Sen. Leahy to preside over Trump’s second impeachment trial
By Seung Min Kim and Mike DeBonis
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), president professional tempore of the Senate and its most senior Democrat, will preside over Trump’s second impeachment trial that can start subsequent month.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. presided over Trump’s first impeachment trial, because the Constitution requires in impeachment proceedings for a sitting president of the United States.
But senators preside over impeachment trials for any official who shouldn’t be at the moment within the White House. Leahy confirmed the studies that he had been tapped for the responsibility.
“When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws. It is an oath that I take extraordinarily seriously,” Leahy mentioned in a press release. “When I preside over the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, I will not waver from my constitutional and sworn obligations to administer the trial with fairness, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws.”
Pressed by reporters about his previous criticism of Trump, the senator mentioned: “I’m not presenting the evidence; I am making sure that procedures are followed. I don’t think there’s any senator who over the 40 plus years I’ve been here that would say that I’ve been anything but impartial in ruling on procedure. ”
As president professional tem, Leahy is within the presidential line of succession and is taken into account the second most senior Senate official after the vp. Leahy, 80, was first elected in 1974 and has not mentioned whether or not he’ll search a ninth time period in 2022.
Leahy’s function was first reported by CNN.
