THE ASHLEY INDICTMENT.
The initiation of formal proceedings for the impeachment and removal of
President Johnson occurred in the House of Representatives on January
7th, 1867, in the introduction of three separate resolutions for his
impeachment, by Messrs. Loan and Kelso, of Missouri, and Mr. Ashley of
Ohio. As Mr. Ashley's Resolution was the only one acted on by the House,
only the proceedings had thereon are here given, as follows:
Mr. Speaker:--I rise to perform a painful but, nevertheless, to me, an
imperative duty; a duty which I think ought not longer to be postponed,
and which cannot, without criminality on our part, be neglected. I had
hoped, sir, that this duty would have devolved upon an older and more
experienced member of this House than myself. Prior to our adjournment I
asked a number of gentlemen to offer the resolution which I introduced,
but upon which I failed to obtain a suspension of the rules.
Confident, sir, that the loyal people of this country demand the
adoption of some such proposition as I am about to submit, I am
determined that no effort on my part shall be wanting to see that their
expectations are not disappointed. * * * On my responsibility as a
Representative, and in the presence of this House, and before the
American people, I charge Andrew Johnson, Vice President and acting
President of the United States, with the commission of acts which in
contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and misdemeanors, for
which, in my judgment, he ought to be impeached. I therefore submit the
following:
I do impeach Andrew Johnson, Vice President and acting President of the
United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors:
I charge him with a usurpation of power and violation of law:
In that he has corruptly used the appointing power;
In that he has corruptly used the pardoning power;
In that he has corruptly used the veto power;
In that he has corruptly disposed of public property of the United
States;
In that he has corruptly interfered in elections, and committed acts
which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and
misdemeanors: Therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That the Committee on the Judiciary be, and they are
hereby, authorized to inquire into the official conduct of Andrew
Johnson, Vice President of the United States, discharging the powers and
duties of the office of President of the United States, and to report to
this House, whether, in their opinion, the said Andrew Johnson, while in
said office, has been guilty of acts which are designed or calculated to
overthrow, subvert, or corrupt the Government of the United States, or
any department or office thereof; and whether the said Andrew Johnson
has been guilty of any act, or has conspired with others to do acts,
which, in contemplation of the Constitution, are high crimes and
misdemeanors, requiring the interposition of the constitutional power of
this House; and that said committee have power to send for persons and
papers, and to administer the customary oath to witnesses.
The question was taken on agreeing to the Resolution; and it was decided
in the affirmative--yeas 107, nays 39, not voting 45.
On the 2nd of March, 1867, the subject of impeachment again came up in
the House, and the following proceedings were had:
Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, (Rep.)--I am directed by the Committee on the
Judiciary to present a report relative to the official conduct of the
President of the United States.
Mr. Eldridge, (Dem.)--Mr. Speaker, I wish to raise a question of order:
I see by the clock that it is almost three o'clock in the morning; and
I believe this is the Sabbath day. I think we should not do any more
business tonight, except it be business of necessity or charity.
The Speaker.--This, in parliamentary view, is Saturday. The clerk will
read the report submitted by the gentleman from Iowa.
The clerk read as follows:
The Committee on the Judiciary, charged by the House with examination
of certain allegations, of high crimes and misdemeanors against the
President of the United States, submit the following report:
On the 7th day of January, 1867, the House, on the motion of the Hon.
James M. Ashley, a Representative from the State of Ohio, adopted the
following preamble and resolutions, to-wit:
The duty imposed upon this committee by this action of the House, was
of the highest and gravest character. No committee during the entire
history of the Government, has ever been charged with a more important
trust. The responsibility which it imposed was of oppressive weight,
and of a most unpleasant nature. Gladly would the committee have escaped
from the arduous labor imposed upon it by the Resolution of the House;
but once imposed, prompt, deliberate, and faithful action, with a view
to correct results, became its duty, and to this end it has directed its
efforts.
Soon after the adoption of the Resolution by the House, Hon. James M.
