# Do you think a billionaire could buy the presidential election?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-a-billionaire-could-buy-the-presidential-election/392053>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [February 13, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-a-billionaire-could-buy-the-presidential-election/392053 "2007-02-13T19:03:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-a-billionaire-could-buy-the-presidential-election/392053/21 "2007-02-23T02:10:22Z")

</div>

I think for something like this Congress could ram through impeachment between 1/3 and 1/20.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-a-billionaire-could-buy-the-presidential-election/392053/22 "2007-02-23T03:58:39Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Lemur866]  
You wouldn’t need a coup d’etat, even if we assume that we’re bound by whatever decision the electors produce. Congress can simply impeach the putative president-elect before he assumes office.  
[/QUOTE]

Yes, of course, I forgot about impeachment. But are you sure that they really can do it _before_ the president-elect assumes office, or if they’d have to do it just after his inauguration?

Also, I assume our crook would also have bribed the electors to elect his chosen vice-presidential candidate; can Congress impeach them both simultaneously? (I suppose so.)

> [@mlees](#):
>
> I’m gonna guess that a bribery attempt of this magnitude is bound to leak to someone who still cares about the process, and is willing to make noise about it…

Yes, that’s also quite likely.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-a-billionaire-could-buy-the-presidential-election/392053/23 "2007-02-23T16:20:01Z")

</div>

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution states:

\*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. \*

Until he’s sworn in, the President-elect is not the President, so I don’t see how he can be preemptively impeached.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-a-billionaire-could-buy-the-presidential-election/392053.md?page=1)