Malfeasance in Office and Obstruction of Congress.
Abuse of power or
abuse of authority, in the form of "
malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an
unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasance in office is often a
just cause for removal of an elected official by
statute or
recall election. Officials who abuse their power are often
corrupt.
[1][2][3]
In the United States, abuse of power has been cited in the
impeachment of at least five federal officials. Two of these (Judge
George English and President
Richard Nixon) resigned before their trial in the Senate could take place, and two others were acquitted by the Senate. The first impeachment trial of President
Donald Trump concluded with the president being found not guilty on both
articles of impeachment with one of them being the charge of abuse of power. At the state level, Governor
Rod Blagojevich of Illinois was impeached and unanimously removed from office by the Illinois Senate in 2009 for offenses including abuse of power.
Republicans have been trying to impeach Democratic Presidents since Nixon.