Article: The 'High Crimes' Riddle.(the technical legal points in Kenneth Starr's report mean little, because the decision to impeach a president is a political one)(Brief Article)

The Fine Print: So just what are 'high crimes and misdemeanors'? Whatever Congress--and the rest of us--think. A primer.

Gerald ford had it right. In 1970 the then GOP congressman said that "an impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history; conviction results from whatever offense or offenses two thirds of the other body considers to be sufficiently serious to require removal of the accused from office." In other words, the decision to impeach or remove a president (or a judge) is inherently a political decision, not a legal one.

So for all the titillating detail and technical legal ...

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