James Sullivan, writing influential essays under the name of “Cassius,” proclaimed: “Thus we see that no office, however exalted, can protect the miscreant, who dares invade the liberties of his country, or countenance in his crimes the impious villain who sacrilegiously attempts to trample upon the rights of freemen.”15 In my view, this point is central, even defining, because it connects the power of impeachment with the American Revolution itself. On this account, a violation of liberty or rights is an impeachable offense—even if it is not itself a crime.
