johnwk said:
What is in dispute is your personal opinion that Representatives and Senators are not civil officers within the meaning of our Constitution,
Nope. That’s not an “opinion.” It’s fact based on the words I quoted from the Constitution itself.
According to your opinion it's a fact.
Having said that, let me take this opportunity to lay out the facts concerning the impeachment of Senator William Blount, with links where the facts are established.
To begin with, the impeachment of Senator Blount revolved around a letter he wrote.
On July 6th, 1797, the then, Attorney General, Mr. Rawle, confirmed the following: that William Blount's letter was a crime, that the crime was that of a misdemeanor, and that William Blount being a Senator, was liable to impeachment for said crime before the Senate.
LINK
And on July 7th, 1797, after debate, the House, which has “sole power” to impeach determined the following:
“Resolved, That William Blount, a Senator of the United States for the State of Tennessee, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors.”
and
“Ordered, That Mr. Sitgreaves do go to the Senate, and, at the bar thereof, in the name of the House of Representatives, and of all the People of the United States, impeach William Blount, a Senator of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors; and acquaint the Senate that this House will, in due time, exhibit particular articles against him, and make good the same.” LINK
And, in compliance with the above order, the House presented
ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST WILLIAM BLOUNT to the Senate.
On July, 8th, the Senate officially expel Blount
LINK
Aside from Blount being expelled by the Senate, the Senate did engage in a lengthy debate concerning constitutional issues involved with the impeachment of Blount. That debate begins
HERE ON PAGE 2248
Among other things, the debate covered whether or not Blount was a “civil officer” within the meaning of our Constitution, but the question was never definitively resolved.
As the proceeding moved forward, the Senate did defeat a resolution that asserted William Blount was an impeachable officer, but in spite of the vote, uncertainty remained if a Senator could be impeached who no longer held their office of public trust (considering Blount had been expelled), and if a Senator, as mentioned in the Constitution, was within the meaning of a “civil officer”.
One
compelling argument made by Senator Bayard, that a member of Congress was within the meaning of “civil officer” was because of existing legislation. That Legislation was enacted, March 1, 1792—
An Act relative to the Election of a President and Vice President of the United States, and declaring the Officer who shall act as President in case of Vacancies in the offices both of President and Vice President. LINK
According to the legislation the “officers” eligible were first the president pro tempore of the Senate, and Speaker of the House second, and as such, they clearly fall within the definition of being officers of the United States.
In conclusion, with respect to the currently unresolved question -
if a member of Congress is within the constitutional meaning of a civil officer - and to avoid supplanting our personal opinions as the rule of law, our only legitimate recourse it to do our best to uncover the evil which our founders were trying to address when including the process of impeachment in our Constitution.
The historical record during the making of our Constitution, along with the ratification debates of our Constitution, provide documentation of the evil being addressed and is shown to be, by a
PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE, that the impeachment provisions were intentionally adopted by our Founders to deal with anyone who abuses their federal public trust.
.