However, because of Constitutional immunity for the president, the only real remedy for presidential crimes is impeachment and removal. And if a boss such as Clinton can lie under oath about sex with a subordinate in sexual harassment suit and then escape punishment, the victims of sexual harassment will be the losers. House power to impeach and the Senate power to try the president are exclusive powers, and the sanctions of removal and disqualification from office are the only punishments possible. . Senator Robert Byrd, in his masterly history of the Senate, agrees that censure is unconstitutional. I would go further.
Crime is contagious.
If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law. The Constitution stipulates that the House should function as a grand jury. Articles of impeachment function in the same way as counts to an indictment. The House does not determine guilt or impose a penalty but simply defines the articles of impeachment for a trial on the merits in the Senate. The President s popularity or accomplishments are not pertinent to the House s function.