This live conversation at George Washington Law School recaps the arguments presented on both sides of the impeachment trial. GW Law professor Andrew Knaggs – who served in the Trump administration’s Department of Defense – presents arguments against convicting the president, and his colleague Professor Peter Smith – a former Justice Department lawyer – presents pro-conviction arguments. They discuss the facts and circumstances surrounding President Trump’s impeachment, how “mixed motive” situations should be dealt with, what constitutes obstruction of Congress, whether or not impeachable offenses must be crimes, and more. Host Jeffrey Rosen moderates.
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Andrew Knaggs is a professorial lecturer in law at GW and the Republican candidate for Congress in Virginia’s 7th congressional district. Professor Knaggs previously served as a green beret in the U.S. Army Special Forces and was awarded the bronze star, and he served in government as a civilian in multiple capacities. Most recently, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism in the Trump administration. Prior to that, he was the founder and managing partner of Knaggs Law PLLC, based in Washington, D.C.
Peter J. Smith is Arthur Selwyn Miller Research Professor at GW Law where he studies constitutional law. He is the author, with Professor Gregory Maggs, of a casebook on constitutional law as well as numerous other works that have appeared in various law journals. Before joining the GW Law faculty, he was an Attorney on the Civil Appellate Staff at the US Dept. of Justice, where he represented the government in the U.S. Courts of Appeals.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- The Articles of Impeachment against President Trump
This episode was engineered by Greg Scheckler and produced by Jackie McDermott. Research was provided by Lana Ulrich, Nicholas Mosvick, Robert Black, and Ben Roebuck.
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