Perjury as a Ground for Impeachment-A Textual and Contextual Analysis

The Impeachment Clause of the Constitution provides that the President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on conviction of "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."' During the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, a repeated contention was that the crime of perjury falls within this Clause. The modest thesis of this paper is that it does not-that the crime of perjury is not of the same general category as treason and bribery within the meaning of the Constitution.'