# Can a sitting U.S. President be removed from office for crimes committed before he was President?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 2, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453 "2019-03-02T23:48:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/1 "2019-03-02T23:48:37Z")
The U.S. Constitution lists treason, bribery, and high crimes and misdemeanors as the grounds for removing someone from office. It’s my understanding that the phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors” refers specifically to _official_ misconduct. But would there be any actions taken before becoming a sworn official that could rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors?
Say, for example, someone won the presidential election who had committed murder during the campaign, but nobody discovered who the murderer was until after inauguration? Would it be constitutionally permissible to remove him from office (the constitution doesn’t list felony as a disqualifier for public office, that I know of), or would the only recourse be at the next election, assuming he properly performs the duties of the office during his term?
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/2 "2019-03-02T23:55:44Z")
Nothing in the Constitution says the “high crimes” have to take place while in office?
Like everything having to do with impeachment, the reality is that it’s a political decision to move forward with it.
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### Author:  [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/3 "2019-03-03T00:27:03Z")
Right. It’s a political issue, not a legal one.
The House could impeach the President for wearing brown socks with black shoes, if they had the votes to do so.
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/4 "2019-03-03T00:34:24Z")
But what if he’s accused of a crime and the House stubbornly refuses to impeach? It doesn’t appear to be a settled matter whether he can be indicted while in office without impeachment, right?
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/5 "2019-03-03T01:32:50Z")
If he committed murder under state law, he could presumably be indicted by the state.
To take a crazy hypothetical, what if the candidate shot someone on 5th Avenue in New York? The local DA would have jurisdiction, even if the Reps in Washington declined to impeach.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/6 "2019-03-03T01:41:08Z")
Wasn’t Trump still under indictment when he was elected, and he had to show up in court?
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/7 "2019-03-03T02:50:27Z")
For what?
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/8 "2019-03-03T03:05:30Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#):
>
> Wasn’t Trump still under indictment when he was elected, and he had to show up in court?
No. He was being sued for a bunch of stuff, tho. The Trump University case settled some time after the election.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/9 "2019-03-03T04:30:00Z")
A president who was a known murderer could be removed from office via use of the 25th Amendment (the VP, a majority of the Cabinet, and two-thirds of each House feel the prez should go).
That’s even more political than impeachment, since the only specification is “unable to discharge the powers and duties” of office. And it’s a lot faster than impeachment and trial.
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/10 "2019-03-03T08:00:52Z")
VP agnew was indicted for bribes he took when he was governor of Maryland and took a plea deal…so I don’t know why the pres couldn’t
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/11 "2019-03-03T14:00:30Z")
Because the Vice President is not the head of the executive, while the President is. The argument is that since the President is ultimately responsible for the execution of the laws, the Attorney General and federal prosecutors cannot use their authority against him, because their authority flows from the President. That’s not the case with the Vice President.
See the [Unitary executive theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory).
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2019, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-sitting-u-s-president-be-removed-from-office-for-crimes-committed-before-he-was-president/830453/12 "2019-03-03T20:42:35Z")
As the saying goes, an impeachable offense is whatever Congress says it is.