An Impeachment Trial Recap

We the People

National Constitution Center

News Commentary, News, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2020

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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. Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Jeffrey Rosey, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center and
0:08.0	welcome to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate. The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan
0:15.3	nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase awareness and understanding of the
0:20.7	Constitution among the American people.
0:23.8	We the people listeners, I'm coming to you today
0:25.8	from George Washington Law School in Washington, D.C.
0:28.7	My home law school, where I've been privileged
0:30.8	to teach for many years, and I'm joined by two of my GW colleagues
0:35.4	to debate the issue of the month, perhaps the issue of the year,
0:40.2	and that is the constitutional and legal arguments for and against impeachment.
0:45.0	As we gather today, the Senate is in the final stages of its impeachment debate about whether or not to hold witnesses.
0:52.0	By the time you hear this
0:53.3	podcast the impeachment may or may not be resolved and our goal is to introduce
0:58.6	you to the best constitutional and legal arguments on both sides and I'm joined by Andrew Nags, who's an adjunct professorial
1:06.1	lecturer here at GW.
1:07.5	He teaches a class in national security
1:09.5	and operations regulation law and policy.
1:12.9	He's also the Republican candidate for Congress
1:15.0	in Virginia's seventh congressional district.
1:17.4	He served as many leadership roles
1:20.1	at the Department of Defense.
1:21.2	Most recently, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and combating terrorism.
	...

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