Ashley communicated to the committee, in support of his charges
against the President of the United States, such facts as were in his
possession, and the investigation was proceeded with, and has been
continued almost without, a day's interruption. A large number of
witnesses have been examined, many documents collected, and everything
done which could be done to reach a conclusion of the case. But the
investigation covers a broad field, embraces many novel, interesting,
and important questions, and involves a multitude of facts, while
most of the witnesses are distant from the Capital, owing to which the
committee, in view of the magnitude of the interests involved in its
action, have not been able to conclude its labors, and is not therefore
prepared to submit a definite and final report. If the investigation had
even approached completeness, the committee would not feel authorized
to present the result of the House at this late period of the session,
unless the charges had been so entirely negative as to admit of no
discussion, which, in the opinion of the committee, is not the case.
Certainly no affirmative report could be properly considered in the
expiring hours of this Congress.
The committee not having fully investigated all the charges prepared
against the President of the United States, it is deemed inexpedient to
submit any conclusion beyond the statement that sufficient testimony has
been brought to its notice to justify and demand a further prosecution
of the investigation.
The testimony which the committee has taken will pass into the custody
of the Clerk of the House, and can go into the hands of such committee
as may be charged with the duty of bringing this investigation to a
close, so that the labor expended upon it may not have been in vain.
The committee regrets its inability definitely to dispose of the
important subject committed to its charge, and presents this report for
its own justification, and for the additional purpose of notifying the
succeeding Congress of the incompleteness of its labors, and that they
should be completed.
James F. Wilson, Chairman. Francis Thomas, D. Morris, F. E. Woodbridge,
George S. Boutwell, Thomas Williams, Burton C. Cook, William Lawrence,
Mr. Ancona, the only Democrat on the committee, presented a minority
report, as follows:
The subscriber, one of the Judiciary Committee, to which was referred by
the House the inquiry into the official conduct of His Excellency, the
President of the United States, with a view to his impeachment upon
certain charges made by Hon. James M. Ashley, begs leave to submit the
following report:
The Committee refuses to allow a Report to be made giving to the House
at this time upon grounds which are no doubt satisfactory to themselves;
therefore, I cannot report the evidence upon which my conclusion is
based, which I would gladly do did the Committee deem it expedient. The
examination of witnesses and the records was commenced, as appears by
the majority report, about the time of the reference, to-wit: on the 7th
day of January, 1867, and continued daily. A large number of witnesses
has been examined, and everything done that could be, to bring the case
to a close, as appears by the majority report: and the majority have
come to the conclusion "that sufficient testimony had been brought
to its notice to justify and demand a further prosecution of the
investigation." I have carefully examined all the evidence in the case,
and do report that there is not one particle of evidence to sustain any
of the charges which the House charged the Committee to investigate,
and that the case is wholly without a particle of evidence upon which
impeachment could be founded, and that with all the effort that has been
made, and the mass of evidence that has been taken; the case is entirely
void of proof. I furthermore report that the most of the testimony that
has been taken is of a secondary character, and such as would not be
admitted in a court of justice.
In view of this conclusion I can see no good in a continuation of the
investigation. I am convinced that all the proof that can be produced
has been before the Committee, as no pains have been spared to give the
case a full investigation. Why, then, keep the country in a feverish
state of excitement upon this question any longer, as it is sure to end,
in my opinion, in a complete vindication of the President, if justice be
done him by the committee, of which I have no doubt,
A. J. Rogers.
The two reports were ordered printed and laid on the table.
This session of the House, and with it the Thirty-Ninth Congress, ended
a few hours later, the legislative day continuing till twelve o'clock,
noon, on Sunday, March 3rd. The House adjourned sine die at that hour,
when all unfinished business lapsed.
RENEWAL OF THE IMPEACHMENT.
The first session of the Fortieth Congress began on Monday, March 4th,
1867, and on the 7th, in the House of Representatives, Mr. Ashley (Rep.)
offered the following Preamble and Resolutions:
Whereas the House of Representatives of the Thirty-Ninth Congress
adopted, on the 7th of January, 1867, a Resolution authorizing an
inquiry into certain charges preferred against the President of the
United States; and whereas the Judiciary Committee, to whom said
Resolution and charges were referred, with authority to investigate
the same, were unable for want of time, to complete said investigation
before the expiration of the Thirty-Ninth Congress; and whereas in the
report submitted by said Judiciary Committee on the 2nd of March they
declare that the evidence taken is of such a character as to justify and
demand a continuation of the investigation by this Congress; therefore:
Be it Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the Judiciary
Committee, when appointed, be, and they are hereby, instructed to
continue the investigation authorized in said Resolution of Jan. 7th,
1867, and that they have power to send for persons and papers, and to
administer the customary oath to witnesses; and that the committee have
authority to sit during the sessions of the House and during any recess
which Congress or this House may take.
