A Quick Guide to Impeachment, in 10 Numbers

From Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton to the alleged crimes of Donald Trump.

Izii Carter

Protesters demand impeachment in New York City on October 13. (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Impeachment has been on Democrats’ minds since the day Donald Trump took office. Rumors had already begun swirling that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to hack the 2016 election; in the ensuing Mueller investigation, Trump was accused of obstructing justice. But that’s not why we now find ourselves in the midst of a formal impeachment inquiry.

In fact, there’s a lot that the current inquiry is not technically about. Like the 2,300 conflicts of interest that have arisen since Trump’s decision not to divest from his businesses during his presidency or the 25 accusations of sexual assault that he has fielded since the 1970s. Not even the tax fraud the President may have committed in 2017.

Instead, the alleged high crime that finally pushed Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings brings us almost entirely full circle: Trump may have asked for a foreign power to help him win the 2020 election. That would be illegal under federal law, says the chair of the Federal Election Commission Ellen Weintraub.

But it may not be enough to remove him from office. Here’s 10 statistics on the history of impeachment and Trump’s alleged crimes today:

  • 3 - Prior presidents who have faced impeachment inquiries: Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton
  • 2 - Presidents impeached by the House but then acquitted by the Senate (Nixon resigned before the House vote)
  • 38% - Public support for removing Nixon from office at the start of his impeachment inquiry
  • 57% - Public support for removing Nixon from office when he resigned 10 months later
  • 34% - Public support for impeaching Clinton throughout the proceedings
  • 49% - Public support for impeaching Trump, compared to 46% opposed
  • 2 - The number of countries Trump has personally invited to investigate his political rival Joe Biden
  • 22 - Foreign governments who have spent money at a Trump property during his presidency, income that arguably violates the Constitution
  • $16,085,911.67 - Money spent by political campaigns and government agencies at Trump-owned properties from April 2015, when Trump hit the campaign trail, to May 2018, as revealed in a June 2018 ProPublica investigation
  • 11 - Times Trump may have obstructed justice, according to the Mueller Report
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Izii Carter is an editorial intern at In These Times.
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