Impeachment was developed in medieval England as a way to discipline the king’s ministers and other high officials. The framers of the US Constitution took that idea and applied it to presidents, judges and other federal leaders.
That tool was in use, and in question, during the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Republicans raised questions about both the constitutionality and the overall purpose of impeachment proceedings against a person who no longer holds office.
Democrats responded that the framers expected impeachment to be available as a way to deliver consequences to a former official and that refusing to convict Trump could open the door to future presidential abuses of power.
An impeachment case that was active in Britain while the framers were writing the US Constitution in Philadelphia helped inform the new American government structure. But the outcome of that case – and that of another impeachment trial a decade later – signalled the end of…