of power. These five categories are one advocating illegal violence to find the law. Two, of using the pardon power. Three directing Law Enforcement to pursue political targets. For undermining freedom of the press and 25th, recklessly burning nuclear war. To set this in context as the late Supreme Court Justice Antonio scalia noted it is the proud both of our democracy that we have a government of laws and not of men. President trump takes a curfew which is foreshadowed in 2016 when he urged his supporters to knock the crap out of protesters. He promised i will pay for the legal fees. That discards the rule of law has continued throughout his presidency. For example, at a june white house meeting with native american leaders they complained to the president that federal law made it harder for them to mine coal. President trumps response was just do it. Once you get it out of the ground are they can make you put it back in their . Then in july he told police to be rough with arrested people which Police Chiefs around the country understood as encouraging excessive force. In august, he issued a tweet thats appeared to suggest that members of the military should commit more crimes by executing muslim prisoners of war. That was two days after he insisted that there were very fine people among the violent white supremacist in charlottesville virginia. Neonazis and whites from his openly expressed their appreciation as he retreated a white supremacist from britain. As president we can do more than just pay for the legal fees. With his political ally former sheriff Joseph Arpaio of arizona was convicted of criminal content of court for willfully violating a court order to stop the drivers illegally without section of the crime he offered that he was just doing his job and then he pardoned him. That signaled that unscrupulous officials can follow trumps advice, violate individual Constitutional Rights and then when they lose in court they can violate a federal court order to stop doing that. Mr. Trumps pardon undercuts the constitutional guarantee of due process of law and the ability of courts to protect Constitutional Rights. The framers of our constitution worried about these problems in the federalist papers Alexander Hamilton warned that of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics the greatest number have begun their career by attaining an obsequious court to the people commencing demagogues and tyrants. In the Virginia Convention that met in 1788 to debate whether to ratify the proposed constitution george mason was an opponent of the constitution warned that the president might pardon crimes which were advised by himself and so destroy the republic. But James Madison often called the father of the constitution had a reply for george mason. He replied that if the president use the pardon to shelter a person with whom he was connected in any suspicious manner then congress could impeach him and madison called this availability of imp