Posted on 01/13/2021 1:45:28 PM PST by The Pack Knight
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has rejected a plan to reconvene the Senate in an emergency session to hold trial over an impeachment article against President Trump in the House.
McConnell press secretary Doug Andres confirmed a report that the Kentucky Republican would not sanction such a move on Wednesday.
Without the emergency session, the Senate is due back in session on Jan. 19., so McConnell’s decision all but kills a Democrat-led effort to oust Trump from office before his term is up and President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. A trial over the impeachment article is unlikely to conclude within such a short time.
Democrats have proposed holding the trial over Trump’s impeachment well-into Biden’s presidency. Michael Luttig, a former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, slammed the idea on Tuesday, asserting that impeaching and removing a president after he left office is “unconstitutional.”
“It appears that even if the House of Representatives impeaches President Trump this week, the Senate trial on that impeachment will not begin until after Trump has left office and President-Elect Biden has become president on Jan. 20,” Luttig wrote in The Washington Post. “That Senate trial would be unconstitutional.”
Luttig continued:
Once Trump’s term ends on Jan. 20, Congress loses its constitutional authority to continue impeachment proceedings against him — even if the House has already approved articles of impeachment.Therefore, if the House of Representatives were to impeach the president before he leaves office, the Senate could not thereafter convict the former president and disqualify him under the Constitution from future public office.
The reason for this is found in the Constitution itself. Trump would no longer be incumbent in the Office of the President at the time of the delayed Senate proceeding and would no longer be subject to “impeachment conviction” by the Senate, under the Constitution’s Impeachment Clauses. Which is to say that the Senate’s only power under the Constitution is to convict — or not — an incumbent president.
On Monday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a moderate, criticized the ongoing impeachment push and noted that any impeachment article passed in the House will likely not have enough support in the Senate.
“I think, my arithmetic, that means we have 19 Republicans. I don’t see that. And I think the House should know that also. We have been trying to send that message over. They know the votes aren’t there. You would think that they would do that,” Manchin said on Monday.
“I think this is so ill-advised for Joe Biden to be coming in, trying to heal the country, trying to be the president of all the people, when we’re going to be so divided and fighting again. Let the judicial system do its job,” he added. “And then, we’re a country of the rule of law. That’s the bedrock of who we are. Let that take its place. Let the investigations go on. Let the evidence come forth, and then we will go forward from there. There’s no rush to do this impeachment now. We can do it later if they think it’s necessary.”
Yup.
Trump just pardons himself and his entire family.
You mustn't forget Rino Romney.
Great term. Must remember.
Before election day. The Senate under Schumer may continue the trial after January 20th which then raises the question of whether it can he held since Trump is out of office. Courts will settle that one.
Yes.
EXTREMELY disappointed in him.
I mean before inauguration day.
Liz Cheney is the only one of these spineless, shameless nothingburger opportunists that I’ve ever heard of.
no. he’s just pushing the dirty work on to the next session under schumer.
Pelosi and gang frantically calling the NY prosecutors....
[Thread Article] Democrats have proposed holding the trial over Trump’s impeachment well-into Biden’s presidency. Michael Luttig, a former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, slammed the idea on Tuesday, asserting that impeaching and removing a president after he left office is “unconstitutional.”
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[Trumpisourlastchance #3] You can’t remove a president who is not the president.
But after an official leaves office, he may be impeached. Per the Constitution, Article I, Sec. 2, Cl. 7, "Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of Honor, Trust, or Profit under the United States...."
The impeachment and trial of an official after he has left office not only can be done, it has been done.
In order, William Belknap resigned, his resignation was accepted, and then he was impeached and tried (acquitted with a majority, but less than two-thirds for conviction).
The Senate overruled a plea to lack of jurisdiction. An impeachment proceeding is held pursuant to the Constitution. It is the same for all officials whether judge, senator, or president. There is clear precedent to hold a trial.
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/War_Secretarys_Impeachment_Trial.htm
War Secretary's Impeachment TrialMay 1876
An impeachment trial for a secretary of war occupied much of the Senate’s time during May 1876.
At issue was the behavior of William Belknap, war secretary in the administration of President Ulysses Grant. A former Iowa state legislator and Civil War general, Belknap had held his cabinet post for nearly eight years. In the rollicking era that Mark Twain dubbed the Gilded Age, Belknap was famous for his extravagant Washington parties and his elegantly attired first and second wives. Many questioned how he managed such a grand lifestyle on his $8,000 government salary.
By early 1876, answers began to surface. A House of Representatives committee uncovered evidence supporting a pattern of corruption blatant even by the standards of the scandal-tarnished Grant administration.
The trail of evidence extended back to 1870. In that year, Belknap’s luxury-loving first wife assisted a wheeler-dealer named Caleb Marsh by getting her husband to select one of Marsh’s associates to operate the lucrative military trading post at Fort Sill in Indian territory. Marsh’s promise of generous kickbacks prompted Secretary Belknap to make the appointment. Over the next five years, the associate funneled thousands of dollars to Marsh, who provided Belknap regular quarterly payments totaling over $20,000.
On March 2, 1876, just minutes before the House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on articles of impeachment, Belknap raced to the White House, handed Grant his resignation, and burst into tears.
This failed to stop the House. Later that day, members voted unanimously to send the Senate five articles of impeachment, charging Belknap with “criminally disregarding his duty as Secretary of War and basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain.”
The Senate convened its trial in early April, with Belknap present, after agreeing that it retained impeachment jurisdiction over former government officials. During May, the Senate heard more than 40 witnesses, as House managers argued that Belknap should not be allowed to escape from justice simply by resigning his office.
On August 1, 1876, the Senate rendered a majority vote against Belknap on all five articles. As each vote fell short of the necessary two-thirds, however, he won acquittal. Belknap was not prosecuted further; he died in 1890.
I’m printing that list so I can remember to support their opponents in primaries
I heard on War Room tonight that Mitch is worried about 2022 due to Trump voters staying home for the Georgia runoffs .
if he had any honor in him, he’d play the video showing the speech and timeline. and call a vote to exonerate the president right now. but he has no honor.
Or, better yet, Trump cuts a deal with Pence, pardons Pence on January 19, then pardons everyone else needing pardons in private but doesn't make the pardons public, then publicly resigns. Pence then pardons Trump after taking office on the 19th and makes it public. As Trump resigns, he releases ALL the documents he's been threatening to release, for publication on January 20 at the same time as Biden's inauguration.
That would be epic!
ping
Has the Turtle been playing "shell games?"
I’m trying to call Valadao out here in CA, but his Congressional page won’t load and provide a telephone number..
I’m soooooooooooooo PISSED!
Yeah, evidently so. I don’t honestly know the story of her
dad though.
I wonder if McConnell being “pleased” with impeachment was a head fake to troll the dems....
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