Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Jay Kuten: Impeachment - what does it mean exactly?

By Jay Kuten
Columnist·Whanganui Chronicle·
1 Oct, 2019 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Trump Ukraine scandal, impeachment.Photograph by Guy Body

Trump Ukraine scandal, impeachment.Photograph by Guy Body


Comment:

This essay is about the "I" word - impeachment. At the risk of "teaching my grandmother to suck eggs" - I'm writing this in the belief that folks here are as imperfect in their understanding of impeachment as many of my friends in the US. I'm hoping to provide some clarity about the process, the politics and where the US Congress, House and Senate finds itself now.

Let me state first what impeachment is not. It is not an automatic removal from office of the President or any other high official towards whom the process may be applied. It is the beginning of that removal process.

Impeachment is a fact-finding process leading to a set of charges, called Articles of Impeachment as spelled out in the US Constitution, Article I, Section 2, the impeachment process begins in the House Of Representatives, which has the sole power to initiate impeachment proceedings. Committees of the House will investigate the administration and ultimately the President for possible wrongdoing under the constitutional definition of impeachable offenses, treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanours.

Jay Kuten
Jay Kuten
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.


SEE ALSO
Jay Kuten: Reality TV and American war and peace
Jay Kuten: Safety and the risks of vaping

Armed with subpoena power, administration officials and others will be invited, then compelled to testify in hearings. At the end of that process, if it's warranted by the information uncovered, one or several Articles of Impeachment will be presented to the full House for a vote. Assuming that happens, and that the House votes favourably on those articles, they are sent to the Senate where a trial will commence, presided by the chief Justice of the United States. The Senate will either vote to convict or acquit. The sole consequence of conviction, directly, is removal from office and disqualification from further office holding. But the convicted person can still be tried in ordinary criminal court for crimes which may have been unearthed in the process.

Alongside the formality of the process and its rootedness in fact-finding is the reality that impeachment is a political process, one that must satisfy citizens as to the necessity of overturning results of an election. That takes political skills of high order.

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, regarded by many Washington hands as the most accomplished and savvy politician in the place, has now declared an impeachment inquiry.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mrs Pelosi, whose deft political instincts are matched by her toughness and her courage, was reluctant earlier to move towards impeachment despite the pressure from her more eager progressive members.

Pelosi had opposed President George W Bush's Iraq War at a time when such opponents were few and were being called "traitors".

Discover more

Photographers focus on club's history

01 Oct 04:00 PM

Mars closure: 152 Whanganui jobs at stake

30 Sep 05:13 AM

Ballot boxes to be taken to community for Vote Day

01 Oct 04:00 PM

Urgent call for sports awards nominations

30 Sep 11:35 PM

It's to her skills that many attribute the shepherding of a broad Democratic coalition enabling passage of Obama's Health Care Act with every republican voting "no". That's proof if any is needed of her ability to count votes.

Pelosi's vote counting and political instincts led her to resist impeachment until now.

What's different is the whistleblower's letter, which provides credible evidence that in a call with Ukraine's President Zelensky, President Trump pressured that foreign leader to provide dirt on the family of former VP, Joe Biden, a political adversary, and thereby influence the potential outcome of the 2020 election. In making his "request for a favour", Trump held hostage congressionally appropriated US aid to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, thus violating US national security interests. After the phone call the administration hid transcripts in unauthorised ultra-secure servers, effectively a cover-up.

If these allegations are established, they describe what is meant by high crimes and misdemeanours.

Those hesitant or opposed to impeachment point to the Trump-dominated Republican majority in the senate and argue that conviction is unlikely and that a failed impeachment strengthens Trump with his base. Fair enough as politics. Pelosi understands that these behaviours force the Democrats to act in order to preserve the constitutional safeguards of restraint on the executive. That overrides any political consideration. Democrats understand that failure to act in the face of these actions would leave Trump unconstrained, and with no limits. What more could he do then?

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Pop star to speak on new book at Whanganui Literary Fest

04 Jul 04:57 PM
Premium
Opinion

Gardening: Pruning deciduous fruit trees and roses

04 Jul 04:00 PM
Premium
Whanganui Chronicle

Nicky Rennie: Navigating the emotional journey of dementia care

04 Jul 04:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Pop star to speak on new book at Whanganui Literary Fest

Pop star to speak on new book at Whanganui Literary Fest

04 Jul 04:57 PM

'This is a new thing for me and I’m just excited to share my story.'

Premium
Gardening: Pruning deciduous fruit trees and roses

Gardening: Pruning deciduous fruit trees and roses

04 Jul 04:00 PM
Premium
Nicky Rennie: Navigating the emotional journey of dementia care

Nicky Rennie: Navigating the emotional journey of dementia care

04 Jul 04:00 PM
'Please do not do it': Man inflicted intense pain on woman during violation

'Please do not do it': Man inflicted intense pain on woman during violation

04 Jul 08:00 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP