grey_whiskers wrote:
“Historically, the first impeachment trial of a non-President was dismissed on procedural grounds, because the person no longer held office.”
When was that, and who was the non-president?
Who was presiding over the trial?
Chief Justice or President problem of the Senate?
“Problem” s/b “pro tem”
I think.
U.S. Senator from Tennessee
Impeached July 7, 1797, on charges of conspiring to assist in Great Britain’s attempt to seize Spanish-controlled territories in modern-day Florida and Louisiana
House Managers:
James A. Bayard, Sr.; Samuel W. Dana; John Dennis; Thomas Evans; William Gordon; Robert G. Harper; Hezekiah L. Hosmer; James H. Imlay; Thomas Pinckney; Samuel Sewall; Samuel Sitgreaves; John Wilkes Kittera
Dates of trial December 17, 1798–January 14, 1799
Charges dismissed for want of jurisdiction; Blount had been expelled from the U.S. Senate before his trial.
A little while later, Aaron Burr (yes, THAT Aaron Burr, as Vice President (president pro tempore of he Senate) presided over the impeachment trial of Samuel Chase.
= = = = =
The Dems are saying, "They've impeached people other than the President before, so it's OK to impeach Trump."
But the only people where there was a Senate Trial, who weren't President, were STILL IN OFFICE.
So the only way they can say, well, we don't need the Chief Justice, is to say, he's no longer Presdent.
And there is Precedent that one cannot hold a Senate trial for one no longer in office; see above, and see also the Supreme Court's dismissal of the emolument suits against Donald Trump as moot because he is out of office.