The impeachment of the President of the United States is provided for in a small set of clauses of the United States Constitution:

Article 1, Sections 2-3:

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment….

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Article 2, Section 4:

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.

The first passages set forth the procedure under which impeachment occurs. Since impeachment must be initiated by the House and carried out by the Senate, the cooperation of Representatives and Senators is crucial. Unless a number of members of the Republican party in Congress decide to put consideration of high crimes and misdemeanors above party loyalty (an unlikely but not impossible scenario), Democratic majorities in the House and Senate become a prerequisite to the impeachment of George W. Bush. This is one reason why the 2006 congressional elections are so important.

The last passage sets for the condition under which a president may be removed from office under impeachment procedures: “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Has the president committed treason, bribery, or another high crime or misdemeanor? Jonathan Turley, constitutional law professor at George Washington University, believes so. As Professor Turley is quoted regarding the recent ruling by Judge Anna Diggs Taylor:

Jonathan Turley, law professor at George Washington University and a recognized expert on constitutional law, says the ruling Thursday by a federal judge in Detroit raises “serious implications for the Bush administration” and indicates that the President “could well have committed a federal crime at least 30 times.”

“This ruling is a bad situation that just got worse for the White House,” says Turley. “These crimes could constitute impeachable offenses.”

Turley knows a thing or two about the impeachment process. He worked with Special Prosecutor Ken Starr on the investigation that led to impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, in a stinging indictment of Constitutional abuse by the Bush Administration over its use of warrantless wiretaps of American citizens by the National Security Agency, ruled the program violates the Administrative Procedures Act, the doctrine of separation of powers, and the First and Fourth amendments to the Constitution and ordered an immediate halt to the practice.

Judge Anna Diggs Taylor’s ruling that George W. Bush has not only violated the Constitution but broken laws in his program of warrantless wiretapping provides a clear opening for impeachment of George W. Bush and his removal from office. Whether than opening is taken depends on the character and resolve of Congress.