“High Crimes and Misdemeanors” sound ominous. But the meaning of this phrase is whatever the political party in power wants it to be.

If we step aside from the political punditry and partisan talk, the impeachment process is relatively straightforward, and the end result has historically been toothless. First, a criminal act (aka ”High Crimes and Misdemeanors”) is not needed to impeach the president. All it takes is any conduct that the majority party in the House believes is violative of one’s duty to country or a breach of the public trust (e.g., corruption, abuse of power, sexual misconduct or any conduct in our ever-relaxing moral compass). This conduct is malleable in the hands of the prosecuting political party. One party’s definition of corrupt intent is another party’s “suggestion”; one party saying abuse of power is another party’s “show of strength.”