Is impeachment a fair process?
What does partisan politics and history tell us about the Trump inquiry?
In the United States, the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump - only the fourth president to face such an investigation - has become the most talked about issue in Washington. At the centre of it is a phone conversation in which president Trump allegedly solicited the help of the Ukrainian president to undermine a political rival. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the Democratic Party controlled lower house of Congress, says that it had to initiate the impeachment investigation because it could not "ignore what the president did". But is there such a thing as a fair and objective way to impeach a president? How important is the court of public opinion and what do events say about America's political divide? Plus, what are the lessons from history? Paul Henley and a panel of expert guests discuss what it takes and what stands in the way of removing an American president from office.
(Photo: A demonstrator showing support for an impeachment hearing in New York. Credit: Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
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Contributors
Congressman Bob Barr - A manager of Bill Clinton's impeachment trial
Jill Wine-Banks - Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutor; MSNBC analyst
Elaine Kamarck - Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; former Clinton official
Jeffrey A Engel - Presidential historian, Southern Methodist University, Dallas
Also featuring
John Dean - Star witness in the impeachment case of Richard Nixon
Broadcasts
- Fri 4 Oct 201908:06GMTBBC World Service
- Fri 4 Oct 201923:06GMTBBC World Service
- Sat 5 Oct 201902:06GMTBBC World Service Australasia & Americas and the Caribbean only
- Sat 5 Oct 201903:06GMTBBC World Service except Americas and the Caribbean & Australasia
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