To reassure the electorate there would be accountability at all levels of the government, the Framers introduced early on in the Constitution a mechanism whereby officials could be removed from power regardless of rank. Article I, Section 2, Clause 5: "the House of Representatives ... shall have the sole Power of Impeachment." Article I, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7: "The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments." Article II, Section 4: "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." As to the meaning of "impeachment," there was no need for the Framers to explain it because it is an old term of English law.  The impeachment process was first used in England in 1376 against William Latimer, Fourth Baron Latimer, for a variety of alleged...(Read Full Article)