Updated: The ASG Rules Committee issued an official opinion Wednesday stating that the articles of impeachment for Academic Director Mo Safdari were rejected because he is “still fully capable of performing his duties.” Read more here.
Updated 4/21, 12:04 a.m.
The original version of this article stated that a trial would be held. However, the trial needs to be approved by the Rules Committee before it actually happens. The below article has been edited to reflect this.
Both Mo Safdari and Bill Pulte have written letters to North by Northwestern explaining their sides of the situation. Read Safdari’s letter here and Pulte’s letter here.
Associated Student Government may hold an impeachment trial for Academic Director-elect Mo Safdari, possibly as early as Wednesday, according to a memo sent by Senate Speaker Samir Pendse Monday evening. This action came in response to articles of impeachment sent to Pendse last night.
The morning before polls opened for the run-off presidential election between Mike McGee and Bill Pulte last week, Safdari accused Pulte of using “extralegal” tactics to win votes in an e-mail that was forwarded to various listservs on campus. Before opening the polls early Friday morning, the election commission issued a statement saying that the e-mail “had several issues of slander, libel, and defamation” and citing it as a violation against the McGee campaign.
McGee won the run-off election with 60 percent of the vote.
Pendse said the articles would have to go through the Rules Committee, led by Parliamentarian Grace Adamson, before the impeachment trial occurred. If the committee votes to bring the case to a trial, the trial will be held Wednesday. However, there are still open spots left on the committee which need to be filled before the Senate can make a ruling, “which isn’t very timely,” Pendse said.
The articles of impeachment, signed by William J. Upton, Steven Eilers and Alessio Manti, charge Safdari with “unduly and unfairly influencing the outcome of the ASG Presidential and Vice-Presidential run off election.”
“[Mo] Safdari has undermined the integrity of his office, has brought disrepute on the office of Academic Director, has betrayed his trust as Academic Director, has acted in a manner subversive and destructive to the integrity and legitimacy of the Associated Student Government, and to the manifest injury of the students of Northwestern University,” the articles state.
Former ASG Parliamentarian Upton drafted the articles for impeachment, saying that he “absolutely” believed Safdari’s e-mail was responsible for the big gap in voter shares in the presidential run-off.
“Sunday afternoon, I decided that I believed that […] given his actions [Safdari] cannot adequately serve the university nor be an effective lobbying force with the administration because of his tactics,” the Weinberg senior said.
Upton, who was a member of Pulte’s campaign team, added that he had contacted Pulte on Sunday to inform him that he was considering writing the articles, but that the former presidential candidate had not been involved in the process. He also stressed the importance of the issue.
“I just want this to be as fair as possible, and I agree with Samir that this should not be a witch hunt. This is something Senate should be taking very seriously,” Upton said.
According to the memo sent by Pendse, if a trial occurs the articles’ authors will present witnesses before the ASG Senate. Senate members will be allowed to question witnesses and bring their own witnesses to testify. The Senate will then debate in a closed session, and vote on the impeachment.
“There’s really no precedent [for situations like this],” Pendse said. He noted that advisor Mark Witte told him the last time something similar happened was five or six years ago, and the person in question was ultimately not impeached.
Outgoing ASG President Neal Sales-Griffin, a SESP senior, said he has not yet read the articles of impeachment. His only role in the trial, he said, would be to ensure that proceedings are “equitable” and possibly to appoint members to vacant spots of the ASG Rules Committee, the group that will oversee the impeachment hearings.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this, and we just want to get it resolved as soon as possible,” Pendse said. “We just want to move forward.”
When contacted, Safdari said he had no comment at this time but planned to make an official statement later in the evening.
Mike McGee declined to comment for this story.
Megan Friedman and Sam Allard contributed reporting.
Editor's note: This post was updated at 9:20 a.m. on April 28, 2015 for clarity.