The usual procedure in an impeachment trial of a President is for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to preside. For anyone other than a President, the trial will be presided over by a member of the Senate. In the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, Democratic Senator Patric Leahy, who has already come out in favor of conviction, will preside.
Yes, but Donald Trump is not the President. Donald Trump is a private citizen. So Democrats are trying to impeach a private citizen. The purpose of impeachment is to remove someone from office. Mr. Trump does not hold an office. So on what basis is Mr. Trump being impeached?
Well maybe they are trying to prevent Mr. Trump from holding office again. That didn't work in the case of impeached U.S. District Judge Alcee Hastings. Mr. Hastings was impeached for engaging in a “corrupt conspiracy” to extort a $150,000 bribe in a case he presided over, even though he had been acquitted by a jury for the same charge.
What was Hastings' long term punishment? He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 and was re-elected 13 times after that.
Did I mention that Hastings is a Democrat?
Senator Rand Paul forced a vote in the Senate to declare that the action against Mr. Trump is unconstitutional and that the case should be dismissed. 45 Republican Senators voted for that resolution. Being that the Senate has 100 members and a conviction in the impeachment case requires a 2/3 vote -- or 67 votes -- it is unlikely that the Senate will convict Mr. Trump this time, either.
Hopefully in future years, after the Democratic Party has gone the way of the Whigs, people will look back at these current events as a tragic chapter in our nation's history.
I hope you are sitting down, but just so you know: Mitt Romney (D-Utah) was one of five RINO's who voted against the resolution. Lisa Murkowski was another one.
Shocked! Shocked, I say!
In another example of non-biased news reporting, Vox called the resolution a "stunt." Politics USA has a headline that reads:
The Senate Just Crushed Rand Paul's Bid To Kill Trump's Impeachment.
As I mentioned, 67 votes are needed for a conviction in the impeachment. That means if 34 or more Senators vote against conviction, it fails. 45 Senators voted for Paul's resolution. That would suggest that conviction will fall 11 votes short.
Not exactly what I would call a crushing blow to the resolution.
As a furrener, I'd like to ask what the point of the US constitution is. If is unconstitutional to do "this" and to do "that" why are the powers that be allowed to allowed to do "this" and "that"?
ReplyDeleteSerious question.
That is a question many Americans are asking.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Constitution was written, it was assumed that elected officials would be people who took their oaths seriously. Sadly, that is not the case today.