The original draft of the Constitution had made only treason and bribery a basis for impeachment. After rejecting the term “maladministration” as too broad, the convention participants decided to add the English term “high crimes and misdemeanors.”Mr. And several early impeachment proceedings — including against a judge who got drunk while presiding over cases — did not involve indictable offenses. He portrayed the Trump legal team’s argument as not merely wrong, but as not even worthy of being deemed serious. An emeritus Harvard Law School professor and a celebrated criminal defense lawyer, he has joined Mr. Trump’s legal team and is preparing a presentation about the idea that he said he expects to make to the Senate on Friday.

Source: New York Times January 20, 2020 23:37 UTC