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But unlike what bathrobe-clad Roberts oversaw President Trump’s 2020 trial, Leahy routinely slips into her role as a senator for votes, including on whether to convict or acquit the former president. for inciting the murderous January 6 uprising on Capitol Hill.
The 80-year-old Democrat from Vermont – who is the pro tempore speaker of the chamber, or the oldest senator in the majority party – could also end up voting on thorny motions related to evidence and witnesses.
Roberts declined to vote in last year’s trial related to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, and when specifically asked if he would break a tie, the unfathomable chief justice said: “It would be inappropriate for me, an elected official from another branch of government “to guide the result.
“This is not a problem for Leahy,” observed Michael Davidson, a former Senate legal adviser. “He is part of the body conducting the trial. … His state will still have representation in the Senate.”
Just as the very first impeachment trial of a former president will open up new horizons in America, so will Leahy’s dual roles. He will be a model in the actions of two Chief Justices of the United States, Roberts with Trump in 2020 and William Rehnquist with President Bill Clinton in 1999.
Sources familiar with Leahy’s preparation say he is examining how the two men presided and is looking at the models established by the chief justices in a bid to enforce Senate trial procedures, maintain a sentiment decorum and avoid leading arguments on both sides.
However, Leahy will necessarily break with the primarily ministerial position assumed by Roberts and Rehnquist.
Leahy has already voted once after being sworn in on Jan. 26 as president, with the 55-45 majority rejecting a decision by Republican Sen. from Kentucky Rand Paul to block the trial. This vote could be a preview of the end result, an insufficient number of Republicans voting with Democrats and an acquittal of Trump: the Senate trial process for a president resembles that of judges and other officials impeached by the US House . In all cases, the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote for conviction.
Leahy, who has vowed to be fair and impartial, refuses the interviews, according to a spokesperson.
How Roberts and Rehnquist conducted trials
Roberts and Rehnquist tried to ensure orderly procedure and take a secondary role for themselves. They kept the clock and followed the rules that the Senate leaders had made. They spoke to the Senate MP (currently Elizabeth MacDonough) and worked from carefully defined scenarios.
Roberts stepped in last year to reprimand a difficult exchange between House Judiciary Speaker Jerry Nadler and White House attorney Pat Cipollone. Roberts cited the impeachment trial of Judge Charles Swayne of Florida.
When then Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer put Roberts on the verge of voting to break a tie, the Chief Justice said: “If members of this body elected by the people and accountable to they also divide on a motion, the normal rule is that the motion fails. Roberts refused to ‘assert the power to change’ an outcome.
Roberts, when he finished last year, expressed his gratitude to senators for helping him with his “ill-defined responsibilities in an unknown setting.”
The Constitution only says that “when the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice presides”.
Leahy had previously said Roberts was “the first choice” for Trump’s second trial, despite no longer serving as president. Schumer, now Senate Majority Leader, said in an MSNBC interview on “The Rachel Maddow Show,” that “it was up to John Roberts if he wanted to preside with a president who no longer sits … and he doesn’t want to. just do it. “
Roberts declined requests for comment on the matter.
Leahy’s plans
Leahy will naturally forgo the black dress, but he will adopt some of the attributes of a special president. He is expected to work in the glittering President’s Room and chandeliers near the Senate Chamber, as did the two Chief Justices. And as they did, sources close to the senator’s prep say Leahy will take the lead in the details of the Senate leadership process, including when to start and end daily.
Senate rules, not judicial practice, generally cover impeachment trials, which are by nature political matters. In a 1993 case, the Supreme Court said the Senate was solely responsible for trying an indicted official. In 1999, Rehnquist described the Senate as sitting primarily like a tribunal, not just a panel of jurors.
Because the conviction requires a two-thirds vote, Leahy’s position as Democratic senator is unlikely to be decisive. But other procedural issues can pose complex dilemmas.
Senate rules state that the president can rule on all evidentiary matters, but that if a senator objects, the officer can be overthrown by a majority vote of the Senate.
Leahy can bypass the ruling on a controversial issue that would predictably elicit objection, and instead take the issue directly to the full Senate, which is currently split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.
Trump denies inciting the crowd that descended on Capitol Hill, and his lawyers argue that the Senate has no power to try him. They say that once he leaves office on January 20, he can no longer be subject to a Senate impeachment trial.
And they support Roberts’ absence as evidence of the trial’s general unconstitutionality, claiming that “(T) he constitutional mandate of the Chief Justice to preside over all indictments involving the President has clearly disappeared.”
On the general question of the constitutionality of Trump’s judgment, House officials insist, “There is no January exception to impeachment or any other provision of the Constitution. A president must answer comprehensively of his conduct in office from his first day in office through his last. “
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