basic character of our government in the constitution, that is what impeachment was about. and the framers invoked three specific kinds of misconduct so serious and egregious that they thought they warranted impeachment. first the president might abuse his power by corruptly using the office for personal, political or financial gain. professor feldman what is so wrong with that. if the president belongs to my party and i generally like him, what is so wrong with him using his office to advance his own political ambitions? >> because the president of the united states works for the people. and so if he seeks personal gain, he's not serving the interests of the people. he's rather serving the interests that are specific to him and that means he's abusing the office and doing things that he can only get away with because he's the president and that is necessarily subject to impeachment. >> well, second and third, the founders expressed fear that a president could sub vert our democracy by betraying his trust to foreign influence and