Jonah Patel
On December 4, 2019, four constitutional scholars testified before the House Judiciary Committee in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The constitutional scholars were Noah Feldman of Harvard University, Pamela Karlan of Stanford University, Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina, and Jonathan Turley of George Washington University. The hearing was an impeachment inquiry into then-President Donald Trump, focusing on the 'historical and constitutional basis of impeachment.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date | December 4, 2019 |
| Location | Longworth House Office Building, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. |
| Scholars | Pamela Karlan, Michael Gerhardt, Noah Feldman, Jonathan Turley |
| University Affiliation | Stanford University, University of North Carolina, Harvard University, George Washington University |
| Chair | Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) |
| Context | Impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump |
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What You'll Learn
Pamela Karlan, Stanford University law professor
Pamela Susan Karlan is an American legal scholar and professor at Stanford Law School. She is a leading scholar on voting rights and constitutional law. Before joining Stanford Law School in 1998, she was a professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law and served as a law clerk to Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Abraham D. Sofaer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Karlan is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the American Law Institute. She is also a co-director of Stanford's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, where students litigate live cases before the Court. She is one of the nation's leading experts on voting and the political process and has served as a commissioner on the California Fair Political Practices Commission. She has also served as an assistant counsel and cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Karlan has co-authored several leading casebooks on constitutional law, constitutional litigation, and the law of democracy, as well as numerous scholarly articles. She has also written on a range of legal topics for the Harvard Law Review, including tributes to Supreme Court justices, reflections on the careers of Supreme Court justices, and analyses of Supreme Court cases. In addition to her academic work, Karlan has been recognised for her teaching excellence, receiving awards such as the All-University Outstanding Teaching Award and the John Bingham Hurlbut Award for Excellence in Teaching.
On December 4, 2019, Karlan testified before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the constitutional grounds for presidential impeachment in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Her testimony may have been overshadowed by Republican outrage over her mention of Trump's young son, Barron, to illustrate the limits of presidential power. She later apologised for the remark.
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Michael Gerhardt, University of North Carolina law professor
Michael Gerhardt is a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law. He joined the UNC law faculty in 2005 and serves as the Burton Craige Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence. Gerhardt's teachings and research focus on "constitutional conflicts between presidents and Congress".
Gerhardt has an extensive public service record, having testified more than 20 times before Congress. Notably, he was the only joint witness in the Clinton impeachment proceedings in the House and served as special counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee for eight of the nine sitting Supreme Court justices. He has also advised on Supreme Court nominations, including those of Justices Neil Gorsuch, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor.
Gerhardt has authored numerous books, including "The Federal Impeachment Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis" (1996) and "The Forgotten Presidents" (2013). He has also written extensively on constitutional law and history, with publications in leading news outlets such as The New York Times and Washington Post.
In addition to his academic contributions, Gerhardt has applied his expertise outside of UNC. He has informed congressional decisions about U.S. Supreme Court nominees, advised White House officials, and served as a resource on North Carolina legislative issues. He is also the director of content and scholar-in-residence for the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
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Noah Feldman, Harvard University law professor
Noah Feldman, a professor of law at Harvard University, testified before the House Judiciary Committee on December 4, 2019, regarding the constitutional grounds for presidential impeachment in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Chair of the Society of Fellows, and founding director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law at Harvard University. He specializes in constitutional studies, with a particular emphasis on power and ethics, the design of innovative governance solutions, law and religion, and the history of legal ideas.
Feldman earned his A.B. summa cum laude from Harvard, finishing first in his class. He was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and earned a D.Phil. from Oxford University, writing his dissertation on Aristotle's Ethics and its Islamic reception. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as a book reviews editor of the Yale Law Journal. He clerked for Justice David Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court and Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Feldman has published numerous books, including "The Broken Constitution": "Lincoln, Slavery & The Refounding of America" (2021), "The Arab Winter": A Tragedy (2020), "The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President" (2017), and "Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices" (2010). He is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and has written for various publications, including The New York Review of Books and The New York Times Magazine. He also hosts the Deep Background podcast, which explores the historical, scientific, legal, and cultural context behind major news stories.
