“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: And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.” -Article 1, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution
Assuming a majority of House members vote to impeach, the Constitution requires that a trial, as you can read above, be held in the Senate. As I understand it, the format for that trial is relatively flexible, with a few exceptions that have either been outlined by our founders or written into law over the past several hundred years. Most notably, the trial would have to be presided over by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, with the members of the Senate serving as the jury. And, as noted above, prior to the trial, every member of the U.S. Senate would be required to raise his or her right hand and swear a special oath. The oath reads as follows – “I solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of Donald J. Trump, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God.”
So, to recap, the members of the Senate, before being empaneled on the jury have to swear to their impartiality, and their willingness to consider the evidence objectively… The problem is, some Republicans have already indicated that they have no intention of honoring this solemn pledge to provide “impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws.” Here, for instance, is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Fox News this past Friday, admitting that he won’t be considering the evidence impartially, but instead “coordinating” Donald Trump’s defense with the White House, essentially ceding the constitutional role of Congress to provide a check on the Executive.
Mitch McConnell: Everything I do during this, I’m coordinating with White House Counsel. There will be no difference between the President’s position and our position as to how to handle this pic.twitter.com/baFaTKWvUl
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) December 13, 2019
[Even Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee, has come out to say that McConnell’s position here directly contradicts the special oath these Senators will be taking. “So ya’ll be lying when you say these words?,” Steele said on Twitter.]
In more normal times, a Senator who said such a thing would likely be forced to recuse himself from the proceedings. It’s contrary not only to the special oath discussed above, but to the very constitutional underpinnings of the institution itself. The Senate is not subservient to the President of the United States. Congress, according to the the Constitution, is a co-equal branch, and the oversight responsibility afforded to Congress is core to our democracy… It’s essentially what stands between us and despotism. And, in the above quote, Mitch McConnell is clearly stating that he has no intention of taking this role – the role outlined in the Constitution – seriously.
And McConnell is not alone. In a CNN interview yesterday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, “I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here,” going on to predict that Donald Trump’s impeachment would “die quickly” in the Republican led Senate… Michigan Congressman Justin Amash, who was recently driven out of the Republican Party for his refusal to kowtow to Donald Trump, responded by saying, “Senator Graham has chosen to violate his oath to support and defend the Constitution, his oath to do impartial justice in an impeachment trial, and his duty to represent all the people of his state, not just those who share his political views or desire a particular outcome.”
So we have at least two Republican Senators now stating on the record that they have every intention of not being ‘fair juror(s)’ in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The question is, what can we do about it? How can we ensure that Donald Trump’s trial in the Senate is fair, given that Trumpists, like Graham and McConnell and Mitch McConnell have indicated that they would be working to ensure that, once impeachment reaches the Senate, it ‘die(s) quickly’?
Here’s the thing, though. We may still have a shot at doing this correctly, in the serious manner in which our founders had intended. While it takes a two-thirds majority in the Senate to remove a president from office, it only takes a simple majority – or 51 Senators – to set the rules governing how the trial will proceed. So, while it’s true that we may never get the two-thirds vote we need to remove Donald Trump from office, or even a single Republican vote for conviction, for that matter, we may be able to convince a few Republican Senators, like Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Susan Collins of Maine, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, to do the right thing and vote against McConnell and Graham on their plan to essentially dismiss the case against the President without a calling a single witness… It’ll be a difficult task, but we only need four Republican Senators to ensure that the process be fair, and we have to try.
And, not only could four Republican Senators ensure that the trial of Donald Trump not be rigged, but they could actually help bring more evidence to light. Here, with more on this, is an excerpt from yesterday’s Washington Post.
Democrats (if they can attract the support of four Republican Senators) could demand that the mountains of documents the administration refused to turn over to the House impeachment inquiry be admitted as evidence at the Senate trial. The administration stonewalled those documents on the absurd grounds that the inquiry was illegitimate.
But McConnell presumably can’t argue that his own impeachment trial is illegitimate, rendering that excuse a dead letter.
So Democrats could insist that the administration produce some of these documents during the trial.
That could be revelatory. During the inquiry, House Democrats subpoenaed documents from the State Department, the Office of Management and Budget, Vice President Pence and Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, among others…
Democrats could also insist on the right to call witnesses, such as acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton (both of whom likely have direct knowledge of Trump’s decision to freeze aid to extort Ukraine), as well as Giuliani.
