Dan Balz: “People can look back to the two previous impeachment proceedings of modern times — those involving Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton — and attempt to speculate about the possible political impacts. Those limited data points point in contradictory directions.”
“Nixon resigned the presidency in August 1974 and thereby escaped being impeached by the full House for abuse of power, obstruction of justice and contempt of Congress. The damage from two years of investigations and revelations, as well as multiple convictions of administration officials, spilled onto his party. Three months after Nixon left office, Republicans lost four seats in the Senate and 49 seats in the House. Two years later, Republicans lost the presidency.”
“Clinton was impeached in the House in December 1998, little more than a month after midterm elections — contests in which the Republicans, who would typically have been expected to make gains, lost ground. The aftershocks from those results proved to be chaotic for the Republicans, who were leading the push to impeach Clinton.”
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