Resolved, That the Speaker be requested to appoint the Committee on the
Judiciary forthwith, and that the Committee so appointed be directed
to take charge of the testimony taken by the Committee of the last
Congress; and that said Committee have power to appoint a clerk at a
compensation not to exceed six dollars per day, and employ the necessary
stenographers.
At the close of the debate on Mr. Ashley's Resolution, it was adopted
without a division, its form being changed to the following:
Resolved, That the Committee on Judiciary be requested to report on
the charges against the President as aforesaid, on the first day of the
meeting of the House after the recess hereafter to be determined.
Congress adjourned a few days later. It re-assembled on the 3rd of July,
and on the 11th the following resolutions was offered by Mr. Stevens,
(Rep.) of Pennsylvania:
Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
Resolution and Documents relative to the Impeachment of the President,
be directed to report the evidence at this session, with leave to make
further report if they shall deem proper.
That the impeachment enterprise was waning, and that its forces had
received little encouragement during the recess of the Congress that had
just closed, was evidenced by the fact that there could not be mustered
ayes enough to put the resolution to a vote, and Mr. Wilson, of Iowa,
moved the following substitute:
Resolved, That the Committee on Judiciary be, and they are hereby,
authorized and directed to have the usual number of copies of the
evidence taken by said committee relative to the Impeachment of the
President, printed and laid on the desks of Members of the House on the
first day of the next Congress, whether adjourned or regular.
The Resolution was adopted by a vote of 85 to 48, whereupon Mr. Stevens
dejectedly remarked that, "after the vote which had been taken on this
resolution, indicating the views of a majority of the House in regard to
it, I am willing to abandon it. I therefore move that the Resolution as
amended be laid on the table," which motion was agreed to.
On the 15th of July, 1867, Mr. Farnsworth, (Rep.) of Illinois, offered
the following resolution and demanded the previous question thereon:
Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from
the further consideration of the question of the Impeachment of the
President of the United States, and that the testimony already taken by
said committee be printed for the use of the House.
The resolution was not seconded, and went over under the rules.
On the 25th of Nov. 1867, Mr. Boutwell (Rep.), on behalf of the
Judiciary Committee, submitted the report of the majority of that
committee, of the testimony taken in behalf of the proposed impeachment
of the President. The report recommended his impeachment.
Mr. Wilson, submitted the report of the minority of the Committee
(himself and Mr. Woodbridge), and moved the adoption of the following
resolution:
Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from the
further consideration of the proposed impeachment of the President of
the United States, and that the subject be laid upon the table.
Mr. Marshall, on behalf of himself and Mr. Eldridge, the two Democratic
members of the committee, stated that though they had not signed the
minority report submitted by Mr. Wilson, they joined in support of
the resolution submitted by him, and asked leave to introduce and have
printed separate views.
This, the first session of the Fortieth Congress, then adjourned, Dec.
2nd, 1867.
The second session of the Fortieth Congress was begun on the same day,
and on the 5th, the impeachment question came up in its order in the
House, on the resolution reported from the Judiciary Committee:
That Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of
high crimes and misdemeanors.
After a brief discussion of the order of business, the House adjourned
for that day.
The debate was closed on the 6th, by Messrs. Boutwell and Wilson,
the members of the Committee on the Judiciary having Charge of the
impeachment measure. The closing passages of Mr. Boutwell's speech were
as follows:
What is our position to-day? Can this House and the Senate, with the
knowledge they have of the Presidents purposes and of the character
of the men who surround him, give him the necessary power? (to remove
alleged dishonest officials.) Do they not feel that if he be alloyed
such power these places will be given to worse men? Hence, I say that
with Mr. Johnson in office from this time until the 4th of March, 1869,
there is no remedy for these grievances. These are considerations why we
should not hesitate to do that which justice authorizes us to do if we
believe that the President has been guilty of impeachable offenses.
