Reply #63: If the President be connected, in any suspicious manner,

[defendandprotect]

Impeachment criteria: James Madison, from the Virginia ratification convention. "If the President be connected in any suspicious manner with any person and there is grounds to believe that he will shelter him, he may be impeached."



From Judiciary In '74-
"
If The President Be Connected In Any
Suspicious Manner With Any Person..."
The following is from a report written and released by
the Judiciary Committee in 1974 in the aftermath of the Watergate
crisis.

In the (Constitutional) convention George Mason argued that the
President might use his pardoning power to "pardon crimes which were advised
by himself" or, before indictment or conviction, "to stop inquiry and
prevent detection." James Madison responded:

If the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any
person, and there be grounds to believe he will shelter him, the House of
Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty...

....................

Madison went on to say contrary to his position in the Philadelphia
convention, that the President could be suspended when suspected, and his
powers would devolve on the Vice President, who could likewise be
suspended until impeached and convicted, if he were also suspected.

http://www.watergate.info/impeachment/74-07-25_barbara-jordan.shtml