So, what are the chances that we can convince four Republican Senators to do the right thing here, and stop McConnell’s plan to rig the impeachment trial in the Senate? While I don’t have any illusions about any Republicans actually voting for impeachment, I’d have to think that some headed into reelections campaigns in purple states might be willing to at least vote for a fair and open process… I know it’s a lot to ask in today’s world, but we at least have to try… If you have a Republican Senator, please call their office and demand that they vote in favor of a fair and open process like our founders built this system of government to ensure.
53 Comments
CNN: “McConnell will move to acquit Trump if he’s impeached, not merely dismiss charges, 2 Republican senators say”
Read more:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/11/politics/mcconnell-impeachment-trial-acquittal/index.html
I think the President would like a trial to inject truth into the public. Do you know the story of Brer Rabbit and the briar patch?
“We have everything.
How can we use what we know?
How do you ‘legally’ inject/make public/use as evidence?
What are you witnessing unfold?
Trust the plan.
Q”
Yes, Donald “The Truth Teller” Trump undoubtedly sees this as an opportunity to “inject truth” into the public discourse. Thank you, as always, for your incredible insight, HW.
Also, in case you haven’t heard, Q is a mental illness.
Get help.
Nothing any Trump haters here have said has turned out to be correct but Q has been correct too many times to be delusion. To me it’s the ironic tragedy of the world that people who are totally wrong but don’t know it hate people who are not. The more unreason the more hate.
Normies live in an extreme illusory bubble. It’s not even a bubble. It’s the surface of the veneer of consensus reality; a two dimensional plane. Events occur on the third axis that you are not even aware of but that can affect you.
I admire your optimism about any kind of bi-partisan movement on this– even 4 senators. McConnell should face censure at minimum for what he has said. He has a formidable opponent in his upcoming race. Lindsay Graham is vulnerable too. That’s not changing their behavior one bit. I would love to see all these assholes go down in 2020 and Trump with them, but with the economy trudging along and the comeuppance a few years off, even if we win, I feel certain whoever gets in will be a one term president. Our country is willingly sliding into fascism. It’s incredibly depressing and disheartening. I’ll post this again, but even us on the left have stopped talking about our slide into totalitarianism including kangaroo courts like the one McConnell has promised Trump.
https://billmoyers.com/story/increasingly-necessity-15-point-guide-surviving-authoritarianism/
I’m done talking to the idiots who comment here. Taking the high road from now on. Left or right, they are not worth anyone’s time and energy.
We are getting out of fascism. That’s what the Great Awakening is. The CIA has been running the USA with blackmailed and paid off politicians. Those are the authoritarian fascists. When the CIA triesg to fix US elections with foreign lies paid for by politicians you like then I think it is they and you by extension who have the problem.
“Rule #1: Always think critically and fight ignorance with facts.”
Ok.
“I’m done talking to the idiots who comment here. Taking the high road from now on.”
Ok.
EOS is holding up his end of the deal. He should be honored for making that sacrifice in an attempt to save the rest of us.
Something new to think about while we’re on this subject.
More.
HW– you have no idea what fascism is.
Mark– this is good news. The Dems have the upper hand in terms of preserving democratic institutions and I think they did a fairly good job of making clear this process is about Trump’s actions not the FBI investigation which is under separate inquiry. McConnel will play his dirty tricks and will win likely this battle in his nefarious way but he may lose the war and possibly re-election. That would be almost too satisfying. I don’t know what can restore the American people’s faith in governance but I think the Dems are doing an okay job of trying. I was thinking today that despite the infighting that among the Democratic candidates we clearly have some of the smartest policy wonks around. Whether they can finally equal the GOP at political gamesmanship is the question.
iRobert– recap. I never agreed to stop posting. I agreed to “stop posting anything about EOS, or what EOS believes if EOS stopped posting here. ” Done.
McConnell better be really careful about how he responds to this. The consequences go far beyond the election.
Republicans are going to be giving each other really terrible advice now. This should be interesting.
Pretty sure my understanding is far beyond yours, Jean. Do you think Project Paperclip is a joke? Probably never heard of it.
