Quotes about Misdemeanors

John N. Mitchell Ashley

I rise to perform a painful but, nevertheless, to me, an imperative duty; a duty which I think ought not longer to be postponed, and which cannot, without criminality on our part, be neglected.… I charge Andrew Johnson, Vice President and acting President of the United States, with the commission of acts which in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and misdemeanors, for which, in my judgment, he ought to be impeached … I do impeach Andrew Johnson, Vice President and acting President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors: I charge him with a usurpation of power and violation of law: In that he has corruptly used the appointing power; In that he has corruptly used the pardoning power; In that he has corruptly used the veto power; In that he has corruptly disposed of public property of the United States; In that he has corruptly interfered in elections…

Donella Meadows

There have been high crimes and misdemeanors, but they have been committed by the special prosecutor and the Congress, not the president.

Charles Evans Hughes

According to the weight of opinion, impeachable offenses include, not merely acts that are indictable, but serious misbehavior which may be considered as coming within the category of high crimes and misdemeanors

English Parliament

… high crimes and misdemeanors …

This appears to be the earliest use of the phrase which was “borrowed” by the founding fathers in the writing of the U. S. Constitution.

Ambrose Bierce

Senate: A body of elderly gentlemen charge with high duties and misdemeanors.

Originally published as The Cynic’s Word Book

Tom Steyer

This is not a time for “patience” — Donald Trump is not fit for office. It is evident that there is zero reason to believe “he can be a good president.” Whether by the nature of Mr. Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin and Russia, his willingness to exploit the office of the Presidency for his personal gain and treat the government like a family enterprise, his conduct during Charlottesville, his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accords, or his seeming determination to take the nation to war, he has violated the Constitution, the office of the Presidency, and the trust of the public. He is a clear and present danger to the United States of America.... Given Trump’s total lack of fitness for office, the question of impeachment becomes a very real issue ....There is no moral reason to remain silent about this. Constitutional experts ... have already laid out clear legal and historical foundations for impeachment. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, a co-author of the Federalist Papers — and an immigrant himself — argued that “high crimes and misdemeanors” could be defined as “abuse or violation of some public trust.” This president has clearly already exceeded these standards. Congress has impeached past presidents for far less.

David Limbaugh

I am neither accusing President Obama of having committed high crimes and misdemeanors nor advocating his impeachment.

Paul Gosar

Administrator McCarthy committed perjury and made several false statements at multiple congressional hearings and as a result, is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors - an impeachable offense.

George T. Conway III

If a politician takes a bribe to do what he thinks would have been best for the public anyway, he still goes to jail. If he's president, under a Constitution that refers to impeachment specifically for 'bribery,' as well other 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' he should still be removed.

Bobby Bowden

I’m praying for a misdemeanor

Paul Reubens

I probably have become more infamous from two misdemeanors than probably anyone I could think of.

James Madison

I think it absolutely necessary that the President should have the power of removing [his subordinates] from office; it will make him, in a peculiar manner, responsible for their conduct, and subject him to impeachment himself, if he suffers them to perpetrate with impunity high crimes or misdemeanors against the United States, or neglects to superintend their conduct, so as to check their excesses.

Rush Limbaugh

Impeachment really is not a criminal proceeding. The American people have been conditioned to believe that, you know, high crimes and misdemeanors means what? Impeachment is a purely political process. And it can only succeed if there is the political will for it out there in the country. You can have all the misdemeanors and high crimes you want, but if the president's popular, you're not gonna succeed.

House of Representatives

Impeachment is not confined alone to acts which are forbidden by the Constitution or Federal statutes. The better sustained and modern view is that the provision for impeachment in the Constitution applies not only to high crimes and misdemeanors as those words were understood at common law but also acts which are not defined as criminal and made subject to indictment, and also to those which affect the public welfare. Thus an official may be impeached for offenses of a political character and for gross betrayal of public interests. Also for abuses or betrayal of trusts, for inexcusable negligence of duty, for the tyrannical abuse of power, or, as one writer puts it, for “a breach of official duties…

Robert Dallek

Clinton's egregious act of self-indulgence was outdone by an impeachment based not on constitutionally required high crimes and misdemeanors but on a vindictive determination to bring down a president who had offended self-righteous moralists eager to put a different political agenda in place.

Robert Plant

If you do what you think is right for the benefit of everybody and everything and you make decisions, to go back and regret them afterwards - it's a futile experience and it's not worth thinking about. Because life just unfolds. Provided you do your best and you think you're on the right track, you can only be right or wrong. But to regret it - I don't think there are any huge errors or misdemeanors.

Ohio

The Governor, and all other civil officers under this State, shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office;

The Federal Constitution allowed impeachment only for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” This has left a vague impeachment standard and it has been a constant argument whether a particular misdemeanor has been “high” enough to reach a standard of impeachment. Ohio however, and some other states, had a much stricter standard for impeachment—any misdemeanor whatsoever can be an impeachable offense.

Dagen McDowell

What position are the citizens here in New York City and New York state? No cash bail for misdemeanors or non-violent felonies. You can rob the local drug store and you get a little appearance ticket and you're right back out on the street.

Ambrose Bierce

The Senate is a body of old men charged with high duties and misdemeanors.

John Dean

There's a political reality about impeachment. It's purely a political process. The interpretation of "high crimes and misdemeanors" can reach a long way, all the way to sex in the Oval Office, which was an absurd use of the impeachment clause.

Maggie Stiefvater

I was against felonies when a misdemeanor would do.

Misdemeanors Quotes