Mr. Speaker, all rests here. To this House is given by the Constitution
the sole power of impeachment; and this power of impeachment furnishes
the only means by which we can secure the execution of the laws, and
those of our fellow citizens who desire the administration of the law
ought to sustain this House while it executes that great law which is in
its hands and which is nowhere else, while it performs a high and solemn
duty resting on it by which that man who has been the chief violator of
law shall be removed, and without which there can be no execution of the
law any where. Therefore the whole responsibility, whatever it may be,
for the non-execution of the laws of the country, is, (in the presence
of these great facts) upon this House. * * * I think that we can not do
otherwise than believe, that he has disregarded that great injunction of
the Constitution to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,
that there is but one remedy. The remedy is with this House, and it is
nowhere else. If we neglect or refuse to use our powers when the
case arises demanding decisive action, the Government ceases to be a
Government of law and becomes a Government of men.
Mr. Wilson, Chairman of the Committee, closed the debate in the
following remarks:
The gentleman from Massachusetts has remarked that the President may
interfere with the next Presidential election in the Southern States;
that he may station soldiers at the voting places and overawe the loyal
people of those States, especially the colored vote: and we must, I
suppose, guard against the possibility of this by his impeachment
and removal from office. This position, if I state it correctly, is
startling. Are we to impeach the President for what he may do in
the future? Do our fears constitute in the President high crimes and
misdemeanors? Are we to wander beyond the record of this case and found
our judgment on the possibilities of the future? This would lead us
beyond the conscience of this House.
Sir, we must be guided by some rule in this grave proceeding--something
more certain than an impossibility to arraign the President for a
specific crime--and when the gentleman from Massachusetts, in commenting
on one of the alleged offenses of the President, that we could not
arraign him for the specific crime, he disclosed the weakness of the
case we are now considering. If we cannot arraign the President for a
specific crime, for what are we to proceed against him? For a bundle of
generalities such as we have in the volume of testimony reported by the
committee to the House in this case? If we cannot state upon paper a
specific crime, how are we to carry this case to the Senate for trial?
At the close of his speech, Mr. Wilson moved to lay the subject of
impeachment on the table, and the yeas and nays were ordered.
Several motions were then made--to adjourn, to adjourn to a day certain,
etc.--which with roll calls practically consumed the day, and the motion
of Mr. Wilson went over.
The next day, Dec. 7th, the question again came up in its order, and
after several unsuccessful attempts to procure a vote on Mr. Wilson's
motion to lay the Impeachment Resolution on the table, Mr. Wilson, by
agreement, withdrew his motion, and called for the yeas and nays on the
adoption of the resolution:
That Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached for
high crimes and misdemeanors.
The yeas and nays were ordered, and the vote was yeas 57, nays 108.
So the resolution to impeach the President was rejected by the very
emphatic vote of 67 to 108--nearly two to one--and by a House two-thirds
Republican.
So ended the first effort to impeach the President--the first formal
action to that end having been taken on January 7, 1867, and the final
vote at the close, and its abandonment, December 7, 1867.
For eleven months the overwhelming Republican majority of the House had
been vigorously active in its search for evidence of criminality on the
part of the President that would warrant the basing of an impeachment.
No effort was left untried--no resource that promised a possible hope of
successful exploitation was neglected. Republican partisans were set to
the work of sleuth-hounds in the search for testimony in maintenance of
the charges preferred, and an ever ready partisan press teemed from the
beginning to the end of that time with animadversions upon Mr. Johnson's
administration and denunciation of his alleged desertion of Mr.
Lincoln's plan of restoration, of treachery to the party that had
elected him, and a demand for his impeachment.
To be lukewarm in that controversy, or even to fail to join in the
popular denunciation of Mr. Johnson was to put one's self at once under
suspicion with the great mass of the dominant party, and without the
pale of its consideration.
For eleven months the country was kept in the throes of partisan
turmoil--and for what? Simply to depose a President who had disappointed
the partisan and personal expectations and schemes of a rule or ruin
faction which was able, under the peculiar conditions of the time, to
subordinate to its purposes a large proportion of the dominant party of
that day.
The following are the material portions of the testimony taken by the
House Committee on the Judiciary under authority of the resolutions
passed by the House of Representatives on March 7, 1867, for the
impeachment of Andrew Johnson.
