Skip to contentExpert Legal Symposium on Impeachment and the Meaning of “Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors”
Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein Present: Expert Legal Symposium on Impeachment and the Meaning of “Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors”
April 8, 2026 9:30AM -1:30 PM
Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2044
Watch a replay of the event at these links:
– The Real News Network: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXKXx3B7ka
– Jessica Denson: https://www.youtube.com/live/2zyQPLDz9yw?si=iJ7ODV0xyR_Ga64B
– Free Speech For People: https://www.youtube.com/live/RTFtydxRAsI?si=-vnUHuWWAo7EZ7HF and https://www.facebook.com/FreeSpeech4People/
Agenda
9:00 am – 9:10 am: OPENING REMARKS BY RALPH NADER
Consumer advocate, lawyer, and author.
9:15 am – 10:25 am: Panel 1 – President Trump’s usurpation of the congressional war power conferred by Article I, section 8, clause 11 exemplified by his gratuitous, ongoing, criminal war of aggression against Iran.
Moderator: Theresa Amato (Opening statement, 10 minutes) Principal, Amato PLLC
Panelists (15 minutes each):
Dennis Kucinich Member of the U.S. House of Representatives 1997–2013, Mayor of Cleveland 1977–79
Doug Bandow Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, specializing in foreign policy and civil liberties
Jeffrey Sterling Lawyer, former CIA officer and whistleblower
Open Q&A (remaining time, approx. 15 minutes)
10:30 am – 11:25 am: Panel 2 – The credible fear that President Trump will obstruct, interfere with, or outright cancel the 2026 midterm elections unless impeached and removed from office.
Moderator: John Bonifaz (Opening statement, 10 minutes)
John Bonifaz is a constitutional attorney and the Co-Founder and President of Free Speech For People.
Panelists (15 minutes each):
Bruce Fein Constitutional Lawyer and scholar, former Assistant Deputy Attorney General and general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission
Oliver Hall: Founder, Executive Director and General Counsel for the Center for Competitive Democracy
Open Q&A (approx. 15 minutes)
11:30 am – 12:25 pm: Panel 3 – President Trump’s industrial scale bribery and extortion exemplified by auctioning pardons, demanding free legal services to escape government retaliation, and conferring government favors or benefits in exchange for donations to Mr. Trump’s sprawling business empire or pet projects like the White House ballroom.
Moderator: Jack Rakove (Opening statement, 10 minutes)
Pulitzer Prize-winning Stanford Professor of History and American Studies, political science and law
Panelists (15 minutes each):
Alan B. Morrison Former Associate Dean for Public Interest & Public Service and professor of civil procedure and constitutional law at GW Law.
Rob Weissman Co-president of Public Citizen, public interest advocate and activist
Open Q&A (approx. 15 minutes)
12:30 pm – 1:15 pm: Statements by Public Scholars, Civic Leaders, Activists and Writers
Moderator: Mark Green (Opening statement, 10 minutes)
Author, Lawyer, and first New York City Public Advocate
Presenters (5 minutes each):
John R. MacArthur Publisher Harper’s Magazine
David Kelley Political Policy Advisor & Writer
Ellen Barfield Co-founder of the Veterans For Peace Women’s Caucus
Jessica Denson Founder of the Removal Coalition
Ben Cohen Co-Founder, Ben & Jerry’s
John Koskinen Former Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
This event is co-sponsored by RootsAction, Free Speech For People, and Essential Information.