A bipartisan group of Constitutional scholars, including the co-founder of the conservative Federalist Society, released a statement Thursday saying that Donald Trump can be tried for the charge he was impeached on even though he’s out of office, Politico reports.
While some Trump-friendly pundits have argued variously that the ex-president cannot face an impeachment trial or that he cannot be punished via Constitutional impeachment standards because he’s out of office, more than 150 signatories of the statement disagree.
“We differ from one another in our politics, and we also differ from one another on issues of constitutional interpretation,” wrote the signatories. “But despite our differences, our carefully considered views of the law lead all of us to agree that the Constitution permits the impeachment, conviction, and disqualification of former officers, including presidents.”
The letter notes that the Constitution is very explicit that impeachment is the punishment for acts of malfeasance while in office, but it does not exclusively mean that the person must still be in office to be convicted in that impeachment.
“Impeachment is the exclusive constitutional means for removing a president (or other officer) before his or her term expires. But nothing in the provision authorizing impeachment-forremoval limits impeachment to situations where it accomplishes removal from office,” the statement reads. “Indeed, such a reading would thwart and potentially nullify a vital aspect of the impeachment power: the power of the Senate to impose disqualification from future office as a penalty for conviction. In order to give full effect to both Article I’s and Article II’s language with respect to impeachment, therefore, the correct conclusion is that former officers remain subject to the impeachment power after leaving office, for purposes of permitting imposition of the punishment of disqualification”