treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.Twitterdum and Twitterdee

America's president and Britain's prime minister, two populists, have fallen foul of their country’s institutions. Our latest cover is in two parts:

The promise and perils of Donald Trump's impeachment https://econ.trib.al/M0zEZb0

Boris Johnson's reckoning https://econ.trib.al/IVHp6UN

Twitterdum and Twitterdee

Tweedledum and tweededee,
Agreed to have a battle,
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.
Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), Through a Looking Glass

Treason!!! (19 March 1798)

John Bull emits an explosive bout of flatulence at a poster of George III as an outraged William Pitt the Younger ticks him off.
This etching by English Richard Newton was probably a comment on Pitt's threat (which was enacted the following month) to suspend habeas corpus.

High crimes and misdemeanors ：面臨彈劾調查的特朗普可能犯了什麼 “ 罪 ”

週二，美國眾議院議長佩洛西宣布，將就“烏克蘭電話門”事件對特朗普啟動正式彈劾調查 。什麼是彈劾？根據美國憲法，如果有足夠多的議員投票認定總統犯有“叛國罪、受賄罪和或其他嚴重罪行和不檢行為”(treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors )，國會可以在總統任期未滿前解除其職務。

“ High crimes and misdemeanors ”是一個源自英美法系傳統的術語：幾個世紀以來，英國議會在罷免王室官員時一直援引這類罪行。它意味著政府高級官員濫用權力，但這種行為不一定要違反一般的刑事法規，這讓它與美國法律中一般意義上的“重罪”(felony)區別開來。美國憲法中並沒有對這種以“high crimes and misdemeanors”為名的其他罪行進行具體界定，這使得彈劾總統在法律分析之外，又成了一個關乎政治意願的問題。