Eighty-nine witnesses were summoned before the committee. All of them
were rigidly examined, and several of them were called and examined the
second and third times. Their testimony fills more than twelve hundred
octavo pages of print.
The first witness was Gen. L. C. Baker, of the War Department. His
testimony related principally to a certain letter alleged to have been
written by Mr. Johnson, in 1864.
The first question propounded to him by Mr. Ashley, was as follows:
I wish you to state to the committee the contents, as nearly as you
can, of a letter which you have in your possession, written by Andrew
Johnson, some time in the early part of 1864, to a Southern man, giving
information as to the troops about the Capitol and elsewhere, and advice
to Jefferson Davis. State where that letter is, and give the contents as
nearly as you can, the history of it.
Mr. Baker answered that he knew there was a letter of that kind,
purporting to have been written by Andrew Johnson, when he was acting
Governor of Tennessee. That the letter was dated at Nashville and
directed to Jefferson Davis, and related to some declared policy that
had been adopted by the Confederacy--that the letter was being used to
secure an appointment--that reference was made to troops, but nothing
about localities where stationed, or numbers, and nothing about shipment
of armor, and that the letter was stolen from Andrew Johnson's table and
never sent.
The question was then asked of the witness by Mr. Ashley:
State whether the whole import of the letter written by Mr. Johnson,
was not to turn the whole power which he possessed in Tennessee, in a
certain contingency, over to the rebel cause?
Answer--No. I did not have that opinion of the letter exactly. From what
I recollect of it, the thing was that he was making a proposition making
suggestions as to what their policy should be.
Ques.--And if they accepted it?
Ans.--If they accepted it, my impression was that he was going with
them.
Ques.--With the rebels?
Ans.--Yes sir.
Question by the Chairman.--If there are any other letters that you have
seen of Mr. Johnson's written by him to any person connected with the
Confederate Government, or proposing to change the Administration of the
Government in their favor after he became President, or anything of a
public nature affecting the interests of the United States, please state
it and state all you know about such letters.
Ans.--I do not know of any letters of that character--or of any other
letters.
This constituted the substance of Gen. Baker's testimony. His
examination was very lengthy, embracing more of this character of
testimony, and about pardon brokerage, and other alleged corrupt
practices--all evidencing a determination and expectation to fix upon
Mr. Johnson a disposition to disloyalty and corruption, both before
and after his succession to the Presidency, but no such testimony was
obtained.
A considerable portion of the investigation was devoted to Mr. Johnson's
business and personal affairs, such as could have no possible connection
with or indicate implication in corrupt or disloyal practices of any
sort.
A strenuous effort appears to have been made by the Committee throughout
a long and searching examination of witnesses, and constitutes a
conspicuous feature of that investigation, to establish the charges
of corruption and disloyalty in the sale of public property, railways,
etc., that had been constructed and equipped, or seized and operated, by
the Government in connection with its military operations in the South.
Such an accusation had been made with great pertinacity by Mr. Johnson's
opponents, and was also then believed by a great many people to be true.
Among the parties examined by the committee, were Mr. James and Mr.
Burns, of Nashville, Tenn., and Senator Fowler, of that State, and
also the Secretary of war, Mr. Stanton. No facts whatever were elicited
showing a privity to corruption in these matters on the part of Mr.
Johnson.
The information obtained from Mr. Stanton, however, put an effectual
estoppel to further investigation of the charge of corrupt or disloyal
disposal of public property by the President. The following are extracts
from Mr. Stanton's testimony, as given on February 11, 1867:
Shortly after the surrender of the rebel armies, the attention of the
War Department was directed to the proper disposition to be made of the
railroads and railroad stock throughout the rebel States which came into
our possession, either by capture or construction. It was the subject of
a good deal of consultation and conference between the Secretary of War
and the Quartermaster General. It was the opinion of the Secretary
of War that it was wholly impracticable for the General Government to
operate these roads under any system, and that it would be greatly to
the advantage of the country to make such disposition as would allow
them, its speedily as possible, to become what they were designed for
channels of commerce and trade between the States, and that any terms on
which that could be done would be advantageous. This was especially the
case in regard to the Western and Southwestern roads, where it was said
there were large amounts of cotton that would be available to remove
North, in exchange for supplies to go South, of which it was said they
were greatly in want.