I do know about Operation Paperclip HW. I don’t know what that has to do with a definition of fascism however. Fascism does not mean people doing terrible things. It has a definition and a pathway. Since we’re down to fundamental education here, I’ll go to the dictionary definition:
Fascism
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
early instances of army fascism and brutality
So now that that is cleared up, I would highly recommend Hannah Arendt’s the Origin’s of Totalitarianism or Plato’s Republic or even just the US Constitution.
I have no doubt both you and DD still believe we already live in a fascistic state because of the deep state. You would be wrong though. Soon enough we may know the difference. We hstill have some means of limiting executive power, despite what Bill Barr believes. And it should be noted that only you would follow the strong man no matter what means he employs. You have said as much. In that you are unique here.
I said the CIA are the fascists then you went letting your mouth run you, saying I don’t know anything about fascism. Just now you contradicted yourself by acknowledging the CIA brought nazis to the USA after WWII as I alluded to. Do you think the Dulles brothers were fascists?
“And it should be noted that only you would follow the strong man no matter what means he employs. You have said as much.”
Why do you lie every single day? Your whole day is full of them.
Did you read the definition, HW?
Do you imagine the only fascists are Nazi’s? Germany was full of people who were Nazi’s but stopped being so after WW2 and helped build a great free nation. Having once been a Nazi does not make a person a fascist forever.
Totalitarian leaders can rise up democratically right out in the open. That’s what Hannah Arendt’s book is about. Or you could read Masha Gessen’s work on Putin. What’s happening now is with the will and consent of half this country. Nothing hidden about it.
Nothing but innuendo: You say “what’s happening now” in the context of totalitarianism. You support the misuse of intelligence agencies to control our destiny. That’s what Obama the puppet did. Never imagined stealth authoritarianism? Crazy.
It’s illogical to imply I think nazis were the only fascists because I highlighted US intelligence bringing nazi spooks and scientists here. It’s a non-sequitor. You say that while practicing ignorance of my question about the American Dulles brothers.
HW– You have pivoted to a separate issue, rather than addressing Trump’s concentration of power in the Executive branch and blatant nationalism. It’s not innuendo. Many of us can see what is happening. It’s very clear you can not.
“In “How Democracies Die,” Professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt of Harvard describe how, in failing democracies, “the referees of the democratic game were brought over to the government’s side, providing the incumbent with both a shield against constitutional challenges and a powerful — and ‘legal’ — weapon with which to assault its opponents.” This is happening before our eyes.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/opinion/sunday/trump-democracy.html?fbclid=IwAR2J5Lz6LDggRjio77JFjQyWFFwMmP0wYQn4t3aIhIdF6GBOR3vM7CK1ats
Here are the facts to back up my ‘innuendo.’
https://theweeklylist.org
What concentration of power? Your pols are trying to concentrate power in the legislature to remove our President. I don’t think not going along with the changes the globalists are pushing is nationalist. If you are saying it’s nationalist to merely wish to preserve the nation the okay. Nationalism is good then. Clinton dreams of an borderless hemisphere so it is you who are the aberration in supporting that.
There’s a growing view that unless McConnell agrees to hold a fair trial, the House should vote to impeach but not send the articles to the Senate. If the Senate won’t do its job honestly, they shouldn’t be allowed to do it dishonestly.
I don’t think taking the high road is going to work for Jean.
So wide can’t get around it
So low you can’t get under it
(So low you can’t get under it)
So high you can’t get over it
(So high you can’t get over it)
Da-yee do do do do do do
This is a chance
This is a chance
Dance your way
Out of your constrictions
(Tell sugah)
Here’s a chance to dance our way
Out of our constrictions
Gonna be freakin’!
Up and down
Hang up alley way
With the groove our
Only guide
We shall all be moved
Ready or not here we come
Gettin’ down on the one which
We believe in
One nation under a groove
I think Jean is taking the “high” road, FF, now that it’s legal.
Now that I can see.
The gop has no limits to the depravity they will engage in to cling to their minority white supremacists christo fascists power. Please vocally support your representatives who are calling for impeachment, and get ready to defend the Constitution by any means necessary. Check out Armslist and get an AR or AK, and then network with Constitution defending Patriots and practice firearms proficiency. Fuck them treasonous gop.
Comey
Has
A
Posse
Watch live: Schumer holds news conference outlining requests for Trump’s Senate impeachment trial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ_PqzTtp0E
Trump is Putin’s bitch. Putin says so. Agent Oranges action says so. Stop being complicit in treason GOPers.
