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That that was what he sought, then this committee and this house could safely conclude that the president had committed bribery under the constitution. >> professor gerhardt, what is your view? >> i of course agree with professor karlan and professor feldman. and i just want to stress that if this -- if what we're talking about is not impeachable, then nothing is impeachable. this is precisely the misconduct that the framers created a constitution, including impeachment, to protect against. if there's no action, if congress concludes they're going to give a pass to the president here, as profe...

Blow then? he finished by saying, yes, i'd give the devil the benefit of the law for my own sake. so i will conclude with this, both sides of this controversy have demonized the other to justify any measure in their defense, much like roper. perhaps that's the saddest part of all of this. we have forgotten the common article of faith that binds each of us to each other in our constitution. however, before we cut down the trees so carefully planted by the framers, i hope you will consider what you will do when the wind blows again, perhaps for a democratic president. where will you stand then w...

Wholesale basis with respect to oversight, not just impeachment? >> absolutely, yes, sir. >> thank you. professor feldman, as i understand it, the framers intended impeachment to be used infrequently, not as punishment, but to save our democracy from thets so significant that we cannot wait for the next election. in your testimony you suggest we face that kind of threat. can you explain why you think impeachment is the appropriate recourse here, why we cannot wait for the next election? those are two questions if you want them to be. >> the framers reserved impeachment for situations where the...

Were about corruption of elections and betrayal of the national interest involving foreign powers and how they come into play here? >> sure. let me start with the framers and what they were concerned with and bring it up to date because i think there's modern stuff as well that's important. the framers were very worried that elections could be corrupted, they could be b corrupted in a variety of different ways and they spent a lot of time trying to design an election system that wouldn't be subject to that kind of corruption. and there are a number of different provisions in the constitution t...

Advancement, we live in a monarchy or under a dictatorship. that's why the framers created the possibility of impeachment. >> professor karlan, this high crime and misdemeanor of abuse of power, was it some kind of loose or undefined concept to the founders of our country and the framers of our constitution? >> no, i don't think it was a loose concept at all. it had a long lineage in the common law in england of parliamentary impeachments of lower level officers. obviously they had not talked about impeaching, as you've heard earlier, the king or the like. >> can you share a little bit about t...