Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's office came to the conclusion this week that the state's General Assembly does not have the power to remove Gansler from office.
"The Maryland Constitution explicitly states that a 'court of law' is the forum for proceedings to remove an Attorney General," wrote Gansler's counsel Dan Friedman in a letter to House Speaker Michael E. Busch. He points to Article V, section 1 of the Constitution.
Friedman then quoted his 2006 book "The Maryland State Constitution: A Reference Guide" ($136.95 on Amazon). "The Attorney General may only be removed by a court proceeding for the specified grounds, not by impeachment by the legislature," wrote Friedman. As an aside, Friedman wrote the book before he was hired into the AG's office.
Why are we talking about impeaching Gansler? Last week Republican Del. Don Dwyer became angry that the AG issued an opinion saying out-of-state same-sex marriages should be honored here and threatened to begin impeachment proceedings against Gansler. The exchange prompted a candidate for Dwyer's seat to challenge him to a debate.
And Dwyer was outraged today by the letter from Gansler's office.
"I was not surprised to see that Attorney General Gansler opposes his own impeachment," Dwyer said in a statement. "What is surprising is that Dan Friedman (Council [sic] to the General Assembly) who wrote the letter, refers to the book, Dan Friedman, The Maryland State Constitution: A Reference Guide as the basis for his opinion that the Attorney General may not be impeached or removed by the legislature."