1/10. Why does Senator McConnell talk about how he will run the impeachment trial, and why do we listen? He has zero constitutional authority to decide its shape.
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2/10. John Roberts is in charge of the impeachment trial. The Constitution clearly states that if the president is impeached, the chief justice presides.
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3/10. Constitution: “The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside”
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4/10. The impeachment trial is a trial and the senators are all sworn jurors. No special role is foreseen in the Constitution for any specific senator.
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5/10. When you are a juror, you set aside your normal concerns and swear to be impartial. If you are a juror your obligation is to try a case, not advance your interests. The same is true of senators acting as jurors.
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6/10. Senators in an impeachment trial therefore have an exclusively legal responsibility, just as any citizen serving as a juror in a trial would.
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7/10. If we treat the impeachment trial as anything but a trial, we disregard the Constitution and endanger the rule of law and the Republic.
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8/10. If senators say that they regard an impeachment trial as political rather than legal, they have disqualified themselves as jurors.
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9/10. If senators reveal how they will vote before the impeachment trial has taken place, they have disqualified themselves as jurors.
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10/10. Senator McConnell has no constitutional authority to lead an impeachment trial. His constitutional responsibility is to serve as a juror. From that he has disqualified himself.
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Would a trial be preceded by hearings in front of CJ Roberts? Like let’s say hearings about witnesses and subpoenaed documents. If so, wouldn’t the CJ make the decisions in those hearings? And if that’s true, McConnell would not be calling the shots once proceedings were underway
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No. Requests for witnesses go to Roberts but only for recommendation. Majority makes decision.
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