Political Quotes

“I send a question to the desk. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Utah, Mr. Lee, sends a question on behalf of himself, Senator Hawley, Senator Crapo, Senator Blackburn, and Senator Portman, and the question is for the counsel for the former President. The clerk will read the question. The legislative clerk read as follows: Multiple State constitutions enacted prior to 1787--namely, the constitutions of Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Vermont--specifically provided for the impeachment of a former officer. Given that the Framers of the U.S. Constitution would have been aware of these provisions, does their decision to omit language specifically authorizing the impeachment of former officials indicate that they did not intend for our Constitution to allow for the impeachment of former officials? Mr. Counsel VAN DER VEEN. Good question, and the answer is yes, of course they left it out. The Framers were very smart men, and they went over draft after draft after draft on that document, and they reviewed all the other drafts of all of the State constitutions, all of them. They picked and chose what they wanted, and they discarded what they did not. What they discarded was the option for all of you to impeach a former elected official. I hope that is answering your question. Thank you.”