Shortly after Giuliani’s return to the U.S., Russian state television started airing video clips of his OAN “documentary.” Giuliani’s efforts on behalf of President Trump are bound to pay propaganda dividends for the Kremlin.
https://t.co/a0W4W8PtA0
My latest for @thedailybeast
You refuse to accept reality. The IG report blew the dossier apart. The “subsource” (source) could not believe what he said was taken seriously. Some Russian talking shit in a bar was the basis for the whole thing. You keep holding on though. For you it’s too good an excuse to exercise your misanthropy.
To be fair, the subsource was not just saying untrue things, over beers, at a pub. He also said that he was relaying things to Steele that were relayed to him—and I quote—“in jest!”
We all know that there is Truth in jest.
Maybe we could have our local humor expert , Jean Henry, evaluate how funny the info/jokes were in the Streele dossier so we can also then measure it’s truthfulness.
Grab a bong. Pack in somefunky stuff. We need your input, Jean.
The fbi must have found the subsource’s jesting hilarious because the fbi relayed to the fisa courts that the subsource seemed truthful. The only thing the fbi left out to the fisa course was the fact that the subsource was deemed truthful in his denial that the Steele dossier was based on good information.
Hahahaha.
Those FBI agents that did that are some funny funny pranksters.
Honk! Honk!
Every time FF and HW say something stupid i’m Going to drop a coin a jar to contribute to
Elissa Slotkin.
She must really burn your two up?
You ought to change your name to Glib.
So Warlord, is John Kennedy jr, who faked his own death, actually Q? This seems to be the theory most of your people suggest.
Sad,
I don’t get it. In the last few posts we were pulling basic facts that were documented in the Horowitz report. Are you saying you think the Horowitz report is stupid?
A lot of people think that, Internet Pussy. Q said JFK jr. is not alive. That had better be some true Q for your sake. There is a dead ringer for his wife who has shown up in conspicuous places at rallies. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DjiNH2SV4AABYZy.jpg
I actually had some time to look at a bunch of Q postings and message board stuff. You are even sadder and more deranged than I imagined. This shit, and you, would be laughable if there weren’t so many of you. Bonkers shit, bub. Lots of deeply racist crap by your people. The obsession of Barack and Michelle Obama is weird, ugly and not even relevant since he’s out of office. You need help.
The language reminds me of Scientology or doomsday religious nuts. The cleansing that’s coming. You guys are sick fucks.
You read a bunch of Q posts? Quote one. I don’t think you understand what Q is.
Irony of ironies: Q describes you perfectly.
They want you DIVIDED.
DIVIDED by RACE.
DIVIDED by RELIGION.
DIVIDED by CULTURE.
DIVIDED by CLASS.
DIVIDED by POLITICAL AFFILIATION.
DIVIDED YOU ARE WEAK.
TOGETHER YOU ARE STRONG.
“not even relevant since he’s out of office”
What a pinhead. It’s amazing to see a human being say something so stupid. Do crimes of the past not have an effect on the present? Slayer of Unreason here and you are very far from reasonable.
71% of Americans and 61% of Republicans want Trump aides to testify. Man, that puts McConnell in a pickle.
Obviously it will never happen, but not doing so may have conseques for the GOP. One can only hope.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/dec-11-15-2019-washington-post-abc-news-poll/636074c7-0a2f-4a0a-b14c-ac7bed3777cc/
HW– do you think you are a force for political unity in this realm? Or any?
Americans and people all over the world will be united in a way beyond your imagination, Jean. It’s going to be so good. You can learn what Q actually says and watch the show with me as it happens or you can remain ignorant for now and watch it later. It doesn’t matter. Everyone is going to be extremely pleased with the changes coming.
Well waah.
HW– I choose ignorance I guess then. I do follow Q weekly. And all it does is remind me how batshit crazy his followers are.
“I do follow Q weekly.”
No you don’t.
Here’s McConnell signing his oath to be impartial in the Senate trial of Donald Trump.
From Amy McGrath’s campaign:
“IMAGINE WASHINGTON WITHOUT MITCH MCCONNELL. LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Amy McGrath is ready to change Washington and give Kentuckians back their voice. But to defeat Mitch McConnell and his special interest friends, she’ll need this team to have her back every step of the way.
Are you in?”
https://act.amymcgrath.com/signup/join-the-team