Thread by @CredibleIntel

@brianstelter @nytimes The opinion of Roxana Robinson and her associates is fundamentally flawed.

Impeachment is a political - NOT criminal - process.

"High crimes and misdemeanors" in the sense of Impeachment does NOT necessarily mean a "crime" in the criminal law sense has been committed.

@brianstelter @nytimes If proven, "abuse of power" is considered a "high crime" but is NOT necessarily a "criminal act" that can or would be charged in our criminal justice system.

@brianstelter @nytimes Think of the process of Impeachment as something of a separate system of justice whereby the Peoples' legislature acts as something like a Grand Jury, investigating and if warranted bringing charges against a suspect.

@brianstelter @nytimes Context matters. Thus, using terms like "bribery" and "extortion" would be misleading and irresponsible.

Again, Impeachment is a *political mechanism* by which a legislature may bring "charges" against a sitting official and upon conviction remove that official from office.

@brianstelter @nytimes As it pertains to President Trump, he will be "charged" if and when the House formally drafts "Articles of Impeachment". While equally serious, "impeachment" ≠ "criminally charged".

A govt official does NOT need to be "criminally charged" to be impeached & removed from office.

@brianstelter @nytimes When the media and citizenry discuss this Impeachment process, we should be able to do so by drawing clear parallels to our criminal justice process as a means of informing, educating, and contextualizing - without conflating and confusing the distinction between the two.

@brianstelter @nytimes That said, the communication and comprehension impediments as it relates to this Impeachment process are complex, but appear to emanate from a shameful - if not blissful - endemic ignorance of basic US civics among the electorate.

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