In addition to his academic and writing pursuits, Feldman has been actively engaged in public affairs. He has been a vocal critic of former President Trump's actions and policies, including the targeting of universities' federal financial aid processes and the dismantling of the Department of Education. He has also advised major companies like Facebook and eBay on ethical decision-making and governance solutions through his consultancy, Ethical Compass.
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Jonathan Turley, George Washington University law professor
Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, is a constitutional law expert who has testified in United States congressional proceedings about constitutional and statutory issues. He has also testified in multiple impeachment hearings and removal trials in Congress, including the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and both the first and second impeachments of President Donald Trump.
Turley is a First Amendment advocate and writes frequently on free speech restrictions in the private and public sectors. He is the author of the book "The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage". As an attorney, Turley has worked on notable cases in civil rights defence, including the defence of Sami Al-Arian, NSA whistleblower David Faulk, protesters at the World Bank/IMF demonstrations in 2000, and the Brown family in their challenge to Utah polygamy laws. He has also served as counsel in a variety of national security and terrorism cases and has been ranked as one of the top 10 lawyers handling military cases.
Turley is a frequent witness before the House and Senate on constitutional and statutory issues, as well as tort reform legislation. He has testified during national controversies, such as the confirmation hearings of Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and Attorney General William Barr. In 2016, he testified in support of the federal court's ruling that the Obama Administration violated the separation of powers by ordering payments to insurance companies without congressional appropriation.
On December 4, 2019, Turley testified before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the constitutional grounds for presidential impeachment in the impeachment inquiry against then-President Donald Trump, arguing against impeachment. He objected to the effort to craft articles of impeachment around four criminal allegations: bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice, and campaign finance violations. He characterized the charges against Trump as a lowering of impeachment standards and argued that the evidence did not meet the standard definitions of those crimes.
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Impeachment of Donald Trump
On December 10, 2019, the House Judiciary Committee announced two articles of impeachment against former US President Donald Trump, citing abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. This was the first impeachment of Donald Trump. The impeachment inquiry featured testimony from four constitutional scholars: Noah Feldman of Harvard University, Pamela Karlan of Stanford University, Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina, and Jonathan Turley of George Washington University.
Noah Feldman, a Harvard Law School professor, and public intellectual, is an expert in constitutional law and the legal aspects of religion. In an opinion piece for Bloomberg, titled "Trump's Quid Pro Quo is Unconstitutional," Feldman asserted that Trump had committed impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors.
Pamela Karlan, a law professor at Stanford School of Law, is the co-author of three books on constitutional law. She served as deputy assistant attorney general during the Obama administration. In her testimony, Karlan drew a parallel between Trump's son Barron and the limits of presidential power, stating, "While the president can name his son Barron, he can't make him a baron."
Michael Gerhardt, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, strongly supported the case against Trump. He asserted that if Trump's actions did not constitute grounds for impeachment, then nothing would.
Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law expert and law professor at George Washington University, was the only witness called by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. Turley had previously testified in the impeachment hearings of former President Bill Clinton. In the case of Trump, Turley accused Democrats of rushing to judgment without sufficient evidence.
Donald Trump was impeached twice during his single term in office but was acquitted on all counts by the Senate. The second impeachment trial began in 2021 after Trump had left office, charging him with incitement of insurrection for urging his supporters to march on the Capitol building. Trump's lawyers argued that the trial was unconstitutional as he was no longer a sitting president. However, many legal experts disagreed, stating that impeachment trials could result in disqualification from holding future office.
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Frequently asked questions
Noah Feldman of Harvard University, Pamela Karlan of Stanford University, Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina, and Jonathan Turley of George Washington University.
Pamela Karlan is a professor at Stanford Law School and is one of the nation's foremost experts on voting laws. She is the co-author of three books on constitutional law. She also served as deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice during the administration of former President Barack Obama.
Michael Gerhardt is a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law. He has testified before Congress more than 20 times and is the author of nine books, including "The Federal Impeachment Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis" and "Lincoln's Mentors".
Jonathan Turley is an American attorney, legal scholar, writer, and legal analyst. He has testified in multiple impeachment hearings and is a First Amendment advocate, frequently writing about free speech restrictions. He is also a professor at George Washington University Law School.
Noah Feldman is a professor at Harvard Law School. He was one of three legal experts chosen by House Democrats to testify during the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
