undue Reward," "valuable thing," or valuable consideration, even where "the things were small."[1] The value of the thing was measured by its value to the public official who was offering, soliciting or receiving it.[2] Accordingly, as Professor Turley recognized in his testimony, the common law encompassed non-pecuniary things of value—even including, in the case of King Charles II (as would have been well known to the Framers), "a young French mistress."[3] Consistent with this broad understanding, in guarding against foreign efforts to corrupt American officials, the Constitution forbids any "Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust," from accepting "any present, Office or Title, of any kind whatever, from . . . a foreign State," unless Congress consents.[4] An equally capacious view applies to the impeachable offense of "Bribery."
Applying the constitutional definition of "Bribery" here, there can be little doubt that it is satisfied. President Trump solicited President Zelensky for a "favor" of great personal value to him[5] he did so corruptly[6]. and he did so in a scheme to influence his own official actions respecting the release of military and security assistance and the offer of a White House meeting.[7]
Although President Trump's actions need not rise to the level of a criminal violation to justify impeachment, his conduct here was criminal. In this section we address the federal statute banning bribery; in the next section we address the wire fraud statute. Both of these laws underscore the extent to which Congress and the American people have broadly condemned the use of a public position of trust for personal gain. As this Committee observed decades ago, "[n]othing is more corrosive to the fabric of good government than bribery."<ref>Bribery, Graft, and Conflicts of Interest, H. Rep. No. 87-748, at 6 (1961).</ref. The federal anti-bribery statute imposes up to fifteen years'
- ↑ Pleas of the Crown, ch. 67, § 2; Edward Coke, The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England: Concerning High Treason, and Other Pleas of the Crown, and Criminal Causes 147 (1644).
- ↑ A New Law-Dictionary, at 734 (defining the "Value" of a thing to turn on "the valuation of the owner on it."); see also Com. v. Callaghan, 2 Va. Cas. 460 (1825) (holding that the "corrupt agreement" between two Justices of the Peace to trade votes qualified as a misdemeanor at Common Law).
- ↑ Constitutional Grounds for Impeachment (2019) (written testimony of Professor Jonathan Turley). This case was discussed on multiple occasions at the Constitutional Convention. See, e.g., id. ("Louis XIV bribed Charles II to sign the secret Treaty of Dover of 1670 with the payment of a massive pension and other benefits . . . . In return, Charles II not only agreed to convert to Catholicism, but to join France in a wartime alliance against the Dutch.") (citing George Clark, The Later Stuarts (1660-1714) 86-87, 130 (2d ed. 1956)); 5 Debates in the Several State Conventions, at 343 (recounting Morris's argument that the President should be removable through the impeachment process, noting concern that the President might "be bribed by a greater interest to betray his trust," and pointed to the example of Charles II receiving a bribe from Louis XIV).
- ↑ U.S. Const., art. I, § 9, cl. 8 (emphasis added).
- ↑ July 25 Call Record at 3.
- ↑ Ukraine Report at 140 (referring to President Trump's "scheme" to condition release of military aid and White House meeting on favors to benefit his reelection campaign); see supra at Section III.D.2.
- ↑ Id.; see supra at Section III.D.1.c.
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