Article of impeachment

An article of impeachment is a documented statement which specifies the charges to be tried in an impeachment trial as a basis for removing an officeholder.^[1] Articles of impeachment are an aspect of impeachment processes of many governments that utilize a bifurcated (two-part) impeachment process that sees a vote to "impeach" followed by an impeachment trial on whether to remove an officer.

In an impeachment trial, an article of impeachment serves the same role that an indictment would in a criminal trial.^[1][2] Articles of impeachment are adopted prior to an impeachment trial by the legislative body with authority to invoke the impeachment that triggers the trial. In the trial, the accused party generally attempts to counter the elements of the article(s) of impeachment through arguments.^[1]