There is a false narrative being pushed by both politicians and pundits that there is no basis for an inquiry, let alone an impeachment, unless a direct payment or gift can be shown to Joe Biden. That would certainly strengthen the case politically, but it is not essential legally. Even in criminal cases subject to the highest standard, payments to family members can be treated as benefits to a principal actor. Direct benefits can further strengthen articles of impeachment, but they would not be a prerequisite for such an action.

For example, in Ryan v. United States, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of George Ryan, formerly Secretary of State and then governor of Illinois, partly on account of benefits paid to his family, including the hiring of a band at his daughter’s wedding and other “undisclosed financial benefits to him and his family and to his friends.” Criminal cases can indeed be built on a “stream of benefits” running to the politician in question, his family, or his friends.

That is also true of past impeachments. I served as lead counsel in the last judicial impeachment tried before the Senate. My client, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, had been impeached by the House for, among other things, benefits received by his children, including gifts related to a wedding.

One of the jurors in the trial was Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who voted to convict and remove Porteous. Menendez is now charged with accepting gifts of vastly greater value in the recent corruption indictment.

[The Porteous precedent matters, but the problem here is that Turley is (understandably) approaching this as an attorney. Impeaching and removing a president are political acts that merely use legal forms for a process. It is one thing to remove an appointed lifetime-term federal judge who never got elected and whose removal would only lightly impact the body politic. It is another entirely to remove an elected president, a singular executive whose removal would have dramatic impact both in the moment and for years afterward. To make that succeed, the *political* case for removal will have to be exceptionally strong, and that would only be the case if investigators can directly tie Joe Biden to the cash. — Ed]