Live at the National Constitution Center

Should President Trump Be Impeached? Part One

December 03, 2019

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This week, the National Constitution Center hosted a timely two-part discussion of impeachment. In panel one, leading constitutional scholars break down the facts at the center of the current impeachment inquiry, and share their thoughts on what the Framers of the Constitution might think of whether those facts rise to the level of an impeachable offense under their conception of and the definition of impeachment. They also share their own views on whether or not the President should be impeached. Michael Gerhardt, Kimberly Wehle, Keith Whittington, and John Malcolm join moderator Jeffrey Rosen. Tune back in next week to hear panel two, featuring current and former members of Congress who also debate how they would vote on whether or not to impeach.

This event was generously sponsored by the Rodel Foundation.

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Michael Gerhardt is the Scholar-in-Residence at the National Constitution Center, the Burton Craige Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of North Carolina Law School, and the Richard Beeman Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He frequently appears on CNN as an expert and commentator on the impeachment process.

Keith Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University. He is the author of Repugnant Laws: Judicial Review of Acts of Congress from the Founding to the Present which won the Thomas M. Cooley Book Prize and Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech among other works.

Kimberly Wehle is a law professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, a CBS News legal analyst, and a contributor to both the BBC and The Bulwark. Prior to her academic career, Wehle served as an assistant U.S. attorney and was an associate independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation. She is the author of How to Read the Constitution and Why among other works.

John Malcolm is the Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. In 2019, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans.


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This episode was engineered by Greg Scheckler and Kevin Kilbourne and produced by Jackie McDermott.

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TRANSCRIPT: Download the transcript here.

This transcript may not be in its final form, accuracy may vary, and it may be updated or revised in the future.

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