Impeachments and forced removals from office emerge as partisan weapons in the states

By GARY FIELDS and SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Impeachments are supposed to be for crimes committed in office while recalls are intended to remove elected officials suspected of corruption or gross negligence. But those checks on power are now being weaponized. Partisans are trying to force people from federal, state and local offices simply because they don’t like their positions. Republicans have threatened impeachment in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia, even though none of their targets meet the bar traditionally set for impeachment. Republicans in other states have sought to pry Democrats and nonpartisan executives from office through recalls, legislative maneuvers and forced removals, even when no allegations of wrongdoing have surfaced. To some, these moves appear anti-democratic attempts to nullify voters’ choices.