Ques.--In case of the construction of a railroad by the Government,
the Government furnishing the material and the labor, what has been the
custom of the Department in surrendering such roads to the companies
claiming them?
Ans.--In all instances, I think such roads have been surrendered in
the same manner as if they had been constructed by the companies. That
subject was talked of a good deal in conference between myself and the
Quartermaster General. My own views, that the great object on the part
of the Government, was to get these roads operated; and that to go
into an inquiry as to the cost of construction, would be impracticable,
either as to the cost of construction or as to any certain rule of
compensation, because many of them were constructed under the pressure
of war, and for temporary Purposes. The object of arriving at the cash
value or equivalent for the roads was not only impracticable, but really
of very little practical interest in comparison with the great end of
having the channels of commerce in the rebel states opened and carried
on, with a view of getting out their produce, furnishing supplies, and
getting commerce in its regular channels. In my own view, that appeared
to be the most, certain and most speedy system of reconstruction we
could adopt, and that it would tend more to establish harmony than any
other thing that could be done by the Government. In view of all this,
and after the most deliberate consideration we could give it, it was the
opinion of the Quartermaster General and myself--certainly my own--that
it would be impracticable to make any distinction: and so far as I know,
no distinction was made in any part of the country in reference to roads
built by the Government and roads that had been constructed by Companies
before the war commenced.
Mr. Stanton was asked this question:
Suppose the Government, at his own expense, had constructed seventy
miles of railroad in one of the rebel States, and that, at the close
of the war, a company should apply to the Executive Department of the
Government for a transfer of the road so constructed to it; by what
authority or provision of law would Executive Department be authorized
to transfer the road so constructed to the company making the
application?
Mr. Stanton answered:
I do not know of any act of Congress that directly, in terms, would
authorize any such transfer; but regarding the construction of the road,
in time of war, simply as a means, or instrument, of carrying on war,
when the war was over I would consider it strictly proven and within
the scope of the power of the General Commanding, or especially of the
President of the United States, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army,
to render that instrument as available for peace purposes as possible.
And inasmuch as the road would be entirely useless unless it was
operated, and it would be for the benefit and interest of the public,
to have it operated as speedily as possible, I think it would be in the
interest of a wise discretion, and exercising proper authority, to turn
over that road to any company or individual who would operate it; for,
in that way, he would be applying the war material to the only available
use to which it could be applied. * * * I would regard the rolling stock
as coming, to a certain extent, within the same principle. * * * No
transfer of title was at any time made, so far as I know, or could be
made, but only possession turned over. When the military use was no
longer required, the railroads were turned over to their original
owners, or their representatives, with permission to use them. These
railroads, their plant and track fixtures, real property, of which the
military authorities had only the possessory right and use, but the
rolling stock and equipments, and iron not laid down, were personal
property, which, by capture, or purchase, or construction, belonged to
the United States. Sale could be made, and was made, of the personal
property at values estimated by the proper officers. That which
constituted real estate, to-wit, the railroad track, fixtures, etc., the
military authorities might abandon altogether, or relinquish control and
turn over possession to those who would make a beneficial use of it by
working the road. Being in the nature of real estate, no title of
the Government or of other persons could be divested and conveyed
by military authority, but only the control relinquished and the use
permitted during the existence of military authority in the department
where the roads were situated.
The trend of a large portion of the testimony of witnesses called
by this committee to testify as to the charges preferred against Mr.
Johnson and relating to other allegations of the indictment, quite
clearly indicated that the charges were based solely upon common street
rumor, invented and given currency in partisan antagonism and for
partisan purposes, and that the witnesses were called in the hope and
expectation, on the part of the majority of the House, of developing
proof of disloyalty and corruption on the part of the President, and,
if not criminal connivance, at least, criminal knowledge of a conspiracy
for the assassination of Mr. Lincoln.
But these expectations and hopes, in all respects, were so utterly
disappointed, that there was pathos, at least, as the investigation
was protracted from month to month, with no indication of the hoped for
development, in the despondent inquiry of Mr. Thaddeus Stevens to one of
his colleagues of the Impeachment Committee, as the inquest approached
a close without results--"Well, HAVE YOU GOT ANYTHING, ANYHOW?" It was
more an ejaculation of anger and disgust at failure, than a query of one
seeking hoped for information.